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MegaXZero

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jun 21, 2018
5,079
X&Y and Sun & Moon had second and third biggest launches in the franchise history (only behind Black & White) and yet they are two the lowest selling games in the franchise. Pokemon has become more frontloaded in Japan so even if the total sales are down launch sales should still be very high.
Sun and Moon definitely had a boost from Go though. I just see what happened with Let's Go as a part of the trend of the decline of Pokémon in Japan, and not just a result of Let's Go being a non traditional Pokémon game.

With digital vouchers also playing a part, I just don't see Sword and Shield being greater than Smash in Japan.
 

Deleted member 2791

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
19,054
Having a boost from GO shouldn't be seen as like a counterpoint. It just means GO managed to revitalize the brand further, and that effect was not something temporary. USUM debuted at 1.2M, which is massive.
 

KillerMan91

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,354
Imo it is partly because there were another Pokemon game the following year.

Past new gen Pokemon games (at the exception of Gold/Silver) got two years to breathe and build up legs.

This 2 years gap managed to make OR/AS the second best selling remakes in Japan.
And Ruby and Sapphire. Pokemon Fire & Red launched little over 1 year after Ruby and Sapphire. Not to mention that doesn't really fully explain the decline. Black & White sold more in little over 3 months in 2010 (4.9 million) than either X&Y or Sun & moon did lifetime. Diamond and pearl had also higher sales in 2006 alone than Sun & Moon had lifetime and only little under X&Y ltd.
 

KillerMan91

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,354
Sun and Moon definitely had a boost from Go though. I just see what happened with Let's Go as a part of the trend of the decline of Pokémon in Japan, and not just a result of Let's Go being a non traditional Pokémon game.

With digital vouchers also playing a part, I just don't see Sword and Shield being greater than Smash in Japan.

Having a boost from GO shouldn't be seen as like a counterpoint. It just means GO managed to revitalize the brand further, and that effect was not something temporary. USUM debuted at 1.2M, which is massive.

Imo Go boost didn't really affect Japan (I mean Sun & moon actually had lower launch than X&Y). In Japan Pokemon was already absolutely massive franchise and brand. Biggest there was in gaming. That is not really true when it came to west. it still was obviously big but there was a lot of room for growth.
 

test_account

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,645
It looks like they're going to release another holdover title like Sora 3rd before they move on to the next arc of the Kiseki series.
Thanks.


The discussions in the past were focused on sales trends, now we are at the predictable situation in which PS4 sales slowed down considerably to a critical point in Japan, something that won't improve over the next 12 months and there's also the needed upcoming transition to PS5, which still is an unknown quantity at this point.

Therefore I'm not that surprised that despite having a good run financially in the past few years (but still with decline in sales for their new games, be it CS3+4 compared to CS1+2 and Ys9 compared to Ys8), it seems to be finally catching up. Falcom themselves predicting a 30% decline in profits is a good indication.
I dont think that the PS4 hardware sales in the next year will really matter too much to Falcom. I think its more a question about the active userbase going forward. There might be enough active users that will buy their game(s), but we'll see how their next game will sell (assuming that its on PS4).

Wasnt this the best fiscal year for Falcom in their history? If so, if they can have a record year even with PS4 as the main platform, they might be able to keep this up. Their projection about 30% less earnings could perhaps be because they have less games released in the upcoming year. In the next year afte that, maybe they will release more games and have e.g a 50% increased projection, who knows. But only time will tell.
 
Last edited:
Oct 29, 2017
4,721
Sun/Moon wasn't the only game that got a boost from PoGo; X/Y was completely saved by PoGo as its sales rebounded in spectacular fashion following PoGo's release.

X/Y was on track to only sell around 13.5 million and become the worst selling mainline series game by a mile... until PoGo lit a fire up its backside and pushed it to almost 17 million.

