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[JoshuaJSlone]

It would be nice if the PW series could sell a million, even with worldwide sales.

I wonder when Gyakuten Saiban 3 will hit Japan. Hopefully this summer so I don't have to wait until September.

That seems unlikely to me. Considering publishers like to let one game in a series sell for a while before competing with themselves for the next, it seems if anything GS3 port would hit Japan later, since they've had a new release in the series 3 months more recently than the US.

 

[Galactic Fork]

I see no reason why Wii would be "LCD" in PureArthor's story, so umm If you take ED, it could just mean Enhanced Definition, which is the highest the Wii is able to display.

Elsie Dee: Female Wii - Enhanced Definition
Henry David: Male XBox 360 Premium - High Definition
Tack: Male XBox 360 Core - Tard
Bob Roberts: Male Playstation 3 - Blue Ray
Dennis Stark: Male Nintendo DS - Dual Screen
Clementine Shelley: Female Gameboy Advance SP - Clam Shell
Duke Richard Eddington: Male Playstation 2 - Disk Read Error

 

[enishi]

The day GS4 breaks a million is the day the franchise goes mainstream.

The previous 3 games have been selling to a niche audience.

I predict GS5 in a year if GS4 sells a million copies, the engine is already done. They just have to draw new sprites and create 4-5 new cases then BAM we have GS5.

A million may be a harsh goal for GS. I can't think of any adventure games sold that well in Japan. If GS4 gets some "normal" DS legs and sells > 500k, it may already become the highest selling adventure game in Japan.

I am sure Capcom has already planned GS5

Spoiler

, esp when they still have some stories to develop in the ending of GS4.

 

[mutsu]

A million may be a harsh goal for GS. I can't think of any adventure games sold that well in Japan. If GS4 gets some "normal" DS legs and sells > 500k, it may already become the highest selling adventure game in Japan.

I am sure Capcom has already planned GS5

Spoiler

, esp when they still have some stories to develop in the ending of GS4.

Pretty sure Capcom has already confirmed GS4 will be a trilogy, like the first three.

Yeah I think >500K is already a fantastic result for Capcom. Adventure games just really aren't mainstream anymore, and doing a million will pretty much be a fantasy.

 

[apujanata]

TOTALS:
Wii: 2
DS lite: 7
Layton: 25
Yoshi’s Island: 19

NOTES:

1. This week At Wanpaku they had videos of various Square-Enix games running on the PS3 kiosk. Oddly the video didn’t include any footage of FFXIII or any other PS3 game. It was mostly DS games. Oddly the 2nd (smaller) Wii Kiosk was showing gameplay footage for Ghost Recon for the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 display itself was running a demo of the Idol master most of the week but yesterday it was displaying an error message.

2. “Old Reliable” (The PS3 at Famicom Dojo) has been there since 5 weeks after launch. I realize I will miss it if it is ever sold…

3. Yamada Denki is selling new copies of Majikku Taizen for only 980 yen. Seems Nintendo developed magician simulator flopped big time.

4. Layton and Yoshi’s Island are no longer supply constrained. (But still selling briskly)

5. The PS3 is not worth tracking. There are tons of them. Every store. Every time.

6. Wii is still really hard to find. DS lite is rare but attainable with a bit of searching.

7. I will leave for the United States later this week and I will be there for about 3 weeks. Of course this means I will not be able to do the “Vinnk’s Village” post until I return. My next report will be on May 10th. But if requested I could email Famicom Dojo and get their numbers during the time I am gone.

Nice report as usual. For me, I can wait 4 or more weeks, so no need for you to e-mail. I wish you luck in getting a US Wii console.

Funny that there is an error message for the X360 display, and that PS3 display promote DS games, and Wii promote X360 games.

 

[.dmc]

Can Level5 hurry up and announce an PAL/NA release for Prof Layton already? We're getting impatient over here

 

[Galactic Fork]

I'm curious if L5 is going to be the one publishing in other territories, I wouldn't be surprised if NOA asks to publish it here in the US. Then the localization will likely be decent. The big problem is the Japanese culture/Language puzzles and localizing them. That's also the only thing I can think of that would really hinder or halt releases in other regions.

 

[QVT]

Does Japan like Forza? I think that game comes out next month, in a pretty slow PS3 period.

