Results are In, Far from Good
You may have forgotten by now that Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood had, until this month, not yet been localizd and released in Japan.
Apparently, Japanese Sonic fans forgot too.
According to GoNintendo, the game, called Sonic Chronicles: Invaders from the Dark Dimension in the land of the rising sun, only sold about 2,100 copies in its launch week. A second estimate from VGChartz.com puts the figure slightly lower, to a more exact 2,095.
There are several factors to consider when digesting this information. The Japanese edition of Chronicles was not promoted that well in the territory; while it had a dedicated website, there wasn’t much else meant to expose Japanese audiences to the RPG. The game also wasn’t the worst seller in Japan for the week. A few other new titles couldn’t break the 1,000 barrier.
There’s also the matter of how well Chronicles fared domestically. While the polarizing Sonic Unleashed has sold well over 2 million copies worldwide, Chronicles is just south of the 700,000 mark, with only about 420,000 units sold in North America. according to VGChartz.com.
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It may seem disappointing but as odd as it sounds, Sonic isn’t as popular in Japan as he is in the US and Europe so I expected news of this kind. It’s a shame because apart from some puzzling design choices Chronicles isn’t actually a bad game. It’s no Sonic Rush but it’s better than some.
Eh, a mediocre Sonic RPG not selling well in a place that isn’t too into Sonic. I’m not shocked.
Okay…
Looking at Sonic CHronicles from an RPG standerd it was an incredible RPG, looking at it from a Sonic Standerd and it’s pretty strange. Either way the game was golden.
Maybe they bought it from other countries where it was released already…
Glad to see mediocre Sonic games taking hits.
They shoudn’t have released it in Japan. It was a good game, but not meant for Japan.
Surprise.
@serpx When aren’t the Sonic game mediocre, lately?
Overall I liked Chronicles. But Japan never liked Sonic as much as the rest of the world, even when he was good!
Once again, how is this news?
i dont think that many people want to buy games in the summer because they can enjoy the weather insted. I buy more games in winter than summer.
Well no surprise there. It was a boring, bad game with pointless touch controls and terrible music.
Thanks Bioware!
Seriously? I knew Sonic sucked in Japan, but Chronicles was one really good game. I’m surprised.
I enjoyed Chronicles, but as said above Sonic isn’t as popular in Japan is he is in the West, butthat still shouldn’t be a reason for bad figures. A good game is a good game, and when it comes down to it that overall success is measured by the amount of copies sold. If Bioware want Sonic Chronicles 2 (If it’s ever coming) to sell better, they’re going to have to make some changes in both advertising and game design…
Agreement with serpx, but I’ll be willing to take the words of RaveToTheGrave and others for the time being, seeing as how I haven’t touched game. Who knows, it might actually be a kickass RPG with amazing dialogue, but I don’t know how I can possibly forgive the awful music or the questionable things of the plot and final boss.
Sonic games doing bad in Japan.
Water is wet.
Is this even news worthy ?
Sales of 700,000 for a DS game compared to Unleashed breaking 2 mill on four platforms…that’s actually a little over 500,000 per version. So…the differance isn’t that astounding. Multi-platform games sell better. I wouldn’t be surprised if the title made a profit, it was low budget.
Am I supposed to be surprised about this?
Sonic Chronicles wasn’t great, and the Japanese aren’t as big on Sonic, so it’s no surprise. Bioware isn’t that great.
@Doctor Eggman: I wouldn’t say Bioware isn’t that great, my sister is completely in love with Mass Effect. I don’t go a bundle on RPG games due to a low patience
so on personal terms I agree with you, but overall I’m sure they make good quality games.
Japan are big into RPGS so a crappy little sonic RPG isnt going to crack that side of the world unfortunetly.
@TailstheHedgehog:
RPGs aren’t my cup of tea, either, but Bioware made a low-quality DS game – Sonic Chronicles. I’ve played MANY DS games and this was definitely lacking effort and overall know-how. The basic idea behind the game was good as well as art style and dialogue. But that’s it. Bioware did not do a great job with the game’s quality.
A bad game sells badly.
Good.
If the source is VGChartz, then I wouldn’t be surprised if Sonic Chronicles in reality did poorer in the West than the numbers they state it did.
Also, mediocre RPG from an unpopular franchise bombs in the wake of being released close to great new installments of extremely popular franchises(Dragon Quest 9 & Monster Hunter 3).
No crap did it bomb.