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Forums - Sales - Star Ocean 4 - What went wrong with its sales?

AE86 on 20 March 2009

Agreed, there was no reason to make this exclusive...well..unless that sack of money was big.



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JaggedSac on 20 March 2009

Hell yeah, Halo 3.



Seraphic_Sixaxis on 20 March 2009
Soriku said:

This also pertains to the Star Ocean for PSP which also didn't sell, but those are 2D RPGs, but I'm not sure that's a good enough excuse. Don't know if SO as a series is losing popularity or what.

Anyway, SO4 managed strong first week sales in Japan but dipped quickly and may not even reach ToS: DotNW on the Wii which sold 220k in Japan. NA is the big problem though as 1/5 in Japan is good for the 360's userbase (but it's not good for the series). In NA it did some decent numbers first week (65k...not so bad I don't think for RPGs this gen. For the series it's not good though). But it's dipping and it's not even in the NPD Top 20, or the 360 Top 10 either.

NPD Top 20

1. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Nintendo, Wii
2. Street Fighter IV (Capcom, Xbox 360)
3. Street Fighter IV (Capcom, PlayStation 3)
4. Wii Play w/Remote (Nintendo, Wii)
5. Killzone 2 (Sony, PlayStation 3)
6. Mario Kart w/Wheel (Nintendo, Wii)
7. Call Of Duty: World At War (Activision Blizzard, Xbox 360)
8. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, DS)
9. New Super Mario Bros (Nintendo, DS)
10. Guitar Hero World Tour (Activision Blizzard, Wii)
11. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (Warner Interactive, Xbox 360)
12. Skate 2 (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360)
13. Left 4 Dead (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360)
14. NBA 2K9 (Take-Two, Xbox 360)
15. Halo 3 (Microsoft, Xbox 360)
16. Call of Duty: World At War (Activision, PS3)
17. Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga (LucasArts, Wii)
18. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Xbox 360)
19. My Fitness Coach (Ubisoft, Wii)
20. Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks, Xbox 360)

360 Top 10

1. 360 STREET FIGHTER IV* CAPCOM USA
2. 360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
3. 360 F.E.A.R. 2: PROJECT ORIGIN WARNER INTERACTIVE
4. 360 SKATE 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
5. 360 LEFT 4 DEAD ELECTRONIC ARTS
6. 360 NBA 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
7. 360 HALO 3* MICROSOFT
8. 360 GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
9. 360 FALLOUT 3* BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
10. 360 GEARS OF WAR 2* MICROSOFT

It got actual marketing which a lot of RPGs don't get the pleasure of having but isn't doing too hot. I remember before it released people were saying it would be the first JRPG to hit a million but it seems Lost Odyssey might do that (will take forever though so something else will probably beat it by then like FF XIII once it's finally released).

SO3 did a lot better - .55m in Japan and .74 in NA (no EU data). Yeah, we can't criticize its Japan sales since almost 1/2 of SO3's sales in Japan is good, but in NA it's doing really bad in comparison. JRPGs this gen are doing really bad in NA except for LO but that probably has the FF creator name and better marketing (?) behind it.

This may not just be a SO problem...but one thing's certain - game should've been multiplat from the start.

 

@Bolded- All true, of course a few JRPG's/AJRPGs/SJRPGs this gen should be exclusive but not all, point across making JRPG's exclusive to the 360 is a money "loser" in the end, then again PS3 to get an Uncut version or what have you ala Eternal Sonata and Enchanted arms is worth the wait in some cases i guess, SO4 is worth the wait for a PS3 version because alot more can be added to one blu-ray disc.

 

At anyrate, Multi-platform "should" be the way to go if they wanna make more profit from the start because the console to get the updated version / port sales less most of the time, well... except Enchanted Arms, for some reason that damn game sold better on PS3 then it did on 360...



Ari_Gold on 20 March 2009

nothings wrong, its a jrpg what did you expect



darthdevidem01 on 20 March 2009

@Ari_gold

well a new IP called WKC outsold TOV & SO4

so we excpected better from SO4 at the least

but the game is really good apparently....so enjoy it as gamers!



All hail the KING, Andrespetmonkey

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Ari_Gold on 20 March 2009
darthdevidem01 said:
@Ari_gold

well a new IP called WKC outsold TOV & SO4

so we excpected better from SO4 at the least

but the game is really good apparently....so enjoy it as gamers!

3 million userbase vs 1 million userbase .....

 



darthdevidem01 on 20 March 2009
Soriku said:
Also, I know some people are going to pull the "M$ gave them money, it's all cool" card but how long are companies going to be breastfed? Are they going to risk their series' popularity going down?

 

dude this is EXACTLY the point I have tried to bring up......making JRPG's like these 360 exclusive is bad in the LONG RUN.....Tales & SO franchises both lost loads of fans due to them being only on 360

FF13 being exclusive expands the base for it......good job S-E

but then you make SO4 n loose half of the SO fanbase....for what extra money...

for how long are you going to risk your long term franchise strength?!



All hail the KING, Andrespetmonkey

BengaBenga on 20 March 2009

I think it's clear now that 360 owbers don't play JRPGs. Sad but true.



Dgc1808 on 20 March 2009
Soriku said:

Also, I know some people are going to pull the "M$ gave them money, it's all cool" card but how long are companies going to be breastfed? Are they going to risk their series' popularity going down?

Edit: I don't think a PS3 uncut version or whatever would sell a whole lot better than SO4 on the 360. Timed exclusivity hasn't been too good this gen for sales.

 

MS's tits are pretty huge...

OT: It's fanbase wasn't on that system... Should have been multi or on a different system.



4 ≈ One

Riachu on 20 March 2009

I think it might have something to do with the art style. The characters just look too much like dolls. It doesn't help the game seems(still haven't played it yet) to have a poorly written script and terrible voice acting. Another problem is that JRPGs in general are being shunned due to their overused stories, character stereotypes, poor dialogue, art style that doesn't appeal to Western audiences, etc.



 

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