Shenmue 3 Sales

[jsh020]

I'm not even talking about their newer output, just their days back in the arcade and consoles. It's true though that more solid and consistent modern output would retroactively help shed (positive) light on their past with younger players, though. @SakuraTaisen kind of touched on this in another thread.

They need to have a hit again for that stuff to really show up again, its kind of the same way all discussion of SNK properties vanished for about 8 years cause of the inactivity of the brand, now its everywhere again despite being pretty niche and not a big seller.

Also I think sega HAS to get sonic right, its just their image no matter what and they somehow always cut corners with it. I dont think theres anything more infuriating than how they struck gold with generations and then proceeded to throw away all that good will almost immediately, and then to kick people while they were down shit out forces. Its kind of like when capcom was screwing up resident evil, the entire company as a whole's output had less focus and good will, but they are an extreme case cause they nearly fucking died.

 

[mjqjazzbar]

I don't think Sega has much talent left. Most of their biggest names left. RGG Studios is where it's at right now, but I do think they're gonna start losing their luster if they don't branch out from Yakuza. Sonic Team is consistent garbage. AM2--they just pump out generic arcade games now as far as I can tell.

 

[spud1897]

Thanks @Down by Law.

The posts you and @Real1 have been doing since shenmue 3s release is pure gold.

Much appreciated

I'll second this.

 

[currypowder84]

Shenmue 3 is currently #39 and #49 bestselling on Amazon US and Best Buy respectively. The price cut was the right move, I think for non-hardcore Shenmue fans $60 is an off-putting price point for a game that's not AAA.

Sales in the US would probably be way down if it didn't initially get slashed for Black Friday. Glad to see it still selling steadily, at least in the US.

 

[Kdog4sado]

Shenmue 3 is currently #39 and #49 bestselling on Amazon US and Best Buy respectively. The price cut was the right move, I think for non-hardcore Shenmue fans $60 is an off-putting price point for a game that's not AAA.

Sales in the US would probably be way down if it didn't initially get slashed for Black Friday. Glad to see it still selling steadily, at least in the US.

So that's actually a good thing that it is continually moving up on Amazon!

 

[jsh020]

I don't think Sega has much talent left. Most of their biggest names left. RGG Studios is where it's at right now, but I do think they're gonna start losing their luster if they don't branch out from Yakuza. Sonic Team is consistent garbage. AM2--they just pump out generic arcade games now as far as I can tell.

RGG is at least trying to branch out a bit with yakuza 7, but even then thats a big risk we will have to see if it actually turns out ok, I have seen more than just a few people being turned off from the genre change. Sakura wars is doing the exact same thing so we will see how that turns out but I got a feeling its not gonna end up well, as you said sonic team has been consistent garbage so theres really little reason to not expect them to totally fuck up sakura wars especially if its some radical departure like it is, hope I'm wrong though.

Sega is absolutely the most, if it aint broke, CHANGE EVERYTHING developer I can think of, so many radical departures for no real reason and 90% of the time horrible results that kill franchises, its why even though both y7 and sakura actually look quite good its hard to get fully excited about them with the company's track record of risky changes, I'm sure y7 will turn out better at least cause its not cs2/sonic team making it like sakura wars.

 

[Kintor]

I don't think Sega has much talent left. Most of their biggest names left. RGG Studios is where it's at right now, but I do think they're gonna start losing their luster if they don't branch out from Yakuza. Sonic Team is consistent garbage. AM2--they just pump out generic arcade games now as far as I can tell.

Sega has plenty of talent these days, you just need to look beyond the old guard teams. I mean, today Sega is a strategy game powerhouse on PC with Total War, Company of Heroes and Endless Space. Meanwhile the aquisition of Atlus has been a huge boon as well, Persona 5 catapulted what was a relatively niche franchise into one of the biggest JRPGs of this generation. So don't give me this doom and gloom routine, show a little more respect to Sega and what they have been able to achieve since the Dreamcast.

Shenmue 3 is currently #39 and #49 bestselling on Amazon US and Best Buy respectively. The price cut was the right move, I think for non-hardcore Shenmue fans $60 is an off-putting price point for a game that's not AAA.

Sales in the US would probably be way down if it didn't initially get slashed for Black Friday. Glad to see it still selling steadily, at least in the US.

Yeah, people still tend overlook the significance of online stores like Amazon. But with the continuing decline of dedicated retailers like Game Stop/EB Games, Amazon is just going to keep getting more important going forward. The relative success of Shenmue 3 can only bode well for the future.

 

[Down by Law]

Being a Sega fan is hard work, but I do think they are on the cusp of turning things around.