Europe will REALLY like Forza. Gran Turismo 4(since GT3 was a US pack-in) sold more in Europe than America and Japan together. They're big on driving there.

Somehow I missed the hardware numbers in this thread, but cool. Maybe I'll have to start liking the wii =\

 

[Shiggy]

Europe will REALLY like Forza. Gran Turismo 4(since GT3 was a US pack-in) sold more in Europe than America and Japan together. They're big on driving there.

But Europe doesn't like the Xbox 360

 

[mabuza]

you guys have to realize forza is still a hardcore gamers racer, its no where near as casual as gran turismo. even people who have never touched a video game probably have heard of gran turismo

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

you guys have to realize forza is still a hardcore gamers racer, its no where near as casual as gran turismo. even people who have never touched a video game probably have heard of gran turismo

Yeah, Gran Turismo is a genuine superstar franchise. Forza isn't anywhere near it in recognition. They need to get on the ball better though, because certain aspects of GT that haven't changed since the original need to, or the mainstream will move on sooner or later.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

you guys have to realize forza is still a hardcore gamers racer, its no where near as casual as gran turismo. even people who have never touched a video game probably have heard of gran turismo

I'd say they're fairly comparable in terms of content (which is probably why most reviewers, you know, compared them, most often in Forza's favor with respect to GT4), with Forza being slightly more accessible thanks to the racing assist lines. I think the only reason that Forza didn't sell well is because it didn't carry as strong a brand, and of course the difference in userbases.

It's sad that GT5 will likely sell 2 million in every territory, while the Japanese version of Forza 2 will be unlikely to crack 100k.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Yeah, Gran Turismo is a genuine superstar franchise. Forza isn't anywhere near it in recognition. They need to get on the ball better though, because certain aspects of GT that haven't changed since the original need to, or the mainstream will move on sooner or later.

i.e:

Rolling the cars

damage.

I know personally I can't take GT seriously until at least the first one makes it into the game.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Both of those things need to happen in my opinion as well, Deacon. I used to defend it all the time due to the licensing restrictions some companies have put on use of their cars, but other games seem to be getting around that, so it's time for Sony to show the money and make it happen.

 

[Thraktor]

if i am correct, 360 sales had the peak during holiday season, so it's hard for a system which sells constantly 3k a week to increase 10x just for a new RPG, especially if this RPG is not named Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy and, more important, not during the highest sales period.

Sigma can move some PS3, i imagine we'll see 20-25k PS3 sold, so 360 should really have a big boost to reach these numbers. Difficult but not impossible, maybe we could have a draw

Yeah, that 35,000 figure was both a holiday period and the Blue Dragon release, so I can't see the 360 getting quite that high until they have another high-profile release during a holiday season. However, only 12-15k of sales are needed to take it into PS3 territory these days, and Trusty Bell, along with the hardware bundle, should be enough to bring it up that high. Whether PS3's sales will remain as abysmally low as they are upon Ninja Gaiden's release, though, is a different matter.

On another note, I'm thinking of putting together a chart showing "initial demand" for various consoles. By this I mean the accumulated sales for a console from launch to the time it stops being supply-constrained. I figure it's a better way to compare console launches than just using launch sales figures themselves (whether first-day/week/month, etc.), as these are pretty much purely dependent on how many units manufacturers manage to ship, whereas it can be reasonably said that by the time a console is freely available, everyone who wanted one at launch has one.

Obviously it's very difficult to pinpoint the stage at which a console stops being supply-constrained, so I was wondering if anyone had any rough indications for when each of the this/last-gen consoles became freely available?

 

[chibcicylist]

Yeah, that 35,000 figure was both a holiday period and the Blue Dragon release, so I can't see the 360 getting quite that high until they have another high-profile release during a holiday season. However, only 12-15k of sales are needed to take it into PS3 territory these days, and Trusty Bell, along with the hardware bundle, should be enough to bring it up that high. Whether PS3's sales will remain as abysmally low as they are upon Ninja Gaiden's release, though, is a different matter.

