Both UC1 and UC2 will hit 100k in the next 2 weeks probably. Pretty good for a western series.

Probably, becausethe first shipment was of 100k copies.

Shipments aren't always a good barometer for expectations, since they're set by retail AND publishers.

A big budget with a low shipment isn't necessarily an automatic success.

I kinda doubt they where expecting that much from a strategy RPG when even the more commercial JRPG's dind't reach those numbers during the last years of the PS2.

Sakura Taisen did came 10 years and 2 generations prior to VC, and a lot of things have changed since then, which doesn't help your arguement either.

This retroactive genre defense is asinine, Valkyria clearly didn't have the sort of budget, scope or promotion we've come to associate with modern SRPGs, there's no logic in assuming Sega had similar sorts of expectations as something you'd see from Intelligent Systems or Nippon Ichi.   I don't honestly think they realistically expected 500k+ off the bat (let's be honest, only Namco's that crazy) but I also sincerely doubt they expected as little as 150k initially.  If they were expecting 150k, they'd have been happy to keep it on 360 frankly.

Valkyria's performance is really somewhere in-between... a bit disappointing upfront given all that was put into it, not really that bad in context considering the state of the marketplace (lol PS3), and somewhat salvaged in the end thanks to the budget rerelease and Sony co-funded anime.  200k+ is probably respectable in the end imo.  Sega rightfully wants more than just respectable though (this IS a AAA game), which is why they're making so many changes with the sequel (including it's platform).

Now, can we all drop the offtopic Valkyria tangent?  Ugh.

The best about this argument is that you keep saying things with nothing to back it up and outright lying with saying that Valkyria had a huge promotional budget and more BS.

PS3 is doing wonders in Japan since it's price cut.

I agree. I also think Sega is going to continue the anime and manga in conjunction with VC2. 

Naw, the best part in the inherent hypocrisy in this sort of criticism.  What's you're essentially saying here is "you're not proving it's a failure, that means it's a success".  That's what we call a strawman, if I'm getting your position wrong, I apologize in advance.

I'm arguing reasonable likelihoods and reading from what Sega's actually done (example: abandon PS3 for the sequel), meanwhile people seem to keep mindlessly chanting "SRPGs don't sell" or "SRPGs are cheap" in some sort of underhanded defense, devoid of any real context.  Or more laughable, comparing worldwide sales (including budget pricedrops and reissues) to confirmed JP-only Sega successes like Yakuza 3.  It's disingenous, sleazy rationalization, and it doesn't hold under any any real scruitny.

And I'm arguing probable budget and rough expectation from (1) the game itself and (2) the coverage. Famitsu's little more than a PR mouthpiece, and Valkyria got more coverage there than any console RPG this gen has outside MH3 and FFXIII.  It's in-store advertising rivaled the Yakuza games, it got a co-funded anime.  It's a gorgeous HD game, loaded with quality voice-acting, a complex ground up shading engine, extended DLC schedule and decent sized development staff. This wasn't a low budget effort by any reasonable stretch.  The RPG I think it's most comparable to it this gen is probably Tales of Vesperia actually (similar scope, similar promotion, also HD and effects heavy, subsequent anime), it's easily an upper mid-line RPG budget wise (not much outsourced CG, not a big western push), and well ahead of anything we've ever seen for a SRPG before.

And that's the last I'm saying for Valkyria in this thread.  Have fun.

okay, now I lied. I'm still talking about Valkyria damnit. :/

I'm not aware Sega said they were happy with sales, at least initially?  It certainly hasn't been highlighted in their IR or come from any of their PR.  I do think it's probably crawled to "acceptable" levels though, and I think I remember a developer quote to that effect when the VC2 bomb hit?

I agree though, Sakura Tasien is probably more what they're shooting for with the IP (Japanese PR really pushed the team's connection here too btw), which is why PSP makes sense.  I think it's a little shortsighted though, they'd have been better served going with Wii or HD multi from a worldwide perspective.