Famitsu Sales (VF Nº1)

[Sindre]

That sort of curve is exactly what I was thinking of when I saw the VF5 sales (i.e. most traditional games see high initial sales and drop off significantly after the first couple weeks). The PS3 is a new platform and over the next 6 months won't see a ton of new titles, so new purchases will continue to breath life into VF5 as it will continue to stick out in the library.

For some perspective (thanks for the link Zeckensack!!):

VF4 1 week sales (02/02/02): 367,500 (All Time Japanese Total: 558k)

Similar time of year, of course by this time the PS2 had 7.9M units in Japan versus fewer than 700k PS3s in Japan right now. The VF 3TB numbers are probably the most similar (although going back that far probably opens far too many variables). Released around the DC launch in 1998 it was able to push out 110k units at launch in the first week, 367k total in liftetime in Japan.

It doesn't look very likely that VF5 is going to match the VF4 sales in Japan, which is unfortunate. Of course I think many gamers are looking for a new breath of life in the genre in general...

So based on your numbers, VF5 actually sold more units compared to PS3's user base (ca. 650K) than VF4 compared to PS2's user base (7.9 Mill) at the time. Approximately 7.6% vs. 4.6%
Of cours this is likely due to the less stellar PS3 game library right now. . .

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Vgcharts indicates sold at retail and MS is claiming shipped to retail.

their numbers are simply the aggregate of all the other numbers and reporting services we normally quote anyway. For Japan, VG = Famitsu. For the US, VG = NPD.

Not exactly, as he 'corrects' or rather, messes with the numbers quite a bit.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

So based on your numbers, VF5 actually sold more units compared to PS3's user base (ca. 650K) than VF4 compared to PS2's user base (7.9 Mill) at the time. Approximately 7.6% vs. 4.6%
Of cours this is likely due to the less stellar PS3 game library right now. . .

Based on those numbers, Vf5 sold worse than DOA4 did in japan, with a userbase of 150-200k.

 

[TheChefO]

Based on those numbers, Vf5 sold worse than DOA4 did in japan, with a userbase of 150-200k.

http://www.vgcharts.org/japweekly.php?date=38718

WOW!

This is shocking:

Dead or Alive4 sold more (59,000) on xbox360 with a userbase of 87,000! In the same time span.

I was under the impression VirtuaFighter was a much stronger franchise than DOA.

 

[avaya]

Oh to be a fly on the wall of Kaz Hirai's office right now. These are shokcing numbers, but not surprising.

 

[Arwin]

I guess one difference is that the PS3 is also bought as a BluRay player, and I wouldn't be surprised if a considerable number of the consoles bought in Japan have been exported.

 

[Zaphod]

This is shocking:

Dead or Alive4 sold more (59,000) on xbox360 with a userbase of 87,000!

I was under the impression VirtuaFighter was a much stronger franchise that DOA.

Well, if the numbers are correct, the 360 has an attach rate of 2,90 vs. the PS3 1,05 in Japan (2,18 for Wii). Sorta' goes to show that while the Playstation brand is still strong there and that niche franchises may still push consoles, they are in desperate need for a broader games lineup. Some people purchasing the PS3 primarily as a movie player may also play into this.

 

[Bobbler]

http://www.vgcharts.org/japweekly.php?date=38718

WOW!

This is shocking:

Dead or Alive4 sold more (59,000) on xbox360 with a userbase of 87,000!

I was under the impression VirtuaFighter was a much stronger franchise that DOA.

It's not really that surprising when you think about it. Most JP Xbox owners are likely fans of DOA, as there wasn't much reason to own the system otherwise (with very little on the horizon at the time that was of interest over there) -- if you owned a 360 in JP at the time, you pretty much were either american or a DOA lover, to generalize a bit. VF is one of many titles that was known to come, while DOA was more or less a flagship title over there for 360 over there -- VF has always been a relatively niche title on the playstation (check out VF4 sales compared to userbase vs DOA3/4 to the userbase, for example).

Worldwide DOA3 sold near VF4 on a much smaller userbase, unless I'm mistaken. As good as the VF series is, it really is a niche fighter as it's rather difficult to get into.

It definitely isn't a widespread system seller, but for a select few it's a very important title.

I was actually expecting around 30-40k sales on this one, so ~50k is nice. It should have steady ~5-10k a week sales for several months after this... nothing spectacular, but probably okay in the long run. A VF5: Evo in a year or two will likely happen.

 

[DeadlyNinja]

I was under the impression VirtuaFighter was a much stronger franchise than DOA.

Virtua Fighter is as popular as Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat was. It is a niche in other countries, but it's almost a religion in Japan. VF5 is still very hot at the arcades right now, but keep in mind so was SF and MK, but they sold incredibly well when they were released on consoles.

 

[Teasy]

I honestly am surprised. I didn't expect all these huge franchises being pushed away by what is arguably a very hardcore niche game. The PS3 install base, especially in Japan, has certainly been craving for something, I can see that, but still I'm shocked to see Pokémon and Wii Sports chart below a meticulous one-on-one fighting game.

Am I understanding you right here? Did you just call Wii Sports a huge franchise and VF5 a niche franchise? Are you actually saying your shocked that VF5 sold slighly more in its first week then Wii Sports or Pokemon sold in there 11th and 20th weeks respectively?..

 

[Johnny Awesome]

I agree with Teasy. It would have been ridiculous for VF5 NOT to have been #1 on the charts. That would have been a fiasco of epic proportions.

 

[TheChefO]

I agree with Teasy. It would have been ridiculous for VF5 NOT to have been #1 on the charts. That would have been a fiasco of epic proportions.

