No one says that there was no marketing, but it´s funny that the damage control reached the level that now Bravely Default suddenly became a title with a comparable marketing budget to SS only because it sold more than Soul Sacrifice in its first week. BD even had shortages due to a low first shipment.
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Media Create Sales: Week 10, 2013 (Mar 04 - Mar 10)
- Thread starter Chris1964
- Start date
No one says that there was no marketing, but it´s funny that the damage control reached the level that now Bravely Default suddenly became a title with a comparable marketing budget to SS only because it sold more than Soul Sacrifice in its first week. BD even had shortages due to a low first shipment.
Colonel Mustard
Banned
Was Tales of Hearts considered bad? (I know the CGI fiasco)
Why are full remakes failing to outsell a port?
Why are full remakes failing to outsell a port?
Father_Brain
Banned
Capcom, SE, and KojiPro will all have their AAA Japanese teams on PS4, which is a significant improvement over Vita. Exclusivity is an open question, though.
And yeah, SCEJ should have been cultivating a whole stable of handheld-specific new IP beginning on PSP. New IP can only do so much when you don't have major, established IP to give the hardware momentum.
test_account
XP-39C²
I havnt followed the discussion that much, i only wanted to point out that it got advertised in a way that made a lot of people know about the game. We know this by looking at the first week sales data.
Why are we comparing Bravely Default to Soul Sacrifice in the first place by the way? Just because they both are new IPs? They are two different games in different genres, that is a big factor to sales potential as well. Then there is also the size of the system install base to concider (although this always mean that much).
It's a Tales game.
electroplankton
Banned
The coverage BD got was almost entirely by the development team. The marketing team started to advertise the game just before the release. The game sold well in the first week because 3DS had the target that actually followed less mainstream coverage. But the game didn't get any bundle, nor push from Nintendo.
test_account
XP-39C²
That could be, but they got the word across that the game excisted. It worked out quite effectively it seems, seeing that over 140k people knew that the game excisted when it was released.
Colonel Mustard
Banned
I know you're being sarcastic, but I like Tales games.
I'm just confused as to why a full remake with new content can't outsell a near straight port.
Colonel Mustard
Banned
Damn. How could they botch something so bad?
electroplankton
Banned
There exist different degrees of marketing. There's the big push, there's the average push. There's the low effort. All indicates that BD got a fairly amount of push, but nothing comparable with a game like Soul Sacrifice. For example, I don't think BD had many demo stations, while we know that some stores were full of them for Soul Sacrifice. Also, Soul Sacrifice got a really big push from Sony, in terms of bundles, double packs, released just after a price cut, from a well-known developer. BD did well, true, but not because the big push it received (it didn't), but because it got the interest of the more informed gamers, that were (are) present on the platform. And it did way more than what Square expected, which speaks for itself.
How many good JRPGs were out for 3DS when Bravely Default released? Coming from a competent team, having 5 demos, on a platforming struggling for AAA JRPG... I can't see how it wouldn't do well (of course, it was even bigger than expected).
Sold out in lots of stores, but some still have them, like Bic Camera.
Info from the SS topic.
zeopower6
Member
Awesome positivity and great numbers for Soul Sacrifice/Vita!
Actually, there seem to be stock problems. Where exactly are you getting your info from?
Actually, there seem to be stock problems. Where exactly are you getting your info from?
BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO
Junior Member
Why are we comparing bravery default to SS?
Absolutely not, it's even the only full fledge mothership title developped by Tales Studio to have been released on handheld, the Reimagination just looks horrible
zeopower6
Member
Laguna brought it up randomly, I guess?
"It sold less than Bravely Default and that had no advertising push at all!" and that's what started the talk of BD vs. SS.
Didn't BD get a bunch of timed demos released on a monthly basis and commercials? I'd call that advertising. Also, the total sales of the 3DS at the time of Bravely Default's release and the total sales of the Vita at this time should be taken into consideration. The Vita hasn't been doing well overall for a variety of reasons so it's nice to see it actually rebound even if it's only temporary.
PS4 can and will do well regardless of what Vita does. Just as long as it's not $599. The games will be there.
Father_Brain
Banned
Eh, way too early to say that. SCEJ's output historically hasn't been great from a sales perspective, and it's possible that the biggest third-party titles in the launch window will also be on PS3.
Of course, it's increasingly certain that Japanese third parties see Wii U as mostly to completely irrelevant, so that'll help.
Laguna's trying to validate his point at any costs, and will not accept any excuses.
They're both system sellers! (to me)
Eventually, I mean. Traditionally first years are kind of meh. But third parties WILL support PS4 when they're ready.
Dash Kappei
Not actually that important
There are quite a few, actually.But there's no such a thing
Likewise Vita staying on top next week
Laguna brought it up to discredit SS's sales.
test_account
XP-39C²
That is possible, i'm not arguing about that, i'm only saying that Bravely Default was advertised in a way so that a lot of people got to know about the game.
But why are we comparing Bravely Default to Soul Sacrifice? Is it to make the Soul Sacrifice sales look bad?
Yup. Can't be having a positive Vita story in a Media Create thread.
StreetsAhead
Member
Soul Sacrifice did well for a new IP, especially considering the install base.
The big question is will it have any legs at all.
It doesn't seem to have inspired a great surge in Vita sales on its own, either, but we'll never know how much Vita would have dropped this week if it didn't have SS going for it.
And looking forward to the rest of the year, there's nothing to suggest Vita is 'saved' long-term either, at this point.
Now, it did very well this week and it did beat the 3DS, but one week (or two) is not going to change things around for this system permanently.
The big question is will it have any legs at all.
