Demon's Souls sells three times better than expected; Also Persona 3 Portable wins hard over Strange Journey

Apparently, Atlus did very well in picking up Demon's Souls; the game sold triple of what they had expected, 280,000 copies to be exact. The chaps at Sony are probably punching their dicks now for letting that fat chance go. Let us hope From Software stays loyal to Atlus should they plan on developing a sequel.

This also shows that hardcore games, bordering on masocore, have a wider appeal to gamers today than many might have thought. Perhaps more developers will now try to create unique games with challenging mechanics and gameplay.

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In other news, Persona 3 Portable also exceeded expectations, while the back-to-the-roots Shin Megami Tensei title Strange Journey actually underperformed. P3P sold more than 100,00 copies more than SJ, despite being on the less popular platform and being a month late.

I think it is sad that the second rehash of a (admittedly great) game can outsell an original quality title so badly.

Through Siliconera

Demon Souls is great.

And people love a repackaging.

[I think that it the SJ sales may or may not have to do with the portable console it was put on. The NDS has a history of not hosting adult games, and things of that nature. It is possible that, if placed on the PSP, SJ could have sold better. The hardcore gamer fanbase is very largely a fan of Sony gaming devices. Most gamers that like the softer things tend to go for Mario, Zelda, etc. If SJ is ported onto the PSP, we might see a boost in sales]

Only flaw with that logic is that the other SMT on the DS did very well. Though you might be right with the T vs M argument,

[Yeah. SMT fans want a M game. I'm not saying that a T game is bad, or that the DS is bad. I do know most SMT games have been on Sony consoles for the last ten years, which incidentally are the years SMT games got popular in America. Most modern SMT fans probably don't even know of the old shit for the NES/SNES]

Well that would be because the NES/SNES stuff didn't come to america. The FIRST US SMT entry was Jack Bros on the Virtual Boy in 1995. Fallowed by Revelations: Persona in 1996.

And when I was talking T vs. M. SMT:SJ is rated M, SMT: DS is rated T, and it did better on the DS.

But the main "shock" of the article is not the brand (which most games now a days are NOT brand loyal). Its that there are more DS owned than PSPs owned. And the intest was higher for the DS titles. SOOOOO the shock is a lesser selling system is selling more games with a rehash than a higher selling system with a new exculsive title.

[To me, that is not a shock. The bulk of SMT fans are Sony fans. They want SMT on Sony video game equipment, bottom line. I too, share in this area. I don't know why they didn't put it on both the DS and the PSP, or just the PSP. I think that is what probably bothers a lot of the SMT fans that didn't pick up SJ. Perhaps they're afraid the game is watered down compared to the rest. Perhaps they're afraid Nintendo made sure the content was controlled. Who's to say Nintendo didn't have them remove stuff from SJ before it was released? In 2006, would Persona 3 been allowed for a Nintendo console? I'm not so sure]

I really just think they aren't interested cause its not persona 3, and that you are reading alittle too deep into it.

AT9, I don't know how often Nintendo actually does quality control on their games. As far as I know it's mostly on first party games only. (I mean have you seen 90% of the Wii games? *shudder*)

I believe most games are given a T rating on the DS because they don't think a mature game will sell well, asw the general owner of a DS is younger than that of a PSP. There have also been less mature games released for the DS. (I think. Feel free to prove me wrong.)

I'd say it's mostly a marketing thing, and maybe partly from a design standpoint aswell.

Well, if we want to get into reasons, then I simply think it is because SJ does not have the same mainsteam appeal that P3P has. Even in Japan Persona is the most well-known and successful spin-off.

Saibot01 wrote:Well, if we want to get into reasons, then I simply think it is because SJ does not have the same mainsteam appeal that SJ has.

Lawl.

Awww crap, fix'd.