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Media Create Sales: Week 38, 2015 (Sep 14 - Sep 20)

Vena

Member
Holy smokes the comments on that Spike-Chunsoft interview link..
Good to see Console Wars are still lively as ever even in Japan?

Some people think the NX part is just lip service, while some think NX release will make PS4 "thing of the past" and they'll jump to NX then.
Who knows, but I got headache from reading the comments.

Rule of thumb: Don't bother with comments.

That said, you shouldn't be too surprised by what is being said. A lot of gamers prefer handheld gaming in Japan and, to some degree, some are being railroaded onto the PS4 for their franchises as the Vita winds down (next installments after the current release cycle are likely not going to be on the Vita anymore), and Sony has now officially burned its bridges with the Vita in terms of any future at all. If the NX fills in the gap of the Vita, irregardless of PS4 releases or not, then you can imagine where a bunch of the old audience will move (and as such lip-service or not, it gives a lot of gamers a preferred out). Though in this case its most likely lip-service.

There's a real effort to jam a goomba square peg into a power star-shaped hole.
 
Kenka Bancho 6 didn’t perform as well as we wanted it to, but we’ve been thinking about various counter-measures since then, and we’re showing the results by releasing Kenka Bancho Otome.

that's kinda a really interesting turn around, going from one genre to probably the complete opposite

wonder if it'll pay off lol
 

Oregano

Member
that's kinda a really interesting turn around, going from one genre to probably the complete opposite

wonder if it'll pay off lol

I think the fact Kenka Bancho Otome is on Vita is perhaps more important. I wouldn't be surprised if Vita gets a port/upgrade of Kenka Bancho 6 too.
 
that's kinda a really interesting turn around, going from one genre to probably the complete opposite

wonder if it'll pay off lol

It seems like the lesson they're taking away is to expand into different genres.

I do have to wonder how much there was a platform mis-match for KB6, but I can't really think of any reasons it'd do any better anywhere else other than 3DS. IP fatigue seems possible, but it had been 3 years since the last game I believe.

Nothing weird when you had the Gundam Build Fighters anime airing at the same time, the fact the series focus was on Gunpla most likely helped a lot considering Gundam Breaker is about customizing your mecha with parts from the Gundamverse (kinda like... a gunpla !).

I don't think the Extreme VS Vita will have as much legs, there will be a new anime series on TV but it does not look like it's aimed at a young audience at all, the same way the Extreme VS subseries isn't aimed at children too, though being an exclusive it could still sell more than the GB2 SKU.

Didn't realise there was an anime airing at the same time, explains a lot :p
 

Mory Dunz

Member
You are overthinking this. The way Nintendo functions they probably thought of the idea, put a quick concept demo together and liked the direction and went with it. I don't think they are the type of company to sit there and plot out exactly when each entry in a series is going to appear beyond the "Hey, lets have one Mario Kart per system" approach.

I wasn't really talking about specific planning. But even so, I think all companies do plan and space out releases in a series anyway.

but I'm referring to comments that were made a year or two ago (maybe Miyamoto) that said Nintendo was trying to make smaller games to get them out sooner.
Stuff like the new AC, Triforce heroes using ALBW, the Wii U AC, M&L not changing the artstyle for a quicker dev time, etc.


fake EDIT:
Here I think:
http://nintendoeverything.com/miyam...r-franchises-plenty-of-wii-u-games-next-year/

Also part of Nintendo’s plans are to create spin-off titles based on major franchises. These projects will be made “on a smaller scale”. Miyamoto said that the company is “preparing to expand on our characters while also increasing the number of software we output and allowing our customers to have their next experiences in certain franchises without waiting three years.”
 

Vena

Member
I do have to wonder how much there was a platform mis-match for KB6, but I can't really think of any reasons it'd do any better anywhere else other than 3DS. IP fatigue seems possible, but it had been 3 years since the last game I believe.

