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Yes, Inazuma Eleven Go Might Have Missed A Goal

By Ishaan . December 23, 2011 . 9:00am

Yesterday, we posted a sales graph showing a comparison of all the Inazuma Eleven RPGs released in Japan to date, pointing out that Inazuma Eleven Go, recently released on the Nintendo 3DS, appears to be lagging behind the previous games in terms of sales. Here’s the graph again, for reference:

 

Yes, Inazuma Eleven Go Might Have Missed A Goal

 

While Go’s numbers are indeed low compared to its predecessors, what we didn’t know was how Level 5 expected the game to perform, or how many copies of it they shipped to stores. Today, we have a little more information on this front.

 

ASCII Media Works have pitched in with their own weekly software sales report at Dengeki Online, and their numbers indicate that Inazuma Eleven Go sold 141,019 copies. They add that this is about 35% of the total number of copies Level 5 sent out. So yes, that would indicate Inazuma Eleven Go isn’t exactly flying off shelves, relative to Level 5’s expectations.

 

Food for thought:

1. For the curious, the Shine version was ahead of the Dark version. Shine sold 79,262 copies, while Dark sold 61,757 copies. That’s a win for the Endou/Natsumi pairing, as in Dark, Endou is married to Fuyuka.

 

2. You really think Level 5 would have learnt their lesson after releasing Ni no Kuni (DS) so close to Monster Hunter Portable 3rd in 2010, which was cited as one of the reasons the game didn’t hit the ground running. Inazuma Eleven Go was released five days after Monster Hunter 3G, and seems to be suffering the same fate.


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  • xhunter

    heehh… Aren’t things going really badly for Level-5 lately? Ni no Kuni didn’t seem to sell as well as they though too.

  • http://twitter.com/ZEROthe1st ZEROthefirst

    That’s what happens when you release your games near a Monster Hunter title in Japan…LOW

  • http://twitter.com/#!/GuiltyRaioh ShinkaRaioh

    Stupid move Level-5 stupid move…now release it here in the west so I can buy a dozen or two copies of it to make up for the loss…tsk it has to be always me >__>

    • http://twitter.com/Xander_VJ David García Abril

      The problem there is that they need to release IE2 and IE3 first…

      Patience.

  • http://www.facebook.com/alwaysbored.andrade Jonathan Andrade

    Inazuma Eleven was a series in decline on DS. It’s no surprise that it’s continuing onto 3DS. Level-5 really needs to stop the annual sequels. The Wii game coming out this week is going to do amazingly poor.

    • http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan

      How was it in decline? Look at the graph. :P

    • http://www.avclub.com/users/ghaleonq,4597/ GhaleonQ

      In decline?  Gameplay-wise and sales-wide, as stated, that’s absurd.  Assuming that sales had anything to do with quality and not timing, I’d suppose low sales reflect the low level of ambition that 4 has.  It’s not the series’ least good game, but it is the least good relative to what came before it.  Level-5′s yearly entries made them lazy now that they’re running multiple franchises that do it.

  • http://tristsantithesis.tumblr.com/ Tsunayoshi Sawada

    The same people playing inazuma eleven go are also playing monster hunter?  I really think the monster hunter effect is being exaggerated like the call of duty effect, using that, games can still sell tons even released near, same month as, same day as mega aaa titles.

    Of course, Im not an expert of JPN sales as I was greatly shocked by how well 3DS turned out this month in JPN.

    • http://www.siliconera.com Ishaan

      Not every single person (Inazuma skews a little younger, probably), but I’m certain that there’s an overlap, at the very least. Both series are popular with the school crowd, although Monster Hunter obviously also goes beyond that crowd.

      • Kris

        I’d assume that there might even be some overlap with Final Fantasy. While it’s probably not a lot, some kids who might otherwise buy Inazuma could have spent their cash on the very expensive Final Fantasy XIII-2. It’s a big release, and I wouldn’t be totally surprised if that had some impact, despite the different consoles. I don’t understand sales as well as you do though, so I could very well be wrong. Seems like a very busy week in Japan overall though, and I don’t see a lot of kids prioritizing Inazuma over MonHun.

