Board 8 > FF16 overtakes Zelda in latest Famitsu Most Wanted

(+) Yeah! (+)

The idea that Hayao Miyazaki is only known to boomers is funny

The zoomers know/like him too I promise

It's almost like we interact we different groups and subgroups of people, that's wild.

That said, within my group of friends I assure you Hayao Miyazaki is much more widely known than the other guy.

Anecdotally, next month there will be a Ghibli concert here (a studio known to be associated with Hayao Miyazaki), but not even a video game concert of any kind, much less FromSoftware.

It's been a long time since we had a new Final Fantasy numbered title that wasn't deeply flawed at launch. Even FFXIV had to have a complete reworking. I'm hyped for FFXVI and all, but it's the sort of game where I want to see positive impressions from people who have played longer than a few days before I consider buying it, while TotK is a game I could go into and feel I'm very likely to have a good experience without having to see any more.

MacArrowny posted...

I don't feel like this chart means much, since it doesn't have many voters... TotK is gonna blow FF16 away in sales in Japan. Probably double the first week sales?

Well let's consult the current Japanese pre-order numbers we have access to from COMG...

1. The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 294
2. The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Collector's Edition - 114
3. Final Fantasy XVI - 39

lol

me just now finding out XVI is in June

not that I think I'll be getting it any time soon (still haven't played even XV)

It's okay, you don't need to play XV in order to understand XVI, their stories are completely unrelated

If anything you should resume playing FFXIV instead.

i'm replaying xi first for a streaming playthrough (it's snagged me my first chat regular aw ya)

then i'll move back to xiv for reals for truly

XIII Trilogy 4K Remaster when

KamikazePotato posted...

Also doesn't address the age gap - Gen Z, normies or otherwise, have probably never seen a Miyazaki movie.

This is emphatically untrue.

Separate from that, I should point out that Hayao Miyazaki's complete works are being shown in theaters across the us for the whole year

mnk posted...

Well let's consult the current Japanese pre-order numbers we have access to from COMG...

1. The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - 294
2. The Legends of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Collector's Edition - 114
3. Final Fantasy XVI - 39

lol

physical console gaming in japan is essentially dead

colliding posted...

physical console gaming in japan is essentially dead

Not sure if serious? Japan has one of the highest physical to digital ratios in the world. Also, those aren't total number of copies pre-ordered, it's an abstract number of "points" representing pre-orders at that one chain. Apparently 1 point generally equals 1000 copies? Pre-orders usually go way up as the release date approaches, too.

it's just me seeking out some Trails/Tales copium, don't worry

If it makes you feel better, Tales of Arise is still the best-selling PS5 game in Japan 1.5 years after its release.

Arise did very well.

One would think this translates to a solid effort for the series moving forward.

But of course, the new Symphonia release happened....

MacArrowny posted...

If it makes you feel better, Tales of Arise is still the best-selling PS5 game in Japan 1.5 years after its release.

Am I missing something? Just based on physical sales, Arise sold 84k in 2021, and it did not place in Famitsu's Top 100 of 2022 (the cut off was 33k). Meanwhile, Elden Ring sold 144k in 2022 and Hogwarts has so far sold 164k and is still charting weekly. And that's not to mention a bundle game like GT7 which is at 304k.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Arise did very well.

One would think this translates to a solid effort for the series moving forward.

But of course, the new Symphonia release happened....

for some reason I thought Arise didn't do well. whoops. I was just under the impression that Japanese gamers weren't buying physical games anymore for some reason. I know that the latest Trails games bombed, but that could just be because they're bad / Falcom can't market their way out of a paper bag

mnk posted...

Am I missing something? Just based on physical sales, Arise sold 84k in 2021, and it did not place in Famitsu's Top 100 of 2022 (the cut off was 33k). Meanwhile, Elden Ring sold 144k in 2022 and Hogwarts has so far sold 164k and is still charting weekly. And that's not to mention a bundle game like GT7 which is at 304k.

Hmm, maybe I'm thinking of another stat. Looking into it a bit more, I think maybe it's the only game to sell >200K copies first week on PS4/PS5 since the PS5's launch?

colliding posted...

for some reason I thought Arise didn't do well. whoops. I was just under the impression that Japanese gamers weren't buying physical games anymore for some reason. I know that the latest Trails games bombed, but that could just be because they're bad / Falcom can't market their way out of a paper bag

Yeah, Kuro specifically has been doing poorly, even compared to Reverie. I think Falcom really needs to focus on the Switch in Japan if they want to get their sales up.

