Dissapointing Viewtiful Joe sales (PS2)

Firebrand

Firebrand

CAGiversary!
GCN VIEWTIFUL JOE $223,946 11,042

PS2 VIEWTIFUL JOE $279,005 9,363

Sales for the month of august. The PS2 version was released on the 24th I believe, so it had a week on the market. The Gamecube version has been on the market for a year or so. These aren't the numbers Capcom anticipated. Was porting Viewtiful Joe to the PS2 a waste of time? So far, it certainly appears so.

The Cube version has sold around a quarter of a million copies.
 
Well it sucks to hear it's not selling well. It came out at a good time with no other high profile releases but people maybe holding out for the bigger games like Burnout 3, Fable, Halo 2 and others....GTA..shit...i have so many games to buy even I am getting choosie :p
 
I imagine the expectations for the PS2 version were low to begin with being that it has been out for GC a year now and there really weren't enough enhancements to make the new version a "must buy."
 
Actually from what I heard, Capcom was disappointed in the GC sales of Viewtiful Joe too, although it made PC. Actually, Viewtiful Joe wasn't realeased until the same day as Star Ocean 3, since the employee at EB said they just got it in that same day. I plan to buy the PS2 version of Viewtiful Joe soon anyway, since I never bought the GC version. There's just so many games I want coming out this month, that's why it's been put off a little.
 
Its really never surprising whenever any game that has been released on another console a year previosuly comes out to poor sales. The only truly successful port I can think of that had that long a delay was gta on xbox.

Had there been a 1-3 month delay, the sales would have been much higher. I am more interested now to see which console's vj2 sells more...
 
If i can get the game in the 10-15 dollar range I will pick it up..i've always wanted to play it....and i hope they keep making teh series..2d games hopfuly won't die!!!
 
Does this mean that Capcom will drop PS2 sells because of this?!?!

Oh wait, only dumbass compnies do that as an excuse to drop GC support.
 
Most interested people probably just bought it for the GC, probably bought it used too concidering how long it's been out. Alsoif a PS2 owner could wait THIS long for the game they can wait for the price on it to drop...

Also there's like 5 new games a week starting the begining of sep. so I wouldnt be surprised if people are just getting high profile games instead of this.
 
Hmmm, maybe this will make developers realize (especially when pertaining to the cube) you can't release a game 6 months or a year later on another system and expect big sales. This seems to mirror the cubes situation with so many ports, they release on PS2 and/or XBOX, then port it over (sometimes a shoddy port)6 months/year later on the cube, and they wonder why they don't sell well, usually blaming it on the gamecube.
 
[quote name='Samurai T']Actually from what I heard, Capcom was disappointed in the GC sales of Viewtiful Joe too, although it made PC.[/quote]

I was disappointed its GC sales too. I actually got it at launch expecting it to be bigger than what it turned out to be. Because of that I am more likely to wait for a price drop on VJ2.
 
I think Viewtiful Jow 2 will be a better test since it's due to appear on both systems simultaneously.

There is something about this game that isn't connecting with mainstream shoppers. For a game that has received widespread critical acclaim to move only a quarter millions units after a year on any current platform is cause for wonder. It's more understandable when a title like Disgaea is obscure since it has little marketing power behind it. But Capcom has extensive promoted VJ both in its GC launch and the PS2 version's release. Perhaps this games style relegates it to a niche market and it is hopeless to wish for better.
 
A port is a port, those that were really interested in the game found some way to play it by now. Capcom has no one to blame for sales but themselves. Shame though, it would have been nice for the VJ name to become a major franchise.
 
[quote name='epobirs']Perhaps this games style relegates it to a niche market and it is hopeless to wish for better.[/quote]

I think that you said it all right there. I just hope that this doesn't lead to fewer and fewer of these games being made.
 
The game has been out for a year but, I have not seen it on the shelves since it was launched. Best Buy, Meijer, Target, Wal-mart do not have it on their shelves anymore. It is hard to sell a game if you don't carry it anymore.
 
[quote name='paean']That's great news, maybe the PS2 rev will drop to $14.99 soon! :)[/quote]no, because I want Capcom to continue Viewtiful Joe for a long time.
 
[quote name='paean']That's great news, maybe the PS2 rev will drop to $14.99 soon! :)[/quote]

Probably just before VJ2 comes out in November.
 
