Three major Japanese-developed games came out in North America in June: one of which performed really well, the other two ... not so much. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D showed up at #5 on the software top ten chart yesterday. Nintendo subsequently announced that it sold "more than 283,000 units," making it the second best-selling game on a single platform, right behind Infamous 2. It's the first 3DS exclusive to chart on the top ten.
Meanwhile, two games weirder than Zelda attracted far more exclusive audiences. Child of Eden, the NPD told Joystiq, sold approximately 34,000 units in its debut month, ranking at number 83. At the same time, Shadows of the Damned managed to sell 24,000 copies, combined, on PS3 and Xbox 360. Damn.
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When Japanese developers appeal to Western tastes it so often produces amazing results, Resident Evil and MGS come to mind. They need to market these games better.
Pretty disappointing numbers for SotD. It definitely wasn't as great as it should have been, but unfortunately, it wasn't going to sell regardless. Not that it matters anymore. Big games will continue the shift towards the casual market, and unique games will find their place on handhelds/as downloadable games only.
Expect more FPS games and even less originality.
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is SOTD really all that unique or original? it just seemed like RE4 with a quirky side to it. Child of Eden seems like a much bigger casualty if you're gonna lament the casuals or whatever.
Child of Eden is the real disappointment here. Shame to see a unique game get ignored - but it always seemed at odds with the 360 audience, maybe it'll do better on the PS3 in September.