RE4 announced for PS2.

hmm.. I would think that Capcom would have confirmed the Xbox together with the PS2 version when they made the last PR. I wouldn't know why they would want to keep quite on the Xbox version, especially if they are to release around the same time anyway.

I'd say this rumour is more wishful thinking than anything. Just my 2 cents.
 
There are most definately potential sales going begging for the RE series on Gamecube. I guess the only real comparison would be based on RE 0, but there are perhaps as many as one million more people who may have bought that game, had it been on PS2. There are both RE fans who are waiting for RE4 before they buy a gamecube (significant IMO) and casual gamers who bought into the Resident evil franchise when it was on Playstation because it was big, back then (IIRC ;) ). I believe those casual gamer PS2 owners would buy again, given the chance. I admit, not every fan is hard core enough to buy a gamecube just for one game (RE4), of course.
As far as Nintendo "losing out", it would be because of those fans who were waiting for RE4 before getting Gamecube and some 'lighter' fans who may have been swayed eventually. With Capcom's early announcement, most of those sales will be lost, because their is no reason for them to buy a Gamecube now. Believe it.

I also want to mention that I read a couple of years ago that the reason why Shinji Mikami (promoted to a very high authority position at that point) chose to give Gamecube exclusivity for all those games (Capcom5 etc) was because he very much disliked the PS2, due to its Disc read error problems. There is a quote out there somewhere from him, stating something very much like "The PS2 is a rip off! They plan on inflating their sales by selling faulty products. This is dishonest and I will not support such a scandal."
His charge over what games went where led to the Nintendo deals. Unfortunately for him, sales tanked. He of course was fired (demoted back to RE producer). He has no power at Capcom any more. That is proven by Capcom going over his head (no pun intended) with this RE4 announcement.
Considering how eccentric Mikami san is, I actually wouldn't be surprised if he did decapitate himself somehow. He really does hate Sony you know.


I also would like to add that there are further potential sales for RE4, other than those listed above.
I have read that RE4 is quite a step forward in terms of style and gameplay for the series. It has been said by a few that RE4 has much wider appeal due to more conventional controls and better gameplay. Added to this is the inevitable mass market impact that the fantastic art style and graphics will have. I believe RE4 on PS2 will indeed sell well over a million copies. If the previews are correct, maybe it will sell 2 million on PS2, if not more. Mark my words, it will come to pass.

Nintendo are indeed "losing out".
 
For the curious (worldwide sales as of March 2004)...

Resident Evil Series (36 releases) 24,700,000
Resident Evil 2 (PS) 4,960,000
Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PS) 3,500,000
Resident Evil (PS) 2,750,000
Resident Evil Code: Veronica X (PS2) 1,320,000
Resident Evil (GC) 1,240,000
Resident Evil: Director's Cut Dual Shock (PS) 1,200,000
Resident Evil 0 (GC) 1,190,000
Resident Evil Code: Veronica (DC) 1,140,000
Resident Evil: Director's Cut (PS) 1,130,000

Onimusha Series (9 releases) 6,000,000
Onimusha: Warlords (PS2) 2,020,000
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny (PS2) 1,990,000

Devil May Cry Series (3 releases) 4,500,000
Devil May Cry (PS2) 2,160,000
Devil May Cry 2 (PS2) 1,500,000

Dino Crisis Series (10 releases) 4,300,000
Dino Crisis (PS) 2,400,000
Dino Crisis 2 (PS) 1,190,000
 
jarrod said:
For the curious (worldwide sales as of March 2004)...
Click to expand...
The serie total numbers are from Capcom. Are the Sale per game also from Capcom? Because that's very interesting.
 
Vysez said:
The serie total numbers are from Capcom. Are the Sale per game also from Capcom? Because that's very interesting.
Click to expand...
They're from CESA iirc, who gets them directly from the publisher (ie: Capcom).

RE never really recovered after being moved to DC, but GC held sales at least from that point. What's really startling is the massive drop Onimusha's faced (part 3 is likely only around 750k worldwide) and especially Dino Crisis getting moved to Xbox (DC3 is around 300k probably).

For other notable Capcom series...