S/M's legs were also cut off at the knees thanks to TPC/Nintendo pulling an Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 and in announcing/leaking a 3rd version for release not even a year after its launch. The only reason why US/UM did so incredibly well is because it cannibalised S/M's sales to do so.
 

lucancel

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,378
Italy
Falcom forgot many portable fans when they moved only on ps4. And did not thought at a portable kiseki. Being a handheld fan who loves kiseki It really really hurts. Hopefully they will support stadia or nisa will make ports on switch or ps5 will feature some sort of streaming handheld way to play. Cannot understand why they cannot even try to expand their market given their financials anyway.
And becoming first party on Sony is not even a good move seeing how Sony is moving away from Japan focused titles.
 

Lelouch0612

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,200
And Ruby and Sapphire. Pokemon Fire & Red launched little over 1 year after Ruby and Sapphire. Not to mention that doesn't really fully explain the decline. Black & White sold more in little over 3 months in 2010 (4.9 million) than either X&Y or Sun & moon did lifetime. Diamond and pearl had also higher sales in 2006 alone than Sun & Moon had lifetime and only little under X&Y ltd.
I always take the DS era as an outlier since it was just a software monster in Japan.

I did say partly and the two other reasons I had in mind were the shift to Holiday releases since X/Y and maybe also an older audience in average.
 

fiendcode

Member
Oct 26, 2017
24,908
Falcom and Forwardworks should do some mobile games together. Seems like just the thing Kondo would be willing to sink resources into..
 

PillFencer

Banned
Nov 15, 2018
2,431
At this point is it still possible for Ring Fit to have a drop smaller than say 50% this week? Hopefully this won't hurt its momentum too much, one week wait is not that much, if big enough shipments arrive soon enough I guess most potential buyers from week 45 will still be buying the game and not many sales will have been lost. However if supply problems continue for too long then the game will have less users to spread word of mouth and interest during the holiday season won't be as high as it could be, which I hope doesn't happen.
 

hiska-kun

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,410
People buy games digitally nowadays.
I was thinking I haven't seen "Japan lines up for __" threads in years. Do giant lines really no longer happen?

EDIT: Never mind, saw this was answered. Sad times.
lines are a thing of the past

Only Saturday releases had lines. These days most of big releases are on Fridays (weekday), therefore no big lines happen because school and work time.
It's not related to digital.

At this point is it still possible for Ring Fit to have a drop smaller than say 50% this week? Hopefully this won't hurt its momentum too much, one week wait is not that much, if big enough shipments arrive soon enough I guess most potential buyers from week 45 will still be buying the game and not many sales will have been lost. However if supply problems continue for too long then the game will have less users to spread word of mouth and interest during the holiday season won't be as high as it could be, which I hope doesn't happen.

Big drop is coming next week. It has being sold out the whole week.
 

Jon Carter

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,746

ZSaberLink

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,668
Being a retailer in Japan who sells video games must suck these days.

+ Switch hardware is finally selling well with some software and now the launch of the Switch Lite

- While the Switch is selling well, so far it's still selling worse than the 3DS
- Basically all other hardware is selling miserably. PS4 has declined, XB1 is nonexistent and 3DS/Vita are now done.
- Software sales at retail have dropped heavily and a lot of franchises are selling even worse than before (that large % of titles not even hitting 10K sales comes to mind)
- Most third parties are so focused on the West that their franchises sell worse in Japan.
- Level 5 has totally lost its way, and most third parties seem to find ways to bumble supporting the one popular platform in the Switch, and aren't finding a ton of JP success on PS4. (This includes very late ports on Switch, not making obvious games multiplatform, not having enough copies ready in some cases, etc.)
- Nintendo, basically the only company that still is able to sell software heavily in Japan, is kneecapping their first party retail sales with a great voucher program that's moving sales to digital.
- Mobile gaming, while popular, probably doesn't have much of a retail presence.

So have most stores in Japan generally decreased their video game shelf space. While some stuff still sells, at the rate the market is going, retail video game sales will become less and less lucrative.
 

Man God

Member
Oct 25, 2017
38,293
The VC releases of the generation one games also helped move a lot of copies of Sun/Moon. They really figured out a solid strategy for releasing that generation of games.
 

