Star Ocean 4 tops 160,000 in first week in Japan

Star Ocean 4 sold 166,027 units in its first week of sales, Famitsu.com reported today citing sales information from parent company Enterbrain. This is the highest ever first week software total for the system in Japan.

[Cyrus365]

Pretty good boost for 360....Rougly 25 000 360 sold according to the data, which will likely pass PS3 this week and Wii.

PS3 should do the same next week with Yakuza 3.

[Danja]

pretty good numbers for the 360...but was expecting atleast 200k 1ST week since SO is huge in Japan......the 360 has a chance at beating the Wii this week....who would have ever thought they see that day..lol

[N4PS3G]

@danja

i dunno if it is sold out..but according to the first day sales..the game was 80 sold out with 130k copies...those other 36k could be the rest of the shipment ...meaning it could be sold out in most places...but who knows

[JokesOnYou]

some said the 360 is Dead in Japan...sure this is temporary but it just goes to show with great games theres always Life after Death in the videogame business.

Same for those foolish enough to claim ps3 dead in US, obviously its not nearly as bad for ps3 in the US like it is for 360 in Japan most of the time, which makes such talk even more idiotic, if anybody thinks either one of these consoles will fail at this point their just lying to themselves.

I'm just enjoying the competition....and of course laughing at the nonsense on n4g.

oh and Danja save the "I was expecting it to sale 2 billion comments" 'cause nobody believes you, popular franchise or not, nothing is garuanteed great sales on the 360 in Japan, if I'm not mistaken SO4 sold more in one week than any other 360 game and will likely be the best selling 360 game, but hey its unfortunate it didn't meet your "expectations".

JOY

[Danja]

Not attacking ur comment at all cuz you are 100% correct.

but b4 all the RPG's started to come out on the 360 and b4 the Price Cut in Japan...the 360 was selling 2-5k weekly that was when ppl use to say the 360 is dead in japan , other than a few idiots who still believe so many have actually stopped saying that.

but I agree all systems will do great this gen and competition will only bring out the and we the gamers are the ones that are gonna benefit in the long run....

edit @Joke

and here I am actually praising one ur comments for once and you go and nit pick my comment to try and make me look like I made a fanboy comment..

im sure I started off by saying "pretty good numbers for the 360"...but I was expecting atleast 200k....it's a huge freakin franchise in Japan..it sold 130k day one I thought it would have sold atleast 200k... thats my opinion apparently it punched you in the face too hard..since ur obviously offended

[Rock Bottom]

That's more than half what WKC sold on its first week.

[DelbertGrady]

I think 160, 000 units in one week is pretty good considering the 360 small install base of around 1 million consoles.

[JokesOnYou]

I apologize...in hindsight I think I over-reacted a bit to your comment....I had a few beers and its late.

JOY

[Jerk120]

Too bad, Rock Bottom, that WKC not only is on the Ps3 that has a larger influence in Japan and a larger japanese community but let's not forget the difference between the two games..

Star Ocean 4 is good while WKC sucks face.

[Ryo-Hazuki]

in all honesty, an established series in Star Ocean couldn't beat a new IP WKC in first week sales. When will square enix learn

[gameplayer]

To be fair, it was only on shelves for 4 days... maybe if it had been out for the full 7 days it might have made that 200k... and at 166k, that's about 20% of the entire install base that bought the game in the first 4 days... I think that's better, statistically speaking, than halo did in the US. Japan loves it's rpgs...

GP

[Ldubbz]

"The sales figure covers from the game's February 19 release date through the 22nd, the last day of Enterbrain's weekly sales tracking period"

Thats only four days. Will be interesting to see the 2nd week numbers, which may be even higher.

[N4PS3G]

the game initial shipment was 80% sold out the first day with 131k ... they should have sold the whole shipment in a week by selling 166k .. really good

as for 25k 360's ... pretty good too ...360 should be hitting a million consoles in some weeks if i'm not mistaken ...nothing spectacular compared to other consoles...but still an achievement for MS knowing the bad luck they have in japan

[N4Sony]

Still, you have to wonder when the XBOX360 will truly breakthrough in Japan. This was by far the biggest JRPG release thus far and while good, it didn't put the console over the top....yet.