Street Fighter Series (50 releases) 23,400,000
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES) 6,300,000
Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting (SNES) 4,100,000
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (SNES) 2,000,000
Street Fighter II': Special Champion Edition (Gen) 1,670,000
Street Fighter Alpha 3 (PS) 1,000,000

Megaman Series (87 releases) 21,400,000
Megaman II (NES) 1,510,000
Megaman X (SNES) 1,170,000
Megaman III (NES) 1,080,000

Disney Series (33 releases) 13,000,000
Disney's Aladdin (SNES) 1,750,00
Disney's Duck Tales (NES) 1,670,000
Disney's Duck Tales (GB) 1,430,000
Disney's Magical Quest Starring Mickey Mouse (SNES) 1,210,000
Disney's Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers (NES) 1,200,000

Ghosts 'n Goblins Series (13 releases) 4,100,000
Ghosts 'n Goblins (NES) 1,640,000
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts (SNES) 1,090,000

Final Fight Series (8 releases) 3,100,000
Final Fight (SNES) 1,480,000
Final Fight 2 (SNES) 1,030,000
 
jarrod said:
They're from CESA iirc, who gets them directly from the publisher (ie: Capcom).
Click to expand...

Yep that's right, CESA numbers are the publisher numbers.
Thanks for the heads up, anyway, it's always interesting to see publisher's own numbers. :D
 
jarrod said:
What's really startling is the massive drop Onimusha's faced (part 3 is likely only around 750k worldwide)
Click to expand...
O3 got 430k sales on the first week in Japan, and while that doesn't tell us anything definitive, I think it's safe to say they'll score over 750k worldwide. (Especially since O3 has more european appeal and overall impression than the ones before it.)
Those GCN numbers are pretty interesting considering it's just a "kiddy" system.
Click to expand...
On the whole, it seems to show that the same RE fans will buy just about anything. ;)

Ok, not "just about." Thankfully the painful ports of 2 and 3 didn't attract the same crowds. (Why didn't they redo them like the first using the original engine, I wonder?)
 
cthellis42 said:
jarrod said:
What's really startling is the massive drop Onimusha's faced (part 3 is likely only around 750k worldwide)
Click to expand...
O3 got 430k sales on the first week in Japan, and while that doesn't tell us anything definitive, I think it's safe to say they'll score over 750k worldwide. (Especially since O3 has more european appeal and overall impression than the ones before it.)
Click to expand...
Sure, it'll crawl past 750k, but I doubt it'll ever break a million. It's around 550k in Japan now and that's Oni's strongest region by a wide margin... unless the French come out in record numbers for the game, it can expect to be about half as successful as the previous games (which is likely why Capcom Studio 2's reusing the engine in Shadow of Rome, to help recoup costs).

Both Onimusha spinoffs (Tactics & Blade Warriors) also failed to perform at retail... I think this franchise is on it's way out personally.
 
Japan accounted to half their sales for the previous two games, so while it's indeed their strongest region it doesn't point to the others as having minimal effect. Seems to me the better graphics, more western appeal, and solid reviews would help it be proportionally better rather than worse. (It would have done them some good to run more commercials showing off the Robot CG, though. Yowza~! ;) )

Spinoffs, like most spinoffs, tend to have minimal effect. (Blade Warriors is sillified fun, though. ^_^ ) The typical buyers can recognize "strength of game" over "strength of license," and know where the developers' strengths lie.

I do agree, however, that the series will probably have minimal impact in the future. Possibly a token game thrown at next generation, but maybe not if they figure the storyline as "complete" now, and don't see the license as strong enough to sell titles on its own.
 
Well US sales are around 175k, which is actually slightly better than Onimusha 2 was doing initially. But really, I don't think there's much hope... despite France. :p
 
How did they break down in the US down the line, then? It's been out for 6 months and runs $30 now, so I figure it would be selling at a slow leak to those people who were waiting for a decent drop first. (Or do they wait for that magic $20 number? Heh.)

According to the numbers you gave for Capcom's sales (of 1 and 2) and factoring out Japan's sales numbers (from MagicBox), the "rest of the world" (which I tend to think amounts to a good 90% or more as "US + Europe") accounted for basically one million sales. Limiting the US to around 200k (you said "initially" but it didn't seem like you were expecting anything much more) smells wrong.
 
Onimusha 2 only moved around 90k iirc before hitting bargins bins in the US (afterward it eventually climbed past 400k). Longterm Onimusha 3 could possibly do the same, it's done a little better initially. Worldwide total lifetime sales would exceed a million then definitely... and yes I'd say O3 has far greater western appeal, but I just don't think it really matters in today's crowded market. DMC3 and RE4 are better games to pin Capcom's hopes on I'd say, both look top of the line.
 
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