[quote name='coolsteel']A port is a port, those that were really interested in the game found some way to play it by now. Capcom has no one to blame for sales but themselves. Shame though, it would have been nice for the VJ name to become a major franchise.[/quote]

It's not as simple as that. The presumption was that VJ's poor sales despite excellent reviews was the result of the GameCube weakness as a platform for third party products. Thus if it were available on the platform that currently enjoys the greatest third party support and sales, it would do good numbers. If this game had the same appeal to mainstream shoppers as it did to the hardcore gamers who make up most editorial staffs at magazines and websites, then it should take off like a rocket on PS2.

It's true that the market is currently flooded with games, many of them quite good but one would expect the low SRP to compensate for that competition. It isn't so much that any one who cares has already found a way to play it but that so few care. It's one thing for a company to make a bad bet, like EA picking up the Catwoman license, but for the company and the majority of critics to be completely in agreement while the public yawns is a baffling situation.
 
[quote name='David85']Does this mean that Capcom will drop PS2 sells because of this?!?!

Oh wait, only dumbass compnies do that as an excuse to drop GC support.[/quote]

Dumbass companies use "games don't sell well on a console" as an excuse to not make games for that console? I'd personally call those the intelligent companies. How does them not making games they can't profit off of constitute them being dumbasses?
 
If a company has a poor product, it is easier to blame the console (especially in the case of the gc) than to say, "well, we released a shamefully underdeveloped pos."

This has happened with a number of ports to both the cube and xbox. The installed base merely helps poor games because there are that many more suckers out there who will mistakenyl buy it.

I dont think companies are dumbass in their dropping of support for a console, its in their actual underlying thinking that there are more bodies to throw bad product against in the hopes that it will stick on one platform than another.

Comparatively, Sega makes solid sports games, their decision not to bring the games to the cube was intelligent because as good as these games are, for whatever reason they do not find a home on the cube.

Since VJ is a good game, I have read nothing to suggest there was a major flaw in the ps2 version, the poor sales is most likely the cause of too many new games and too long of a delay between the cube version and the ps2 version.
 
If a company make poor products, why would you care if they abandon your preferred platform?

Installed base can only compensate for so much. A poor seller on the PS2 is as much a disaster as it would be on the GameCube. The difference in sales due to installed base are more than compensated by the higher production levels demanded by the more numerous platform. Unless a company is knowingly shipping a turkey their initial order for a PS2 version needs to be substantially larger than a GC version. Otherwise the product is in danger of quickly selling out and not being present in the stores when the shoppers are there and ready to buy. All too often they're going to buy something else if the item they had in mind isn't at the first place they try.
 
The assumption that VJ would sell better on PS2 is a logical one since theire are mroe PS2 owners than GC owners, unfortunatly for the reason there ARE more PS2 owners (namely the wide and growing selection of games) there are fewer free dollars to BUY the game, and it's especially not much help if you dont even ADVERTISE the fact.

I didnt know VJ was out until last weekend just because I happened to stop in and try to deside between Star Ocean and Burnout 3 (2 much higher profile games because they're brand new). I've barly even seen magazine ads for VJ/PS2.

To be honest I'd by the game if I didnt already have the GC version...but I do... and Dante as an extra character isnt yet enough to make me want to drop 30 more bucks on it yet... unless his scenerio is significantly differnent.
 
[quote name='vherub']
Comparatively, Sega makes solid sports games, their decision not to bring the games to the cube was intelligent because as good as these games are, for whatever reason they do not find a home on the cube.[/quote]


Yes that is a good company choose. Everyone knows that all sports fans are not going to buy it on the GC, the memory it sucks up is way too much, plus the others have online support.

My point is the "dumbass companies" don't release a game at the same time. They will release a game for the PS2 and the Xbox, then wait 8 months more to release the same game on the Cube and complain when it doesn't sell well. That's called being a dumbass. It's also what is prob happening here. VJ was released for the GC and everyone bought it, now most people have it and it's not worth the little added stuff, but it's still because than the GC way in which they will just screw it over.
 
[quote name='Alpha2']The assumption that VJ would sell better on PS2 is a logical one since theire are mroe PS2 owners than GC owners, unfortunatly for the reason there ARE more PS2 owners (namely the wide and growing selection of games) there are fewer free dollars to BUY the game, and it's especially not much help if you dont even ADVERTISE the fact.

I didnt know VJ was out until last weekend just because I happened to stop in and try to deside between Star Ocean and Burnout 3 (2 much higher profile games because they're brand new). I've barly even seen magazine ads for VJ/PS2.