[Godmars290]

The fun thing is going to be its 2nd week sales.

[Obama]

Premature Ejaculation?

[ps92117]

[Godmars290]

Well...yes.

From the dead no less, as ps92117 points out :p

[ps92117]

Not sure what you meant exactly, but what ever it is, let me point out the fact that 360 is dead in Japan.

[JokesOnYou]

nice, that actually made me laugh....I'm actually going to give you a bubble and I don't even give a shiii about bubbles

JOY

[Kushan]

And let me point something out for you...

[Jazz4108]

Your comments are dead to most people ont N4G so save it.

[Kushan]

If I recall correctly, Tales of Vesparia kept the 360 on top of the PS3 for a couple of weeks and that only sold about 6k more than SO.
We certainly live in interesting times.

[Godmars290]

1) The PS3 didn't have anything to offer against Tales. This time its got Yakuza 3. Maybe even KZ2 - I said maybe.

2) It is the game's 1st week. If it has legs its not going to matter what's coming out on an opposing console.

[Kushan]

I know all that, there's no need to defend the PS3. All I'm saying is that it's interesting how well SO has sold.

[Godmars290]

But its not going to mean that much if sales drop to nothing by week 2.

Pity the Japanese are so fickle - unlike us Westerners...

[Kushan]

Why wouldn't it mean anything? As long as it sells about 5k in the next week (Which isn't hard to imagine), it'll have done as well as Tales of Vesparia. Only this time, the PS3 has a few great games out as well so although you might not see the 360 on top for long, it'll still have created a nice little boost in sales. Every little helps and all that.

[Foxgod]

Let him cry, he cant stand the fact that SO is doing better then most ps3fans expected.
And Yakuza on the ps3 will mean nothing to SO on the 360, 360 owners are not looking forward to Yakuza, only ps3 owners do.

So 360 owners are still getting SO, interesting fact this time around is that this game was sold out at 160K copies, while TOV was sold out at 70K (much lower shipment), next week may see another strong sales numer for SO.

[heroicjanitor]

Over there is different from here, I think most people have ps3s and got 360s on the side for all of the rpgs, but I doubt it will affect sales unless they are deciding between yakuza 3 and SO.

[SpoonyRedMage]

What do you mean the Japanese are fickle? not any moreso than Westerners.

Who says people won't get both Yakuza and Star Ocean IV, I mean when two great games are coming out close to each other I save up to get both.

[Argento-Nox]

@Kushan

Nothing special sales wise, if you ask me. 360 gets the prime light for a month max, before going back to obscurity. The rest of the year goes to Nintendo and Sony.

[GamerPS360]

all the RPG in Japan. Bring some to states both PS3 and 360.

[JD_Shadow]

...Wada is probably having aneurysms right now in the hopes this game can sell millions on one console, because if it doesn't, he's probably going to be on his way OUT of SE before 2009 is done.

[Argento-Nox]

I'd be happy if Wada stepped out the door now. Wada has no clue WTF he's doing and he'll regret it in the end, if companies making better games like Mystwalkers, Atlus and Level-5 start stepping to the forefront.

[Tykis]

WKC done better than SO and its a new IP!

[Foxgod]

very impressive that it did better with 3.3 larger install base, lets take it this way.

How many units of WKC sold per 1000 ps3 owners?
Anwser: a whole lot less then SO4 sold per 1000 360 owners.

[CrazzyMan]

That doesn`t nullifies PS3 and WKC achievements,
there are bigger install base of Wii in Japan, yet many jrpg games FAIL to sell.

You know, that SO4 on PS3 would sell atleast 2 times more, don`t you?

[cayal]

"very impressive that it did better with 3.3 larger install base, lets take it this way.

How many units of WKC sold per 1000 ps3 owners?
Anwser: a whole lot less then SO4 sold per 1000 360 owners. "

So that comment only applies when it suits you?

Never mind the whole PS3 sells better on average per year then the 360, that doesn't fly.

