Thank you.  That was exactly how I wanted to address his comment.  You beat me to it.

ah, sorry.  I've just spent so much time on gaming forums over the last few years that a comment like that is commonplace and most often said without a hint of irony or sarcasm.  the very fact that I jumped to that conclusion based on the evidence presented (without asking) says a lot more about forums than I'm happy to admit. 

I thought nitekrawler's post was a joke. i've platinumed both games, and personally i enjoyed Mass Effect 2 more than FF13. mainly because i think Bioware developed the universe so well and made you really think about the story going on. while the story was not enough, a lot of the game was based on recruiting new team mates, i can live with it because it was very well executed. FF13s story wasnt as good and wasnt as well executed for various reasons. 

but both games had gameplay problems. either way the game that should be compared here is not Mass Effect, it should be Fallout 3, which has sold more than FF13 and has sold that many copies without having a strong Japanese fanbase.

I didn't realise Fallout 3 had sold so amazingly well. That's impressive stuff. However, didn't Fallout 3 come out 2 years before FFXIII? Mass Effect 2 came out in the same year as FFXIII so it's a much better comparison than with Fallout 3.

The number in the title however is a little misleading as we don't have a clear picture on how the PC version sold or any data on PSN sales (which I imagine would be fairly low but we can't be sure).

True, but if you take away the 2 mil copies FF13 sold in Japan, theres no way FF13 is ever going to sell another 2 mil copies in Europe and the US. so Fallout would still be more popular without that 2 year lead imo. even Fable 2 and 3 have sold very well in comparasion, considering they dont have strong JP fanbases and their 360 console exclusive. and thats not taking into account that Fable 2 and 3 have been made within the time frame its taken FF13 has been made.

As for ME2, it was a wasted oppertunity for Bioware, they shouldve launched ME1 multiplatform from the beginning. and the PSN numbers probabily arnt that high anyway. i think that Bioware mentioned (before the PS3 version of ME2 came out) they had shipped 3 mil copies of the game. so i think we can expect about 0.3-0.5 mil copies on PC, since the 360 version has sold about 2.5 mil. 

something thats really interesting is that Bioware mentioned a while back that about 50% of people who bought ME2 finished it. this is what the option is for in the menu, where it asks you whether you would like for information to be sent to Bioware so they can improve future games. i'm guessing they can get this information from trophy/achievement data as well. so it would be interesting to see how many people actully finished FF13, or how many peope got half way etc. personally i dont think even 50% of people who bought it even finished it, i always keep hearing from my friends and people online how they put it down after getting fed up with it.

as a matter of fact FFXIII is in no aspect anywhere close to ME2 quality whether people like the style or not the story is better the acting is better the design is better, well the fighting is different but style more polished IMO in terms of quality this is a no brainer..... now I'm playing FFXIII right now at home and I have no plans on not finishing it.... but I'll admit the story is rather bad.... I mean it is not terrible, but it is a realllllllllyyyyyyy big cliche from the start..... the only positive point (if you can consider that one) is that it is a slow paced game which means you'll spend around 40 hours on it min to finish it with max XP so it's a good deal if you consider time spend per dollar spend ratio..... and I do.... I mean I still play video game to save money ( a 60 bucks game that last me more than 2 week ends pays for itself...


now why did it outsell well probably because it was a XB exclusive at the begining for ME2 and that PS owners are addicted to FF for the most part..... which is fine with me but if they weren't we might actually see something new and of quality come out in that genre JRPG (that is hugely degrading in the past couple years.... cause give me a break blue dragoon, tales of vesperia, eternal sonata ain't cutting it for me, those are porely executed games considering the current level of technology and when you see how they improved in other genre like FPS racing etc from last gen.... JRPG are just feeling really old to me..... enough with the bubles I need to read.... the NES was 25 years ago....... pay some actors god damn it)

Mass Effect is a western title which will only be appreciated by the west. Not too many easterners appreciate western RPG's. The next Mass Effect will sell over four million copies guaranteed. It sold over 500k copies on the PS3 and over 2 million on the 360. I guess we can accept that. Mass Effect is an underrated franchise which deserves its spot over the head of Final Fantasy and I am getting sick of waiting for Versus.

...Are you serious?

When I say underrated it really is in terms of sales. The sales dont match the effort put into the game. Mark my words now that its multiplat it might hit 4-5 million copies.

1. You know if those PC sales include digital downloads?  Tracking PC sales should be easy to track (in theory) but most big DD services don't give out numbers so it's difficult to have any idea how well most games sell on PC.

2. I think you're probably right. Not only is the main game twice as long as ME2 (ignoring side quests), but it's very reptitive in terms of gameplay.