        • Gatchaman1

          FF XIII-2′s sales dont really reflect that. Sales were down on all games recently

  • http://vanilladice.deviantart.com/ Dice

    I always found Level-5 to be one of the most over-rated publishers.  They had a few…few games that were truly *amazing* hits.  But the rest I can’t say I liked that much nor were they very good (personal preferences aside for the occasional title). Dark Cloud 1 was crap, Rogue Galaxy tries too hard, and White Knight Chronicles was just crap and the second title didn’t learn.  At least they’re happy pimping out Layton Titles, but hopefully they’ll have something fresh before the series goes stale.

    • Trotmeister

      I completely agree. It’s a mystery why people love Level-5. Sure, from the technical standpoint, their games are good – pretty graphics and all that. However, all of them seem so hollow, so devoid of good ideas.

      • Kris

        I’m so glad I’m not alone in thinking this. Their games seem like they’re built to sell, and while I respect them from a business perspective I haven’t really enjoyed any of their stuff that I’ve played. To me, it’s like they’re missing something intangible, I don’t feel a real spirit or drive behind what I’ve played. They feel very homogenized to me, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing (I wouldn’t drink non-homogenized milk, probably) their games have never resonated with me like they have with some people. With that said, Guild01 looks pretty good!

        • Ereek

          Fourth-ed.  I feel like I’m missing something. Like I should be enjoying the games but I’m just not “getting” them.

          But with Matsuno now in Level-5, I can seem them producing some titles I might enjoy.

    • http://twitter.com/creid8 Pete

      Definitely should’ve given Dark Cloud 2 / Dark Chronicle a shot, IMO it’s a lot better than the others you’ve named.

      • icecoffemix

        No not really, the battle system get REALLY tiresome after a shortwhile and the dungeons are overall bland. The plot and the characters aren’t great either.

        Overall it’s a mediocre game.

        IMO, you should’ve said Dragon Quest 8 as the staple of Level 5′s creation.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000301072427 Mark Shaver

      I don’t care about any of their other games, but Rogue Galaxy is awesome! Tries too hard, puh >.>

  • TyRaNtM .

    Inazuma Eleven Go will have a better second week because the movie will be in that week. Also, the 3DS user base is lower than DS, so the game will have some kind of legs.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Tim-Bustin/100002646117128 Tim Bustin

    Never been a HUGE fan of Level-5 but I really enjoy their art style. I’ve only really enjoyed two of their games…rogue galaxy and jeanne D’ Arc but I know they weren’t that popular overall. Not sure why people in Japan aren’t scooping up Ni No Kuni it’s right up their alley. I’m definitely curious about that one.

    • Gatchaman1

      People in Japan’s gaming habits have become kinda fickle as of late. Its almost like they dont even wanna play or make games anymore. There was a shift of trends to playing handhelds but even the handhelds arent doing as well as before. Maybe its the economy.

      • http://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=2704923 Buntar0

        I’m also wondering what is going on there. I mean, I’m seeing people on Nico
        Nico Douga playing stuff like browser games or FPSs. Even the retro games crowd
        sticks to NES or SNES most of the time. Few underdog games, no SEGA, no Hudson… nothing.
        Something seems wrong to me.

        • Gatchaman1

          Maybe the tsunami who knows

  • TheMysticalNinja

    Can’t blame them, since there was one time when I thought a bunch of kids who might be under the influence of drugs could beat werid dinosaur-looking monsters as well.

  • http://twitter.com/Xander_VJ David García Abril

    Ouch!

  • malek86

    Looks like Level 5 is getting addicted to shipping high and selling low. Didn’t the same happen with Ni no Kuni and some other game whose name escapes me at the moment?

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Will-Jay/100001526135754 Will Jay

    So I’ve played the game, and all I can say is that this sucks. It’s pretty much the best game on the system thus far, and despite my original thoughts about “RIGGED YOUTH SOCCER MATCHES”, I actually really ended up enjoying what I understood of the plot… Which was much easier to understand than when I played 3 since it’s more cinematic. I have to say, 3 had better gameplay, just because it had a lot more skills, but I guess they put all their stuff into the Keshin aspect.

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