[JD_Shadow]

"very impressive that it did better with 3.3 larger install base"

So...you're admitting that Star Ocean 4 would've had a better showing in Japan if it was released on the PS3, as well?

[Ryudo]

You would have to be He-tard moron of the universe to not think Star Ocean 4 wouldn't sell better on the PS3 in Japan. People stop stating the obvious for some pathetic fanboy reasons. I mean the past 3 Star Ocean games are on the Playstation platform. Not to mention the 3x installer base.

But instead of living in lala land lets expect that it doesn't f-ing matter since its a 360 exclusive. So talking about how well it could of sold on the PS3 is a utter waste of time. Its like saying Valkryia Chronicles which was originally developed with the 360 in mind would of sold better if it didn't switch platform to the PS3. Hell it couldn't of sold much worse but its totally beside the point since it ain't on the dam 360!!!..

Fact is Star Ocean 4 is selling extremely well like all Star Ocean/ 360 fans though it would. And giving the 360 a much needed boost in Japan I really hope this game sells billions it won't but I love the series so what's the point of trying to discredit something doing brilliantly.

[N4PS3G]

what a bunch of retards ..if you get a selling ratio for both games taking the systems install base in consideration ... SO4 did a LOT better than WKC

[CrazzyMan]

Ryudo, it`s like saying, that 500-700k for FFXIII first week in Japan is EXTREMELY well, when it`s NOT. 1-1,5 mln. First week would be EXTREMELY well.

MGS4 did EXTREMELY well in Japan, because it with smaller userbase sold SAME number as previous games first week.

SO4 sold almost 2,5-3 times less first week, than the previous games did.
THAT is POOR sales for Star Ocean game.

Good for x360 game, but POOR for Star Ocean.
DEAL with that.

[green]

Star Ocean would have sold better on the wii and so would WKC.But i don't bloody care and so should all of you.As long as i get to play the game next week i am okay.

[Naar]

this very stupid what u say about install base u realy make me lough what dose that have to do with anything
look how many wii sold in JPN and look how many JRPG have been sold in wii
WKC and SO beat them easy
and yes IF SO was in PS3 u gona see 2x or 3x this Number not cuz the install bass but cuz owner of PS3 are always hungry for RPG this is the fact

[Ryudo]

Yeah its not surprising WKC's sold so well really the only other J-RPG PS3 owners had is Diseaga 3. And of course again everyone knows it would of sold 4-5x more in Japan on the PS3. But Square-Enix ain't looking at Japan's sales this time there placing there bets on Europe and America.

[Jazz4108]

Do you have any type of education?

[Death]

That's impressive for a title that is new to the console.It will be interesting to see what the attach rate ends up at once the games been out for a longer length of time.

-Death

[laaakokaracha]

can somebody tell me whether the game is region locked?

im in europe and I would love to play the US version!

thank you in advance!

[green]

Why don't you want the EU version?is it different from the US version?

[Argento-Nox]

Well, if SO4 was on PS3, you'd have no problem as it's region free for it's games. Don't really know about 360.

[ceedubya9]

Picking my US copy up today. Alright Xbox players, you complained about the lack of RPGs in the past generation. Now they are coming to your console of choice. Time to put your money where your mouth is and buy these games!

[laaakokaracha]

is there a way to find out whether it i sregion locked?

[Says you]

Like it means something hell White knight chronicles in its first week sold 200k and still selling same thing with Demon souls still selling if this was on the PS3 it would have been more probably like 212K in its first week and yes the XBox 360 has been dead in Japan for god sakes the damn! thing hasn't hit a million! even if they did doesn't mean the Japanese like XBox 360 considering it took them 4 years it just means they hit a million but of course you XBox 360 fans would think they do like XBox 360 and assume to much to think otherwise!

you guys said you didn't care about Japan and now suddenly you do remember that jokesonyou saying that PS3 fans being the hypocrites when you guys are the hypocrites, you guys always do this with a small victory even if they did sell a million its just going to get harder to even sell 2 millin but of course the PS3 is already at 3 million! but of course at the end of the day the PS3 and Wii are still the leaders in Japan compared to a small sale like this and the PS3 still selling more

and compared to White Knight chronicles, White knight chronicles still sold better in its first week you XBox 360 fans are amazing I bet White knight chronicles sold more units this is kind of a joke for Start Ocean IV game it didn't sell 200k I would have thought it would have sold more then that considering its a big game but not as big as Final Fantasy series.