On another note, I'm thinking of putting together a chart showing "initial demand" for various consoles. By this I mean the accumulated sales for a console from launch to the time it stops being supply-constrained. I figure it's a better way to compare console launches than just using launch sales figures themselves (whether first-day/week/month, etc.), as these are pretty much purely dependent on how many units manufacturers manage to ship, whereas it can be reasonably said that by the time a console is freely available, everyone who wanted one at launch has one.

Obviously it's very difficult to pinpoint the stage at which a console stops being supply-constrained, so I was wondering if anyone had any rough indications for when each of the this/last-gen consoles became freely available?

A good indicator would probably be jagged spikes on sales charts near the launch dates and a gradual evening out the farther you go from the launch period. Then use averages or something. Some math nerd can figure it out.

 

[Thraktor]

A good indicator would probably be jagged spikes on sales charts near the launch dates and a gradual evening out the farther you go from the launch period. Then use averages or something. Some math nerd can figure it out.

I'm a bit hesitant to go that route. From sales charts, it looks as though PS3 stopped being supply-constrained around the first couple of weeks of this year, which is probably about right. However, generally manufacturers stockpile hardware before launch for shipment in the first few weeks (those jagged spikes you're talking about), and when that stockpile runs out, they'll ship as many as production allows, which should be a steady rate. From my point of view it's difficult to tell the difference between a post-launch period that's showing steady sales as a result of freely-available hardware and steady demand, and a post-launch period where the steady sales are the result of a supply-constrained market buying every unit of a console that's being shipped at a steady rate.

That said, it'd probably be a good starting point, so I might make some guesses from sales charts and then ask the Japanese gaffers here if they seem about right.


Edit:- Here's what I've come up with from charts on JoshuaJSlone's site, all based on Famitsu numbers:

PS2 - Week 7 - 10th April 2000 - ~1,300,000
GBA - Week 8 - 7th May 2001 - ~1,700,000
GC - Week 3 - 24th Sept 2001 - ~200,000
XBox - Week 3 - 4th March 2002 - ~170,000
DS - Week 7 - 10th Jan 2005 - ~1,450,000
PSP - Week 9 - 31st Jan 2005 - ~750,000
XB360 - Week 3 - 19th Dec 2005 - ~85,000
PS3 - Week 11 - 15th Jan 2007 - ~600,000
Wii - Still supply constrained - 2,000,000+

I could be off by up to a month on some of them (the point at which sales "steady off" is rather hard to determine), so anecdotal verification/refutation would be very much appreciated. I'm also a bit weary that some of them include holiday sales, which could skew the numbers.

 

[creamsugar]

Famitsu 4/2 ~ 4/8

DSL　118,391
Wii　44,520
PSP　30,308
PS3　14,820
PS2　14,167
360　3,583

 

[schuelma]

Famitsu 4/2 ~ 4/8

DSL　118,391
Wii　44,520
PSP　30,308
PS3　14,820
PS2　14,167
360　3,583

I got really freaked out before I realized those were last weeks numbers :lol :lol

 

[Hcoregamer00]

Pretty sure Capcom has already confirmed GS4 will be a trilogy, like the first three.

Yeah I think >500K is already a fantastic result for Capcom. Adventure games just really aren't mainstream anymore, and doing a million will pretty much be a fantasy.

I certainly hope so, the best things come in threes.

Everyone says that the best game in the original Ace Attorney trilogy is the upcoming 3rd game, Trials and Tribulations. Which means if it is true, GS5 will be a mediocre improvement on GS4 and GS6 will be the best game ever.

 

[apujanata]

good story, pureauthor, especially about the 5 years life expectancy. Couldn't wait to see the alternate reality.

 

[Linkup]

Behold! Instalment three of the grand, epic adventure known to all and sundry as...

As always, feedback would be much appreciated.

Don't ever post this stuff on Gaf again and definitely not in the MC thread. Yes, I did read it.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Don't ever post this stuff on Gaf again and definitely not in the MC thread. Yes, I did read it.

Don't listen to the haters. I look forward to your next installment, Pureauthor

 

[justchris]

*~*

Chapter 3: The Console Graveyard

*~*

As always, feedback would be much appreciated.

Dramatis Personae:

John: most common male name, your average joe, except, john
Elsie Dee: ED-Enhanced Definition
Henry David: HD-High Definition
Tack: Tard Pack
Bob Roberts: BR-Blu-Ray
Dennis Stark: DS-Ummm...D...S?
Clementine Shelley: CS-Clamshell
Duke Richard Eddington: DRE-Disc Read Error

Anyway, I very much enjoyed this episode. Keep up the good work.

