| Wander_ said:
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Now, is it really fair to compare sales of 3G, which was released under a year after the 3DS's launch to an install base under 3 million, to sales of the likes of Portable 2nd G (Freedom Unite), which released over 3 years after the PSP's launch to an install base over 8.5 million, almost triple that of the 3DS at the time of 3G's launch?
If you must compare 3G's sales to those of a PSP Monster Hunter title, compare them to the first Portable (Freedom), released within the first year of the PSP's life. Portable sold 1.03 million in Japan, not quite up to snuff with 3G's 1.74 million. Of course, that was 2005, before the series really took off. So let's look at a later release, Portable 2nd (Freedom 2 in the West). Portable 2nd released in 2007, over 2 years after the PSP's launch, to an install base of almost 5 million -- you can see it has an advantage over 3G's release in both regards. But Portable 2nd sold 1.75 million in Japan in its lifetime... a mark 3G is likely just a week or two away from passing.
We'll see how Monster Hunter 4 sells when it releases this summer. It should quickly pass both Portable and Portable 2nd in sales, and probably 3G not long after. We'll see whether it lives up to Portable 2nd G, but it doesn't really have to.
I highly doubt that 3G would have sold as well as it did if it had been a launch title for Vita -- and worse, it would have cost more to develop, resulting in lesser profits for Capcom. While the bottom line for us on this sales site are sales, the bottom line for Capcom has to be profits, and there is much more profit to be had from developing for 3DS over Vita.