Franchise fatigue or wear doesn't necessarily diminish with time, it could just be that the series ran into bad perception or interest which isn't going to change if you wait some number of years. Of course, it also depends on what the cause of the decline was, if people are tied of the formula then waiting doesn't make them un-tired of it.
 
So apparently, there's a Spike-Chunsoft interview in Famitsu this week. Looked very briefly, so here's some interesting things I found (someone should definitely provided actual translations ;)):

- Shiren the Wanderer (PSV) successful
- Kenka Bancho 6 (3DS): a "little ("chotto") unsatisfactory
- something about VR (I skipped)
- focus on PS4 from now on. NX name drop. They'd like to start releasing stuff on Steam from now on.
- brand new game in development. They finally acknowledge Zero Escape 3.

More at the link.

Oops, should've checked if someone had posted before posting : /

Danganronpa made the leap to PS4, makes me think why Zero Escape 3 did not as well.
 
It seems like the lesson they're taking away is to expand into different genres.

I do have to wonder how much there was a platform mis-match for KB6, but I can't really think of any reasons it'd do any better anywhere else other than 3DS. IP fatigue seems possible, but it had been 3 years since the last game I believe.

does the 3ds even have a market for a 3rd person brawler? always felt like it was a weird place for KB6 to go
 
does the 3ds even have a market for a 3rd person brawler? always felt like it was a weird place for KB6 to go

Where is there a market for 3rd person brawlers though? I mean, PSP before it died (but only because of previous KB games) and then maybe PS3 because of the Yakuzas. I can't think of many other places the genre exists to be honest.

Franchise fatigue or wear doesn't necessarily diminish with time, it could just be that the series ran into bad perception or interest which isn't going to change if you wait some number of years. Of course, it also depends on what the cause of the decline was, if people are tied of the formula then waiting doesn't make them un-tired of it.

I dunno. It seemed to balloon in popularity from 3 -> 4 on the PSP and then dropped a little from 4 -> 5. I don't see anything in particular that was showing fatigue to the level we've seen for 6. It had a spinoff in between, which did notably worse as you'd probably expect for a spinoff.

126 PSP Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble 48,685 / 141,627
86 PSP Kenka Bancho 4: Ichinen Sensou 72,923 / 179,354
108 PSP Kenka Bancho 5: Otoko no Rule 64,358 / 160,144
180 3DS Kenka Bancho 6: Soul & Blood 22,337 / 39,529

Bonus:

288 PSP Kenka Bancho Bros.: Tokyo Battle Royale 18,810 / 56,776

Maybe someone who knows more about the series can come up with some suggestions.
 

Vena

Member
Maybe someone who knows more about the series can come up with some suggestions.

Could also simply be the platform doesn't match. I can't think of any notable 3rd person brawlers on the 3DS, and the closest I can come up with is action adventure titles for 3rd person.
 

sörine

Banned
Danganronpa made the leap to PS4, makes me think why Zero Escape 3 did not as well.
Probably because Zero Escape's already well established in the Nintendo ecosystem. With Danganropa they're trying to start the transition from Vita/handheld exclusive, with Zero Escape they might not have to.
 
sörine;180188202 said:
Probably because Zero Escape's already well established in the Nintendo ecosystem. With Danganropa they're trying to start the transition from Vita/handheld exclusive, with Zero Escape they might not have to.

Z2 and Z3 are both on Vita as well. Considering how many PSV/PS4 games we see these days, I don't see that as a valid reason for not having a port of the PSV SKU for PS4.
 
I don't get it: Chris didn't say that MHX will sell bad, but he said that without particular surprises this year we will have a slower December than usual:

Nintendo (the biggest publisher in Japan, right?) isn't releasing any big hitter for the holidays (their last was Animal Crossing HHD weeks ago)
Level 5 isn't releasing any heavy hitter neither (they postponed YW3 to next year, without "covering" the void with other games)
There will be no new hardware release for the 3DS (unless they are hiding a Japanese launch for the 2DS, but...)
Monster Hunter X is a possible big hit, but it's still a "sequel" to a series that is already present on the console, so probably will not push the HW that much

compared to ohter previous years, the holiday period should be way less impacting in terms of total HW an SW sales.



