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Forums - Sales - Show me surprise hits in America

MontanaHatchet on 15 November 2009
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
I'd say Lost Odyssey was surprising in that the America sales are greater than the Japan sales.

Considering that it was on the 360, and that several RPGs have been more popular in America than Japan, it's not surprising at all. Couple that with a huge advertising campaign in the west, and it's pretty easy to see why it was successful.

A surprise hit in America would be Call of Duty 4. We knew it would be big, but no one could have predicted to what extent.

I'm sorry, but I stopped taking you seriously on Lost Odyssey a long time ago. Not a thread goes by where the game is mentioned where you try to convince people that it's not a good game. So yeah, I'd love for you to show me the list of JRPGs on the 360 that have been more popular in America than Japan. "It was on the 360" is quite frankly not a valid reason at all.

I know, differing opinions must make you want to shut your ears and walk away. I'm sorry. But the fact is that I'm not even talking about the quality at all, just how it sold. If that makes you piss and moan, my apologies.

If you want a list of JRPGs on the 360 that sold more in America than Japan, here you go:

Lost Odyssey

Infinite Undiscovery

The Last Remnant

Blue Dragon

Tales of Vesperia

Eternal Sonata

Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess

So, just about every relevant one. Is that enough evidence for you, or would you like to continue your denial?

Zoom, there goes the point over your head! The point is you have zero credibility to discuss anything about Lost Odyssey because it's already known that you'll do anything you can to downplay the game or take shots at it. You do it in every Lost Odyssey thread, so why am I not shocked that you would be the one protesting "Lost Odyssey is not a surprise!" It got old a long time ago.

Did you really put Final Fantasy XI on that list? The point is that Lost Odyssey didn't do all that well in Japan and fared much better in America. If that doesn't count for "surprising," nothing is.

It's incredibly obvious that you have no legitimate arguments.

It's also incredibly obvious that you're using my views of the game to try to discredit me and not actually using anything to back up your own points.

If you actually bothered to read at all (which I guess you don't), you would discover that I don't dislike Lost Odyssey all that much. I just think that it's horribly overrated by a lot of people, and that it's somewhat of a step back. Otherwise, it's not like I hate it tremendously. You have NO ARGUMENTS WHATSOEVER, so you tried to discredit me with this bullshit. Why am I not shocked? It doesn't matter what my opinion of the game is, I'm just not surprised it sold somewhat well in the Americas. It had a big marketing campaign, and there's a trend of JRPGs on the 360 selling better in America than Japan. I answered both your points, and your only rebuttal is that I don't like the game.

Big f***ing deal.

I'm still right and you're wrong. I provided a list of several Japanese RPGs on the 360 that have fared better in America than Japan, and the only thing you have to respond with is that I included Final Fantasy XI, which is a JRPG that was released in both regions. And I've already answered you on all your points, so unless you actually have some legitimate argument (which you don't), don't respond. Save us both some time. and trouble.

Yeah clearly you're right and I'm wrong, because it's written in stone what a "surprise hit" is. I can believe Lost Odyssey is a surprise hit, you can believe otherwise, but sue me if I don't value your opinion as much on the game when you go into every thread and tell people how it's not as good as they think it is. Maybe if you didn't do that in every thread, I'd listen to you more. But hey, I guess I can't have an opinion, right?

I still see a man with no arguments.

To me, Lost Odyssey isn't a surprise hit in America. It had a large advertising campaign and it still didn't even break half a million in the region. My opinion of the game doesn't matter here. You made some statements, I responded. If you can't even back up the statements you make, don't respond back to me. It's really as simple as that.

I already did. The Japan to America ratio in the sales is heavily skewed towards America, while it didn't do nearly as well in Japan as some other JRPGs. Ignorance must be bliss, eh?

You made that point once in your argument, vaguely.

So what if there's a more heavily skewed ratio towards Japan? Does that make it any more successful in America? I expected that as well. After the favorable Japanese reception to Blue Dragon, it's likely that buyers were expecting more games from Mistwalker that were similar to Dragon Quest. Instead, they got Lost Odyssey, which was more similar to Final Fantasy (just without the brand name to back it up). The fact that it did so relatively well in America and so relatively poorly in Japan just goes to show that it has more western appeal than the other JRPGs on the 360, making its success in the west even less of a surprise, further going against your point.

Ingnore must be bliss, eh?



 

 

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themanwithnoname on 15 November 2009
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
I'd say Lost Odyssey was surprising in that the America sales are greater than the Japan sales.

