All purpose sales and sales rumors/anecdotes thread next gen+

[east of eastside]

PlayStation Experience was a very smart marketing move deliberately scheduled when it was because Sony's marketing MBA's were smart enough to figure out that Microsoft would employ aggressive holiday price cuts that would be effective.

LOL at the conspiracy theory trolling... (It's just fun discussion so I am not personally offended.) I am not saying Sony made a deal with Capcom because of recent Amazon sales ranking..lol. This exclusivity deal was made months ago (there was some SF/PS4 tease trailer made around the Japanese PS4 launch (I believe) hinting something was up.

I am saying that the decision to make the SFV announcement bomb now, rather than save the marketing powder for E3, was a planned, tactical counter response to Xbox One holiday sales momentum on Sony's part. This is academic marketing.

For all we know Mark Cerny killed JFK.

Lee Harvey Oswald had autistic spectrum disorder. There was no conspiracy. CASE CLOSED.

 

[iroboto]

I am saying that the decision to make the SFV announcement bomb now, rather than save the marketing powder for E3, was a planned, tactical counter response to Xbox One holiday sales momentum on Sony's part. This is academic marketing.

To note from your POV, Apparently because the trailer was 'leaked', that Capcom were forced to announce at PSX. Otherwise they were waiting for another game conference to occur before the official announcement.
It is entirely up to the reader to decide if this was a last minute placement for PSX or not.

 

[London Geezer]

I am saying that the decision to make the SFV announcement bomb now, rather than save the marketing powder for E3, was a planned, tactical counter response to Xbox One holiday sales momentum on Sony's part. This is academic marketing.

Could have been a response, but there is no evidence for that so you cannot postulate your dogma as The Truth. We have no idea what the timelines of the deal have been, so to say that an announcement was a direct response to X1 sales.
Also, sorry to say but SF5 as a direct response to increased sales of the X1? Really? We're not talking about announcing that the next GTA will be exclusive...

 

[east of eastside]

To note from your POV, Apparently because the trailer was 'leaked', that Capcom were forced to announce at PSX. Otherwise they were waiting for another game conference to occur before the official announcement.
It is entirely up to the reader to decide if this was a last minute placement for PSX or not.

I am not saying it was last minute. The leak was a leak of something already in the announcement pipeline.

Here is support that the SFV exclusivity deal was over a year old:

(Hadouken Cabs PS4 launch trailer)

 

[east of eastside]

Could have been a response, but there is no evidence for that so you cannot postulate your dogma as The Truth. We have no idea what the timelines of the deal have been, so to say that an announcement was a direct response to X1 sales.

I don't have evidence, just reason that you save marketing impact for when it is needed and not when you are comfortably outselling your rival.

Also, sorry to say but SF5 as a direct response to increased sales of the X1? Really? We're not talking about announcing that the next GTA will be exclusive...

Not saying that at all..

 

[London Geezer]

I don't have evidence, just reason that you save marketing impact for when it is needed and not when you are comfortably outselling your rival.



Not saying that at all..

They were going to announce it at some point and in the eyes of some people it was always going to be in response to something related to MS... And that would probably be the case. Action reaction.

 

[Nesh]

PlayStation Experience was a very smart marketing move deliberately scheduled when it was because Sony's marketing MBA's were smart enough to figure out that Microsoft would employ aggressive holiday price cuts that would be effective.

Trying to be proactive and reactive are two different things though. Its not hard to expect competition to do some pretty good deals during the holidays. But that has nothing to do with MS winning November's NPD sales. The PS Experience was a marketing act planned on its own for some strong holiday sales.
You on the other hand the way you place it is that they lost or knew they would lose November and they had to do something.

LOL at the conspiracy theory trolling... (It's just fun discussion so I am not personally offended.) I am not saying Sony made a deal with Capcom because of recent Amazon sales ranking..lol. This exclusivity deal was made months ago (there was some SF/PS4 tease trailer made around the Japanese PS4 launch (I believe) hinting something was up.

I am saying that the decision to make the SFV announcement bomb now, rather than save the marketing powder for E3, was a planned, tactical counter response to Xbox One holiday sales momentum on Sony's part. This is academic marketing.

Ok now you are more clear. Regardless this may or may not be the case. The Playstation Experience was an important event to for all things Playstation. It is an event that everyone would normally expect some surprises such as a big exclusive deal. The fact that Christmass are close, is enough to make them want to plan some good marketing campaign to make their product the most desirable purchase for the holidays. The SFV announcement fits perfectly such an opportunity to present the Playstation 4 with a bang. Since the Playstation Experience event unlike E3, is up to Sony when to happen, why wait for E3 and not announce it now during the holidays? (Besides we also heard that Capcom was forced to make a pre announcement due to a leakage)


Thats also Academic Marketing

 

[MrFox]

The way I see it:

1. Capcom went shopping for a co-production deal.
2. Microsoft said they'd rather invest more in Killer Instinct, so it wasn't worth bidding on this.
3. Sony needed classic fighters on PS4 which none of their first party are doing, so logically it was worth it. A new franchise isn't easy, as the golden age of fighters is over and it's a crowd filled with nostalgia.

