Support NeoGAF

[Minsc]

Wii numbers are pretty bad. There's no excusing it at this point.

Dispute this next point if you like (I'm open to opposing viewpoints), but it seems as if Nintendo has gone back to their GameCube-style tactics of releasing so little content consistently, even if occasionally there may be big hits. It's not like the DS, where Nintendo just flooded that system with unique titles that gave the system an identity. Even when Nintendo had to lighten its offerings, the third parties were there to fill in any gaps. With the Wii, that's just not happening. After Wii Fit, it's as if Nintendo thought that replicating the DS/GC (quite literally with the GC) and having Wii Music would be enough.

If the PS3 doesn't outsell or get very close to the Wii when Yakuza 3 and Biohazard 5 hit, then I'll be very surprised. Hell, at this point, Street Fighter IV may actually do something for the HD systems.

Didn't Nintendo announce a while back they were pulling DS support and moving it to the Wii? What happened?

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

@Flying Phoenix

Do you think it's a case of Western gamers spending more time at home as a trend and Japanese gamers doing the opposite? If that's what's happening in Japan then home consoles have a tough battle given the quality of both handhelds and what they can offer.

It's a strong possibility though how does that explain the arcades dying in Japan.

@ everyone

What games do you think should be released on home consoles? If you were a developer/publisher where would you be putting your games? Consoles? Portables? Perhaps accepting the market in Japan for what it is and aiming console releases at the worldwide market is the go.

Edit: I typed this up a few hours ago and forgot about it.

Easy.

Portables - Anything that revolves upon co-op play on a big scale. Just look at Monster Hunter and Phantasy Star. I'd probably make a MMO with RPG, Adventure, and Simulation elements. The game would revolve around 2 or more players (though 1 is allowed as well) exploring areas of modern Japan whether it be Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, or just some random suburbs or country areas. The game would involve people creating parties to destroy shadow demons that are invisible to the average human eye. Now what will make this game unique is that it has a lot of Myspace like configuration as you can edit, change, and even design your own characters, items, and weapons in the game. You can also design your own house where you can post your own pictures and favorite website links too (just like a myspace page). Also every time you defeat a significant demon you'd be able to tag the area, the more areas you tag the more items you can get in which you can trade with your friends. But yeah something along these lines.

Consoles - I'd pretty much only focus on the Wii. A Smash Bros. clone that improves and evolves the formula for the serious gamers. And some video game that is basically Rock Band meets MTV Music Generator in which you can create your own music and try to play it and send it to friends and family as well as post it online for others to try.

But yeah that's what I'd say for now.

 

[donny2112]

Didn't Nintendo announce a while back they were pulling DS support and moving it to the Wii? What happened?

Another Code R (and probably Wario Land: Shake It).

 

[Arpharmd B]

Wii numbers are pretty bad. There's no excusing it at this point.

Dispute this next point if you like (I'm open to opposing viewpoints), but it seems as if Nintendo has gone back to their GameCube-style tactics of releasing so little content consistently, even if occasionally there may be big hits. It's not like the DS, where Nintendo just flooded that system with unique titles that gave the system an identity. Even when Nintendo had to lighten its offerings, the third parties were there to fill in any gaps. With the Wii, that's just not happening. After Wii Fit, it's as if Nintendo thought that replicating the DS/GC (quite literally with the GC) and having Wii Music would be enough.

If the PS3 doesn't outsell or get very close to the Wii when Yakuza 3 and Biohazard 5 hit, then I'll be very surprised. Hell, at this point, Street Fighter IV may actually do something for the HD systems.

Star Ocean next week? Or the week after?

Reason I'm asking is, wouldn't it be crazy if both 360 and PS3 jumped past Wii for a week.

Even for just a week I think that would be pretty cool.

 

[Jonnyram]

Star Ocean next week? Or the week after?

Reason I'm asking is, wouldn't it be crazy if both 360 and PS3 jumped past Wii for a week.

Even for just a week I think that would be pretty cool.

I think it's probable that PS3 will pass Wii this week (SF4), and 360 will pass it next week (SO4). I don't see Wii being bottom on a single week though... maybe when RE5 comes out, but still not that likely.

 

[Firestorm]

For a fanservice game it was excellent, except that it needed more characters.

I'd rather have a game that's good for a main series title than a game that's good for a fanservice game though

 

[bttb]

.

 

[shykyoichi]

Why?

Radiant Mythology was FREAKING awesome.

Maybe he owns a DS and not a PSP.

