First Day Sales

[Sonix]

http://dubai.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1258090969/

ルナ　7300　37%

It doesn't seem much. First week should be around 12-15k.
I don't know much about Lunar's popularity in Japan, but if my memory is correct, both SSS's on Saturn did around 200k and the PS1 version did 60k.

[DevNall]

ルナ　7300　37%

What's the 37%?

[Sonix]

I believe the initial shipment.
So the first shipment was around 20k, and it sold 37% of that on first day.

[Nobiyuki77]

Hang in there Lunar!

EDIT: On the other hand, this may not be as terrible as it looks. Keep in mind that it's selling for full price (5,040 ￥ if I recall...) with today's exchange rate is about $55.99. Take $10 out for manufacture and you get $45.99. Multiply by 7,300 and you get $335,727. And that's only forthe first day. If it eventually gets to say, 12,000 and you have $551,880.

So ultimately, it depends on what the budget was. As this is a remake with most of the design work already done, GungHo might not need it to sell tons. The fact that they only shipped around 20,000 further suggests that this may not be as god awful as it looks now.

Whatever the final number is, I just hope it's enough for an EB remake. I would love to play EB with an equally improved soundtrack as HoSS's.

[Kizyr]

I'll have to check the original site a little later. But in any case, I wouldn't be that pessimistic. It's a handheld game, and handhelds rarely fare as well as console games (so there's not a great comparison to be made between SSH and SSS).

As I recall, even Dragon Quest IX when it came out didn't sell as well as was expected. And that thing was heavily marketed; when I picked it up (opening day, no pre-order) there were still boxes of the game everywhere. KF

[vicdaman]

not only is it a handheld but it is also a PSP game. and if it's still the case, the nintendo DS is much more popular in Japan than the PSP. heck i'm sure the DS is still more popular here too.

EDIT: i also heard from someone who lives in Japan that the added four heroes story is a prolouge. which is what i wanted last. would have prefered it split along the course of the game. or at least near the end.

[Shiva Indis]

As this is a remake with most of the design work already done, GungHo might not need it to sell tons. The fact that they only shipped around 20,000 further suggests that this may not be as god awful as it looks now.

Agreed, it probably won't take much for the game to make its money back - programming architecture lifted from a game made in 1996 doesn't say 'we spent a lot of money developing this'. ^_^;

[Nobiyuki77]

Here's also the Go factor. PSPGo users need to wait for this to be released on PSN. As far as I'm aware this has not been released on PSN...

[Justinzero]

As I recall, even Dragon Quest IX when it came out didn't sell as well as was expected. And that thing was heavily marketed; when I picked it up (opening day, no pre-order) there were still boxes of the game everywhere. KF

Yeah, but that game moved over 300000 units on its first day, didn't it? Even if there are copies left around, that's still quite a bit of money.

[vicdaman]

i heard from multiple people now that the added scenes is a prolouge so that's pretty much confirmed. and i also heard from one person that if you have the saved demo data you get an accesory or something, and he says it's pretty useful. didn't go into what it did but he says he still has it on luna and he's at lann.

[Sonix]

Dragon Quest IX sold around 2.4m first week. It up to 4m now.

Anyway, PSP Go did really bad in Japan. It sold 30k first week and around the same the next one. So thats not really a good excuse.

[Alunissage]

vicdaman, please be careful about what you post and mark spoilers. Nothing you've said so far is especially spoilery, but keep it in mind for future comments if you do hear more details.

[vicdaman]

alright sorry about the mild spoilers.

i have some good news though for those who ordered from play-asia.

someone stated that they recieved the soundtrack and it is 34 tracks even though the site didn't state it. So he was pleasantly surprised.

oh and the thing you get from the demo data is a really good weapon for luna early on.

[GhaleonOne]

34 tracks!! Nice!

[Aaron]

Just because the game is about 50 USD in Japan doesn't mean that they'll make their money back. I don't know the average income of a Japanese worker but 300k isn't that much and if you assume that they had an average staff of about 20 people then that is about 5 people's salaries?

Then you have to pay for other things...

But who is really shocked by this info anyway? Today, Lunar is not a headliner game. So, I don't think they were expecting huge numbers opening day. I'm sure in the long run they'll make their money back. If they didn't they wouldn't be making remakes every couple of years.

[Silver Phoenix]

Damn, we better get the same soundtrack released here when the game comes out or one of you is burning me a copy!

[Kizyr]

Just because the game is about 50 USD in Japan doesn't mean that they'll make their money back. I don't know the average income of a Japanese worker but 300k isn't that much and if you assume that they had an average staff of about 20 people then that is about 5 people's salaries?

DragonmasterDan is the resident expert on the video game industry, so he would be able to offer a much better breakdown of how profits are generated.

While I don't have industry-specific knowledge, I do know enough about businesses in general to know that you can't go from all the money consumers spend on a purchase straight to how much people get paid. There are too many other factors beyond just how well a product sells. KF

[DevNall]

It's a handheld game, and handhelds rarely fare as well as console games (so there's not a great comparison to be made between SSH and SSS).

That was definitely the case some years back, but haven't handhelds been all the rage for a few years? (The DS has been selling in Japan in mind-boggling numbers.)

i also heard from someone who lives in Japan that the added four heroes story is a prolouge.

Come on video!

[Aaron]

That was definitely the case some years back, but haven't handhelds been all the rage for a few years? (The DS has been selling in Japan in mind-boggling numbers.)

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovatio ... s-records/

On release day Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 sold 4.7 million copies bringing in more then 310 MILLION dollars. It just came out this week...in the US and UK ALONE!

Let me put that in perspective for you...

The movie, The Dark Knight has grossed roughly 400 million in total sales.

The movie, Titanic (which is the greatest selling movie of all time) has about 600 million in sales.

Video games are unbelievably hot right now. They're the future of entertainment. I get such sour feelings looking back on my childhood and wanting to be a video game maker and being told that you'll never make any money doing that. I love it though, I love that sweet irony.

[phyco126]

Aaron, are you talking about 1st week sales for The Dark Knight or total sales for it's entire run in theaters?

I ask, because it's total run was over 1 billion dollars.