Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
XiaNaphryz said:VC only sold 33k according to Nov NPD.
I wonder if Sega may reconsider a 360 port to get more sales if Dec/Jan doesn't go too well.
I fucking called it
God, I hate PS3 owners right now.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Valkyria Chronicles |OT| Beautiful art meets genre-redefining gameplay
- Thread starter Durante
- Start date
I fucking called it
God, I hate PS3 owners right now.
facepalm007
Member
I'm not really surprised to see the game have low sales like this, considering that over 60 games were released on that day (November 4th) and 160 plus games in the month...
And especially when you have games like "Resistance 2", "Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm", "Quantum of Solace" and "EndWar" being sold on the same day on the same console, it's not surprising to see a new IP that has been meagerly marketed, if not marketed at all, being largely ignored...
Maybe if the game were to be released on an "off-day" like how "The Last Remnant" was, maybe the out come would be different, especially with the first week of sales, but it hasn't...
I'm one of the 33 thousand that have bought this game in the US and I'm happy that I did so. It is such a breath of fresh air in more ways that one, and is in my personal opinion my pick for best strategy game of the year.
^-^ I'm telling every PS3 owner, to check this game out, to play the demo or rent the game, because it totally deserves to get at least a look. Since SEGA nor Sony won't do the job to promote this game, we should...
And especially when you have games like "Resistance 2", "Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm", "Quantum of Solace" and "EndWar" being sold on the same day on the same console, it's not surprising to see a new IP that has been meagerly marketed, if not marketed at all, being largely ignored...
Maybe if the game were to be released on an "off-day" like how "The Last Remnant" was, maybe the out come would be different, especially with the first week of sales, but it hasn't...
I'm one of the 33 thousand that have bought this game in the US and I'm happy that I did so. It is such a breath of fresh air in more ways that one, and is in my personal opinion my pick for best strategy game of the year.
^-^ I'm telling every PS3 owner, to check this game out, to play the demo or rent the game, because it totally deserves to get at least a look. Since SEGA nor Sony won't do the job to promote this game, we should...
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
zoku88 said:
Considering the fall of JRPGs this generation, I can't help but agree.
radiantdreamer
Member
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
Man, considering the budget for this game, it makes this sales bomb look even worse.
Valkyria Chronicles is dead, forget any dreams of a sequel or prequel.
Valkyria Chronicles is dead, forget any dreams of a sequel or prequel.
polyh3dron
Banned
OK where is the Amazon bomba sale already.
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
RpgN said:
Considering that people are talking about the game being hard to find, December will not be an improvement.
There is no way to spin this except that Valkyria is a dead franchise. Even if they port the game to 360, they will not make back the money invested in this game.
Vesperia also did reasonably well considering how Namco Bandai craps on the franchise.
Volcynika said:You were wrong, technically!
It sold worse
I know, I had no faith in sales, and it went below my expectations.
Fu PS3 owners who don't buy this game.
polyh3dron said:
Sega was smart and didn't print out 300,000 copies of a game that sold 33,000.
AlexM said:
so that list is now 10 places I've tried
-HMV
-Futureshop
-BestBuy
-London Drugs
-London Drugs #2
-The local buy and sell (they have new games)
-Ebgames
-amazon.ca
-Blockbuster (they said they sold out ordered more, but distribution/whoever they ordered from cancelled it on them)
-Rogers (I think she fake entered it into the computer :/ )
-london drugs #3 (they never had it registered as being in stock there)
I guess I'll just keep checking the internet, anyone know of a good online place besides amazon for canada?
Also one thing to note, is the average game buyer isnt going to check as many places as me to find this game, I have put in a fairly big effort and still cant find a copy. Considering how all these places sold out, I wonder if having decent distribution might have at least slightly improved the sales. The friends I have to do play games, would have probably bought it if it was at the store but they wouldnt go out of there way to find it (or any game for that matter).
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
RpgN said:
Sega knew it and they kept printing low, but had they printed more the game would be selling for $20 right now.
Since the sales are ABSOLUTELY PITIFUL, I think the low print run is justified. Especially when you consider that the the supply constraints seem to be limited in Canada. It seems that in the USA the game could be found anywhere, so the NPD sales that measure American sales is not due to supply constraints.
It is because of demand constraints
radiantdreamer
Member
Oh shit. If this is true, there may not be a second run of this game either...