It doesn't seem to have inspired a great surge in Vita sales on its own, either, but we'll never know how much Vita would have dropped this week if it didn't have SS going for it.
And looking forward to the rest of the year, there's nothing to suggest Vita is 'saved' long-term either, at this point.
Now, it did very well this week and it did beat the 3DS, but one week (or two) is not going to change things around for this system permanently.
zeopower6
Member
Bingo. Soul Sacrifice pretty much performed to expectations though and even exceeded some.
electroplankton
Banned
I didn't compare SS to BD. It's even stupid in my opinion. I was just replaying to people downplaying BD saying that it was "almost FF" (which in any case doesn't grant big sales) or it was from "a well-known team" (which is not true).
Anyway, BD advertisement wasn't big, and it was in line with Square Enix's expectations, that weren't so high.
redblack85
Member
these two weeks will not change the fate of life on a permanent basis but we do understand that if they come out the right games for and how it will change
Father_Brain
Banned
But that's an obvious principle that applies to every system ever. GC would have beaten PS2 in Japan if it somehow had had the latter's third-party support, and Wii would still be selling decently if third parties had invested in it before the gen started instead of PS3, and Vita would at least be reasonably competitive with 3DS if PSP's third-party support had actually carried over, but none of those things actually happened.
Yep, and GC even outsold PS2 at least once (the week Tales of Symphonia was released). Didn't change the course of the generation, and that system had a lot more going for it software-wise than Vita.
I'd be crazy to think that an exclusive FF/DQ/GE/MH/MGS wouldn't do a ton to move hardware, but the odds of such a title materializing at this point are vanishingly small.
test_account
XP-39C²
It is a pity if that is the case i think. I can see the comparison in the way that both games are new IPs, no problem about that, but if the comparison is being done primarily to find something negative, then i dont see much reason to do that, in my opinion.
Sorry, i ment it more as a general question, it wasnt aimed specifically at you. And i didnt mean to say that you compared the two games. I only wondered what caused the talk about it (which includes me, since i also talked about it)
That is fair enough. I think that Bravely Default saw success indeed. Seems like it will get a sequel as well, which is one sign that the first game sold within expectations.
electroplankton
Banned
Even the GameCube and the Dreamcast had their momentum when big games came.
The interest in the platform, though, is stil low. 60k units is high for Vita standards, but it's not high for a healthy platform; one would reach way higher figures with a price cut and a really hyped game (and bundles, and colors).
The game sold well above expectations, as many sold-outs showed.
zeopower6
Member
You speak as though the Vita's been living a long life already despite having been out for only a little under a year and a half in Japan. It's pretty much going through what the PS3 did when it launched from what I can see. We can only hope that it'll eventually find its legs this year or next year.
I think it'll probably take more new (keyword here, since a lot of what is coming out in the next few months are ports) games released on a consistent basis before we see it get 'healthy'. There's only about a dozen games coming out in the next two months or so compared to the PSP or 3DS. Though any good news is fine with me! I personally am glad that it at least maintained the momentum from last week.
test_account
XP-39C²
Good to hear that they had success with it. I havnt played it myself, but i've heard that it is a good game.
thehypocrite
Member
Great numbers for Vita and Soul Sacrifice. It would be interesting to see how it performs next week.
StreetsAhead
Member
This is true for any system. Where are these Vita games that are coming to change it and why haven't they been announced yet?
redblack85
Member
certainly agree with you, but life in this week gave a good sign for third parties
PSVita is in his first year and a half, has just had a price cut to try to sell more consoles like Nintendo did with the 3DS at the time, does just that.
And advertise a game is not something that you should not do, indeed.
I know simple facts must hurt to some Sonyfans like you that want to celebrate mediocre sales (for a highly marketed game)/good sales for Vitas standards instead of having an honest discussion . I wasn´t even the first one to make a comparison with Bravely Default in this thread, also I don´t see any problem with it because both are new IPs and as much as it hurts you it´s just a fact that Soul Sacrifice sold less than the far less marketed Bravely Default.
Moor-Angol
Banned
of course... this week he can't continue his weekly "hey, look at Vita! it's doomed!!!!!11" discussion so he tried to switch to another argument
zeopower6
Member
I'm only hoping there are more announcements later on in the year since most of the big titles have already come out that were announced last year. Gotta stay optimistic especially since the year is still young.
It's honestly really annoying because other than the fact that they're new IPs (and the install bases at the time of release were really different) they have NOTHING TO DO WITH EACH OTHER.
Father_Brain
Banned
PS3 had numbered, mainline installments in nearly every major third-party Japanese console franchise, most of them at least initially exclusive, announced before it even launched.
By comparison, Sony was so desperate for Vita third-party announcements at TGS 2011 that their excuse for a "megaton" was an HD PS2 port that wasn't exclusive and hadn't even begun development at the time. Today, the only major third parties that are still putting out Vita titles on a semi-regular basis are NB and TK, and all their upcoming titles are either multiplatform or late ports.
The situation is not even remotely comparable.
Moor-Angol
Banned
wow, what a genius...
BD sold much more on 3DS cause selling 150k from a 6mln userbase is so much easier than selling from a 1,2mln system....
didn't you realize that ? rotfl, Vita haters are really amazing
It probably sold about the same or maybe even more if we use M-C numbers
BD - 141k
SS - 92 + 22*2 = 136k + PSN downloads (let's say a conservative ~5%) = 143k
But the comparison is still pointless. And even more pointless considering new IP can have good legs (BD).
Searching this thread says you were the first to bring the comparison up. I don't see why one would make the comparison, they aren't really comparable.
On the other hand, those who went a bit defensive and started to claim BD:FF underperformed is bullish.