Suda 51: Third party Wii games aren't selling

[Bodhesatva]

naznatips said:

Bodhesatva said:

I think Suda is talking largely about Japan here (which is the only market his game has launched in), and I actually think he has a point there.

Unlike America where we have multiple "hardcore" games not only performing well, but performing better than one might expect (RE4, RE:UC, Mario Galaxy, Zelda, Red Steel) and very few "hardcore" flops (Chocobo Dungeon, NMH, and others aren't out yet) while many of these same games performed under expectations (Red Steel isn't surprising, but Zelda is, and despite Mario Galaxy's resurgance, it's still only performing decently, not overperforming. Chocobo Dungeon, NMH, NiGHTs, and others have come out there and underperformed).

In short: I don't think the Wii has a "hardcore" problem in the US, but it does in Japan. However, I think this is largely because "hardcore" gaming in general is on the wane in Japan, and what little is left is largely interested in handhelds now.

I'm sorry Bod but although I agree with your premise, your example is wrong. Super Mario Galaxy is selling faster than either Super Mario Sunshine or Super Mario 64. It is the fastest selling 3D Mario. That certainly qualifies as overperforming. Twilight Princess also easily outsold Wind Waker. RE:UC was given a lifetime forcast of .6 million shipped by Capcom and it passed that in 3 weeks, and is probably nearing 1 million shipped. RE4 was given a lifetime forcast of 400K shipped, and is over 1.5 million shipped. Red Steel was never expected to sell more than 1 million. These games are certainly performing "well" not just "better than one might expect."

The rest of your post I agree with. The Japanese hardcore market is in a decline. The market that's left is becomming handheld (more specifically DS) centric. Again, the best selling next-gen 3rd party game in Japan is Dragon Quest Swords on the Wii, at only .5 million. So clearly software is underperforming in Japan all around, though to be fair, there ahven't been many RPGs this gen and those are what usually sell to that market. Suda's game was never in-line with Japanese tastes anyway.

Note that my argument was about Japan: SMG is selling faster than SMS there, but slower than SM64, NSMB, SMB3, SMB2, SMB1, and Super Mario Land, according to Famitsu. Resident Evil 4's LTD total is largely the work of strong EU/US sales; its sales in Japan are fine, but not spectacular the way they are in the other regions. RE:UC is the single example I can think of that really is selling notably better than one might expect. On the other side are bombs such as SC: Legends, NiGHTs, and No More Heroes. Lukewarm-at-best titles like Chocobo's Dungeon and

The figures you give are worldwide, and I specifically tried to divide US/EU (where "hardcore" games are selling well) and Japan (not so much). Super Mario Galaxy is the best example of this: in fact -- while it's selling worse than every Super Mario platformer ever save Sunshine in Japan, it's selling better than any Mario since SMB3 in America and I expect better than even SMB3 in the EU.

In summary: "hardcore" games are doing fine in the EU/US on the Wii. They are not in Japan. Here are the sales of Super Mario Galaxy compared to Super Mario 64 there -- SM64 is demolishing it:

http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg1=Japan&game1=Super+Mario+Galaxy+-+Wii&reg2=Japan&game2=Super+Mario+64+-+N64&reg3=All&game3=&weeks=100