Hcoregamer00 said:
I think you're wrong. A large chunk of the dev budget went to making the CANVAS engine which Sega will be looking to flog for the rest of this gen. Sega will make at least one sequel (or pre-quel) to milk back some of their sunk costs and if that does 300k or so worldwide they will make another etc. etc. ad infinitum
radiantdreamer
Member
"We may have lost the battle. But we have not lost the war!"
FredFish is partially right. The biggest costs isn't in the development though. It's in the marketing. To market a sequel would be a very high cost. Development costs are actually quite low on a relative comparison.
I think that it is likely that a sequel will emerge, but the chances of it coming stateside is VERY low.
FredFish is partially right. The biggest costs isn't in the development though. It's in the marketing. To market a sequel would be a very high cost. Development costs are actually quite low on a relative comparison.
I think that it is likely that a sequel will emerge, but the chances of it coming stateside is VERY low.
RpgN
Junior Member
Hcoregamer00 said:Sega knew it and they kept printing low, but had they printed more the game would be selling for $20 right now.
Since the sales are ABSOLUTELY PITIFUL, I think the low print run is justified. Especially when you consider that the the supply constraints seem to be limited in Canada. It seems that in the USA the game could be found anywhere, so the NPD sales that measure American sales is not due to supply constraints.
It is because of demand constraints
In the end, we did our part dear. We can't do anything more than recommend it to others and hope for some legs. Sega saw this coming and so did we. We expected a miracle yet we knew those numbers were impossible. Now it's all up to Sega's expectations I guess.
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
FredFish said:
I disagree, if Sega wanted to recoup costs, here is what I think they will do.
1. Kill the Valkyria Chronicles IP since it is not profitable
2. Use the engine to make a traditional RPG that is mutiplatform (XBOX 360, PS3, hell even a downgraded Wii version)
3. Pray to whoever they believe in that it wont fail.
radiantdreamer said:
Expect this game to be rare at some point in time.
RpgN said:
I knew this game would bomb, but the problem is that it bombed WAY HARDER than even my worst expectations.
This is horrible, screw the PS3 owners that don't want this game.
If they use the game engine, it should be mutiplatform because PS3 owners clearly don't give a shit about good games.
Hcoregamer00 said:
I think they are taking a longer term view perhaps. It sold fairly well (for a PS3 game) in Japan and they are coming out with a VC anime (for better or for worse) so they are certainly trying to establish the series. Multi-plat may be difficult from a technical standpoint since the three systems have such different architectures. I'm just speculating and could very well be wrong (hopefully not and we get at least one more VC game) but I think you have much higher sales targets than Sega does
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
FredFish said:
No, I do not have higher sales targets than Sega.
As for mutiplatform, it is possible. Don't forget that porting a game from the X360 to the PS3 is difficult, but it is easy to go from PS3 to the XBOX 360. What a coincidence, the CANVAS engine was built in the PS3, the console that is easy use as a base to port to another one.
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
FredFish said:But that says nothing about what Sega expected
Having one guy talking about not finding a copy in Canada does not equal "so many people about not being able to find the game."
It is easy to find in the USA, where the NPD statistics are pertinent. What a coincidence, if demand in the USA was higher, it would be somewhere between my estimate. Remember, in the United States, there is no shortage of supply like in Canada, there is a shortage of demand.
ixix said:
Looks like crap, there is no way that this anime will be a proper representation of the series.
If anything, it will scare away people from buying the game :lol
radiantdreamer
Member
I don't think that the demand for this game has anything to do with ps3 owners in particular. I don't think going multi-platform would have saved it. It only would have spread the numbers thinner across the board.
How well did Eternal Sonata do? Is that a relevant comparison?
As far as I know, the market demand is simply FPS. JRPGs have been falling off the radar for some time now.
I think a lot of it has to do with the market demand changing. I used to be a hardcore RPG player. I would finish the Japanese version of the latest Final Fantasy without understanding a word! I don't have time for that anymore.
With my current life, I can't afford the time to play an epic long game just to get a somewhat flat storyline. A 10 hour game for a flat storyline, I have time for. Quick risk/reward enjoyment, I have time for.
RPGs are long term commitments, let alone SRPGs which is an even narrower niche.