Nocturnal

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,321
TOP 10 2019 Switch Famitsu:
  1. Smash Ultimate - 956.650
  2. New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - 699.858
  3. Super Mario Maker 2 - 683.037
  4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 481.365
  5. Minecraft - 462.157
  6. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age S - 421.548
  7. Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! / Let's Go, Eevee! - 401.320
  8. Super Mario Party - 374.158
  9. Splatoon 2 - 306.588
  10. Yo-kai Watch 4: We Are Looking Up at the Same Sky - 279.438
TOTAL: 5.066.119


Top 10 Switch Famitsu CY2018:
  1. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 2.360.655
  2. Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu! / Let's Go, Eevee! - 1.253.677
  3. Splatoon 2 - 1.122.324
  4. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 926.553
  5. Super Mario Party - 764.853
  6. Kirby Star Allies - 664.815
  7. Super Mario Odyssey - 575.926
  8. Minecraft - 525.045
  9. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 491.648
  10. Mario Tennis Aces - 376.366
TOTAL: 9.061.862


Minecraft Resilience

Week 44 2018:
1) Super Mario Party - 27.001
2) Minecraft - 8.093
3) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 8.000
4) Splatoon 2 - 6.605
5) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 4.628
  • Minecraft has started to outperform Smash & MK8D again, still not certain if this will be maintained but early signs suggest it could
  • Both MK8D & Minecraft are keeping even with their performance last year
  • At this point last year the game had sold 351.149 at retail, meaning that it has a good chance to hit 600K this year
  • As a evergreen popular with kids with a lower price point, Pokemon's launch should help it reach higher totals than last year's holiday months
  • Without digital(which was the only way to buy it in its first year), its difficult to fully grasp how successful the game has continued to be in Japan
  • Should be interesting to track whether it's able to overtake MK8D before the end of the year(my Sept Prediction had it below MK8D)
 

HaremKing

Banned
Dec 20, 2018
2,416
Labo Firesale on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B079T6CHPV/ (65% off for variety kit)

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B079T6D5M2/ (80% off for robot kit)

Looks to be third-party but they must have a huge inventory to move cause they're in the top 20 ranking right now, so lots of cheap Labo sales being made.

I've also seen a lot of PS4 Battlefield V sales with prices below 1k yen in the past week or so, it's also in the top 20 ranking right now.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07D85MDDM (though looks like current new offers are above 1k yen now)
 
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ACL

Member
Nov 18, 2017
1,304
Thanks.



I dont think that the PS4 hardware sales in the next year will really matter too much to Falcom. I think its more a question about the active userbase going forward. There might be enough active users that will buy their game(s), but we'll see how their next game will sell (assuming that its on PS4).

Wasnt this the best fiscal year for Falcom in their history? If so, if they can have a record year even with PS4 as the main platform, they might be able to keep this up. Their projection about 30% less earnings could perhaps be because they have less games released in the upcoming year. In the next year afte that, maybe they will release more games and have e.g a 50% increased projection, who knows. But only time will tell.

PS4 sales collapsed to sub 10k sales recently. To expect that this won't affect active userbase in the next 1-2years is wishful thinking.
 
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Chris1964

Chris1964

SalesEra Genius
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,155
Week 46, 2019 (Nov 11 - Nov 17)

{2019.11.11}
[PSV] Romancing SaGa 3 _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <RPG> (Square Enix) {2019.11.11} (¥3.182)

[NSW] Romancing SaGa 3 _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <RPG> (Square Enix) {2019.11.11} (¥3.182)

[PS4] Romancing SaGa 3 _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <RPG> (Square Enix) {2019.11.11} (¥3.182)

[XB1] Romancing SaGa 3 _Download Version_ |DL| <RPG> (Square Enix) {2019.11.11} (¥3.182)
____________

{2019.11.13}
[PS4] Last Labyrinth |PlayStation VR| _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <ACT> (Asama Co. Ltd) {2019.11.13} (¥3.980)
____________

