By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Jay520 on 01 December 2012
Edit Thread
JWeinCom said:


Star Wars Unleashed was a multiplatform game and on the X-Box it sold 360K while the Wii and PS3 sales were about equal to PSASBR on their own.  Anyone who bought the 360 version obviously wasn't buying the PS3 version if they had both consoles, and the PS3 was much weaker at the time with a far smaller install base.

 If we're just looking at fighting games, the data is too small to really show anything.  We don't see many new fighting IPs.  The most apt comparison here is obviously Smash Bros, but we don't even have week 1 data for that.

But no, I don't agree that Sony's roster isn't big enough to negate the new IP disadvantage.  I didn't expect Smash Bros like numbers, but I would think that, particularly on a Sony console, the combination of Sony's franchise should have been worth alot more, particularly with the pretty decent amount of advertising this game had. 

I think that, largely due to its roster, PSASBR received a lot more buzz and attention than most new IPs get.  It had tons of visibility.  People just didn't really like what they saw or played.  I think the sales of PSASBR are due to it being too derivitave and not looking to be all that good based on videos, demos, etc.

And Star Wars the Force Unleashed definitely benefitted from its license.  I've honestly never played it, but look at the sales.  The leading version of it sold 2.5 million copies.  This is more than Devil May Cry 4, Bayonetta, Dante's Inferno, Darksiders, Castlevania Lords of Shadow, any Ninja Gaiden game, Heavenly Sword, and Infamous.  It's within spitting distance of games like Batman Arkham Asylum, Mass Effect, and Bioshock for the 360.  Was Star Wars the Force Unleashed really THAT good that it should have sold THAT well?

Why include Wii and 360 figures for Star Wars? That gives it an unfair advantage over PABR.

I disagree. Sony's characters just are not big. But the argument is going in circles now since this is only going to be based on theory rather than facts. There is no way to truly know if Sony characters would have pushed the game, considering, as you said, it didn't have circumstances to even allow it to happen. Of the few games that did feature other Sony characters (Playstation MOVE heroes, Mortal Kombat, one of the Soul Caliburs I think, etc.), there didn't seem to be any noticeable increase in sales as a result.

PABR received a lot of buzz because it was a Smash Bros clone (or at least it was perceived that way), not because of it's roster. It would be difficult to find a single preview of the game that didn't compare it to Smash Bros. 

Star Wars also had pretty huge marketing when it released. And if I'm not mistaken, I think it was bundled as well. I'll have to look it up. Those factors should explain a decent amount of its sales. But remember, Star Wars is WAY bigger than any of Sony characters. If the Star Wars name helped a game, that doesn't mean Playstation mascots would do the same.