 

[jesusraz]

Famitsu 4/2 ~ 4/8

DSL　118,391
Wii　44,520
PSP　30,308
PS3　14,820
PS2　14,167
360　3,583

Thanks (as ever) creamsugar. Interesting to see Famitsu with Wii that low...Still amazes me how the PS3 and PS2 are so damn close at the moment.

 

[mclem]

Edit:- Here's what I've come up with from charts on JoshuaJSlone's site, all based on Famitsu numbers:

PS2 - Week 7 - 10th April 2000 - ~1,300,000
GBA - Week 8 - 7th May 2001 - ~1,700,000
GC - Week 3 - 24th Sept 2001 - ~200,000
XBox - Week 3 - 4th March 2002 - ~170,000
DS - Week 7 - 10th Jan 2005 - ~1,450,000
PSP - Week 9 - 31st Jan 2005 - ~750,000
XB360 - Week 3 - 19th Dec 2005 - ~85,000
PS3 - Week 11 - 15th Jan 2007 - ~600,000
Wii - Still supply constrained - 2,000,000+

I could be off by up to a month on some of them (the point at which sales "steady off" is rather hard to determine), so anecdotal verification/refutation would be very much appreciated. I'm also a bit weary that some of them include holiday sales, which could skew the numbers.

A couple of thoughts:

Can we get a week count for the Wii thus far?
If you were to add in the DS Lite as a separate system, just how scary would it look? That's about 60 weeks now, right?
It'd be really interesting to be able to get these numbers for other regions, particularly 'cause I keep harping on about initial demand in the EU threads but it's mostly falling on deaf ears
And, as a negative: While you can't factor it into the figures, to interpret the figures you have to take into account that the longer initial demand takes to be filled, the more demand that *wasn't* there at the start accumulates. This is probably particularly true for the Wii, because it's a very "See it, try it, buy it" system; word of mouth is doing it an awful lot of good.

 

[gogogow]

According to Enterbrain Gyakuten Saiban 4 sold around 250.000 copies between 12.04.07-17.04.07.

old?

 

[Thraktor]

A couple of thoughts:

Can we get a week count for the Wii thus far?
If you were to add in the DS Lite as a separate system, just how scary would it look? That's about 60 weeks now, right?
It'd be really interesting to be able to get these numbers for other regions, particularly 'cause I keep harping on about initial demand in the EU threads but it's mostly falling on deaf ears
And, as a negative: While you can't factor it into the figures, to interpret the figures you have to take into account that the longer initial demand takes to be filled, the more demand that *wasn't* there at the start accumulates. This is probably particularly true for the Wii, because it's a very "See it, try it, buy it" system; word of mouth is doing it an awful lot of good.

Wii has had 19 weeks of sales. I decided to leave out DS Lite, as it's not really a fair comparison between a brand new console launch and a redesign of an already-popular console that's got a significant amount of software on the shelves.

I could probably try to put something together for the US if I could get hold of NPD data running back to 2001, but Europe would be an absolute nightmare to try and work out, as reliable numbers are impossible to get hold of, and there could be months between when a console is freely available in one European country and another.

I had considered the fact that, for consoles with long shortages, post-launch demand will account for an increasing amount of the consoles sold. I figured the best way to do this is to take average sales when shortages end, and subtract this from each week the console was supply-constrained. However, this is going to require more estimation on my part, as sales can be erratic after launch (dependent on software releases) and I'd have to figure out what this "average" is.

 

[Pureauthor]

Don't ever post this stuff on Gaf again and definitely not in the MC thread. Yes, I did read it.

I am crushed. Crushed.

Woe is me, etc.

 

[Tchu-Espresso]

Im playing the internet channel on mine now.

Edit: ****, evidently im not very good at it yet...

 

[marc^o^]

Im playing the internet channel on mine now.

Feels good, doesn't it?

 

[Tchu-Espresso]

Feels good, doesn't it?

Not when you post in the wrong thread it doesnt

 

[Magicpaint]

No leaked numbers yet? Famitsu weekly Top 10, anything?

