Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City Japan Debut Sales & NECA Figures

[xfactor]

The latest Media Create sales indicate that RE Operation Raccoon City opened with a strong debut in Japan, selling 252.525 copies in its first 4 days (the game was released on April 26th and Media Create week sales end counts at 29th), and is the highest selling game for the week.

Source: Neogaf - Media Create Sales: Week 17, 2012 (Apr 23 - Apr 29)

NECA also released a photo on facebook, showing off their test shots for "Vector" in RE ORC, in various poses. They said the figure will comes in June.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...&type=1&ref=nf

[Dracarys]

...and it just passed RE0 sales. Likely has passed REmake, but figures for US/Europe still a week behind.

[Wrathborne]

New generation of gamers has fucked the RE series for good I'm afraid .

Makes me wonder if Mikami and co. put in more horror in RE4 that it wouldn't have moved over to crap action in RE5?

[Rombie]

...and it just passed RE0 sales. Likely has passed REmake, but figures for US/Europe still a week behind.

As sad as that is for retro fans of old style, as far as a modern action title goes on both 360 and PS3, thats still a piss poor effort overall. And it's still just around 60ish% of what Capcom set as a targets for it of 2 million, already downgraded from 2.5 million. It's not going to get much better and I figure may peak out at around 1.5 max. Given those sorts of overall sales given the expectation I can't see Capcom following this up with anything.

[Mr. Spencer]

Rombie, you always know the right thing to say at the right time.

[Darkmoon]

I forgot about the 2 million target, and the downgrade. Capcom must be watching these numbers quite anxiously...

[News Bot]

...and it just passed RE0 sales. Likely has passed REmake, but figures for US/Europe still a week behind.

...both of which were exclusively on the GameCube, which had a far smaller userbase, both general and series-fans, than the PS3 and 360. This is not a noteworthy or remarkable feat.

Not sure how much the Archives re-releases sold, but doubt it was much considering most Wii users would have already just bought the original GameCube versions pre-owned.

[Pikminister]

...both of which were exclusively on the GameCube, which had a far smaller userbase, both general and series-fans, than the PS3 and 360. This is not a noteworthy or remarkable feat.

Not sure how much the Archives re-releases sold, but doubt it was much considering most Wii users would have already just bought the original GameCube versions pre-owned.

ORC has not yet sold more than either RE Zero or the Remake in Japan, though. Both Remake and Zero sold beyond the 300k mark on the Gamecube. ORC has yet to get there... and it's only getting there with the combined sales from the PS3 and X360 (albeit mostly w/PS3 numbers).

And another thing to consider here, the Gamecube had barely 2.5 million users back when REmake and Zero came out in Japan. Compare that to ORC coming out on 2 consoles with at least 9 million users combined (again, in Japan).

ORC numbers are actually underwhelming.

[Dracarys]

Userbase size does not affect demand. This has been proven many times with many PS3 games that are sequels to PS2 hits have outsold the PS2 games despite the PS2 selling countless millions more, including back when PS3 had a much smaller userbase.

I will be interested in Capcoms shipped numbers, they shipped 2 million copies of MvC3 on release but the game still has not sold through to consumers that many and a large chunk of sales were after the game tanked in price at retail. For ORC to reach about 1.3m sales to consumers already before a price drop at retail I would hazard a good guess Capcom may of already shipped their 2 million target, we'll have to wait for their numbers to be released.

ORC has not yet sold more than either RE Zero or the Remake in Japan, though.

It has one week of sales, give it time. It beat RE0 first week by 50k, REmake by 100k. That is using PS3 numbers only.

[News Bot]

Userbase size does not affect demand. Many PS3 games that are sequels to PS2 hits have outsold the PS2 games despite the PS2 selling dozens millions more.

Do you have any actual examples?

Taking into account what Pikminister and I have already stated, then looking at the fact that BH0 and the remake appealed mainly to established series fans (of which only about 1/4 owned a GameCube). Operation Raccoon City appeals mainly to the "CoD" audience. The latter selling more is not impressive or even worthy of mentioning in the slightest.

ORC is just another industry example that quality and substance do not translate directly into sales.

[Dracarys]

Do you have any actual examples?

God of War series, GoWIII outsold both GoWI and II.
Metal Gear Solid series, MGS4 outsold MGS3 (even with Subsistance added) and has sales roughly on level with MGS1 and 2.
Final fantasy series, FFXIII comparable sales to games throughout the series despite varying userbase sizes between PS1/2/3.
Looking at past gens is the same
CVX on PS2 vs CV on DC, only 260k sales difference despite the DC dying an early death with a low userbase.

The PS3 games are still selling too, the numbers creep up over time much like the previous gen games all had a chance to do.

[Pikminister]

Userbase size does not affect demand

You're talking about different things here. In order to be a demand, there needs to be an awareness of a particular product within that userbase.

On the PS3 and X360, you had awareness of the RE brand (RE5 was a huge hit there and Capcom promoted ORC like few other titles in recent memory). Also, shooters are very popular on those two console. So that took care of the demand.

Even so, ORC starts topping the charts but quickly drops off. Just like News Bot said to me on another thread. This is clear evidence that initial sales are mostly due to the BRAND NAME and the popularity of the genre. But then the lackluster quality of the game ruins it's legs in the long run.

Which is why Capcom has refused to link to reviews of the game this time around. Unlike what they did with RE5 and some of their more polished titles.

It has one week of sales, give it time. It beat RE0 first week by 50k, REmake by 100k. That is using PS3 numbers only.

And what's that about? What does that even prove? PS3 owners rather play unpolished, bug/glitch ridden games. We get that.