VC tried to correct this and did a fairly decent job at it. Grinding is minimal, you can save at any time, and the game moves at a fairly decent pace, story was also entertainingly anime too. But unfortunately, the demo did not illustrate ANY of these features, which may have something to do with the poor sales.
Sega REALLY advertised this game quite a bit. A lot of game magazines had adverts in it, and there were a lot of game trailers for it too. It was heavily shown at trade shows as well. It seems like it wasn't enough though, or they were just doing it wrong.
You're right though - it probably would have done better during an off season, and there just wasn't enough hype built up around it.
How well did Eternal Sonata do? Is that a relevant comparison?
As far as I know, the market demand is simply FPS. JRPGs have been falling off the radar for some time now.
I think a lot of it has to do with the market demand changing. I used to be a hardcore RPG player. I would finish the Japanese version of the latest Final Fantasy without understanding a word! I don't have time for that anymore.
With my current life, I can't afford the time to play an epic long game just to get a somewhat flat storyline. A 10 hour game for a flat storyline, I have time for. Quick risk/reward enjoyment, I have time for.
RPGs are long term commitments, let alone SRPGs which is an even narrower niche.
VC tried to correct this and did a fairly decent job at it. Grinding is minimal, you can save at any time, and the game moves at a fairly decent pace, story was also entertainingly anime too. But unfortunately, the demo did not illustrate ANY of these features, which may have something to do with the poor sales.
Sega REALLY advertised this game quite a bit. A lot of game magazines had adverts in it, and there were a lot of game trailers for it too. It was heavily shown at trade shows as well. It seems like it wasn't enough though, or they were just doing it wrong.
You're right though - it probably would have done better during an off season, and there just wasn't enough hype built up around it.
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
radiantdreamer said:
Your post is excellent, I really can't argue against it.
Japanese RPG has been on the decline, and this is a shining example of a game that should have been an underground hit that failed miserably.
I do have one point of contention, Eternal Sonata is not a valid comparison in any way, shape, or form because it is a different subgenre of RPG's. Not to mention it was released on the 360 one year ago, so it already had HORRIBLE word of mouth from the 360 release. Valkyria Chronicles, on the other hand was an exclusive RPG on the 360 with excellent word of mouth from Japan. Not only that, it got a fairly large marketing push compared to all the Holiday RPG's.
Valkyria Chronicles bombing is on a whole other level compared to Eternal Sonata bombing on the PS3, at least it had a chance on the 360 a year ago.
VC was on 360 a year ago?
Anyhow the comparisons to Vesperia isn't quite fair considering that the Tales of franchise is already a well established jrpg series in both Japan and US.
Like eternal Sonata. VC is a completely new IP and unless you have the "from the makers of FF" like LO and BD had. It's gonna have a hard time.
Anyhow the comparisons to Vesperia isn't quite fair considering that the Tales of franchise is already a well established jrpg series in both Japan and US.
Like eternal Sonata. VC is a completely new IP and unless you have the "from the makers of FF" like LO and BD had. It's gonna have a hard time.
Xisiqomelir
Member
XiaNaphryz said:VC only sold 33k according to Nov NPD.
I wonder if Sega may reconsider a 360 port to get more sales if Dec/Jan doesn't go too well.
Goddamn
radiantdreamer
Member
klee123 said:
It may have to resort to that sort of thing again in order for games to sell.
Remember how Seikendensetsu for Gameboy was renamed Final Fantasy Adventure?
Hcoregamer00 said:
Thank you, Hcoregamer!
I didn't know that ES sold that badly. I never really got into the whole thing with that anyway. The demo confirmed it for me too.
radiantdreamer
Member
Guled said:
I'm not sure if that would be a good point of reference either, considering the history of Disgaea in general.
Is there an original IP RPG on PS3 that we can compare to? What about Folklore? Not quite the same, but many consider it "RPG".
Doc Evils said:
DLC was mentioned early on. We can hope, but I doubt that it will happen.
I have the game purchased (shrink-wrapped) and I was waiting for trophies before I started it. If they never come out I will still pull it out one rainy day and give it a shot.
This is the first non-trophy game that I have purchased (it's usually required for me). Sad I know.
Thats too bad about the sales. I've finally picked up the game and i'm head over heels in love with it.