Considering that it was on the 360, and that several RPGs have been more popular in America than Japan, it's not surprising at all. Couple that with a huge advertising campaign in the west, and it's pretty easy to see why it was successful.

A surprise hit in America would be Call of Duty 4. We knew it would be big, but no one could have predicted to what extent.

I'm sorry, but I stopped taking you seriously on Lost Odyssey a long time ago. Not a thread goes by where the game is mentioned where you try to convince people that it's not a good game. So yeah, I'd love for you to show me the list of JRPGs on the 360 that have been more popular in America than Japan. "It was on the 360" is quite frankly not a valid reason at all.

I know, differing opinions must make you want to shut your ears and walk away. I'm sorry. But the fact is that I'm not even talking about the quality at all, just how it sold. If that makes you piss and moan, my apologies.

If you want a list of JRPGs on the 360 that sold more in America than Japan, here you go:

Lost Odyssey

Infinite Undiscovery

The Last Remnant

Blue Dragon

Tales of Vesperia

Eternal Sonata

Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess

So, just about every relevant one. Is that enough evidence for you, or would you like to continue your denial?

Zoom, there goes the point over your head! The point is you have zero credibility to discuss anything about Lost Odyssey because it's already known that you'll do anything you can to downplay the game or take shots at it. You do it in every Lost Odyssey thread, so why am I not shocked that you would be the one protesting "Lost Odyssey is not a surprise!" It got old a long time ago.

Did you really put Final Fantasy XI on that list? The point is that Lost Odyssey didn't do all that well in Japan and fared much better in America. If that doesn't count for "surprising," nothing is.

It's incredibly obvious that you have no legitimate arguments.

It's also incredibly obvious that you're using my views of the game to try to discredit me and not actually using anything to back up your own points.

If you actually bothered to read at all (which I guess you don't), you would discover that I don't dislike Lost Odyssey all that much. I just think that it's horribly overrated by a lot of people, and that it's somewhat of a step back. Otherwise, it's not like I hate it tremendously. You have NO ARGUMENTS WHATSOEVER, so you tried to discredit me with this bullshit. Why am I not shocked? It doesn't matter what my opinion of the game is, I'm just not surprised it sold somewhat well in the Americas. It had a big marketing campaign, and there's a trend of JRPGs on the 360 selling better in America than Japan. I answered both your points, and your only rebuttal is that I don't like the game.

Big f***ing deal.

I'm still right and you're wrong. I provided a list of several Japanese RPGs on the 360 that have fared better in America than Japan, and the only thing you have to respond with is that I included Final Fantasy XI, which is a JRPG that was released in both regions. And I've already answered you on all your points, so unless you actually have some legitimate argument (which you don't), don't respond. Save us both some time. and trouble.

Yeah clearly you're right and I'm wrong, because it's written in stone what a "surprise hit" is. I can believe Lost Odyssey is a surprise hit, you can believe otherwise, but sue me if I don't value your opinion as much on the game when you go into every thread and tell people how it's not as good as they think it is. Maybe if you didn't do that in every thread, I'd listen to you more. But hey, I guess I can't have an opinion, right?

I still see a man with no arguments.

To me, Lost Odyssey isn't a surprise hit in America. It had a large advertising campaign and it still didn't even break half a million in the region. My opinion of the game doesn't matter here. You made some statements, I responded. If you can't even back up the statements you make, don't respond back to me. It's really as simple as that.

I already did. The Japan to America ratio in the sales is heavily skewed towards America, while it didn't do nearly as well in Japan as some other JRPGs. Ignorance must be bliss, eh?

You made that point once in your argument, vaguely.

So what if there's a more heavily skewed ratio towards Japan? Does that make it any more successful in America? I expected that as well. After the favorable Japanese reception to Blue Dragon, it's likely that buyers were expecting more games from Mistwalker that were similar to Dragon Quest. Instead, they got Lost Odyssey, which was more similar to Final Fantasy (just without the brand name to back it up). The fact that it did so relatively well in America and so relatively poorly in Japan just goes to show that it has more western appeal than the other JRPGs on the 360, making its success in the west even less of a surprise, further going against your point.

Ingnore must be bliss, eh?