 

[donny2112]

Famitsu Jan 26-Feb 1

01./00. [PSP] Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 (Namco Bandai Games) - 210,297 / NEW
02./00. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven 12: PES 2009 (Konami) - 102,221 / NEW
03./00. [NDS] Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix) - 101,989 / NEW
04./00. [PS2] World Soccer Winning Eleven 12: PES 2009 (Konami) - 101,857 / NEW
05./04. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (BEST) (Capcom) - 24,006 / 366,905
06./00. [WII] Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Square Enix) - 22,876 / NEW
07./03. [WII] Taiko Drum Master Wii (Namco Bandai Games) - 19,521 / 363,056
08./07. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) - 19,487 / 1,539,725
09./01. [WII] Play on Wii: Mario Tennis GC (Nintendo) - 19,384 / 105,608
10./09. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 17,548 / 3,126,747
11./06. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode (Nintendo) - 15,613 / 723,064
12./00. [PS2] Harukanaru Toki no Naka de: Yumenoukihashi Special (Floating Bridges of Dreams Special) (Koei) - 13,016 / NEW
13./00. [PS3] Tomb Raider: Underworld (Spike) - 12,132 / NEW
14./15. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) - 11,063 / 2,133,818
15./14. [NDS] Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo/Pokemon Co.) - 10,530 / 2,317,349
16./11. [PSP] Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Square Enix) - 10,445 / 857,059
17./02. [PSP] Zill O'll Infinite Plus (Koei) - 10,357 / 39,436
18./00. [PSP] Soul Eater: Battle Resonance (Namco Bandai Games) - 10,018 / NEW
19./00. [360] Ninja Blade (From Software) - 9,739 / NEW
20./17. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) - 9,682 / 1,053,686
21./16. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) - 8,925 / 3,419,898
22./00. [NDS] Vampire Knight DS (D3 Publisher) - 8,741 / NEW
23./21. [NDS] Kirby Super Star Ultra Deluxe (Nintendo) - 8,675 / 1,010,802
24./24. [NDS] Prof. Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) - 7,368 / 712,509
25./18. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (A Penguin's Troubles: Strongest Penguin Legend) (Konami) - 7,318 / 204,678
26./13. [PS3] Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm (Namco Bandai Games) - 7,021 / 67,909
27./23. [NDS] Tongari Boushi to Mahou no 365 Nichi (Little Magician's Magic Adventure) (Konami) - 6,852 / 282,958
28./25. [NDS] Momotarou Dentetsu 20th Anniversary (Hudson) - 6,757 / 211,276
29./12. [NDS] Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor (Atlus Co.) - 6,376 / 79,308
30./19. [NDS] DS Uranai Seikatsu (DS Fortune Telling) (Nintendo) - 6,234 / 35,252

*. [NDS] Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (CyberFront) - 6,000 / NEW
*. [PS2] Dance Dance Revolution X (Konami) - 5,100 / NEW
*. [NDS] Hirameki Action: Chibikko Wagyan no Daiki na Bouken (Flash Action: Great Risk of Wagyan Chibikko) (Namco Bandai Games) - 4,600 / NEW
*. [PS2] Soul Eater: Battle Resonance (Namco Bandai Games) - 4,100 / NEW
*. [360] Tomb Raider: Underworld (Spike) - 3,500 / NEW
*. [PSP] Memories Off #5: Togireta Film (CyberFront) - 3,300 / NEW
*. [360] Tom Clancy's EndWar (Ubisoft) - 2,900 / NEW
*. [PS2] Gentleman Detective in an Uncertain World: Case File of the Evil Twin (Abel) - 2,400 / NEW
*. [PSP] Mega Man DASH/Mega Man DASH 2 Value Pack (Capcom) - 1,900 / NEW
*. [NDS] Taiheiyou no Arashi: Senkan Yamato, Akatsuki ni Shutsugekisu (Pacific Storm: Battleship Yamato, Dawn Sortie) (SystemSoft Alpha) - 1,700 / NEW
*. [PSP] Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX/Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower Value Pack (Capcom) - 1,200 / NEW


Bar Chart Jan 26-Feb 1 (thanks to JoshuaJSlone/garaph.info)

Note: Image may be delayed from the time of this post, but will automatically show once the data is ready.


