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jarrod on 29 April 2010
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Mr Puggsly said:
jarrod said:

I'm not sure if the CC is more practical to be honest.  To use Capcom as an example, they've only released 8 Wii games that even use it.  Meanwhile, they released 14 online PS2 games...

MoHun's franchise potential definitely pushed Tri beyond what the same sort of game could've managed with a different brand.  Still, it sold a million, and to compare that to your FFXI example, that game only sold ~200k.  Even MHG on PS2/Wii outsold FFXI.  Again, staggering sales for a subscription based game.

 

Lets not forget the many games Capcom has on Virtual Console. All SNES and N64 games inparticular require a Wii CC or GC controller.

 

Square said FFXI sales were hurt by having to purchase a BBA and HDD for the PS2. With that said many people probably purchased the PC version. According to Wikipedia, "Square Enix had announced that more than 500,000 users, using more than one million characters, were playing the game as of January 2004." Bear in mind FFXI was released in 2002. The market was very different back then. That was before WoW made the world MMORPG fans.

Edit: Also FFXI wasn't an offline game. Had it been it would have sold millions.

Well, technically all Virtual Console games are handled directly by the platform owners, they just sublicense all the 3rd party stuff and handle it themselves.  So all those Capcom NES/SNES/Genesis/TG16 games on VC?  They're all from Nintendo/Sega/Hudson.

I did forget about WiiWare though.  So you can make it 10 games. Still, doesn't change the fact that online PS2 weren't exactly rare, even in Japan and even from Capcom.

 

FFXI came bundled with the PS2 HDD actually, and Sony even published it for Square.  Honestly, I'd say FFXI's biggest limiting factor is exactly the same as MH3's in Japan; that monthly subscription.  Now FFXI's a true MMORPG, so it's more justifiable, but I still just don't think the model works for console games.

And if you're curious, sales figures for all subscription based online console RPGs in Japan (via Famitsu)... this might give a better idea of how these things actually tend to sell...

Monster Hunter

  • Monster Hunter (PS2) 288,559
  • Monster Hunter G (PS2) 232,239
  • Monster Hunter 2 dos (PS2) 576,510 + 121,354 BEST
  • Monster Hunter G (Wii) 236,020
  • Monster Hunter 3 tri (Wii) 1,016,812

Final Fantasy

  • Final Fantasy XI: Online (PS2) 150,079
  • Final Fantasy XI: Jirato Illusion (PS2) 4,184
  • Final Fantasy XI: Jirato Illusion Extended Data Disc (PS2) 132,055
  • Final Fantasy XI: Jirato Illusion / All in One Pack (PS2) 50,865
  • Final Fantasy XI: Spell of Piromashia (PS2) 129,716
  • Final Fantasy XI: Spell of Piromashia / All in One Pack 2004 (PS2) 5,286
  • Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urghan (PS2) 103,501
  • Final Fantasy XI: Online / All in One Pack 2006 (360) 15,754
  • Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess (PS2) 95,576
  • Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess (360) 15,379
  • Final Fantasy XI: Vana'diel Collection (360) 3,212

Phantasy Star

  • Phantasy Star Online (DC) 185,543
  • Phantasy Star Online Version 2 (DC) 167,345
  • Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II (GC) 138,277 + 18,869 PLUS
  • Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution (GC) 21,064
  • Phantasy Star Universe (PS2) 188,961
  • Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus (PS2) 48,115

Other

  • Nobunga no Yabou Online (PS2) 58,750
  • Front Mission Online (PS2) 42,352