To be honest I'd by the game if I didnt already have the GC version...but I do... and Dante as an extra character isnt yet enough to make me want to drop 30 more bucks on it yet... unless his scenerio is significantly differnent.[/quote]

Actually theyve got some commercials up now (not very good commercials... but commercials) I'd say that a game like viewtiful joe relies on people to try it out. First time I saw the game, I wasnt too impressed, but when I tried it i was hooked. Something like free demo discs, or a kiosk at Gamestop, or adding it to a Playstation Magazine disc would bring more sales to a game like that than corny commercials do.
 
The games been out for a year for GCN, and the price dropped to $20 about a month and a half before the PS2 release came out (which is $30)... epobirs is right on the money when he says that Viewtiful Joe 2 will be the real test.
 
It's too bad that neither version sold incredibly well. VJ is an excellent game, and anyone that hasn't picked this up really needs to. I can't wait for VJ2.
 
I realize that this is my second post in this thread, but why are the sales considered dissapointing? Capcom didn't put a sales number on this game like they did with REmake (3 million), and RE:Zero (3 million), so unlike the RE games, there was nothing for stockholders to fuss about if it didn't live up to the number. In Japan, a bunch of people who bought the original, also bough revival, so I don't think Capcom expected to sell the same game 3 times and make more just because it's on PS2. In America, the GCN is cheap as shit and most people have one. Chances are, if they wanted the game, they would have bought it when it was $40, then $30 (when I bought it), then $20, the first time around. Not only that, but look at the game's competition. Madden, Burnout 3, Gradius 5, Hot Shots Golf Fore, Phantom Brave, Ghosthunter, Monster Hunter, Star Ocean 3, Sly Cooper 2, Street Fighter: AC, Silent Hill 4, Mega man X: Command Mission and many other new huge games just for the PS2. That's not even getting into games that just turned GH. This last month has been insane and it's doesn't look like it's going to slow down much till after Christmas (and then we have Devil May Cry 3, Final Fantasy XII, Kingdom Hearts 2, Dragon Warrior VIII, etc.). What's so suprising that PS2 owners didn't pick a game that's 1)over a year old, 2)cheaper on GCN, 3)2-D (i'm referring to casual gamers, not myself), 4)graphically superior on GCN, 5) a game that didn't even sell well on the GCN despite being amazing and exclusive for quite some time ... for another game that's brand new and just as critically acclaimed? I don't even think a game like Metroid Prime would sell all that well right now if they converted it to the PS2.

Was porting Viewtiful Joe a waste of time? No, many gamers will still pick up Viewtiful Joe 2 (for both consoles) and they'll want to have the original to go with it. So, overtime the game will sell enough to justify it, but at $30... it's going to be a while.
 
If VF2 doesn't do well I wouldn't be surprised. I think it's because the games are 2d side scrollers not to mention the funky art style might keep people away from the game - there's too much power rangers influence in the design.

In people's mind 2d = non-expansive world, less exploring? And from my gaming experience people don't like characters that are deformed i.e. with big heads. I remember lots of gamers dissing rpg's because the characters had big heads. If the characters were more mature-looking, the game might have sold better.
 
I would have bought it if I had any money left, but for some reason this year all games I intented to buy are released with just a few weeks apart.
 
I think part of the problem of VJ(PS2)'s sales is an issue of availability. I've seen the game at gamestop and EB, but not at major retailers (Target, Wal-Mart, etc).
 
I think the game's high difficulty didn't help things either. I know that was my biggest beef with it. It made playing game less like fun and more like work.
 
[quote name='jimbodan']I think the game's high difficulty didn't help things either. I know that was my biggest beef with it. It made playing game less like fun and more like work.[/quote]I heard the PS2 version has a sweet mode, which is easier than kids. That's one of the reasons I want it for PS2 more.
 
I blame the poor sales on Dante, just wasnt strong enough to warrant a purchase, maybe if it was like Ryu people would have bought it, Like "haduken-ago-go baby", now thats a catch phrase
 
It's just common sense. At the same time they released VJPS2, previews for VJ2 are already in magazines. If I were an average consumer, i would just wait for the sequel. The ps2 version came a little too late really...
 
You're DAMN right!!! dillon.

It is an amazing game!

I feel bad for PS2 ho's. You get SHIT graphics!

75% of my GC games, are Progressive Scan compatible, and I own 150. Out of all 40 of my PS2 games, "2"!!! are supported, and STILL look like GARBAGE.

I honestly don't see how anything but backwards-compatibility, sold the public, on this F@CKING disgrace of a system. I'm borrowing my friends' XBox for the week, and it looks great, and in some cases, not even as good as my GC.