In fact I was cooking earlier and I remember Yuzo Koshiro wrote some songs for Shenmue. Funny world that he's not doing III but is busy doing Streets of Rage 4 though. Hearing that sentence a decade ago would have given me a heart attack

 

[Kdog4sado]

Being a Sega fan is hard work, but I do think they are on the cusp of turning things around.

In fact I was cooking earlier and I remember Yuzo Koshiro wrote some songs for Shenmue. Funny world that he's not doing III but is busy doing Streets of Rage 4 though. Hearing that sentence a decade ago would have given me a heart attack

That sentence is pretty trippy , my my how far we have come

 

[Dietsoap]

Sega has plenty of talent these days, you just need to look beyond the old guard teams. I mean, today Sega is a strategy game powerhouse on PC with Total War, Company of Heroes and Endless Space. Meanwhile the aquisition of Atlus has been a huge boon as well, Persona 5 catapulted what was a relatively niche franchise into one of the biggest JRPGs of this generation. So don't give me this doom and gloom routine, show a little more respect to Sega and what they have been able to achieve since the Dreamcast.

I don't say this to be disrespectful to what Sega has done since, or even those western developers, but I think most of us want more stuff developed internally within Sega by Japanese staff. To give credit where credit is due, the Yakuza stuff is great. Sakura Taisen Reboot looks fantastic and is exactly the kind of thing they should be doing more of. House of the Dead 4 is AMAZING, and 5 looks like it should be great too, but with arcades being dead in the west, I haven't really had an opportunity to try it yet. Sonic Generations and even Unleashed were fantastic, I'm still upset they managed to botch Forces so hard (imo). Valkyria Chronicles, I haven't really gotten into, but again is the kind of thing they should be doing more of. Hell, even the PDf games are fantastic on a gameplay level, it's just a shame they had to make them using a pre-established IP.

I really wish they could build their internal ranks back up, even by poaching from Namco, N*ntendo, Capcom, SE, etc if need be, so we could get more output. SoR4, Panzer Dragoon and HotD remakes, new Chu Chu Rocket etc are all cool, but it's kind of (very) lame to me that they're outsourced to western 3rd parties.

 

[Kintor]

I don't say this to be disrespectful to what Sega has done since, or even those western developers, but I think most of us want more stuff developed internally within Sega by Japanese staff. To give credit where credit is due, the Yakuza stuff is great. Sakura Taisen Reboot looks fantastic and is exactly the kind of thing they should be doing more of. House of the Dead 4 is AMAZING, and 5 looks like it should be great too, but with arcades being dead in the west, I haven't really had an opportunity to try it yet. Sonic Generations and even Unleashed were fantastic, I'm still upset they managed to botch Forces so hard (imo). Valkyria Chronicles, I haven't really gotten into, but again is the kind of thing they should be doing more of. Hell, even the PDf games are fantastic on a gameplay level, it's just a shame they had to make them using a pre-established IP.

I really wish they could build their internal ranks back up, even by poaching from Namco, N*ntendo, Capcom, SE, etc if need be, so we could get more output. SoR4, Panzer Dragoon and HotD remakes, new Chu Chu Rocket etc are all cool, but it's kind of (very) lame to me that they're outsourced to western 3rd parties.

It shouldn't matter where a Sega team is located so long as they are making great games. Atlas, Creative Assembly, Relic Entertainment and Amplitude are all part of Sega's internal ranks and have been for years now. These teams produce some of the most acclaimed and commercially successful games in their respective genres. Plus, they aren't even all the studios Sega has acquired since the Dreamcast era.

I think it's great that Sega has such a strong presence in the West. Even back in the day I held the experimental games from the Sega Technical Institute in the same regard as any of their Japanese ones. But if a purely Japanese experience is what you need then Atlus has got you covered any way. The names are different but in the end it all leads back to Sega.

 

[Dietsoap]

It shouldn't matter where a Sega team is located so long as they are making great games. Atlas, Creative Assembly, Relic Entertainment and Amplitude are all part of Sega's internal ranks and have been for years now. These teams produce some of the most acclaimed and commercially successful games in their respective genres. Plus, they aren't even all the studios Sega has acquired since the Dreamcast era.

I think it's great that Sega has such a strong presence in the West. Even back in the day I held the experimental games from the Sega Technical Institute in the same regard as any of their Japanese ones. But if a purely Japanese experience is what you need then Atlus has got you covered any way. The names are different but in the end it all leads back to Sega.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that first point as I'm an insufferable weeb when it comes to video games. Atlus is fine, I do like Persona 3, 4, and Catherine a lot, but they aren't tickling that Sega vibe for me.

 

[Valascaziel]

Just a chime here regarding digital sales--if you follow gaming news, you'll know that not only did the Xbox One All Digital console sell well this early holiday, there are now claims that the next Xbox will have a cheaper, digital option also.