I personally still cannot fathom how VF was outsold by DOA. And this while having roughly 1/8th the userbase to sell to.

 

[Todd33]

I personally still cannot fathom how VF was outsold by DOA. And this while having roughly 1/8th the userbase to sell to.

It's not hard to fathom, it was discussed above. The small group that bought 360's when DOA was released bought the 360 to play DOA. That doesn't seem to be the case for the majority of Japanese PS3 owners. I just fathomed it for you... your welcome

 

[TheChefO]

It's not hard to fathom, it was discussed above. The small group that bought 360's when DOA was released bought the 360 to play DOA. That doesn't seem to be the case for the majority of Japanese PS3 owners. I just fathomed it for you... your welcome

DOA was thought to be a smaller, less significant franchise than VirtuaFighter in Japan. Regardless of platform.

The fact that it was not hardware/userbase limited drives home my point that apparantly VF is either significantly weaker franchise than I thought or PS fans there just don't like to buy software (ie: most were bought to export or play movies).

Even if only 87,000 out of the 600k+ ps3's in Japan were bought to play games in Japan, it still goes against the thought of VF > DOA in Japan.

 

[22psi]

Dang, when will the PS3 get its first break out title then? What's coming on the near horizon?

 

[TheChefO]

The notion of sales ratio or game sold/console only applies to a certain extent.

There are a set amount of people who are fans of certain games, a larger subset of people who are fans of certain genres and another set of people that overlap these groups that just want to have something to play on their new console that is highquality and polished or a "show" title.

Fans of a game franchise are a set number. The number may waiver (grow/shrink) dependant on their personal growth and personal interpritation of where the series is going and depending on how close this direction matches their feelings will equate to purchase.

367,500 people bought VF4 in it's first week in Japan (8 million ps2 userbase at the time). 557,750 total people bought the title lifetime.

Out of the 557,750 that bought the vf4, perhaps some people:
Didn't like the game
Don't like Fighters anymore
Don't like how the series has progressed
Don't feel the new title is worth the cost
Don't feel ps3 is worth the cost

If this list only left us with 87,000 out of the 557,750 that bought VF, it still leaves me puzzled that VF5 did not outsell DOA4, as DOA3 only sold 238,000 lifetime in Japan.

 

[Todd33]

DOA was thought to be a smaller, less significant franchise than VirtuaFighter in Japan. Regardless of platform.

The fact that it was not hardware/userbase limited drives home my point that apparantly VF is either significantly weaker franchise than I thought or PS fans there just don't like to buy software (ie: most were bought to export or play movies).

Even if only 87,000 out of the 600k+ ps3's in Japan were bought to play games in Japan, it still goes against the thought of VF > DOA in Japan.

Whatever, you wanted a hypothetical and you got one. So if there were 60,000 PS3s in Japan then suddenly VF > DOA? I have no clue on the merits or popularity of either franchise, I dislike fighting games. Must every bit of console news be spun into bad news for Sony?

Maybe they really hate the VF series or they are waiting for the 360 version

 

[Readykilowatt]

The notion of sales ratio or game sold/console only applies to a certain extent.

There are a set amount of people who are fans of certain games, a larger subset of people who are fans of certain genres and another set of people that overlap these groups that just want to have something to play on their new console that is highquality and polished or a "show" title.

Fans of a game franchise are a set number. The number may waiver (grow/shrink) dependant on their personal growth and personal interpritation of where the series is going and depending on how close this direction matches their feelings will equate to purchase.

367,500 people bought VF4 in it's first week in Japan (8 million ps2 userbase at the time). 557,750 total people bought the title lifetime.

Out of the 557,750 that bought the vf4, perhaps some people:
Didn't like the game
Don't like Fighters anymore
Don't like how the series has progressed
Don't feel the new title is worth the cost
Don't feel ps3 is worth the cost

If this list only left us with 87,000 out of the 557,750 that bought VF, it still leaves me puzzled that VF5 did not outsell DOA4, as DOA3 only sold 238,000 lifetime in Japan.

Well, IMO... as I've said before, game franchises have a hardcore and a casual following... The casual VF player jumped ship because of some or all of the things you listed above. That leaves the hardcore VF crowd, but...

VF5 is released in the arcades. As a hardcore VF player, why should he/she spend a lot of money to buy a PS3, buy an arcade stick and buy an expensive HDTV to display VF5 when they simply can go to their local arcade? DOA4 was not released in the arcades, so a hardcore DOA fan has to buy a Xbox 360 to play it.

 

[TheChefO]

Whatever, you wanted a hypothetical and you got one. So if there were 60,000 PS3s in Japan then suddenly VF > DOA? I have no clue on the merits or popularity of either franchise, I dislike fighting games. Must every bit of console news be spun into bad news for Sony?

Maybe they really hate the VF series or they are waiting for the 360 version

This is bad news for Sega. When did anyone spin this into bad news for Sony? If one were to evaluate Sony's position in this situation it would seem likely that Sega might want to see if they can sell this title on other platforms. Hence the port to xb360. With sales this low they may even decide to release it in Japan as well unless they have an exlusive contract in place. One could look at that situation as a bad one for Sony in their potential loss of an exclusive in Japan if one were looking for a negative spin on Sony.

My userbase comparison is merely to demonstrate that enough owners were out there to support sales significantly higher than DOA achieved on XB360.


ReadyK - seems this may contribute to the issue. Is VF5 online enabled?

 

[Trawler]

This is bad news for Sega. When did anyone spin this into bad news for Sony?

This is real bad news for Sony. Other publishers are going to notice this number and have a long hard think about their target platforms.