Wait, let me get this straight. You're arguing that based off the sales numbers that it must have more Western appeal, thus the Americas sales aren't as surprising? That makes no sense at all. A surprise is sales that were unexpected from before the game was released. Did people expect it to do as well in America or as poor in Japan before the game was released? In my book, no, making it a surprise. Using your "argument", I could effectively kill off any claims of surprise JRPGs by saying "of course it sold well in America, it has more Western appeal than the other JRPGs because it sold well in America!" Sound confusing? Yeah, that's because it makes no sense.

I'm done with this argument as it's been nothing but a waste of time, because you seem so deadset on trying to prove me "wrong" for having an opinion.



themanwithnoname's law: As an America's sales or NPD thread grows longer, the probabilty of the comment "America = World" [sarcasticly] being made approaches 1.

MontanaHatchet on 15 November 2009
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
MontanaHatchet said:
themanwithnoname said:
I'd say Lost Odyssey was surprising in that the America sales are greater than the Japan sales.

Considering that it was on the 360, and that several RPGs have been more popular in America than Japan, it's not surprising at all. Couple that with a huge advertising campaign in the west, and it's pretty easy to see why it was successful.

A surprise hit in America would be Call of Duty 4. We knew it would be big, but no one could have predicted to what extent.

I'm sorry, but I stopped taking you seriously on Lost Odyssey a long time ago. Not a thread goes by where the game is mentioned where you try to convince people that it's not a good game. So yeah, I'd love for you to show me the list of JRPGs on the 360 that have been more popular in America than Japan. "It was on the 360" is quite frankly not a valid reason at all.

I know, differing opinions must make you want to shut your ears and walk away. I'm sorry. But the fact is that I'm not even talking about the quality at all, just how it sold. If that makes you piss and moan, my apologies.

If you want a list of JRPGs on the 360 that sold more in America than Japan, here you go:

Lost Odyssey

Infinite Undiscovery

The Last Remnant

Blue Dragon

Tales of Vesperia

Eternal Sonata

Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess

So, just about every relevant one. Is that enough evidence for you, or would you like to continue your denial?

Zoom, there goes the point over your head! The point is you have zero credibility to discuss anything about Lost Odyssey because it's already known that you'll do anything you can to downplay the game or take shots at it. You do it in every Lost Odyssey thread, so why am I not shocked that you would be the one protesting "Lost Odyssey is not a surprise!" It got old a long time ago.

Did you really put Final Fantasy XI on that list? The point is that Lost Odyssey didn't do all that well in Japan and fared much better in America. If that doesn't count for "surprising," nothing is.

It's incredibly obvious that you have no legitimate arguments.

It's also incredibly obvious that you're using my views of the game to try to discredit me and not actually using anything to back up your own points.

If you actually bothered to read at all (which I guess you don't), you would discover that I don't dislike Lost Odyssey all that much. I just think that it's horribly overrated by a lot of people, and that it's somewhat of a step back. Otherwise, it's not like I hate it tremendously. You have NO ARGUMENTS WHATSOEVER, so you tried to discredit me with this bullshit. Why am I not shocked? It doesn't matter what my opinion of the game is, I'm just not surprised it sold somewhat well in the Americas. It had a big marketing campaign, and there's a trend of JRPGs on the 360 selling better in America than Japan. I answered both your points, and your only rebuttal is that I don't like the game.

Big f***ing deal.

I'm still right and you're wrong. I provided a list of several Japanese RPGs on the 360 that have fared better in America than Japan, and the only thing you have to respond with is that I included Final Fantasy XI, which is a JRPG that was released in both regions. And I've already answered you on all your points, so unless you actually have some legitimate argument (which you don't), don't respond. Save us both some time. and trouble.

Yeah clearly you're right and I'm wrong, because it's written in stone what a "surprise hit" is. I can believe Lost Odyssey is a surprise hit, you can believe otherwise, but sue me if I don't value your opinion as much on the game when you go into every thread and tell people how it's not as good as they think it is. Maybe if you didn't do that in every thread, I'd listen to you more. But hey, I guess I can't have an opinion, right?

I still see a man with no arguments.

To me, Lost Odyssey isn't a surprise hit in America. It had a large advertising campaign and it still didn't even break half a million in the region. My opinion of the game doesn't matter here. You made some statements, I responded. If you can't even back up the statements you make, don't respond back to me. It's really as simple as that.

I already did. The Japan to America ratio in the sales is heavily skewed towards America, while it didn't do nearly as well in Japan as some other JRPGs. Ignorance must be bliss, eh?

You made that point once in your argument, vaguely.

