“It [Zack & Wiki] did not sell 500K units or anywhere near it. To the best of my knowledge, the 300K figure quoted by IR included European orders from Nintendo who published the title on our behalf in that territory. Nor did it do the volume it did do at anywhere near frontline pricing (in the US anyway). And what you think was a cheap game to make, wasn’t. Great games almost never are. Lastly, Okami Wii is not on track to outsell the PS2 version. The worldwide Okami Wii number might get to the US Okami PS2 number at some point though…
I will say that the Japan VG chart number appears to be pulled straight from Media Create… which is fairly accurate. Japan’s $2M TV campaign for the title in just that territory (e.g. better marketing) did not move the bar. We could have spent more, sold more, but due to that increased spending generated less profit (more loss). Look at publicly listed publisher financials. Industry standard is a variable marketing spend of between 9-12% of forecasted gross sales. We spend at similar levels (and sometimes above that) on every title we do, in every territory we operate in, including on Z&W…
Okami has been moderately successful… due in no small part to the quality of the game and the fact that it was cost effectively produced with managed scope.” – Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer/VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development
I’m glad that – at the very least – Okami “has been moderately successful.” At the same time, I’m very disappointed that the game hasn’t performed better. I could go on and on about how great I think the game is. The same goes for Zack & Wiki!
We’ve had a fun couple of weeks haven’t we?! The site experienced some unexpected downtime over the past hour or so. Unsurprisingly, the issue was caused due to our host. In the future, we will hopefully be able to avoid any downtime thanks to something that our tech guy is implementing. He is also thinking about changing our host.
Anyways, I’d like to apologize one more time that the site was down. Believe me – It really does bother me when I see that NE is down, even for a minute!
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Wii Game Of The Year
Staff: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Readers: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Nintendo DS Game Of The Year
Staff: The World Ends With You
Readers: Kirby Super Star Ultra
WiiWare Game Of The Year
Staff: Mega Man 9
Readers: Mega Man 9
Best Wii Graphics
Staff: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Readers: Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Best DS Graphics
Staff: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Readers: The World Ends With You
No word yet on what exactly Project Ring is. SEGA plans on revealing more details on the 24th.
SEGA Europe Ltd. and SEGA of America, Inc. today announced that the Virtua Tennis series will, for the very first time, be released on the Wii system and will hit stores in May 2009.
Wii owners will finally be able to take to the courts in the fan’s number one tennis game, boasting all the features and arcade action that has made Virtua Tennis the most critically acclaimed and best selling tennis series available. Virtua Tennis 2009 for Wii includes the same impressive player roster as Virtua Tennis 2009 on other platforms, meaning top stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams will all be in the game, as well as players new to the series such as Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic. Over 40 vibrant court environments will be playable within single player, multiplayer and online modes giving Virtua Tennis 2009 an impressive online and offline depth for a Wii title.
A developer blog for Kizuna has opened, confirming that, once again, the game has not been canceled. The creators say that they are sorry to those who have been anticipating the software and that they wish to live up to expectations. It is also stated that the slow development can be attributed to the fact that they wish to create a high-quality title.
In terms of actual game details, the notice says that the social aspect of Kizuna will be important. You meet people in the game and overcome difficulties together. Besides growing in strength, you will be able to see the character grow spiritually.
Thanks to Isai for the news tip!
* As expected, it confirms that this is a third version of the previous games; Darkness & Time, but includes loads of extras
* The story runs the same as previous Dungeon games with you being a character who has turned into a Pokémon
* The main hub is Treasure Town again and contains the same shops, but it appears there is more added to Treasure Town this time. The contents of which is yet to be revealed
* The game is set to feature over 490 Pokémon including Giratina’s Origin Forme and Shaymin
Caution: Video has some spoilers
First test of our video player…
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