Team Ninja on the small PS3 install base

[johnsobas]

souixan said:

torfred said:
I think people are missing the point if developpers focused uniquely on install base then they would wait 3 or 4 years before even releasing any games, no one knows how many consoles will get sold and if their game is good it will sell big even if the install base is 3 million or 10 million, were not talking about consoles with only a few dozen sales here. And i think his message is rather that they will stick to their plans and focus on the game rather then worrying about the console trends.

 We're also not talking projects that cost a few hundred dollars and a week or two of work. We're talking about large teams working on a project that need a profitable company to pay their wages so they can eat and make another game later.

are you kidding?  It's a gundam game, and it's also a game similar to dynasty warriors gameplay.  That kind of game sells well in Japan, but not so well in the west.  it's at 250k now, it's not even gonna get close.  

It would be nice if they could ignore sales and just release it, but like it or not install base is a big factor

Here is a good example:  This game got very good reviews, but it just wasn't a game that caused people to go buy systems.  When VF5 came out PS3 sales spiked from 21,000 to 24,000, not exactly extraordinary. 

1	Virtua Fighter 5	02/10/07	51,500	51,500		Virtua Fighter 4	02/02/02	367,500	367,500
2	Virtua Fighter 5	02/17/07	13,250	64,750		Virtua Fighter 4	02/09/02	71,500	439,000
3	Virtua Fighter 5	02/24/07	5,000	69,750		Virtua Fighter 4	02/16/02	37,250	476,250
4	Virtua Fighter 5	03/03/07	3,750	73,500		Virtua Fighter 4	02/23/02	17,000	493,250
5	Virtua Fighter 5	03/10/07	3,000	76,500		Virtua Fighter 4	03/02/02	11,250	504,500
6	Virtua Fighter 5	03/17/07	1,750	78,250		Virtua Fighter 4	03/09/02	7,000	511,500
7	Virtua Fighter 5	03/24/07	1,250	79,500		Virtua Fighter 4	03/16/02	4,500	516,000
8		Virtua Fighter 4	03/23/02	4,000	520,000
9		Virtua Fighter 4	03/30/02	4,000	524,000
10		Virtua Fighter 4	04/06/02	3,500	527,500
11		Virtua Fighter 4	04/13/02	3,000	530,500
12		Virtua Fighter 4	04/20/02	2,500	533,000
13		Virtua Fighter 4	04/27/02	2,750	535,750
14		Virtua Fighter 4	05/04/02	2,750	538,500
15		Virtua Fighter 4	05/11/02	2,000	540,500
16		Virtua Fighter 4	05/18/02	1,750	542,250
17		Virtua Fighter 4	05/25/02	1,750	544,000
18		Virtua Fighter 4	06/01/02	1,500	545,500
19		Virtua Fighter 4	06/08/02	1,250	546,750
20		Virtua Fighter 4	06/15/02	1,250	548,000
21		Virtua Fighter 4	06/22/02	1,000	549,000
22		Virtua Fighter 4	06/29/02	1,000	550,000
23		Virtua Fighter 4	07/06/02	750	550,750
24		Virtua Fighter 4	07/13/02	750	551,500
25		Virtua Fighter 4	07/20/02	750	552,250
26		Virtua Fighter 4	07/27/02	750	553,000
27		Virtua Fighter 4	08/03/02	500	553,500
28		Virtua Fighter 4	08/10/02	500	554,000
29		Virtua Fighter 4	08/17/02	500	554,500
30		Virtua Fighter 4	08/24/02	500	555,000
31		Virtua Fighter 4	08/31/02	250	555,250
32		Virtua Fighter 4	09/07/02	250	555,500
33		Virtua Fighter 4	09/14/02	250	555,750
34		Virtua Fighter 4	09/21/02	250	556,000
35		Virtua Fighter 4	09/28/02	250	556,250
36		Virtua Fighter 4	10/05/02	250	556,500
37		Virtua Fighter 4	10/12/02	250	556,750
38		Virtua Fighter 4	10/19/02	250	557,000
39		Virtua Fighter 4	10/26/02	250	557,250
40		Virtua Fighter 4	11/02/02	250	557,500
41		Virtua Fighter 4	11/09/02	250	557,750