Recent Famitsu Top 30s

Dec 22, 2008-Jan 4, 2009
Jan 5-11, 2009
Jan 12-18, 2009
Jan 19-25, 2009

 

[bttb]

.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Wii | 19,832

Wii Music 2 can't come soon enough

 

[donny2112]

Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS) Sales Transition [～02/08]

Pretty cool. Animal Crossing: Wild World has now passed 5 million in both Media-Create and Dengeki. Just Famitsu left to go.

DS All-Time Software TOP5 [～02/08]
01. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) - 5,146,615

That's a huge difference from Famitsu (5.41 million through 20090111). The last Media-Create number we have is 5.01 million from the end of 2007. At that time, Famitsu was 5.04 million, so MC would probably be closer to the Famitsu value than Dengeki.

Wii Music 2 can't come soon enough

:lol

Yes, that's what Nintendo needs.

 

[Loudninja]

01. [PS3] Demon's Souls (SCE) - 45,964 / NEW

Nice

 

[donny2112]

Ah ok, i guess that Media Create had one of these week's number 1 at a higher sales number?

http://garaph.info/weeklyoverview.php?week=2008-06-30

http://garaph.info/weeklyoverview.php?week=2008-09-01

The week of Sept. 1-7 had Rhythm Tengoku Gold @ #1 with 55K in Media-Create.

 

[AranhaHunter]

- Demon's Souls (PS3) sell-through is 95.21%.

Impressive

 

[Neo C.]

Didn't Nintendo announce a while back they were pulling DS support and moving it to the Wii? What happened?

Wii games need more manpower and time. That's why Nintendo only needs two years of full support for the DS (05/06) to make the platform viable for 3rd parties, while the Wii needs at least three years. And if the Wii stays low in this entire year, perhaps they'll need to push it next year too.

 

[PantherLotus]

OP updated. Sorry it took so long tonight.

31. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)
32. [NDS] Megami Ibunroku: Devil Survivor (Atlus)
33. [NDS] Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5)
34. [NDS] Power Pro Kun Pocket 11 (Konami)
35. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (SCE)
36. [PS2] Yakuza 2 (Playstation 2 The Best) (SEGA)
37. [NDS] Taiko Drum Master 2: The Seven Island Adventure (Namco Bandai)
38. [PS3] Tomb Raider: Underworld (Spike)
39. [PSP] Zill O'll Infinite Plus (KOEI)
40. [360] Midnight Club: Los Angeles (Spike)
41. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
42. [PSP] Midnight Club: LA Remix (Spike)
43. [PS3] Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks)
44. [PS3] Naruto: Narutimate Storm (Namco Bandai)
45. [PS3] Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (PlayStation 3 the Best) (SEGA)
46. [WII] Karaoke Joysound Wii (Hudson)
47. [WII] Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Nintendo)
48. [PSP] Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (KOEI)
49. [NDS] Kanji Brain 2 + Dictionary (IE Institute)
50. [NDS] Harvest Moon: Welcome to the Wind Bazaar (Marvelous)


System Count
[WII] - 10
[NDS] - 21
[PSP] - 8
[PS3] - 8
[360] - 1
[PS2] - 2

[B][U]Hardware | This Week | Last Week |   YTD   |    LTD    [/U][/B]
NDS      |    62,013 |    70,760 | 611,709 | 25,731,352
PSP      |    34,969 |    44,135 | 383,381 | 11,741,545
WII      |    20,412 |    23,278 | 264,001 |  7,742,902
PS3      |    16,082 |    17,405 | 160,683 |  2,783,111
360      |     8,311 |     8,107 |  63,905 |    894,445
PS2      |     5,089 |     5,334 |  40,436 | 21,439,960
--------------------------------------------------------
DSi      |    49,529 |    55,613 | 480,004 | 1,711,371
DSL      |    12,484 |    15,147 | 131,705 |

SOFTWARE | HARDWARE | CONSOLES | HANDHELDS

 

[AranhaHunter]

Flash Focus, Layton, and Yoshi's Island are all above 900k and might squeak by a million. Closest ones on PSP are Dissidia is at 850k, Crisis Core at 750k.

I think Dissidia will probably make it, don't know about CC though, have they release a The Best version of it yet?

 

[HK-47]

I think Dissidia will probably make it, don't know about CC though, have they release a The Best version of it yet?

They havent even hinted at it yet

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I don't get the dilemma. If you're trying to build a database, separating things as much as possible is good. It makes your data more accurate and more versatile in regards to what kinds of questions it can answer. It's great that trackers provide this, and as you try to preserve accuracy, you should of course keep the data separated.