Zhuge of ResetERA(a known industry person) stated that we've already reached the point where most games are digitally downloaded.

Don't sleep on digital sales of this game is all I'm saying.

Personally, I've only bought 2 physical games this year(not counting S3). Everything else has been downloaded from the console store or even from my PS phone app.

 

[jsh020]

Zhuge of ResetERA(a known industry person) stated that we've already reached the point where most games are digitally downloaded.

This point is heavily skewed though, its not that digital sales are 50/50 to their physical counterparts on the same games, rather theres a ton of games that are exclusively digital only with the biggest contributor being the entire medium of pc gaming.

Digital is important, but its not so black and white

 

[高野和泉]

I've been saying this for awhile so It'll sound like a broken record but Sega really gotta do a contingency plan like what Yu did back during his Am2 days. Bigger appeal Ips to subsidized weaker appeal ips. It'll make it easier to take risks. This is why even tho shenmue cost Sega money, Yu didn't operate at a loss since he recouped it with VF3+4 & Daytona brought in a 150m+ profit.

Smartest thing Sega has done in years was surveying fans to see which Ips are still viable from the back catalog then acting on it.

There are heavy hitter ips sega is sitting on that'll create so much brand hype if they lay down the pipelines for an entry.

But the big three classic IPs(Virtua Fighter,Sonic,Panzer Dragoon Saga) that have console selling powers need a proper team of veteran talent+resources and not outsourced or half-asses/rushed. Since Shenmue is handled by YS already Sega just need to throw budgetary support if they're not willing to lend Am2 staff members to the project.

After these take off, then start sniping the mid-tier classics and cult favorites. (Outrun,Space harrier,Daytona,Phantasy star,Skies of Arcadia, Jet Set Radio, etc)

Once you're swimming in profits and brand recognition/loyalty get experimental again with new IPs. Or take risks on old exotic IPs within genres that are experiencing drought and are thirsty for new entries.(Seaman,Rez,Space channel 5) are some that comes to mind.

 

[sbkodama]

I've noticed this for the longest time, and it annoys me to no end because it means we end up with a diminished segaboi and arcade-fan presence.

Maybe you can find sega fan on retro boards and social media groups, but most output of sega japan are not worth it for them today. My brother told me about phantasy star online 2 that was presented by microsoft (at e3 I think ?), and when I told him that it was an old game already release years ago in japan he was kind of like "really ? lame...".

Sega has plenty of talent these days, you just need to look beyond the old guard teams. I mean, today Sega is a strategy game powerhouse on PC with Total War, Company of Heroes and Endless Space. Meanwhile the aquisition of Atlus has been a huge boon as well, Persona 5 catapulted what was a relatively niche franchise into one of the biggest JRPGs of this generation. So don't give me this doom and gloom routine, show a little more respect to Sega and what they have been able to achieve since the Dreamcast.

As you said one is a strategy game powerhouse on pc and the other mostly jrpg, not representative and not onpart with the legendary ips of sega, which is a kind that is nowhere to be seen since a long time.

 

[高野和泉]

...not representative and not onpart with the legendary ips of sega, which are a kind that is nowhere to be seen since a long time.

^This so much. Sega's visionaries has created some of the most unique and unrepeatable Ips of distant past that it's basically a free no competition entry if they pursue a another one/and or sequel.

Mizuguchi,Rieko,Suzuki,Naka,& others of beloved one of a kind franchises just can't be replicated. The devil is really in the details. Shenmue being unmatched 20 yrs laters is a testament & also a good frame of reference.

 

[mjqjazzbar]

I don’t even think Generations was that good. The best Sonic games have just been rehashes that aren’t really any better than the old games. They need some fresh perspective... Mania is alright, but it’s just “more of the same.”

 

[Kintor]

As you said one is a strategy game powerhouse on pc and the other mostly jrpg, not representative and not onpart with the legendary ips of sega, which is a kind that is nowhere to be seen since a long time.

Persona 5 is one of the best JRPGs ever made. If you're willing to praise something like Skies of Arcadia or Phantasy Star IV then you must also acknowledge the merit of Persona 5. Don't let the whole urban fantasy vibe deter you, the gameplay pedigree is amongst the best that any Japanese studio has ever produced.

As for the strategy side of things Sega has already created new legends. The Total War games are widely respected as being some of the most technically sophisticated and highly detailed grand strategy games on the market today. What Sega first attempted with Shining Force pales in comparison to what they can now do with Total War.

 

[Dietsoap]

What Sega first attempted with Shining Force pales in comparison to what they can now do with Total War.

I've never played Total War, but I feel confident in saying "apples and oranges" man.