SOA is one of my favorite games and i've noticed some influences from it. I'm only at chapter 7 and i'm loving how it's manages to throw new challenges at you just when you think you've won the battle. I've got a few questions though:
1. Will i pick up a lot more weapons after chapter 6? I finally got a new machine gun, but it's not really that great. Are there a lot of them to find?
2. I've done the one side chapter with the reporter women. Are there any side chapters that will have you engage in a battle?
3. Will i get any more tank units? Or do i have just the Edelweiss?
4. Are there any plans for DLC? Like new skirmish maps or new side missions or something?
5. Any word on a sequel of some sort? I'm assuming the game was successful in Japan. Judging from the all the models and the new manga/anime series.
SOA is one of my favorite games and i've noticed some influences from it. I'm only at chapter 7 and i'm loving how it's manages to throw new challenges at you just when you think you've won the battle. I've got a few questions though:
1. Will i pick up a lot more weapons after chapter 6? I finally got a new machine gun, but it's not really that great. Are there a lot of them to find?
2. I've done the one side chapter with the reporter women. Are there any side chapters that will have you engage in a battle?
3. Will i get any more tank units? Or do i have just the Edelweiss?
4. Are there any plans for DLC? Like new skirmish maps or new side missions or something?
5. Any word on a sequel of some sort? I'm assuming the game was successful in Japan. Judging from the all the models and the new manga/anime series.
ezekial45 said:
There are branching trees of weapons you can research, weapons you can capture by killing named enemies, and weapons you receive as rewards later on. So yeah, there's quite a few.
ezekial45 said:
Yes.
ezekial45 said:
I'll spoiler this, just in case:
Yes, there's another tank.
ezekial45 said:
There's DLC already released in Japan, which is supposed to receive a release in other territories first quarter of '09.
ezekial45 said:
Sequel is doubtful. Others in this thread, I am sure, would be willing to couch this in more absolute terms.
Hcoregamer00 said:
The sharp nose look is in. I bet Welkin's razor-edged sniffer is going to cause sales of Valkyria to revive like a phoenix, as the notoriously excitable and affluent nasal enthusiast set picks up the game in droves.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Port this bitch to the 360 Sega. It'll get the Sales it deserves.
semiconscious
Member
my take: crowded time of year + new ip + srpg = not surprised. i'm not mad, just sad, & i'm taking comfort in the fact that, whether it's vc, or yakuza 1&2, sega seems determined not to deprive us of good gaming, no matter the cost...
i'd also be interested in what their expectations were...
i'd also be interested in what their expectations were...
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
BlueTsunami said:
Normally seeing a post like this would make see seethe with rage.
After seeing the PS3 sales, it is clear that we we not worthy of getting this as exclusive.
From that edge-online link:
"NPD's David Riley told Edge the game didn't manage to crack the top 100 game SKUs for November, whose software sales roster was ruled by titles including World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Gears of War 2, Wii Fit and Call of Duty: World at War.
Valkyria Chronicles released on November 4 in the U.S. The title first shipped in Japan in late April, where it performed much better, shifting 77K units in its first week. It debuted at number three behind blockbusters Mario Kart Wii and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, according to Media Create."
Not even in the top 100?!? And honestly what were Sega thinking releasing this game at thi time of the year? Typical Sega...
The second paragraph paints a rosier picture. So is VC considered a success in Japan? I mean it states that it came in at number 3 in the chart (I guess maybe it dropped off rapidly after that).
"NPD's David Riley told Edge the game didn't manage to crack the top 100 game SKUs for November, whose software sales roster was ruled by titles including World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Gears of War 2, Wii Fit and Call of Duty: World at War.
Valkyria Chronicles released on November 4 in the U.S. The title first shipped in Japan in late April, where it performed much better, shifting 77K units in its first week. It debuted at number three behind blockbusters Mario Kart Wii and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, according to Media Create."
Not even in the top 100?!? And honestly what were Sega thinking releasing this game at thi time of the year? Typical Sega...
The second paragraph paints a rosier picture. So is VC considered a success in Japan? I mean it states that it came in at number 3 in the chart (I guess maybe it dropped off rapidly after that).
Hcoregamer00
The 'H' stands for hentai.
Paznos said:
To be fair, the people on the Vesperia thread were just as upset as we were about sales of their game.
They were not jumping for joy with the sales, since it was also great game that undersold.
Similar threads
- Locked