{2019.11.14}
[PSV] Dot Horror Story _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <ADV> (Rainy Frog) {2019.11.14} (¥728)

[NSW] Super Street: Racer <RCE> (Kemco) {2019.11.14} (¥3.980)
[NSW] Super Street: Racer (ε) _Nintendo eShop Download Version_ |DL| <RCE> (Kemco) {2019.11.14} (¥3.980)
[NSW] Sparklite _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <ACT> (Merge Games) {2019.11.14} (¥2.336)
[NSW] Rise: Race the Future _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <RCE> (VD-DEV) {2019.11.14} (¥1.809)
[NSW] Boulder Dash: 30th Anniversary _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <PZL> (Worker Bee) {2019.11.14} (¥1.800)
[NSW] Vasara Collection <Vasara \Vasara 2> _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <STG> (Chorus Worldwide) {2019.11.14} (¥1.454)
[NSW] When Ski Lifts Go Wrong _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <SPT> (Digital Bards) {2019.11.14} (¥1.363)
[NSW] Labyrinth of the Witch _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <RPG> (Orange Cube) {2019.11.14} (¥1.345)
[NSW] Gigantic Army _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <ACT> (Flyhigh Works) {2019.11.14} (¥818)
[NSW] Dot Horror Story _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <ADV> (Rainy Frog) {2019.11.14} (¥728)
[NSW] Sudoku Relax 3: Autumn Leaves _Nintendo Switch Download Software_ |DL| <PZL> (G-mode) {2019.11.14} (¥463)

[PS4] Super Street: The Game <RCE> (Kemco) {2019.11.14} (¥3.980)
[PS4] Super Street: The Game (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <RCE> (Kemco) {2019.11.14} (¥3.980)
[PS4] Tokyo Ghoul: re Call to Exist <ADV> (Bandai Namco Games) {2019.11.14} (¥7.600)
[PS4] Tokyo Ghoul: re Call to Exist (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <ADV> (Bandai Namco Games) {2019.11.14} (¥7.600)
[PS4] A-Train Exp.+ <SLG> (Artdink) {2019.11.14} (¥7.800)
[PS4] A-Train Exp.+ (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <SLG> (Artdink) {2019.11.14} (¥7.800)
[PS4] Vasara Collection <Vasara \Vasara 2> <STG> (Chorus Worldwide) {2019.11.14} (¥5.800)
[PS4] Vasara Collection <Vasara \Vasara 2> (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <STG> (Chorus Worldwide) {2019.11.14} (¥1.454)
[PS4] My Time at Portia <SLG> (Chorus Worldwide) {2019.11.14} (¥3.980)
[PS4] Dot Horror Story _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| <ADV> (Rainy Frog) {2019.11.14} (¥728)

[XB1] Bee Simulator _Download Version_ |DL| <SLG> (Bigben Interactive) {2019.11.14} (¥4.227)
[XB1] Vasara Collection <Vasara \Vasara 2> _Download Version_ |DL| <STG> (Chorus Worldwide) {2019.11.14} (¥1.454)
[XB1] Fractured Minds _Download Version_ |DL| <ADV> (Wired Productions) {2019.11.14} (¥196)
____________

{2019.11.15}
[NSW] Pokemon Sword <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} (¥5.980)
[NSW] Pokemon Sword (ε) _Nintendo eShop Download Version_ |DL| <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} (¥5.980)
[NSW] Pokemon Shield <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} (¥5.980)
[NSW] Pokemon Shield (ε) _Nintendo eShop Download Version_ |DL| <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} (¥5.980)
[NSW] Pokemon Sword / Shield Dual Pack {Pokemon Sword \ Pokemon Shield} <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2019.11.15} (¥11.960)

[PS4] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order # <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2019.11.15} (¥7.727)
[PS4] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Deluxe Edition) <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2019.11.15} (¥8.636)
[PS4] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| # <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2019.11.15} (¥7.870)
[PS4] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (ε) _PS Store Download Version_ |DL| (Deluxe Edition) <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2019.11.15} (¥8.796)

