Comments on: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers Not Flying Off Store Shelves

By: Tokyo Guy

Tokyo Guy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:06:16 +0000

Oh I definitely agree with you. The proximity to Final Fantasy XIII is quite a foolish move with this economy and as a whole so it's a shame Square didn't release the game back in September or even early October.

And I agree with the platform comment as well: it would have tanked anywhere.

Still, I plan to buy this game in a few weeks when it's dropped in price.

And although no one said it, just to reiterate, I am NOT opposed to FFCC, nor do I think the games are bad per se. My dislike is more for Square's inability to use original IP rather than putting the name FF in everything in hopes of selling. (Heck, I'm still lost as to why we didn't get a real Final Fantasy XI and had "Final Fantasy Online" on the side.)

By: TokyoGuy

TokyoGuy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:06:16 +0000

By: jarrodand

jarrodand — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:24:31 +0000

I get what you're saying, and while there's some truth to that I still think more “traditional” games are still doing quite well on Wii/DS. New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS & Wii, Monster Hunter 3, Dragon Quest IX, Rhythm Tengoku, Tetris DS, etc, etc. Even Mario Galaxy, it sold 960k in the end.

In context, Crystal Bearers is a spinoff of a spinoff series, it's a 12 hour action game and it's releasing within weeks of FFXIII. It has a host of fundamental problems working against it outside any percieved “DS/Wii userbase trend”, and I agree with Ishaan that it probably would've tanked just as hard on any platform currently.

By: Ishaan

Ishaan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:17:16 +0000

Well, Monster Hunter and Tales both seem to have done pretty well, so it's a question of leveraging established IP to tap into that audience. I doubt Crystal Bearers would do much better on any other system, given the nature of the game and the fact that they're rolling it out alongside their colossal marketing push for FFXIII.

I hope the game performs in the West. I wouldn't like to see the team discouraged from trying this sort of thing again in the future.

By: TokyoGuy

TokyoGuy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:02:45 +0000

Oh it certainly could be, they sure don't sell as well here as they do overseas. Many of my Japanese friends do indeed get motion sickness when playing certain types of games. But then again I seem to have developed motion sickness with FPS all of a sudden; I couldn't even stomach Mirror's Edge.

By: TokyoGuy

TokyoGuy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:01:10 +0000

I can certainly attest to that. The way you see dozens and dozens of people lining up for Gundam games or just to see some no-name voice actress or girl in a maid costume. Let me tell you; the foreign media only capitalizes on the lines for big name things, yet people line up here for endless amounts of time for ramen.

As for the game in particular, I have yet to play it but as it looks to have more of a story than previous FFCC games, may end up enjoying it.

By: TokyoGuy

TokyoGuy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:58:52 +0000

Was that the final number? Even so, it was in the end, not in the beginning. In the first month of release or so, I seem to recall the number being around 600,000. Anyway my point was that the game didn't perform as well as many had thought it would, yet overseas it was more successful.

Now compare that to Nintendogs selling a million copies in a much shorter time (heck, just Nintendogs selling a million copies period) and combine that with other recent smash hits from Nintendo- Tomodachi Collection, Wii Fit, Wii Sports (etc) and it's quite clear that games aren't what is popular anymore, but rather "activities".

Now keep in mind that I bought Nintendogs and had it for a short time, and I have Tomodachi Collection. I'm not saying they are bad, just that they are not "games" in the traditional sense, and that if this is what is now the "top product" for the Wii/DS audience, then should it be any surprise that a game like Crystal Bearers isn't doing well?

By: jarrodand

jarrodand — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:33:08 +0000

Mario Galaxy sold nearly a million units in Japan.

By: Ishaan

Ishaan — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:54:59 +0000

Wasn't part of the problem with Mario Galaxy that it was prone to giving Japanese people motion sickness? I could be wrong but I always assumed that was one reason 3D platformers aren't that big in Japan.

By: cowcow

cowcow — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:37:58 +0000

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this game. I had no interest at all with the previous Crystal Chronicles series but this one plays nothing like them. This game looks beautiful, is well presented, and is like a breath of fresh air on the Wii. Japanese are just weird buyers man…they dont know what the Hell they want half the time. Some of the sales numbers you see on some games dont even make any sense. That said I hope the game does well here when it comes out, but Wii audience I dunno…they are often full of fail too when it comes to buying third party games..

By: TokyoGuy

TokyoGuy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:41:32 +0000

Also, IMHO the Crystal Chronicles series has basically been a huge commercial failure. Both of the recent DS games sold terribly, and were in bargin bins just weeks after release (at some stores, even earlier) at less than half the price.
Square intended it to be a “Nintendo-friendly” game (i.e. for the users) but they are all so radically different than the traditional FF games.

Also, though many people won't like this comment, I am glad that the Crystal Chronicles series has consistently sold poorly. Maybe Square will finally wake up and realize that putting Final Fantasy on a product is not enough to sell it. Note that does NOT mean I think the games are all terrible, just that they haven't sold well.

By: TokyoGuy

TokyoGuy — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:37:49 +0000

Yeah, no one here seems remotely interested in it. And I seem to recall a few Bayonetta-sized giant billboard ads in the train stations as well.

Perhaps the issue that the core Wii gaming audience here in Japan has no interest in this type of game. Don't forget that Mario Galaxy didn't sell too well here either.

By: Aoshi00

Aoshi00 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:08:50 +0000

But they're still character and story driven and the characters were anime-like, rather than WRPGs w/ open world and only a very basic narrative, and IX went back to SD as well just like I-VI. XII attempted that and it was generally more well received in the West than in Jpn (despite Famitsu's 40/40). Also SD was more of a result of hardware limitation even though it is a design choice.

By: Aoshi00

Aoshi00 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:04:05 +0000

Actually it's the characters and the story that I'm interested in as well, since FFCC has always been about multiplayer before. I alrdy pre-ordered it, but I'm actually kind of worry if the game would be fun or not w/ its sand boxy gameplay. Fetch quest is also kind of pointless in most games and just make the game seem longer than it has to be.. From what I gather, the remote control seems to be a hassle as well… Now I'm not sure if the calendar is worth it… there's just so many games coming out in the same period you know.

By: contextfree

contextfree — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:46:17 +0000

Actually, they were. FFVII and VIII were made with the western market in mind. That's part of the reason they ditched super-deformed characters in VIII, for example.