Final Fantasy XIII Pre-orders Outpacing FFXII -- Tsutaya
Major retailer makes predictions for FFXIII, New Super Mario Bros., Zelda and more.
Posted Nov 17, 2009 at 20:55, by Anoop Gantayat
Alexander is PS3's big hope for the holiday season (do you see what I did there?).
Final Fantasy XIII doesn't hit until December 17, but it may already off to a strong start. According to a representative of retailer Tsutaya, pre-orders for the game are outpacing PlayStation 2's Final Fantasy XII.
Tsutaya "Game Recycle Planning Group" Leader Taketo Matsuo, who heads up game operations at the retailer's 450 nationwide game shops (he's also a big fighting game fan, having apparently purchased two Neo Geo CD systems), wrote about FFXIII's initial success yesterday in a December market forecast column at Mainichi.jp. A month ahead of release, and Tsutaya pre-orders for FFXIII have already surpassed total pre-orders for FFXII. Matsuo expects FFXIII to be the big title for the year-end sales rush and easily cross the million mark.
In addition to a sale surge from FFXIII, the PS3's could get a boost this year from HD televisions. A bonus-fueled spike in television set demand is expected for the end of the year, says Matsuo, and this could give a push to Sony's system.
Matsuo is excited about the year-end game lineup as a whole. He feels that last year's holiday season was harsh, despite strong sales of Dissidia Final Fantasy. This year's lineup, in contrast, is something that happens only "once in ten years," as new Final Fantasy, Mario, and Zelda titles join long sellers like Dragon Quest IX and Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver. He expects particular success this year for consoles.
Outside of FFXIII, Matsuo expects New Super Mario Bros. Wii to be a big hit, topping the million mark. He's also keeping an eye out on PokePark Wii, Wii's new Pokemon game. Tsutaya will be wrapping PokePark in Pokemon wrapping paper, helping to push the game as a Christmas gift.
Matsuo's predictions for December's top 10 looks like this:
- 1. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)
- 2. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii)
- 3. Zelda Spirit Tracks (DS)
- 4. Gundam VS Gundam Next Plus (PSP)
- 5. Phantasy Star Portable 2 (PSP)
- 6. Professor Layton and the Demon's Flute (DS)
- 7. Tales of Graces (Wii)
- 8. Winning Eleven 2010 (PSP)
- 9. Winning Eleven 2010 (PS2)
- 10. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
Except for Layton, which hits on November 26 (complete with a red carpet premier event a couple of days before -- check back here on the 24th for coverage!), these are all December releases.
Will Call of Duty really make it into the top ten? In Japan? If so, I imagine Square Enix will be happy claiming both the 1st and 10th spot in the December charts.