I honestly don't see how everyone can play through a PS2 game, after seeing it on the other 2.

It's sad.

I'm glad VJ is selling poorly on the PS2.


That's what Capcom gets for f@cking us over with the GC release of Megaman:AC.
 
I don't think that was disappointing considering the game was only on the market for a week maybe for a whole year yes. Are those numbers for the gamcubes the first month it was available?
 
Yes, Capcom screwed up their GC Megaman AC and I do not understand what on earth they were thinking.

Yes, the PS2 sucks horribly in almost every way, and nobody should have bought it, and we should all be playing Dreamcasts with Saturn controllers somehow.

Yes, the GC's graphics are awesome, aside from its horrible pixellated reflection effects in Luigi's Mansion and others I can't think of.

And finally, I personally never liked Viewtiful Joe (at least in the demo), because of how rediculously long it takes to kill a single enemy. I like Ninja Gaiden-esque and Super Mario Bros.-esque one hit kills in my 2d games. Viewtiful Joe seemed a bit too 3d for me.

You had a very responsible post.

Oh, and I want to know as well, if those numbers are the opening week's sales for VJ.

....and down with PS2, up with GC. Let's start a revolution.
 
[quote name='evilmax17']It's just common sense. At the same time they released VJPS2, previews for VJ2 are already in magazines. If I were an average consumer, i would just wait for the sequel. The ps2 version came a little too late really...[/quote]

I would have to disagree. I had never played jak and dexter and when i saw that jak2 was fuckin sweet looking i had to go give it a try. I would have done the same with this if i didnt get a good trade for it.
 
[quote name='c']Yes, Capcom screwed up their GC Megaman AC and I do not understand what on earth they were thinking.

Yes, the PS2 sucks horribly in almost every way, and nobody should have bought it, and we should all be playing Dreamcasts with Saturn controllers somehow.

Yes, the GC's graphics are awesome, aside from its horrible pixellated reflection effects in Luigi's Mansion and others I can't think of.

And finally, I personally never liked Viewtiful Joe (at least in the demo), because of how rediculously long it takes to kill a single enemy. I like Ninja Gaiden-esque and Super Mario Bros.-esque one hit kills in my 2d games. Viewtiful Joe seemed a bit too 3d for me.

You had a very responsible post.

Oh, and I want to know as well, if those numbers are the opening week's sales for VJ.

....and down with PS2, up with GC. Let's start a revolution.[/quote]

I'm going to have to adivse you to jump off a building. There is no need to post a useless post like that.

Go to gamefaqs if you want to continue your console bashing. :roll:
 
[quote name='ValkyrieVF-1S'][quote name='c']Yes, Capcom screwed up their GC Megaman AC and I do not understand what on earth they were thinking.

Yes, the PS2 sucks horribly in almost every way, and nobody should have bought it, and we should all be playing Dreamcasts with Saturn controllers somehow.

Yes, the GC's graphics are awesome, aside from its horrible pixellated reflection effects in Luigi's Mansion and others I can't think of.

And finally, I personally never liked Viewtiful Joe (at least in the demo), because of how rediculously long it takes to kill a single enemy. I like Ninja Gaiden-esque and Super Mario Bros.-esque one hit kills in my 2d games. Viewtiful Joe seemed a bit too 3d for me.

You had a very responsible post.

Oh, and I want to know as well, if those numbers are the opening week's sales for VJ.

....and down with PS2, up with GC. Let's start a revolution.[/quote]

I'm going to have to adivse you to jump off a building. There is no need to post a useless post like that.

Go to gamefaqs if you want to continue your console bashing. :roll:[/quote]

I think he was being sarcastic, notice the "we should all be playing Dreamcasts with Saturn controllers somehow." Or maybe nuts.
 
GCN VIEWTIFUL JOE $223,946 11,042

PS2 VIEWTIFUL JOE $279,005 9,363

Odd, it sold 1.7k less copies, but made 56k more...
 
Obviously Rozz, you haven't played it.

They reversed the buttons, which basically screws us over. You can get use to it, but the magic, was in the way you could seemlesly control Megaman.

Now, you have to move your entire finger to jump, then again to shoot. Instead of using your jointed thumb, to do both.

It was an effort to ruin Nintendo's reputation.

Believe it or not, Mel would agree.. :)
 
Believe it or not, that's the first thing I noticed when I played the demo. The buttons were reversed. I was kinda like.. uh.. hm. I figured my memory was a slight bit foggy or something..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top