Each company made a reasonable decision based on it's own situation regardless of what the other guy is doing.

 

[iroboto]

The way I see it:

1. Capcom went shopping for a co-production deal.
2. Microsoft said they'd rather invest more in Killer Instinct, so it wasn't worth bidding on this.
3. Sony needed classic fighters on PS4 which none of their first party are doing, so logically it was worth it. A new franchise isn't easy, as the golden age of fighters is over and it's a crowd filled with nostalgia.

Each company made a reasonable decision based on it's own situation regardless of what the other guy is doing.

I imagine it went something like this, but Street Fighter is a huge franchise, perhaps the price was just too high to pay

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I imagine it went something like this, but Street Fighter is a huge franchise, perhaps the price was just too high to pay

I'm not sure Capcom really have the luxury of putting a high price on this IP in their current financial state. Xbox already has a fighter (Killer Instinct) which I understand is pretty good so it's probably of less value to Microsoft then Sony who have no fighter after a year - a first for a PlayStation console!

Even then I don't know if fighters are really that big a market these days, but what I do know is fighter folks do tend to have distinct preferences. I like Virtua Fighter but also dig some Tekken. I've no interest in SF. There are likely SF fans but how many? As a VF fan I wouldn't consider SF as a substitute.

 

[Nesh]

There are likely SF fans but how many? As a VF fan I wouldn't consider SF as a substitute.

I think that would be impossible. VF is the best 3D fighter out there, whereas SF although has 3D graphics is probably the best 2D fighter out there

 

[iroboto]

I'm not sure Capcom really have the luxury of putting a high price on this IP in their current financial state. Xbox already has a fighter (Killer Instinct) which I understand is pretty good so it's probably of less value to Microsoft then Sony who have no fighter after a year - a first for a PlayStation console!

Even then I don't know if fighters are really that big a market these days, but what I do know is fighter folks do tend to have distinct preferences. I like Virtua Fighter but also dig some Tekken. I've no interest in SF. There are likely SF fans but how many? As a VF fan I wouldn't consider SF as a substitute.

I thought about this as well. But street fighter roots go deep, its got the largest install base I think of all fighting games. I don't know how many copies it sells however. There must be a reason Capcom is in trouble right.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

But street fighter roots go deep, its got the largest install base I think of all fighting games. I don't know how many copies it sells however.

Does not compute. If you don't know how many it sells how can you know SF has the largest install base? There's certainly been a lot of games over the years, particularly the hundred variants of SF2, but are they still being played? If not, that's not an 'install' base - that's history.

 

[DieH@rd]

There are likely SF fans but how many?

According to Capcom's internal numbers, as of September 30 2014 SF4 [basic game, no expansions] has sold 3.3 million copies. Even if this game sells less, this game will still attract a lot of fighting fans to purchase PS4, so it is a clear win for Sony.
http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/business/million.html

With four expansions, SF4 "franchise" sold 8 million.

 

[Shortbread]

FYI: Tekken series has sold more than 42.5 million copies, compared to the Street Fighter series of 35 million.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

According to Capcom's internal numbers, as of September 30 2014 SF4 [basic game, no expansions] has sold 3.3 million copies.

Across two platforms.

Even if this game sells less, this game will still attract a lot of fighting fans to purchase PS4, so it is a clear win for Sony.

A system seller? I guess we'll see when it launches. Myself, I'm sceptical.

 

[Shortbread]

A system seller? I guess we'll see when it launches. Myself, I'm skeptical.

If bundled correctly, could move a lot of units in Japan and parts of Asia.

 

[iroboto]

Across two platforms.



A system seller? I guess we'll see when it launches. Myself, I'm sceptical.

Enlight of this new information, I'm in agreement. I've always been under the assumption that SF had the largest user base because iconically everyone knows who Ken, Ryu, and Chun Li are. It's a big thing to walk away from, but if Tekken is selling more (wow, that's a lot), then I agree that pouring money into the next SF may not be the best move for Xbox especially if KI is making good headway into the FG community (which we unfortunately don't have numbers to view)

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I've always been under the assumption that SF had the largest user base because iconically everyone knows who Ken, Ryu, and Chun Li are.

I think this perception is just because it's been around forever. Tekken really was the established fighter on PlayStation 1 and 2. When I played 2D fighters on C64/Amiga, The Way of the Exploding Fist and International Karate were "the thing".

Jeeze.. showing my age.

 

[zed]

Personally I'm sceptable about street fighter, I even remember it, which shows how old it is. Though from wiki SF4

Street Fighter IV has sold 3.3 million units.[15]Super Street Fighter IV has sold 1.9 million units,[15] in addition to 1.1 million of the Arcade Edition (full game only).[15]Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition sold an additional 1.2 million copies.[15]Ultra Street Fighter IV has sold 500,000 copies (full game only) by September 30, 2014. This adds up to sales of 8 million copies in total. Upon its release, the game received universal critical acclaim; receiving universally high scores from many gaming websites and magazines. It has also been listed among the greatest games of its generation.

So maybe there still is demand, though I think fighting games are on the downward slide