MacArrowny posted...

Not sure if serious? Japan has one of the highest physical to digital ratios in the world.

Non-Switch console gaming is absolutely dead in Japan. To the point where Sony has stopped focusing on Japan as a major market.

Arise itself is the fastest selling Tales game.....ever, I think? Don't know about Japan specifically though, it hit it off big in the West.

Partially because of idiot reviewers who harped on how it was the first good Tales game ever even though it isn't as good as the game that came out right before it, but hell I ain't complaining if it gets us numbers.

MacArrowny posted...

Hmm, maybe I'm thinking of another stat. Looking into it a bit more, I think maybe it's the only game to sell >200K copies first week on PS4/PS5 since the PS5's launch?

Maybe it was until Elden Ring did 290k in its first week. I don't care enough to look up more games to check, lol.

Well I don't know what I'm talking about then, haha.

KamikazePotato posted...

Non-Switch console gaming is absolutely dead in Japan. To the point where Sony has stopped focusing on Japan as a major market.

Mostly, but some games can do okay. Crisis Core remaster did twice as well in PS as Switch. Also, when did Sony focus more on Japan than they do now?

My understanding is digital has grown a lot in Japan, though at a slower rate than everywhere else.

As a random example, FF13 sold a million copies in a day upon launch. It's gotten bad that 300k in week is the PS5's record.

MacArrowny posted...

Also, when did Sony focus more on Japan than they do now?

Before this generation? By a lot.

LightningStrikes posted...

My understanding is digital has grown a lot in Japan, though at a slower rate than everywhere else.

Yeah, it definitely has. The most recent figures I've seen suggest that digital sales are generally about 1/3 of a game's total sales (on average) so you can multiply most of those physical numbers by 1.5 to get a rough total.

KamikazePotato posted...

Before this generation? By a lot.

This generation they've made several deals with Square to get big exclusives on their system, along with Capcom for stuff like Pragmata and Konami for Silent Hill 2. What more could they do to focus more on the Japanese market? Other than making a portable console, I guess. The previous home Playstations were no more Japan-focused than the current one.

There is a big misunderstanding about Playstation regarding Japan that you see a lot online, especially on the older forums. While Sony is a Japanese company, Sony Interactive Entertainment is based wholly in America and run by the American corporate branch and has been for years. It is, in essence a fully American company with a Japanese parent company. The Sony that was a giant of Japanese gaming is basically gone and replaced with the newer American version. This was driven home with the closure of Japan Studio.

When we think about Sony turning away from the Japanese market, its not just because the Japanese console market dried up. Its portion of overall sales shrunk substantially but its still one of the biggest markets. Thats a factor but it is also down to the massive change of power structure that happened in the company around the early PS4 days.

LightningStrikes posted...

This was driven home with the closure of Japan Studio.

What? Japan Studio's games never sold that well in Japan.

I mean the entire company mostly leaving Japan.

Polyphony has always been Sony's most popular division in Japan and is still going strong.

Even Polyphony is only half in Japan these days though. Of course GT is also not what it was. Still big though.

KamikazePotato posted...

As a random example, FF13 sold a million copies in a day upon launch. It's gotten bad that 300k in week is the PS5's record.

This is what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure sales numbers are way down in Japan compared to where they were ten, even five years ago. Covid is maybe a part but it seems like physical is dead (not just in Japan but largely everywhere).

colliding posted...

This is what I'm talking about. I'm pretty sure sales numbers are way down in Japan compared to where they were ten, even five years ago. Covid is maybe a part but it seems like physical is dead (not just in Japan but largely everywhere).

It's not physical sales that are dying (though they've decreased). Pokemon Scarlet/Violet set a record for best physical first week all time in Japan just a few months ago.

It's specifically home consoles that are suffering. The PS3/PS4/PS5 haven't done nearly as well as the PS1/PS2 or Switch in Japan.

MacArrowny posted...

The previous home Playstations were no more Japan-focused than the current one.

They changed the confirm button from circle to X