Topic: Reggie Fils-Aime Responds to Declining Wii Sales

[broodwars]

When was the last time any J/RPG or RPG was given a huge advertising budget here in the states?

Final Fantasy XIII, I believe.

[UncleBob]

With that being over a year ago, I don't particularly recall it... I jumped onto Youtube to look at the single commercial that popped up... not something I really remember seeing - although I've really gotten away from watching commercials on TV, so I may not be the best one to judge that comment.

[Caterkiller]

If we're getting Xenoblade this year whats the problem? The other 2 rain fall games I suppose. But what is Nintendo supposed to do?

I don't mind getting Xenoblade as a sign off if all their resources are now being put into Wii U and 3DS. There is only so much they can do all alone without any 3rd party support while trying to get their next gen out the door and running.

[broodwars]

With that being over a year ago, I don't particularly recall it... I jumped onto Youtube to look at the single commercial that popped up... not something I really remember seeing - although I've really gotten away from watching commercials on TV, so I may not be the best one to judge that comment.

I don't remember seeing much on TV, either, but FF XIII got a lot of internet-based advertising (so has its sequel, for that matter).  I also remember them throwing out quite a few lengthy, very carefully-crafted trailers for it, and they also probably spent a fair amount of money paying Leona Lewis for the rights to her song "My Hands" (which is not the theme song in the original Japanese version of the game).  I'd throw that under marketing as well.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Everytime I see this thread from the Forum Index is says
"Reggie Fils-Aime Res..."

I alwasy finish it with "igns" in my head so it would say

"Reggie Fils-Aime Resigns"
then I click and realize that it was just this thread again and I continually let me fool myself.

[UncleBob]

I don't remember seeing much on TV, either, but FF XIII got a lot of internet-based advertising (so has its sequel, for that matter).

Hm.  Again, as I pretty much manage to avoid all advertising, I'm not the best one to comment on this, but... I just don't put a lot of faith into internet advertising.  But, you seem to know more about this than I do - so I'll concede to your point -  the most recent J/RPG to get a huge marking push was Freakin' Final Fantasy.  A year ago.  Via Internet ads.

And we're being told that a massive advertising campaign behind Xenoblade (a.k.a. that game most people can't even figure out how to pronounce, vs. the biggest RPG franchise outside of Japan) would have had any useful repercussions?

[broodwars]

But, you seem to know more about this than I do - so I'll concede to your point -  the most recent J/RPG to get a huge marking push was Freakin' Final Fantasy.  A year ago.  Via Internet ads.

Two years ago, actually. It released in 2010.   :   I let the first time you said that go, but you just had to say it again.   

And we're being told that a massive advertising campaign behind Xenoblade (a.k.a. that game most people can't even figure out how to pronounce, vs. the biggest RPG franchise outside of Japan) would have had any useful repercussions?

In all fairness, there are few marketing machines in gaming more effective than Nintendo's (relatively speaking, I'd put Atlus, Blizzard, and Valve's ahead of them).  If anyone could make Xenoblade a major mass-market title (which, given some of the World of WarCraft influences Xenoblade has, it's meant to be), it would be Nintendo.  But I do see where you're coming from.

[UncleBob]

Two years ago, actually. It released in 2010.   : :   I let the first time you said that go, but you just had to say it again.   

I was thinking it came out in December 2010... Looking it up, looks like it came out in NA during March... dunno why I was thinking the Japanese release date.

Okay, so two years ago.

In all fairness, there are few marketing machines in gaming more effective than Nintendo's (relatively speaking, I'd put Atlus, Blizzard, and Valve's ahead of them).  If anyone could make Xenoblade a major mass-market title (which, given some of the World of WarCraft-inspired influences Xenoblade has, it's meant to be), it would be Nintendo.  But I do see where you're coming from.

Personally, I've always thought Nintendo couldn't market themselves out of a wet paper bag...

[Chozo Ghost]

If Nintendo had released it in the states and pumped the airwaves full of advertisements for it... "hardcore" gamers would have still ignored the kiddie/casual Wii.  It's what they do.

Nintendo's kiddie/casual image is a serious problem and it needs to be addressed. Its something that isn't going to go away over night, and it would probably take quite a determined effort by Nintendo to do that. The Operation Rainfall games would be a step in the right direction, though. Would they by themselves succeed in shaking off that image of Nintendo? No, probably not, but its a step in the right direction. More steps would have to follow. As Lao Tzu said, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. But the problem is Reggie doesn't have the guts it takes to even do that.

[UncleBob]

faceplam.jpg

[Chozo Ghost]

Reggie was supposed to be a bad ass who was all about kicking ass and taking names. Here we are this many years later and none of that has ever happened.  Why can't the real Reggie be more like the mythical Chuck Norris style Reggie we used to idolize? Why does he have to be this corporate shill who only cares about what investors think?

[UncleBob]

While I may disagree with some decisions made by Reggie, he's simply one man running a subsidiary of NCL - he's pretty much at their beck and call.

But, aside from that, when Reggie took over, Nintendo was easily in a distant 3rd place.  Now, they're clearly in first place and have launched three TOP SELLING systems (one of which may still surpass the LTD sales of the PS2 - and one of which is on record to surpass the sales of that one).  This, of course, comes after the market failures of the N64, Virtual Boy and GameCube.

Like it or hate it, Nintendo has sold a lot of systems (and a lot of games) since Reggie came along.  How much of that is him, vs. how much is from other aspects of the market, I won't venture a guess... 

[Shaymin]

When was the last time any J/RPG or RPG was given a huge advertising budget here in the states?