[XB1] Xbox One S 1 TB Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - Deluxe Edition Bundle <BUN> (Microsoft Game Studios) {2019.11.15} (¥29.980)
[XB1] Xbox One X Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order - Deluxe Edition Bundle <BUN> (Microsoft Game Studios) {2019.11.15} (¥49.980)
[XB1] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order _Download Version_ |DL| # <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2019.11.15} (¥7.727)
[XB1] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order _Download Version_ |DL| (Deluxe Edition) <ACT> (Electronic Arts) {2019.11.15} (¥8.640)
[XB1] Tokyo Warfare Turbo _Download Version_ |DL| <ACT> (Pablo Vidaurre Sanz) {2019.11.15} (¥1.590)
 

HaremKing

Banned
Dec 20, 2018
2,416
It's so bizarre how little hype or anything that there is for a big Star Wars game. I completely forgot Fallen Order launches same day with Pokemon, lol.
 
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Chris1964

Chris1964

SalesEra Genius
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,155
There are really anemic releases for the rest of the year. The only titles that could top 100k are Project Sakura Wars and Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate.

It must be one of the weakest Decembers ever for new releases.
 

schuelma

Member
Oct 24, 2017
5,901
There are really anemic releases for the rest of the year. The only titles that could top 100k are Project Sakura Wars and Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate.

It must be one of the weakest Decembers ever for new releases.


Yea. I know people have said its been bad for a while, but I don't remember it being this bad.
 

HaremKing

Banned
Dec 20, 2018
2,416
PS4 Digital Title Ranking - Death Stranding Release Week Edition


1. Death Stranding [¥7,590]
2. Death Stranding Digital Deluxe [¥9,790]
3. Call of Duty Modern Warfare [¥8,690]
4. Persona 5 Royal [¥9,680]
5. Persona 5 Royal Digital Deluxe [¥12,980]
6. Need for Speed Heat Deluxe Edition [¥9,676]
7. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne [¥4,888]
8. SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays Premium G Sound Edition [¥13,200]
9. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night [¥6,028]
10. Need for Speed Heat [¥8,657]
11. Call of Duty Modern Warfare Operator Edition [¥10,780]
12. Nioh 2 Deluxe Edition [¥11,880]
13. Persona 5 Royal Digital Deluxe Upgrade [¥3,300]
14. The Outer Worlds [¥7,480]
 

Zalman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,896
In situations like these, you have to wonder how much they would be able to sell with sufficient stock.
 
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Chris1964

Chris1964

SalesEra Genius
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,155
The word for Ring Fit is that what was sold at first 3 weeks was the shipment that was allocated until holidays begin. The shortage is a combination of limited supply of plastic components and giving priority to printing Pokemon.
 

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987
The word for Ring Fit is that what was sold at first 3 weeks was the shipment that was allocated until holidays begin. The shortage is a combination of limited supply of plastic components and giving priority to printing Pokemon.
damn, nintendo thought this was gonna be a slow burn. probably as a response to Labo
 
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Chris1964

Chris1964

SalesEra Genius
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,155
Stable sales at first three weeks aren't expected for any game, new IP or not.
 

MysticGon

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 31, 2017
7,285
Wow no Ring Fit in stock? This is starting to become the defining characteristic of the Switch and now not even Nintendo is immune to the miscalculation.

They need to stop fucking around and find some way to incorporate discs or some other quickly printable format to combat this for the next console. Can't leave it all up to digital.
 

Lelouch0612

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,200
Wow no Ring Fit in stock? This is starting to become the defining characteristic of the Switch and now not even Nintendo is immune to the miscalculation.

They need to stop fucking around and find some way to incorporate discs or some other quickly printable format to combat this for the next console. Can't leave it all up to digital.
There are also the peripherals in the case of RongFit, it wouldn't have changed a lot.