Of course I'm talking about the 3DS alone, but just because it's pretty clear how it would have been the only relevant console in terms of "big numbers" in Japan this holiday.
i've said this before but 3ds' lineup is good enough that actual holiday effects itself should be enough to give it good sales, i don't think selling a hundred thousand less should be considered a big deal, certainly less of a priority than a good nx launch

the other consoles aren't putting up much of a fight either so that should also help nintendo sales

You'll see the problem when December numbers come.
monster strike for dec, crisis averted!

Since it was brought up a bit earlier, what's the idea behind combining M&L and paper Mario into an M&L game?

- is it a one off or a direction for the Franchise?

- sticker star sold better than dream team. Maybe they think PM stuff will increase sales of the M&L while Int Sys is busy with other stuff?

- from what I've seen the gsmeplay doesn't seem to have that many paper Mario elements so it seems more like a name drop/guest character than a combination of games.


Edit:
Orrrr
They wanted to make a new gsme for little money. They thought the audience would notice reused art assets for the first time in the series.
So they put in paper Mario to basically cover it up.
it's just m&l rpg with paper mario thrown in, another small experiment from both franchise

combining both rpgs is a good idea imo, they're both good sellers and if this does better than others with all the spotlight on it this holiday, they could branch it off as another sub series of its own

really hoping and expecting it to do just that
 

sörine

Banned
Z2 and Z3 are both on Vita as well. Considering how many PSV/PS4 games we see these days, I don't see that as a valid reason for not having a port of the PSV SKU for PS4.
Well, touchscreen seems to be more of a factor in ZE. Also Danganronpa's moving because it basically has to, ZE doesn't quite yet. Maybe ZE4 will be PS4/NX multi though.
 

Aostia

El Capitan Todd
Z2 and Z3 are both on Vita as well. Considering how many PSV/PS4 games we see these days, I don't see that as a valid reason for not having a port of the PSV SKU for PS4.

They are on vita and 3ds, so there already are two viale platform that allow them tu use almost the same assets. Probably for other ps vita /ps4 games they arent on 3ds so to have two consoles they opted for ps4
 

Mory Dunz

Member
combining both rpgs is a good idea imo, they're both good sellers and if this does better than others with all the spotlight on it this holiday, they could branch it off as another sub series of its own

really hoping and expecting it to do just that

I think it'll do better then Dream Team. I'd be highly surprised if it did better than BiS. Especially WW. BiS did over 1m in the US.


I watched the old 30 minutes gameplay and it seems pretty cool, it interests me more than Dream Team. But I hope it's a one off and not anything else.

If there was really going to be a 3rd Pillar of Mario RPGs, then it should be more in the style of SMRPG: Seven Stars imo. (I don't think a third pillar is needed though). This is too simlar to M&L to be a sub series. Whatever they do, one of the Mario RPGs should return to consoles.

I feel like they outthink themsevles at times, both Alphadream and Int Sys. They changed things that worked well far before they got stale. As in TTYD and BiS.
 
They are on vita and 3ds, so there already are two viale platform that allow them tu use almost the same assets. Probably for other ps vita /ps4 games they arent on 3ds so to have two consoles they opted for ps4

I'm not sure how the 3DS SKU would effect the porting process of a PSV game on PS4.

sörine;180189532 said:
Well, touchscreen seems to be more of a factor in ZE. Also Danganronpa's moving because it basically has to, ZE doesn't quite yet. Maybe ZE4 will be PS4/NX multi though.

PS4 has a touchpad.
 
I think it'll do better then Dream Team. I'd be highly surprised if it did better than BiS. Especially WW. BiS did over 1m in the US.