JRPG? Dragon Quest IX last year.
RPG in general? The Skyrim beta... two months ago.

[broodwars]

When was the last time any J/RPG or RPG was given a huge advertising budget here in the states?

JRPG? Dragon Quest IX last year.
RPG in general? The Skyrim beta... two months ago.

Oh yeah, I forgot about 2010's DQ 9 (hey, it's DQ. I couldn't care less), and I forgot about Western RPGs altogether.  Both Dragon Age 2 and Skyrim had fairly big advertising budgets IIRC.  Mass Effect 2 had a pretty big push in 2010 as well, and I have no doubt that Mass Effect 3's is going to be huge also.

[UncleBob]

DQ9?  There we go... A well celebrated RPG series from one of the highest rated RPG developers with some of the best reviews of ANY game genre, all on a Nintendo system with a huge marketing push.

I bet it TORE UP THE charts like a teenage virgin on his prom night, eh?

[Chozo Ghost]

The Super Nintendo was a very RPG friendly console. Granted, almost none of those RPGs were 1st party games, but still...

[TJ Spyke]

DQ9?  There we go... A well celebrated RPG series from one of the highest rated RPG developers with some of the best reviews of ANY game genre, all on a Nintendo system with a huge marketing push.

I bet it TORE UP THE charts like a teenage virgin on his prom night, eh?

It was the best selling game in the series (both in the US and worldwide) and did really good numbers.

[UncleBob]

While DQ9 pushed some great sales in Japan, to some extent the UK (oh, hey, look who got Xenoblade/Last Story without rebellion from the fan base) and overall world-wide, I don't recall it being a huge seller here in the states.  Someone go find the sales-week numbers for DQ9's release in regards to systems sold...

[broodwars]

While DQ9 pushed some great sales in Japan, to some extent the UK (oh, hey, look who got Xenoblade/Last Story without rebellion from the fan base) and overall world-wide, I don't recall it being a huge seller here in the states.  Someone go find the sales-week numbers for DQ9's release in regards to systems sold...

Yeah, IIRC DQ IX kind of flopped in the U.S.  If you believe VGChartz (I can't find long-term NPD data on the game), the game only sold 448, 218 units in NA.  By comparison, it sold 607, 547 copies in Europe and 4,346, 548 copies in Japan.  I don't usually trust VGChartz numbers, but that sounds fairly accurate from what I remember of the monthly NPD numbers on the game.  It sold better than previous DQ games in NA, but that's a really low bar to overcome.

To play Devil's Advocate, though, there is and there never will be a reason for a DQ game to sell well in NA, IMO.  That series is just too archaic, too stubborn to update to interests beyond Japan, and because it sells so (IMO) sickeningly well in Japan it will never have to.  For some people, that's its greatest selling point, and if it's yours good for you.  But that series will probably never sell huge in NA, which is why I'm constantly bewildered as to why NoA gives that series special treatment (aside from courting future Square-Enix projects).

[TJ Spyke]

It was in the top 10 on the NPD charts the months it came out (I think #6 overall and around 132K copies). I would have to look for it, but I remember Square Enix also saying it was the ebst selling Dragon Quest game in the US.

[Shaymin]

Through December 31/10, DQIX had sold 1.02 million "outside of Japan" (source: Nintendo financials by way of Siliconera).

[UncleBob]

Through December 31/10, DQIX had sold 1.02 million "outside of Japan" (source: Nintendo financials by way of Siliconera).

That seems to match up fairly close to the numbers previously posted from VGChartz.

While a million units is pretty good for your typical game, we're talking about a Nintendo Published title with high acclaim from one of the top tier developers that had a huge marketing push behind it.

That million units (and the ~600,000+ units from the US) really starts to pale in comparison to other AAA DS title sales...

[Chozo Ghost]

But it was profitable nonetheless, and shows what can be possible if Nintendo gives a game the proper backing it needs.

[UncleBob]

Simply because something is profitable doesn't mean it's a worthy investment.

I tell you what, give me $1,000.  In two months, I'll give you $1,001.  You just made $1 profit, so that was worth it, right?

"ROI" - or "Return on Investment".  It's about maximizing your profit, or return.  Nintendo could spend $1,000 marketing Xenoblade or they could save that towards marking the 3DS, a particular 3DS title or even towards the Wii U.  Meanwhile, the same crowd is likely to buy Xenoblade - the funky sounding game with a gameplay style no one likes anyway - and Nintendo just blew their entire advertising budget (that $1,000) for the year.

If Nintendo of America's "proper backing" pushes a game just barely above 600,000 units... well, that's pretty pathetic.  Who was it that was freaking out because Skyward Sword only sold ~600,000 units within its first week on the market?  Now, we're suddenly supposed to be throwing a parade for a game that managed to barely squeak that much during its total life span on a system that has a far larger install base?

[Chozo Ghost]

I tell you what, give me $1,000.  In two months, I'll give you $1,001.  You just made $1 profit, so that was worth it, right

Point taken, but I'm sure the profit margin was much greater than that. How much does a $50 game have to sell to break even? Maybe 50k or something? That would be your dollar profit there. Something that sells 100k units should be worth while, and something 500 or 600k is doing very well.

And doesn't making the fanbase happy mean anything at all? Even if a game just breaks even or only makes a tiny profit, isn't it a good investment to make your customers happy in the long term? A happy customer is one who is likely to buy from you again in the future, but an unhappy customer is one who might sell their Wii and buy a PS360. Clearly it is more to Nintendo's advantage to have happy customers.

Also remember Nintendo has made a huge amount of money this last generation. They can afford to take some risks.