But the question "Did Game pass this sales threshold?" does not need the full detail. Different SKUs of the same game are still the same game, and unless something more specific is asked for, they all count the same.

Pretty much. The only thing from a databaser's point of view is that it's extra hassle to try and combine all relevant rereleases. Though since usually people are interested in high marks like million sellers, it's easy enough to manually find the big successes.

Dispute this next point if you like (I'm open to opposing viewpoints), but it seems as if Nintendo has gone back to their GameCube-style tactics of releasing so little content consistently, even if occasionally there may be big hits. It's not like the DS, where Nintendo just flooded that system with unique titles that gave the system an identity.

Since it's so easy to compare Wii with what DS was up to two years earlier, I looked up Nintendo's Q1 2007 DS releases.

Three in January, all eventually passing 200K:
Wario: Master of Disguise
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Picross DS

Two in March which were much bigger:
Yoshi's Island DS
More English Training

I think Dissidia will probably make it, don't know about CC though, have they release a The Best version of it yet?

They havent even hinted at it yet

If/when one does arrive, though, adding enough to push Crisis Core over the edge is pretty far-fetched. PS2 mainline FF budget releases sell a few hundred thousand, but not so much smaller titles. Even something like FF III DS is off to a really slow start, selling about 12K in its first two months.

 

[bttb]

.

 

[Loudninja]

First Day Sales (02/12)

[NDS] Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (Nintendo) - 155,000 (57%) [2 Days]
[PS3] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) - 58,000 (50%)
[360] Street Fighter IV (Capcom) - 28,000 (65%)
[PS2] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V (Bandai Namco) - 24,000 (60%)
[PSP] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V (Bandai Namco) - 23,000 (40%)
[PSP] Tenchu 4 (From Software) - 10,000 (30%)
[PS3] Skate 2 (Electronic Arts) - 2,400 (47%)
[360] Skate 2 (Electronic Arts) - 2,200 (67%)

http://dubai.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ghard/1234353599/612

So what you guys thin of the SF4 sales?

 

[jj984jj]

HURRAY FOR M&LRPG3!!!

Though it cheated a bit for having an extra day it probably still would've been on top either way with those numbers. As for SFIV... I think it'll make up for it a bit in the west but it's still kinda sad the series isn't as big as it once was in Japan.

 

[test_account]

I wish someone would make a video about Sony's Defense Force...

For fun, not to troll...just for fun...

You do have www.sonydefenceforce.com and there is a video on YouTube about the Sony Defence Force (i havnt seen this video yet myself).

EDIT: I see that oatmeal is banned. Was it because of this comment? If so, then maybe i shouldnt answer to his comment. Please let me know and i will edit and remove my answer.

The week of Sept. 1-7 had Rhythm Tengoku Gold @ #1 with 55K in Media-Create.

Ah ok, thanks for the info! By the way, thanks for the info about how many weeks that had number 1 over 50k in 2007 and in 2009 that you mentioned in one of your previous posts here , i was about to ask about this earlier, but i see that you already mentioned it for 2007 and for 2009

So what you guys thin of the SF4 sales?

I thought Street Fighter 4 would sell more, and i am alittle surprised of the relatively low shipments of Street Fighter 4. I thought that Street Fighter was more popular in Japan.

And i think it seems that the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter 2 sold pretty good Maybe the PS3 version sold pretty good too, but i dont think that the Xbox 360 version is really that far behind the PS3 version, at least not compared to how other multiplatform games are selling on the PS3 and on the Xbox 360 in Japan, like Devil May Cry 4 for example. This is just the first day's sales thought, but still

 

[DarkMehm]

So what you guys thin of the SF4 sales?

Not bad for first day. Beat'em Ups just doesn't go over 150k anymore in Japan.

 

[Kandinsky]

So what you guys thin of the SF4 sales?

I think those are impressive numbers for a fighter in this time and age :/

 

[Jonnyram]

So what you guys thin of the SF4 sales?

Actually pretty good for first day. I'm disappointed at the lack of faith retailers still show in 360 though. Many places in the city are sold out of both SFIV and Skate 2.

 

[Tenbatsu]

Wow at Mario & Luigi! SF4 not too shabby. Tenchu 4 erm, they sure wanna release 5 and 6?

 

[HK-47]

What was the sales over time on PiT like?

 

[Myke Greywolf]

Just for the record: this is the worst week ever for Wii hardware sales, if we follow Media Create numbers.