I watched the old 30 minutes gameplay and it seems pretty cool, it interests me more than Dream Team. But I hope it's a one off and not anything else.

If there was really going to be a 3rd Pillar of Mario RPGs, then it should be more in the style of SMRPG: Seven Stars imo. (I don't think a third pillar is needed though). This is too simlar to M&L to be a sub series. Whatever they do, one of the Mario RPGs should return to consoles.

I feel like they outthink themsevles at times, both Alphadream and Int Sys. They changed things that worked well far before they got stale. As in TTYD and BiS.
yeah i think i got a bit too excited with the game to really think bout it as its own subseries as it is just a mash up of the two

im not sure why they haven't brought back the original smrpg yet, maybe they haven't been confident enough yet but with the success of this game they will finally have the courage and will to do it?

with the rpg competition being relatively low lately in the jrpg space, i hope they bring it back in a big way, maybe even collab with se again, it'd be far more exciting than any of their other b-tier games
 

sörine

Banned
I'm not sure how the 3DS SKU would effect the porting process of a PSV game on PS4.

PS4 has a touchpad.
touchpad =/= touchscreen

Maybe we should wait and see how Danganronpa actually sells on PS4 first before we declare seeing no reason not to port ZE3 there? Actually maybe Danganronpa PS4 is the move that could use some better explanation given market conditions and other Vita to PS4 sales trends?
 
Could also simply be the platform doesn't match.

Yeah, possibly. Just with the subject being brought up again now with official confirmation that it underperformed on 3DS, I was wondering if there was any more insight into why.

At the time, there seemed to be a range of different opinions. Pennywise was adamant it was IP decline, and a some other people agreed with that, but others brought up that it could be platform mis-match. Again, not everyone agreed with that :p

So I was just wondering what the consensus was now.

Speaking of Kenka Bancho btw, what the hell happened to the otome game? It seemed to get announced and then we never heard anything about it since.

sörine;180189532 said:
Maybe ZE4 will be PS4/NX multi though.

There will be a Zero Escape 4? Didn't ZE3 only happen because Aksys are co-funding it. While it may be another runaway success and so they'll fund another one, I can't see Spike Chunsoft making another without outside help due to it being a poor seller in Japan.
 

Mory Dunz

Member
yeah i think i got a bit too excited with the game to really think bout it as its own subseries as it is just a mash up of the two

im not sure why they haven't brought back the original smrpg yet, maybe they haven't been confident enough yet but with the success of this game they will finally have the courage and will to do it?

with the rpg competition being relatively low lately in the jrpg space, i hope they bring it back in a big way, maybe even collab with se again, it'd be far more exciting than any of their other b-tier games

But if they brought it back in a big way, it wouldn't be a b-tier game, no? ;)

Especially if it was on a home console. A 3D jrpg in a fully realized world with MK8 or 3D World graphics would cost an effload. Which is probably why they haven't made it. ( I personally also don't think they need to. Just put PM on consoles and get back to how things were before. PM and M&L always felt different enough for me to not get burnt out. All opinion of course)
 

Sandfox

Member
I really don't see why ZE3 would be on PS4 when you actually look at the franchise. It makes more sense to just stick with the usual platforms and wrap the series up.
 

wrowa

Member
I really don't see why ZE3 would be on PS4 when you actually look at the franchise. It makes more sense to just stick with the usual platforms and wrap the series up.

Exactly. Danganronpa is on PS4 because it's one of SC's most important franchises and they are obviously investing in its future. It's uncertain how long the Vita will stay viable, so having a second platform will help the franchise in the future. Especially in the west, considering that Danganronpa is relatively popular here as well.

Zero Escape on the other hand is pretty much a dead franchise. SC barely acknowlegdes ZE3's existence and it really just seems to be there to give fans closure. ZE3 is on Vita and 3DS because that's where the fans are, there's no need for a PS4 port since it's not a growing franchise. They aren't preparing ZE for the future.

