Sega in the Charts

[jonboy101]

Almost 3 months without recent charts...

Been about that long since Sega's popped out a game as well, except CoH.

[Aki-at]

Some solid numbers for Rome II: Total War's first week sales in the UK.

Total War: Rome II would have been the UK’s real No.1 last week, if we counted digital sales, MCV can reveal.

The strategy game was No.2 in the UK retail charts with over 32,000 units sold, narrowly missing out on the No.1 spot by just 200 copies.

Yet if you factor in UK digital sales of 73,000, and the game would not only have comfortably been top of the charts, but it would have been one of the biggest single format launches of the year, with 105,00 games sold.

This is further evidence of the growing importance of including digital data in the weekly charts.

Despite the popularity of Total War as a digital download, Sega’s digital VP John Clark insists retail has nothing to fear.

He told MCV that the launch sales of Rome II at retail were 4,000 higher than they were for the original title.

“It’s an incredible number and the biggest, most significant number we’ve seen,” said Clark.

“Based on other stats that we’re looking at it also shows that this isn’t a digital shift – we’re now adding consumers.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/the-digital-effect-total-war-rome-ii-was-last-week-s-real-no-1/0120925

105,000 units sold in just the UK is damn fine performance, shame the game did not live up to the hype so here's hoping The Creative Assembly can get back on track before sales start to dip.

[FourCartridge]

In the UK Individual Format chart, Sonic Lost World placed 15th for it's Wii U version while the 3DS version placed 28th. Meanwhile, Virtua Tennis 4 for the Vita placed just below the Wii U version of Lost World at 16th.

[TimmiT]

Not bad considering Sonic Lost World and Virtua Tennis 4 are on Wii U and Vita.

[Radrappy]

Not bad considering Sonic Lost World and Virtua Tennis 4 are on Wii U and Vita.

indeed.  It (slw) being the top selling wiiu title means it's the best it ever could have done, really. 

[CrazyT]

How do sonic games usually debut the chart?

[jonboy101]

How do sonic games usually debut the chart?

Depends, really. Never strong debuts. Or not since early GCN days. Usually modest first week, decent legs for about a month, uptick around Christmas. Sonic games sale long though. It took Rush something like a year to sale 2 million, but it made it eventually.

This isn't a stellar debut, but not bad given the platform. Debut will be weaker in the states, as Sonic is a stronger seller in UK.

[CrazyT]

Though it may not be bad, it saddens me how less relevant sonic seems to become with the comparison to NGC era. Still waiting for that one(score 9) game to win everyone over through great reviews and overall reception.

[Radrappy]

Though it may not be bad, it saddens me how less relevant sonic seems to become with the comparison to NGC era. Still waiting for that one(score 9) game to win everyone over through great reviews and overall reception.

It helps to put things in perspective though.  Does Sonic chart as well as Mario or Donkey Kong?  No.  Does he chart better than Rayman, Ratchet, or Sly?  Hell yes.  Sly and Ratchet in particular move paltry numbers by comparison.  Given that his games are rarely critically celebrated, we currently live in an era that cares nothing for colorful mascot platformers, and that he is a third party property with no console to call his own, I would consider Sonic's current output pretty damn impressive.   

Also, sometimes scores aren't enough.  Rayman Legends reviewed fantastically and guess what?  It's selling like shit.  It only just came out a few weeks ago and is already off the top 40.

PS. Given the outrageous success of Skylanders and Disney Infinity, I would not be surprised if we witnessed sonic head down that path in the future.

[CrazyT]

I was saying that because UK is well known to be a SEGA/Sonic country. But maybe it's becoming that less with time as well. I agree with the comparison though. I just feel like SEGA is ruining their brand and they may not have any iconic IP's to sell anymore if they keep it up like this we'll only see great investments (like creative assembly and relic) making them money.

[jonboy101]

I was saying that because UK is well known to be a SEGA/Sonic country. But maybe it's becoming that less with time as well. I agree with the comparison though. I just feel like SEGA is ruining their brand and they may not have any iconic IP's to sell anymore if they keep it up like this we'll only see great investments (like creative assembly and relic) making them money.

Tend to agree. Even there major franchises are neglected. 7 or 8 years since a new Virtua Fighter. The newer franchises are being cooped up in Japan, some for good reason, others not so much.

[Aki-at]

I was saying that because UK is well known to be a SEGA/Sonic country. But maybe it's becoming that less with time as well. I agree with the comparison though. I just feel like SEGA is ruining their brand and they may not have any iconic IP's to sell anymore if they keep it up like this we'll only see great investments (like creative assembly and relic) making them money.

Even on the Gamecube Sonic's debut was modest, what really helped Sonic's popularity skyrocket back then was Sonic X. Just to put it in perspective how much of a big marketing boost it was for SEGA, Sonic X was one of Fox Kids (I believe that was the network?) most successful animated show until the rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. It was massive and if Sonic Boom gets similar sort of ratings, expect the blue hedgehog's popularity to jump start again.

Also depends on how much stock you want to give to the mobile market, Sonic is a massive success there with Sonic Jump having over 8 million downloads and Sonic Dash with over 20 million downloads.

As for SEGA, they've never had big sellers sadly, if they did they would not be in the situation pre-Dreamcast or post Dreamcast. Infact it can be argued that they are more successful now than they have at any point excluding the Mega Drive era, they have never had three consistently 2 million+ sellers before.

Sly and Ratchet in particular move paltry numbers by comparison. 

Ratchet and Sly are good sellers, what made you think otherwise? Ratchet even does over 2 million in sales usually.

[Radrappy]

Ratchet and Sly are good sellers, what made you think otherwise? Ratchet even does over 2 million in sales usually.

All I had to go off of was VGchartz.  According to them All 4 one and the new Sly had trouble reaching 1 million sold though.  If you have a better source I'm open to it. 

[inthesky]

VGChartz isn't a great source. They project their data, and as I understand they sometimes adjust their sales numbers later when other information comes out.

Something like NPD is more reliable for US, or PAL charts for Europe. Which means, understandably you're in a difficult position if you're looking for US sales as NPD is pretty awful, as I'm not sure either releases include hard numbers, certainly not for a ton of titles. Often I end up scouring for articles that comment on the performance of titles I'm interested in (Tales isn't exactly a top 10 franchise in the US) or praying for the grace of insider leaks.

And I too was under the impression that Ratchet, at the very least, is a strong seller.

[Radrappy]

And I too was under the impression that Ratchet, at the very least, is a strong seller.

What gave you that impression though?  I think the franchise does modestly, but doesn't move copies as well as Sonic.  The character just isn't as iconic or popular. 

I'm aware that vgchartz isn't 100% accurate but there really isn't an alternative.  Apart from hearing what titles are in the top 40, or barring official fiscal results postings, companies are pretty hush hush about how many units they actually sell. 

And I'm looking to compare franchises more than I am looking for accurate numbers.  As long as VGchartz is somehow equally adjusting sales for all games, it should still hold weight as some kind of legitimate comparison.  That's a big if though.