[News Bot]

God of War series, GoWIII outsold both GoWI and II.
Metal Gear Solid series, MGS4 outsold MGS3 (even with Subsistance added) and has sales roughly on level with MGS1 and 2.
Final fantasy series, FFXIII comparable sales to games throughout the series despite varying userbase sizes between PS1/2/3.
Looking at past gens is the same
CVX on PS2 vs CV on DC, only 260k sales difference despite the DC dying an early death with a low userbase.

The PS3 games are still selling too, the numbers creep up over time much like the previous gen games all had a chance to do.

VGChartz are unreliable. Even so, high-profile games in high-profile franchises sell more than past sequels. Can you explain what the significance of that is other than being completely obvious?

The amount of consoles sold does not directly translate into number of particular game sold. The amount of series fans attached to that franchise and particular console matter more (GameCube and Dreamcast had very little for BIO, since the series was already ingrained on the PlayStation). CODE:Veronica sold substantially more than the Dreamcast version at a time when the PlayStation 2 was still fairly early, and many had already bought a Dreamcast for the game under the pre-tense that it was an exclusive. Take a look at the sales numbers for BH4 on the GC and PS2. Despite being a critically lauded game, it sold less on the GC, with less of an established fanbase and a small userbase, in comparison to the PS2 version which sold substantially more due to a wider userbase and more of a series fanbase.

Likewise, those games (with the exception of MGS4) did not make any attempt to appeal to a wider, casual "CoD" audience like ORC did.

[Rombie]

I can see Capcom having shipped 2 million on it. Or that they will have by years end. That's notReally in question. They usually match expectations to shipped numbers unless things go horribly wrong or incredibly right.

But I still don't agree in sales, given trends in Japan I expect the same large drop off for the game that happened in the US and Europe. Add in what I think is a limited shelf life on longevity for the year (even with a cheaper price later no one is going to buy ORC after September due to RE6) and I really do think the peak will be at the 1.5 mill range max.

As I said elsewhere Capcom might do another experiment and try use the brand another way but given lukewarm sales and lukewarm critical response they won't be making ORC2.

[Det. Beauregard]

...and it just passed RE0 sales. Likely has passed REmake, but figures for US/Europe still a week behind.

...both of which were exclusively on the GameCube, which had a far smaller userbase, both general and series-fans, than the PS3 and 360. This is not a noteworthy or remarkable feat.

News Bot is right. Aside from the fact that RE0 and Remake are Nintendo exclusives, the gaming industry has done nothing but grow in the last decade. Even a sub-par RE title like ORC that is available on Sony and Microsoft platforms is bound to sell better than decade-old games that were exclusive to Nintendo consoles. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of it is solely due to the RE brand name.

Do the sales numbers get subtracted for games that are sold back to the retailer, or does Capcom have no way of tracking that? Because I have a feeling that there's a lot of that going on with ORC.

[Dracarys]

I can see Capcom having shipped 2 million on it. Or that they will have by years end. That's notReally in question. They usually match expectations to shipped numbers unless things go horribly wrong or incredibly right.

But I still don't agree in sales, given trends in Japan I expect the same large drop off for the game that happened in the US and Europe. Add in what I think is a limited shelf life on longevity for the year (even with a cheaper price later no one is going to buy ORC after September due to RE6) and I really do think the peak will be at the 1.5 mill range max.

As I said elsewhere Capcom might do another experiment and try use the brand another way but given lukewarm sales and lukewarm critical response they won't be making ORC2.

I disagree about RE6 killing ORC sales, sequels will often stir interest in previous entries in a series. After RE6 releases I would expect a small rise in the weekly RE5 and ORC sales from newly created RE fans.

I do agree about a ORC2, for one it would be a stretch to fit another story in Raccoon City, plus the critical reaction probably means despite sales if they did decide on a sequel it would be 'spiritual' in nature and not use a similar name, new dev also.

[News Bot]

It's also worth noting that BH4 sales don't seem impressive until you take into account its multiple SKUs. Likewise with every other game in the series. In comparison, ORC across both SKUs is lukewarm and will likely only reach numbers comparable to BH4 Wii Edition (1.5m).

[Pikminister]

I wouldn't call Bio4 Wii numbers "lukewarm", considering it's a port and it came out very early on in the life cycle of the system. And BTW, it sold 1.6 million

[Rombie]

I disagree about RE6 killing ORC sales, sequels will often stir interest in previous entries in a series. After RE6 releases I would expect a small rise in the weekly RE5 and ORC sales from newly created RE fans.

I figure there will some bump but I'd expect more towards numbered titles over others as always, so RE5 more so than ORC. And even then still a blip amount, hardly going to really factor on drastically changing the overalls. The other issue is people on the fence about it are not going to more now that RE6 is pulled forward.

I do agree about a ORC2, for one it would be a stretch to fit another story in Raccoon City, plus the critical reaction probably means despite sales if they did decide on a sequel it would be 'spiritual' in nature and not use a similar name, new dev also.

I'm not sure if it would be a strech exactly, normally I would agree but the level of "story" leaves it about as open as Outbreak was. I mean as it is I could see - had this done better in sales - Slant Six being asked by Capcom to produce further ongoing DLC that was campaign level. Given the overall quality already was it wouldn't have been an issue to add in extra stories.

I can't agree or disagree on a 'spiritual' title, it's really based on who thinks it is by label. It can be a fairly loose label... hell I'm sure early promotion of ORC tried to say this would appeal to Outbreak fans due to the RC location and the online and was labeled 'spritual' as such, and we know how it turned out. But I do agree, different dev - taking some positives away from the thing as far as online goes hopefully and then think of a new approach.

[News Bot]

I wouldn't call Bio4 Wii numbers "lukewarm", considering it's a port and it came out very early on in the life cycle of the system. And BTW, it sold 1.6 million

I meant that ORC is lukewarm in comparison. BH4 Wii did well despite those obstacles.