I loved XIII, though I rarely make a big deal about it (the internet is all about complaining or bragging). The game, though not what fans expected, is great on itself. If it wasn't a FF game it would have received much more praise by most people. Torchlight for example is an ok game, but most people seem to love it because it was not made by EA, Square Enix etc.
I have much respect for Sqaure Enix because they try their best to deliver the best quality and take huge risks with the development cycles of certain games.

I think it was several reasons:

- The Final Fantasy name is strong especially with the main installments.
- The ad campaign, while not huge in many places, was still present.
- The game was the sequel to one of the best reviewed Final Fantasy games ever made, and was compared to FFVII and FFX from the very start.
- FFXIII was a better game then Mass Effect 2.

meh, ME2 was one of the best games I've played this gen, but its seems like it's forgetting it RPG elements, and ME3 looks to be much more action oriented then what bioware is ckaiming it to be. I think the reason why FFXIII sold more was because of brand name, the FF franchise is considered the king of RPG's, even the non-rpg players atleast know what it is.

as for FFXIII, I enjoyed it, not one of my favs, but it was enjoyable. my only complaints was the linear paths, you didn't get to explore until chp 11(out of 13) and you really customize you party until chp 9, and my most hated was the the leader dies the battles over. I really enjoyed FFXIII's battle system,I think it the best of the mainstream FF titles. and what's with the people saying there were no side quests? there was a fair amount of quest(well missions) to be had.

I think FFXIII hate is a little undeserved(imo) but I do get where people anger comes from, S-E really threw the usual FF formula out the window, but like one poster said in another thread awhile back "the people who hated FFXIII will probably be the ones who buy FFXIII-2 and hate on that"

I'm curious why you hated 10.  I mean yeah it was linear and lacked a world map, but it also had a really well thought out minigame (blitzball), and a plethora of sidequests, exploration, and customization.  the only thing I felt was poorly done was the voice acting (the laughing scene, anyone?) and the fact that the main character is kind of a whiny douche (but in his defense that was part of his character arc, he was supposed to be a whiny, pampered star with daddy issues who had to man up and deal with the realities of this new world...that's his character arc).  

I suppose I kind of understand why people wouldn't like it, but to hate it is something I don't understand. 

XIII was broken, and one of the only games I flat out tell people are WRONG when they say it's good.  if they liked it, fine, but it was chock full of design and gameplay issues, and lacked any semblance of a coherent narrative and there was no freedom at all. 

It's the single ONLY game I do that with.

I was with you until this point, which I'm sure was meant only to stir up drama. 

by no means at all was Final Fantasy XIII better than the universally acclaimed, Game of the Year title, Mass Effect 2.  I honestly haven't even played ME2, but the fact that every single publication ever praises its quality and depth tells me that...well, it's phenomenal.  It won countless game of the year awards, has a 95% or more on gamrankings and I think the same on metacritic.  

Final Fantasy XIII is mixed at best (some love it, some hate it), and the scores are universally lower, gathering an 82 on Xbox 360 (the same system MAss Effect 2 is on rated for.)  Even the good reviews say it's not for everyone or that the change in battle system or linearity or lack of towns or exploration may be unpleasant for some.  

My point is that there's no measurable means to argue that Final Fantasy XIII is the better game, objectively.  If you like it better, sure that's good for you, but don't make a (faulty) factual statement without proof to back it up.  Final Fantasy XIII being a 'better' game is a strictly subjective opinion of you and few others. Don't pass that off as fact. 

I'm surprised you think that statement would cause much of a stir.  This is a sales based site. From that perspective he is absolutely correct and it's rather measurable.  You just have some peoples opinions on your side with metacritic and reviewing publications. Every has an opinion and much like assholes I'm sure most of them stink.  Reviews hardly ever reflect the sentiment of the market.  Wii Sports, Wii Fit, and Mario Kart would have a much higher Metacritic were they anything close to representative.He has the hard earned dollars of the market on his side. You may want to ask yourself who's point doesn't have objective and measurable means because it doesn't seem like his.

Its amazing what name recognition will get you.

Most publications need to rethink the way they rate/talk about titles.

The problem is, most need to rate games on "What they are", not "What they want them to be"

Brand recognition pretty much. Most people who are dissappointed with the game went out a bought it on day 1 (I know I did). It's amazing what 25 years of strong tradition and solid games can do for people's expectations. That and the 5 years of hype, trailers and advertising.

Furthermore, how accurate is the difference you've posted in the title really? The PC sales are barely tracked (in fact, they are only tracked for Others and for only a few weeks after release). I know plenty of people bought the PC version but we don't have actual numbers. Theres also the PSN version to take into account.

The difference could be a lot less than 1.6 million.

hell it FF13 need not say more.