So what if there's a more heavily skewed ratio towards Japan? Does that make it any more successful in America? I expected that as well. After the favorable Japanese reception to Blue Dragon, it's likely that buyers were expecting more games from Mistwalker that were similar to Dragon Quest. Instead, they got Lost Odyssey, which was more similar to Final Fantasy (just without the brand name to back it up). The fact that it did so relatively well in America and so relatively poorly in Japan just goes to show that it has more western appeal than the other JRPGs on the 360, making its success in the west even less of a surprise, further going against your point.

Ingnore must be bliss, eh?

Wait, let me get this straight. You're arguing that based off the sales numbers that it must have more Western appeal, thus the Americas sales aren't as surprising? That makes no sense at all. A surprise is sales that were unexpected from before the game was released. Did people expect it to do as well in America or as poor in Japan before the game was released? In my book, no, making it a surprise. Using your "argument", I could effectively kill off any claims of surprise JRPGs by saying "of course it sold well in America, it has more Western appeal than the other JRPGs because it sold well in America!" Sound confusing? Yeah, that's because it makes no sense.

I'm done with this argument as it's been nothing but a waste of time, because you seem so deadset on trying to prove me "wrong" for having an opinion.

No, I'm arguing that the ratio of western sales to sales in Japan relative to other JRPGs on the 360 indicates a higher amount of western appeal, which would be another reason for why it sold so well in the west. This is all a matter of opinions, so it's not like I've ever acted like you're not allowed to have one. You just seem to be hung up on your made up point because you're caught up in your own angst. And it's quite frustrating. I've explained several times how it had a huge advertising campaign in the west that spread a lot of awareness among gamers, and how it didn't have as much eastern appeal as Blue Dragon. Now, if one JRPG sold about 1:1 in America and Japan (respectfully) and another sold about 4:1, I'd be tempted to use that as evidence (along with obvious appeal factors) that it has more western appeal. It a game sells 1 million copies in America and another one sells 100k copies in America, than the one that sells 1 million copies has way more appeal. That's why it sold better. And if that doesn't make sense to you, there's something wrong with the way you think.

But please do walk away from the argument. I'm sick of you complaining just because I responded and you chose to make it personal, and I'm sure of hearing about how I'm trying to prove your opinion wrong. As if that's the most freakin' horrible thing in the world.



 

 

theprof00 on 15 November 2009

11 quotes is enough.



Kenryoku_Maxis on 15 November 2009

Donkey Kong, Final Fantasy, Disgaea, Pokemon, etc

Although in reality, these aren't really 'surprise hits'. They were mostly just games that had good marketing put behind them but weren't expected to get as popular as they did.

And of course, the biggest one of them all. WiiFit.

darthdevidem01 said:
Final Fantasy 7

There's nothing to be surprised about when your marketing budget for the game nearly matches your production budget.  The game was so hyped because of the endless onslaught of commercials and magazine 'updates' that by the time it came out, everyone and their mom knew what the game was.  That's not a surprise, it was the first 'multimedia saturation'.  If the game DIDN'T sell, then it would be more of a shock.



Six upcoming games you should look into:

 

  

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Soap_McTavish on 16 November 2009

Wii Fit is not a surprise hit. It was a cleaver marketing scheme by nintendo to take advantage of the fitness craze.



tedsteriscool on 16 November 2009

The first Uncharted. It's initial weeks were pretty bad, but positive word-of-mouth and strong legs helped carry it to where it is today.



scottie on 16 November 2009

Nerf n-strike was a surprise hit. It released to first week figures of only just over 9000. Weekly sales in the 9th week were 124 k. 810k total sales in America and still selling a bit



c0rd on 16 November 2009

Phoenix Wright? I believe the game was sold out for a long time, due to the game's unexpected demand.

Mario Kart Wii? Yeah, we knew it would be big, but bigger than GTAIV? People laughed at the possibility. Hell, most thought it couldn't outdo Smash Bros Brawl (America), yet the damn game has outsold everything and is still selling, doing near 100k just last week.

The Activision hits were all pretty surprising. Call of Duty was mentioned, but Guitar Hero is another huge one. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater seemed to spark a skateboard fad, at least in my area - awesome games. I almost wish they don't come up with another hit, because as much as I like parts of the series, they're destined to get milked until they're worthless.



NSS7 on 16 November 2009

FFVII, GTAIII, Halo, Pokemon Red/Blue. All these franchise haD become on of the most popular in NA even WW.