Xoj said:
jarrod said:
outlawauron said:
jarrod said:
Carl2291 said:
jarrod said:
Aprisaiden said:
@jarrod you do realize that SRPG's do not sell big. Hell what was the last SRPG to break 1 million excluding FF:Tactics ?
VC has sold incredibly well for a SRPG and a new IP. |
I'm not arguing genre popularity, though even then it can be argued that SRPGs are generally low tech, low end, low promotion affairs (like Disgaea, FFTA, Luminous Arc, Fire Emblem, SRT, Cross Edge, etc, etc), which is something Valkyria goes against. You can't really compare it to other genre entrants that still look 2 gens older, it got a vastly bigger budget and bigger push than any SRPG in recent memory (probably since... well FFT comparably). If it'd really sold incredibly well, it's sequel wouldn't have jumped ship to PSP...
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It must have sold well, hence... The sequel.
And they are already hinting at bringing Valkyria 3 to PS3.
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Underperformers often get sequels, all it takes is confidence in the concept. Which is what Sega has in Valkyria, though they're definitely taking a more consumers friendly route with the sequel (more generic art, school setting, PSP rather than PS3, local multiplayer).
Again, Sakura Taisen is the model, Sega probably expects Valkyria will eventually get there...
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You have two assumptions that create a big problem in your argument:
1. Assuming the expectations of Valkyria Chronicles based on zero information from Sega
2. Assuming that Valkyria Chronicles had vast budget. It's true that it certainly cost more than Cross Edge or Disgaea, but was not a very expensive game.
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Well, for Sega's expectations, all we can go on is assumptions given they never released them publicly. I'm inclined to believe they probably didn't hit what they wanted given the shifts we've seen for the sequel though, which isn't exactly a huge leap to make.
Also, I like how for your 2nd point you decry me for assumptions, then declare Valkyria "was not a very expensive game". What's this based on again? How cheap do you think a ground up PS3 engine is again? What about the scrapped 360 R&D? Anime tie-in? Huge promotional push it saw in Japan? I'd be pretty confident in "assuming" Valkyria Chronicles was likely the most expensive (non-licensed) SRPG to date in Japan. There's more evidence pointing that direction than to the contrary...
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there is nothing as scrapped R&D the few they learned could have been applied in the ps3 version, anime are generally have promotors, (sony music, bandai, square enix, sega to name a few) and they make money from ads that run in between.
VC didn't have bigger than average promotional push, at much star ocean 4 had a bigger one, same from the last renmant that had in MTV america yet failing to sell.
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I'm talking about the Japanese market specifically, which is where Valkyria saw a push on par with both Star Ocean or Last Remnant, and sold comparatively actually (100-200k). It was pretty much Sega's biggest promotional push in 2008 outside Yakuza 3, with a huge ad campaign, tv spots and mag coverage for months even after release. Sega pretty much treated it like a AAA release, which hasn't happened for a SRPG since... well, the heydays of Sakura Taisen. This wasn't a cheap effort.
And R&D from the 360 build was totally scrapped, they made the Canvas engine ground up on PS3 (which is why they didn't want to re-invest in a 360 version after the fact, despite being continually asked about it). Shame all that investment's going to waste now, I actually think it'd have been smarter for the VC team to plan ahead with 2 games sharing assets/tech and lowering investment/risk (like Nagoshi's team did for Yakuza 3 and Kenzan, which made them profitable despite relatively low-ish sales).
Really though, this is all side debate. I'd say it's pretty likely that SO4 was the bigger disappointment of the two sales wise, given it's own pedigree and brand.