Next week, I think PS3 might outsell the Wii on weekly hardware sales for the 5th time since launch (previously, 2 weeks after white PS3 launch, MGS4 launch week and LBP launch week).

 

[jj984jj]

What was the sales over time on PiT like?

133k week 1
118k week 2
417k LTD
http://garaph.info/softwareindividual.php?gameid=212
http://garaph.info/softwaregroup.php?grid=160

 

[test_account]

Seeing how people above me here says that fighting games in Japan has gone down in popularity, i guess that Tekken 6 might not reach about 150k in sales as well? :\

What was the sales over time on PiT like?

I also added Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga for the GBA to this graph (thanks to garaph.info for this graph )

EDIT: I see now that jj984jj has already mentioned the Super Star Saga and the Partners in Time graphs, and jj984jj also posted the sales numbers, so his post was better than just the graph that i posted

EDIT 2: I fixed a typo and i added some text.

 

[Spiegel]

Tenchu sold better than the Wii version but it's still a bomba

EDIT

I'm wrong, looking at old sales data, Tenchu wii sold ~10k first day and 13k first week

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13354140&postcount=257

 

[pickwick]

23./21. [NDS] Kirby Super Star Ultra Deluxe (Nintendo) - 8,675 / 1,010,802

So Kirby is now officially the 25th millions seller for DS in japan !

 

[jj984jj]

Tenchu bomba

Well at least now that it's bombed twice we know it wasn't just being on Wii made it bomb the first time. :lol

 

[HK-47]

Oh yeah. 3 is gonna steamroll SSS and PiT. Half million easily

 

[Loudninja]

Yeah I agree with you guys I think the first day sales are pretty good.

 

[Kurosaki Ichigo]

I don't think Street Fighter numbers are really that good...

· Soul Calibur IV did 56k on PS3 and 35k on 360 first day too.
· Dragon Ball Burst Limit did 60k on PS3 and 8k on 360, first day again.

DB okay, you could say its been more popular last few years but Soul Calibur? I expected more than that.

Tenchu disappoints once again, barely outselling Wii version (8k vs 10k). Either it pulls a miracle in the west or I think we won't see Tenchu in a while.


Really nice for Giren no Yabou V!

Remember this is a rehash of last year PSP game, it just includes more characters, mecha and storylines. They always do this with Giren no Yabou games.

But the sales are pretty good, 47k combined, original PSP-only game did 60k first day. I'm surprised PS2 did better though, you could say its like a full new PS2 game unlike for PSP but then again the PSP base was already there from the first one release.

For a proper comparison, rehashes of Giren no Yabou games did:
- Saturn, 1998, 32k first week
- PSX, 2000, 56k first week
- PS2, 2003, 27k first week


And of course, Mario & Luigi RPG3 just obliterated previous two (already past their first weeks). Very impressive.

 

[domokunrox]

I don't think Street Fighter numbers are really that good...

What are you talking about? 86k first day sales is impressive for what is considered by many a niche game.

 

[test_account]

As other have already mentioned above me here, Mario & Luigi RPG3 preformance seems pretty good indeed! I am looking forward to see the first week's numbers and how long legs this game will have

So Kirby is now officially the 25th millions seller for DS in japan !

Ye, really nice preformance by Kirby Super Star Ultra for the DS! Congratulations to Nintendo and HAL (the developer of Kirby Super Star Ultra) with selling over 1 million copies of this game!

 

[Pureauthor]

[NDS] Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (Nintendo) - 155,000 (57%)

WOOOOOOO

 

[farnham]

I expected SF IV to do a lot better..
But the fighting game market in general is pretty dead in japan (with smash bros being the only exception)
so maybe this is not a surprise.. I mean Tekken, VF and SC all did pretty bad numbers compared to the 32bit era.. its no wonder SF is no exception..

I still dont understand why Capcom did not develop a Wii version to go with the other versions.. (i think they will do that down the line.. but why not right away)

Actually pretty good for first day. I'm disappointed at the lack of faith retailers still show in 360 though. Many places in the city are sold out of both SFIV and Skate 2.

If you consider that the fighting games are pretty dead in japan SF IV did amazingly.. but still.. i really had high hopes for this game

 

[jj984jj]

What are you talking about? 86k first day sales is impressive for what is considered by many a niche game.

Street Fighter is a niche brand now?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Street Fighter is a niche brand now?

Games with "Street Fighter" in the title, from PS2 on:

 

[Jonnyram]

I still dont understand why Capcom did not develop a Wii version to go with the other versions.. (i think they will do that down the line.. but why not right away)

Did you see the sales of Tatsunoko in December?

