Shmups Sales Figures 2008

szycag · Post by **szycag** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:48 pm

Just caught that in your last post, sorry.

I was kinda holding out for a US Raiden IV release but I wonder if the poor sales in Japan will affect that happening or not. I was pretty sure I read one of those tiny publishers saying they were interested. I still see Raiden III on shelves here.

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:09 pm

Given all the relatively tiny numbers, I wonder if small devs will eventually shift development over to the Wii, which now has a massive userbase. I don't mean on WiiWare though as sales on that service are also miniscule compared to retail. If that happens, at least we'll be back to shmups on an SD console with proper low-res!

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:20 pm

bcass wrote:Given all the relatively tiny numbers, I wonder if small devs will eventually shift development over to the Wii, which now has a massive userbase

Yes .. massive userbase of people who almost entirely play Wii sports, Wii fit and Wii whatever. Somehow I doubt Wii shmup would catch on.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:29 pm

GaijinPunch wrote:Anyone know what constitutes "successful download sales". Ikaruga seems to have hit that, but w/ the Xbox's multi million user base, 30,000 seems pretty lame.

I woulda figured Nanostray 2 would've done much better.

Crazysauce.

Otomedius, well, hooray for new properties? I saw the h-artists doing takes on the characters just months after the game was announced

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:29 pm

Udderdude wrote:
bcass wrote:Given all the relatively tiny numbers, I wonder if small devs will eventually shift development over to the Wii, which now has a massive userbase
Yes .. massive userbase of people who almost entirely play Wii sports, Wii fit and Wii whatever. Somehow I doubt Wii shmup would catch on.

That wasn't the point I was making. Given the law of averages, on average, you'd sell more on a console with a substantially larger userbase. A lot of 'gamers' own Wiis too you know.

320x240 · Post by **320x240** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:31 pm

What we can learn from this is that to sell in decent numbers with an original IP you have to put a spin on it in some way. Start building hype early and try to dumb down the gameplay as much as possible so that you can focus on other aspects of the game, because that is where the potential for hype is the greatest.

originalz · Post by **originalz** » Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:46 pm

bcass wrote:
originalz wrote:You're crazy if you think Braid is a good indicator of costs of an XBLA game. I remember that over $100,000 of those costs were for hiring a professional studio to do the music. Take that out and the production costs were much, much lower.
That's completely wrong. Jonathan Blow (Braids creator) licensed cheap existing music from magnatune for Braid.

Oh right, he licensed other music, something like that. Either way, I remember reading that the music was over $100,000 of the game's total cost.

ex.machina · Post by **ex.machina** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 1:02 am

originalz wrote: Oh right, he licensed other music, something like that. Either way, I remember reading that the music was over $100,000 of the game's total cost.

That number is very small anyway. I am sure most of the other games listed in this thread cost a lot more to develop. But good for them anyway, making such as cheap game and still being so successful.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:18 am

320x240 wrote:What we can learn from this is that to sell in decent numbers with an original IP you have to put a spin on it in some way. Start building hype early and try to dumb down the gameplay as much as possible so that you can focus on other aspects of the game, because that is where the potential for hype is the greatest.

bright flashy colours on black background = genius (apparently?)

proper shmup devs are awful at hyping their games, CAVE are too spoilt in that their arcade PCBs cater to a different demographic where the game sells itself, console gaming just doesnt work that way.

Udderdude · Post by **Udderdude** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 4:22 pm

sven666 wrote:
320x240 wrote:What we can learn from this is that to sell in decent numbers with an original IP you have to put a spin on it in some way. Start building hype early and try to dumb down the gameplay as much as possible so that you can focus on other aspects of the game, because that is where the potential for hype is the greatest.
bright flashy colours on black background = genius (apparently?)

It attracts and easily distracts the feeble mindeOOH SHINY

ROBOTRON · Post by **ROBOTRON** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:32 pm

Everyday Shooter wasn't on that list?

antares · Post by **antares** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:38 pm

bcass wrote:That wasn't the point I was making. Given the law of averages, on average, you'd sell more on a console with a substantially larger userbase. A lot of 'gamers' own Wiis too you know.

I'm not sure about this. The PS2 has a bigger userbase than the Wii in Japan and still TF 6 sold only 15,000. And it's not because PS2 games don't sell anymore - PS2 games are reguarly in the top 10 of the Famitsu weekly charts.

I think games like RFA, Shikigami 3 or Senko no Ronde would have sold about the same amount regardless if they were released on 360, Wii, PS2 or DC.

FIL · Post by **FIL** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:41 pm

I guess shiki's US sales pretty much rule out a UK release.

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:44 pm

antares wrote:
bcass wrote:That wasn't the point I was making. Given the law of averages, on average, you'd sell more on a console with a substantially larger userbase. A lot of 'gamers' own Wiis too you know.
I'm not sure about this. The PS2 has a bigger userbase than the Wii in Japan and still TF 6 sold only 15,000. And it's not because PS2 games don't sell anymore - PS2 games are reguarly in the top 10 of the Famitsu weekly charts.

I think games like RFA, Shikigami 3 or Senko no Ronde would have sold about the same amount regardless if they were released on 360, Wii, PS2 or DC.

I didn't mean that *all* games would sell. Obviously a game would have to be good to sell in the first place. TF IV likely didn't sell well because it's rubbish.

antares · Post by **antares** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:51 pm

bcass wrote: I didn't mean that *all* games would sell. Obviously a game would have to be good to sell in the first place. TF IV likely didn't sell well because it's rubbish.

TF IV is one of the greatest shmups ever!

But Otomedius is more rubbish than TF6 and still sold double the amount on the 360.

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:57 pm

antares wrote:TF IV is one of the greatest shmups ever!

lol

antares wrote:But Otomedius is more rubbish than TF6 and still sold double the amount on the 360.

Maybe all the hardcore players dumped their PS2s and bought 360s? The 360 seems to be the hardcore gamers choice in Japan. Besides that, Otomedius has lollis.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:38 pm

bcass wrote:Otomedius has lollis.

Only thing you needed to say. (Though I believe it's "loli" with one "L".)

Matsunaga · Post by **Matsunaga** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:48 am

It's a sad day when including little girls in your game makes it sell. Pathetic.

ex.machina · Post by **ex.machina** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 1:37 am

Otomedius got a lot of funny elements, I think there are several reasons why it's selling. Among those 360 shooters, it's also the "most next-gen" one in terms of graphics.

I was a bit disappointed as I somehow expected a new Parodius, but it's not as good as. Still nice to play, and I think the more often you try, the better it feels.

originalz · Post by **originalz** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 5:22 am

The current Wii shooters released in Japan sold like shit, the fanbase isn't there (surprising considering all the shooters on the VC). Shiki 360 outsold Shiki Wii. The fanbase is on the 360 now, there's no point in forcing something that won't happen.

doctorx0079 · Post by **doctorx0079** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:04 am

bcass wrote:Besides that, Otomedius has lollis.

And that's how it shall be spelled henceforth!!

bcass · Post by **bcass** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 9:02 am

originalz wrote:The current Wii shooters released in Japan sold like shit, the fanbase isn't there (surprising considering all the shooters on the VC). Shiki 360 outsold Shiki Wii. The fanbase is on the 360 now, there's no point in forcing something that won't happen.

There's one other fundamental problem with the Wii - storage space. It's possible to transfer downloaded games to/from SD card but it's a pain in the ass and you can't play games from the SD card. Even then, you can only store 2GB per card. Nintendo killed that service before it even started.