LKS did 130,000 worldwide in 6 months.

Muramasa did 35,000 in NA as of two weeks after launch (Ignition even said it could be 20% higgher since NPD undertracks by that much, it it could be over 43,000), and Ignition were very happy with that. Thus the game is at least at 90.000 now. It's just coming out in EU as well.

Arc Rise Fantasia's only out in Japan and it's selling at a faster rate than Muramasa, and since iIgnition is publishing it in NA, they can use what marketing power they gave Muramasa for hopefully as good or even better sales.

Eldar Saga all around obviously had a shitty budget, so it'll need to sell far less to profit. It did around 4,600 in the first week, not good, but that makes it over 20,000, so hopefully it still has legs.

It may sound like I'm spinning things, but it makes sense.

Also, Marvelous actually existed as a separate company before, they merged with Victor's game unit back in 2003 iirc.

And yeah, I'm jarrod from gaf.

Same for DQ Swords honestly, it's not at all the 2nd worst selling spinoff even in recent years (it beat Slime Morimori 2, Shonen Yangus, Itadaki Street Portable and Itadaki Street DS) it actually the 2nd best selling spinoff (beaten only by DQM Joker). In fact, it's the best selling DQ spinoff on consoles ever, outselling every PS1 and PS2 DQ spinoff (Torenko 2, Torneko 3, Shonen Yangus, Itadaki Street Special, DQM1+2).

I'd also take some issue with the other titles you mentioned but they're mostly PS2 ports, which tends to be a losing battle on Wii regardless of genre (see also: Powapuro, Winning Eleven, Sengoku Basara, etc). If you want your Wii release to bomb, one of the surest ways seems to be releasing it alongside or after a nearly identical PS2 version.

are you jarrod from neogaf?

Also, this reply limit is totally annoying. Siliconera should consider hosting a forum or something.

>Hourglass. I think Spirit Tracks will do OK.

Hopefully it will, but it is curious as to the total absence of marketing. Even the feather-stylus pen element hasn't really been pushed. The only thing Nintendo is pushing currently is New Super Mario Bros. And, to an extent, the new DSi LL which goes on-sale tomorrow (and which IMHO looks HIDEOUS. Holy crap it might as well be an electronic dictionary it is so large. It's not even portable anymore really, and for that amount of space used there is no excuse why the thing can't do more. I mean you can get mini PCs running Windows XP for that size).

>Two core franchises (Metroid and Zelda) that people go crazy for everywhere

Isn't it funny how all the most creative games from Japan aren't even popular there? The GBA Metroid games, Metal Gear Solid, Zelda, etc. Maybe I'm wrong, but the Japanese gaming market seems to have boiled down to the “everybody” gamer and the total otaku, the latter only seeming to care about Gundam/Robot Wars games, or anime related products. (Seriously, HOW many Evangelion games have released in the past year or so?)

>seems like they've been trying to reposition the Wii as a core gaming platform >with all the bundles and pushing the Classic Controller with every major

Ah but none of these bundles ever reach Japan. The Wii continues to-and has always-been sold without ANY game software, as you probably know. I've always found this curious, as from the very start Nintendo of America had bundles (the NES with Duck Hunt/SMB) but Japan has always had to pay for everything. In fact, MANY things are cheaper in USA than they are here, including VAIO PCs, televisions, MP3 players, etc. I think Japanese companies literally exploit Japanese customers just so they can sell the products for less overseas.

>Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid and Zelda are all going to be huge in the West, but

I wouldn't be surprised if Mario Galaxy 2 sells worse here than the original.

>not in Japan. I'm just amazed we haven't seen them attempt to develop a >Pokémon MMO

Not to offend Nintendo, but I don't think the company would have the first clue how to make an MMORPG. Heck, it wouldn't even admit that online play/DLC was the way to go for a very long time. I get the impression that Nintendo is deeply disappointed that the “Japanese” way has been lost and that gaming is catering more and more to the interests of the west, be it trends like DLC, or gaming genres and the games themselves. Just the fact that the company remains based in Kyoto says a lot about its business.

(And on a side note, when the West IS clamoring for traditional Japanese Nintendo products such as Mother 3, the company totally ignores the demand, as if to say “You aren't good enough for it”. There is absolutely no reason a Mother 1-3 compilation for the DS has not graced foreign markets other than Nintendo's arrogant “insistence” that Mother 3 be for Japan).

Oh BTW, while on the subject of poor sales, Made in Ore was a total flop here IIRC, despite Nintendo heavily marketing it to the “everybody” gamer with said “talented” “comedians”.

>or put Monolith to good use and establish their own RPG franchise, since that's

Yes, what the heck is Nintendo doing with that company anyway? What a total waste of possibly the best talent it has. Monolith has become the Rare that Microsoft purchased: a great deal that everyone hoped would result in a string of major hits only to be all but taken off the map.

Yea, I never got why Zelda stopped being popular in Japan either, and unfortunately, I was too young during the N64 days to care about any of this stuff. We know for a fact that Wind Waker was an angle they tried approaching the Japanese market from, and that it eventually paid off with Phantom Hourglass. I think Spirit Tracks will do OK.

You seem to be right about Nintendo shedding their “gamer” image in Japan. Two core franchises (Metroid and Zelda) that people go crazy for everywhere else are of no interest to the Japanese, and as you pointed out, Nintendo's marketing has been largely targeted at the casual audience. In recent times, it seems like they've been trying to reposition the Wii as a core gaming platform with all the bundles and pushing the Classic Controller with every major release, but I think all this has happened a little too late. I admire Iwata a lot, but even I had to admit while reading the investor briefing that he wasn't being very convincing. Part of it is that Nintendo are so secretive about everything.

I honestly couldn't guess what they have in the works for Japan that could be big next year with the enthusiast audience. Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid and Zelda are all going to be huge in the West, but not in Japan. I'm just amazed we haven't seen them attempt to develop a Pokémon MMO or put Monolith to good use and establish their own RPG franchise, since that's clearly what the audience wants.