I don't think Street Fighter numbers are really that good...

· Soul Calibur IV did 56k on PS3 and 35k on 360 first day too.
· Dragon Ball Burst Limit did 60k on PS3 and 8k on 360, first day again.

DB okay, you could say its been more popular last few years but Soul Calibur? I expected more than that.

But SC has been a massively popular series this decade. Remember? A million seller on DC, then the three versions of II doing extremely well, III tailing off a lot, and then the two versions of IV on HD consoles, with a Star Wars license. SF had pretty much been declared dead and we were all pretty surprised to see a IV after all this time.

 

[Rolf NB]

I still dont understand why Capcom did not develop a Wii version to go with the other versions.. (i think they will do that down the line.. but why not right away)

What's the install base of Classic Controllers?

 

[Tron 2.0]

I will admit to being sightly surprised at the SF4 numbers. I was expecting, perhaps unrealistically, that it would do 100k+ in its first week on the PS3.

...I still dont understand why Capcom did not develop a Wii version to go with the other versions.. (i think they will do that down the line.. but why not right away)...

Because third party games on the Wii are selling like shit.

 

[Minsc]

Were there ever SF2 or SF3 numbers posted to compare these first day/week sales, or does that go too far back?

Next time I'll refresh the thread before posting.

 

[farnham]

Because third party games on the Wii are selling like shit.

yet the situation is better then on the 360 or on the ps3

What's the install base of Classic Controllers?

smashs main controller was the GC controller
yet it sold splendidly

Did you see the sales of Tatsunoko in December?

.

I dont think that the VS series was ever as popular as the regular SF series.. i could be wrong though...

Street Fighter is a niche brand now?

unfortunately it is... fighting as a genre is extremely niche now..
the only exceptions are the dragon ball games the naruto games on GC (every other naruto game seems to fail) and the smash bros series

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Based on the latest Famitsu hardware numbers...
PSP comparisons: After 217 weeks, PSP is where PS2 was at 169.7 weeks (May 30, 2003), where DS was at 96.6 weeks (October 5, 2006), and where GBA was at 146.5 weeks (January 8, 2004).

X360 comparisons: After 164 weeks, X360 is where GCN was at 15.9 weeks (December 29, 2001), where PS3 was at 27.6 weeks (May 17, 2007), and where Wii was at 4.6 weeks (December 28, 2006).

PS3 comparisons: After 117 weeks, PS3 is where PS2 was at 32.0 weeks (October 8, 2000), where PSP was at 57.4 weeks (January 11, 2006), where GCN was at 118.8 weeks (December 19, 2003), and where Wii was at 30.6 weeks (June 29, 2007).

Wii comparisons: After 114 weeks, Wii is where GBA was at 93.7 weeks (January 3, 2003), where DS was at 75.0 weeks (May 7, 2006), where PS2 was at 111.4 weeks (April 17, 2002), and where PSP was at 161.8 weeks (January 12, 2008).

DSi comparisons: After 14 weeks, DSi is where GBASP was at 31.4 weeks (September 17, 2003), and where DSL was at 11.9 weeks (May 21, 2006).


Based on the latest Media Create hardware numbers...
DS vs PSP: Weekly shares of 63.9 / 36.1 bring total shares to 68.8 / 31.2. If DS stopped selling and PSP continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 402.0 weeks (October 24, 2016).

X360 vs PS3: Weekly shares of 34.1 / 65.9 bring total shares to 24.3 / 75.7. If PS3 stopped selling and X360 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 227.4 weeks (June 19, 2013).

PS3 vs Wii: Weekly shares of 44.1 / 55.9 bring total shares to 26.4 / 73.6. If Wii stopped selling and PS3 continued at this week's rate, it would catch up in 308.4 weeks (January 7, 2015).


Week over week, other than a slight upward blip by X360, everything is down.

Looking at total weekly hardware sales for the last few years, we can easily see that 2009 is much lower than 2007 or 2008. It's still higher than early 2006; but that was a time when X360 was unimportant, PS3/Wii hadn't released, and DS was in shortage.

I dont think that the VS series was ever as popular as the regular SF series.. i could be wrong though...

I don't think it ever hit SNES SFII highs, but last gen they did pretty decently compared to the main-series SF rereleases and SF EX 3. Capcom vs SNK 2 did about 300K, and a years-late PS2 Marvel vs Capcom passed 100K.