[Elven6]

Well since the Japanese just love the Xbox 360 and American consoles in general and since the install base in Japan is so high for them......

[Host Samurai_]

good numbers, but its still on the wrong console. I dont get why Japanese devs choose to pass on the PS3 in Japan when its proven that a JRPG will sell 2-3X more than the 360 version.

I can seriously care less because I am gonna buy SO4 this week over that generic "SHOOTAN GAEM" thats getting over hyped and will be overrated

[pumpkinpunker]

because Japan is not the huge market it used to be.

SO4 will sell more worldwide on the 360 than it would on the PS3 because the 360 has a much larger worldwide install base.

[Argento-Nox]

@pumpkinpunker

The problem with what your saying is that 360 doesn't exactly have a huge audience geared torwards rpg's. Asia is where over half of most rpg's are sold and honestly, people buying PS3's there aren't buying it for shooters.

[testerg35]

SO4 sold really well considering the low install base of 360s in Japan. Also, please stop with the WKC is a new IP blah blah. That was a overly hyped PS3 game for a JRPG starved PS3 fans. WKC should really have done better.

[I Win]

About the sales shouldn't it done better in its first week like 200k or more then White Knight chronicles since its well known then White knight chronicles an I fail to see how White Knight chronicles was overly hyped when it wasn't so you fail.

[SpoonyRedMage]

Nice, Star Ocean IV looks like it's going to shock everyone and it may not need to go multiplatform.

I'm glad I'll be able to get Tri-ace games on the 360 though as I can't afford a PS3.

[kewlkat007]

....I have many games installed on my drive, I might uninstall one game and put this one on there.

So yeah considering the install-base of Japan , it's not bad at all.

[theKiller]

and very famous in japan and only sold 160k first week???

WKC is new IP and sold 200+k first week!!

Square Enix is failing so hard with its support to 360!!!

[Arnon]

It's Japan. How do the sales matter there now? I mean, the currency there is worthless, and it's fallen to third in the top 3 gaming markets. Not to mention the PS3 has about 3x the install base.

[cryymoar]

the yen is anything but worthless, do some research. I hope you know the fall of the USD is actually hurting Sony more on PS3 sales than probably anything else, had the USD been as strong as a few years ago, Sony would have dropped that price by now.

And also, you're trying to throw out relevant factors as "irrelevant," don't do that.

[Arnon]

Really? I'm pretty sure that I'm going by CURRENT news, and it's telling me that Japan is actually falling in the gaming market.

[cryymoar]

your original arugment is that the yen is falling, which is ISN'T, it actually holds strong against the USD, and is one of the factors for the PS3 NOT seeing a price cut, as western monies are falling thanks to the recession that the government, banks, and big corporations have put us through.

Also, did it ever occur to you that Japan isn't "falling," that other territories are rather GROWING? It seems that THAT is the case. Japan has brought out two of the biggest names in gaming in history, Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo has easily converted non-gamers in the western world into "gamers" via the Nintendo Wii, and since this "casual market" is huge in the western world considering the much larger population, it is easy to see why these territories like NA and EU are GROWING and Japan is NOT FALLING.

[Xbots play games]

A glimmer of light is still a glimmer of light. I salute Microsoft's continued efforts to try to crack the Japanese gaming riddle. It's good news to see this exclusive make a difference over there. It's a given that Wii and PS3 are both doing well in their own country. But, for a western gaming company to break any ground is nothing short of a miracle. Can't wait to pick up Star Ocean 4 this week!

[IzKyD1331]

sorry, replied to you by accident

[IzKyD1331]

damn it!
my post keeps replying to your post lol

[mt]

Japanese love it congra Microsoft seems there is a little hope . maybe if they continue to buy all square-enix projects they will do it