The reason they won't bring SMRPG back is that Square Enix owns a bunch of the characters.

It's not the late 90's anymore when Nintendo and Square weren't on talking terms. If Nintendo wanted to revisit SMRPG the comanies would easily find a way.

However, why would Nintendo even want to revisit SMRPG in the first place? It's not like the game is still particularly well-known or popular.
 
Yeah, possibly. Just with the subject being brought up again now with official confirmation that it underperformed on 3DS, I was wondering if there was any more insight into why.

At the time, there seemed to be a range of different opinions. Pennywise was adamant it was IP decline, and a some other people agreed with that, but others brought up that it could be platform mis-match. Again, not everyone agreed with that :p

So I was just wondering what the consensus was now.

Speaking of Kenka Bancho btw, what the hell happened to the otome game? It seemed to get announced and then we never heard anything about it since.

Later on I also said that KB was not probably the best IP to put on 3DS. Anyway, I really doubt KB6 would have been able to sell as well as KB4 and KB5 on any other platform - therefore IP decline might be a reason for the bad result. This might also well be because there was a 4-year gap between KB5 and KB6 with little preparation on 3DS for the IP (e.g. ports of previous games).
 
So Monster Strike's box is out, and has an XFLAG logo on it:

pFMeXGA.jpg

http://gematsu.com/2015/09/monster-strike-3ds-japanese-box-art-pre-order-bonuses

Googling points me to mixi's site:

http://mixi.co.jp/press/2015/0714/16213/

I assume that's a retail publishing label? They never publish at retail though?
 
It's the same brand name they're using to "publish" the anime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAn5nwhca2Q

Huh, I see.

Interesting that they're trying out retail on their own, I thought that surely they'd work with say Bandai Namco or someone to do that for them.

GungHo already had experience at retail so them publishing and developing Puzzle & Dragons Z was no surprise.

Also I wonder if Yoshiki Okamoto is involved at all, since he said he was through with traditional gaming platforms it sounded like.
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
So Monster Strike's box is out, and has an XFLAG logo on it:

http://gematsu.com/2015/09/monster-strike-3ds-japanese-box-art-pre-order-bonuses

Googling points me to mixi's site:

http://mixi.co.jp/press/2015/0714/16213/

I assume that's a retail publishing label? They never publish at retail though?
The mobile game also has the Xflag logo when you start it... Wouldn't overthink it.

Btw. Is that Izanami behind the main character? Seems like they redesigned her a bit.. Good looking box art though.
 

duckroll

Member
XFLAG is a studio established by Mixi back in July to exclusively develop and explore new opportunities in the mobile and entertainment space, while also managing the Monster Strike brand.

http://xflag.com/
 
Later on I also said that KB was not probably the best IP to put on 3DS. Anyway, I really doubt KB6 would have been able to sell as well as KB4 and KB5 on any other platform - therefore IP decline might be a reason for the bad result. This might also well be because there was a 4-year gap between KB5 and KB6 with little preparation on 3DS for the IP (e.g. ports of previous games).

True. I really wonder what direction they'll take the series (if any) after this. Kenka Bancho Otome is a weird move itself; but the mainline entries could end up anywhere. Or nowhere.
 

casiopao

Member
It's being published by Bergsala Lightweight so I guess that reduces its potential.

Mrgrgr. Where is Bamco when we need them here.T_T

XFLAG is a studio established by Mixi back in July to exclusively develop and explore new opportunities in the mobile and entertainment space, while also managing the Monster Strike brand.

http://xflag.com/

Hmm interesting. So they are like The Pokemon Company for Pokemon there?
 
The mobile game also has the Xflag logo when you start it... Wouldn't overthink it.

Btw. Is that Izanami behind the main character? Seems like they redesigned her a bit.. Good looking box art though.

it looks like her, but heard rumors that it might not be?

pretty interesting

too bad we still don't know how this plays lol
 
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