 

[Stormbringer]

sinobi article is up. Apparently no surprises :

Gyakuten Saiban 4 : 250k
Watashi no Rirakuma : 15k
Yoshi Island DS : 45k - 600k total
Motto Eigo - 30k - 100k total
Mario Vs DK 2 - 80k

DS Lite - 120k

 

[Magicpaint]

sinobi article is up. Apparently no surprises :

Gyakuten Saiban 4 : 250k
Watashi no Rirakuma : 15k
Yoshi Island DS : 45k - 600k total
Motto Eigo - 30k - 100k total
Mario Vs DK 2 - 80k

DS Lite - 120k

Strange such a large discrepancy between this figures and Media-creates. Yoshi was at ~630k for last week's numbers.

Also looks like Mario Vs DK 2 picked up in the weekend.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

sinobi article is up. Apparently no surprises :

Gyakuten Saiban 4 : 250k
Watashi no Rirakuma : 15k
Yoshi Island DS : 45k - 600k total
Motto Eigo - 30k - 100k total
Mario Vs DK 2 - 80k

DS Lite - 120k

Good for Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2. How much sold the first one ? Yoshi's Island II will become a non-game very soon.

 

[ziran]

Famitsu Top 10 Apr 9-15 07
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2007/04/18/103,1176890367,70432,0,0.html

1. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (NDS)
2. Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (NDS)
3. Yoshi's Island DS (NDS)
4. Wii Sports (Wii)
5. More English Training (NDS)
6. Musou Orochi (PS2)
7. Pro Baseball Spirits 4 (PS2)
8. Prof. Layton and the Mysterious Village (NDS)
9. Naruto: Shippuuden N-Ultimate Accelerator (PS2)
10. Wii Play (Wii)

 

[Stormbringer]

The article has been updated :

Wii - 60k

 

[DarkMehm]

Strange such a large discrepancy between this figures and Media-creates. Yoshi was at ~630k for last week's numbers.

Also looks like Mario Vs DK 2 picked up in the weekend.

sinobi is using Famitsu figures.

 

[Meier]

Professor Layton just keeps clicking away. Very, very impressive.

 

[Pureauthor]

Famitsu Top 10 Apr 9-15 07
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2007/04/18/103,1176890367,70432,0,0.html

1. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (NDS)

WOOOHOOOOOO!!!

 

[DefectiveReject]

Wii @ 60k before Golden week (Which is when again?)

 

[starship]

Famitsu Top 10 Apr 9-15 07
http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2007/04/18/103,1176890367,70432,0,0.html

1. Gyakuten Saiban 4 (NDS)
2. Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis (NDS)
3. Yoshi's Island DS (NDS)
4. Wii Sports (Wii)
5. More English Training (NDS)
6. Musou Orochi (PS2)
7. Pro Baseball Spirits 4 (PS2)
8. Prof. Layton and the Mysterious Village (NDS)
9. Naruto: Shippuuden N-Ultimate Accelerator (PS2)
10. Wii Play (Wii)

Amazing legs for Yoshi and Layton. Also great debut for Gyakuten Saiban 4, it can easily break 500k with the type of legs usually DS games have.

 

[ziran]

The article has been updated :

Wii - 60k

I think it also says Wii sold 140% of last week (44.5*140% = ~60k) and Wii Sports sold 170% of last week.

Also, Pokémon D/P passed 5 million

Wii @ 60k before Golden week (Which is when again?)

April 29th - May 5th.

 

[marc^o^]

The article has been updated :

Wii - 60k

Solid and spectacular. Wii is on track to sell 5 million units in Japan in one year. GC didn't do that in its lifetime.

 

[polluar]

Wii @ 60k before Golden week (Which is when again?)

it starts april 29th

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

The article has been updated :

Wii - 60k

Not bad.

 

[marc^o^]

Golden Week: April 29th - May 5th.

Nintendo will have Super Paper Mario and Brain Academy Wii on sale for Golden Week. Nice timing.

 

[polluar]

Nintendo will have Super Paper Mario and Brain Academy Wii on sale for Golden Week. Nice timing.

It will be a total anihilation

 

[schuelma]

It will be a total anihilation

Nah, PS3 is about to release its secret weapon.....


drumroll....



MADDEN 07 BABY!!!