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Final Fantasy XIII-2 Bombing in Japan?

Posted on Tuesday, January 3 @ 15:30:48 Eastern by Heath_Hindman


When Final Fantasy XIII-2 made its Japanese retail debut on December 15, it did so in lackluster fashion. For 99% of games coming out, having a first-week Japanese sales total of over half a million would be a triumph -- huge success. But Final Fantasy XIII-2's 524,000 performance (PS3 version) is a mere one-third the size of the original Final fantasy XIII, and even stands distantly in the shadow of Final Fantasy's first direct sequel, Final Fantasy X-2, which also sold over 1.5 million right out of the gate. For a Final Fantasy title, XIII-2 is performing far below expectations.

Things get worse for Square Enix when one considers that XIII-2 is supposed to be a game kept interesting in the long term with frequent DLC updates. This does not stop people from trading the sucker in, even a mere two or three weeks after its launch, however. Getting back from my Christmas vacation, something really stuck out at me as I made my rounds in the game shops: there are a lot of used copies of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Above, I am holding one small store's hearty supply of five used copies of the barely three-week-old Final Fantasy XIII-2, selling for 4,980 yen each. The game launched with a price closer to 7,000 yen for new copies, but has already plummeted to 5,500 in most stores.

Sales were well under half of what Square Enix expected, the price has fallen like a rock, and trade-ins are rampant. From the looks of things, Final Fantasy XIII-2 isn't the comeback S-E was hoping for.
Related Games:   Final Fantasy XIII-2
Tags:   Final Fantasy, Japan, Square Enix, hot


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POST A COMMENTComments
  • TurinAlexander
    TurinAlexander - Joined: Sep 29, 2006
    Considering how awful XIII was, this news comes as no surprise. SE gave up on quality gaming years ago in favor of shiny graphics.
    1 1Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 4:20 pm
  • sliverstorm
    sliverstorm - Joined: Jun 23, 2007
    Oh hey, we're Square Enix! We were born out of the combination of possibly the two most successful RPG franchises of all time! And now, our biggest game this year and biggest future prospects are all coming from an American developer we picked up in 2009.

    Go us.
    1 1Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 4:26 pm
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff - Joined: Nov 13, 2009
    They at least stuck it out until the middle of the ps2 era.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 6:43 pm
  • sliverstorm
    sliverstorm - Joined: Jun 23, 2007
    I won't lie, XII was one of my favorites. The world just felt so rich to travel through, and the real-time combat complimented that feeling.

    FFXIII had one incredible moment when you step out onto the plains, and the entire world just opens wide before you. There's this entire ecosystem of creatures running in packs, fighting, flying, and in some cases shambling with such monstrously huge strides that you aren't even noticed as they trample by. Now, I enjoyed XIII for what it was, but knowing that the entire game could have been like that just makes me sad.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 10:02 pm
  • TheJx4
    TheJx4 - Joined: Jun 20, 2011
    It's the bland packaging.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 5:16 pm
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff - Joined: Nov 13, 2009
    That's how the spines of Japanese games typically look.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 6:38 pm
  • Bras
    Bras - Joined: Jul 16, 2008
    No, it's the latin alphabet that makes them skip right through it.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 7:50 pm
  • jleack
    jleack - Joined: Mar 11, 2011
    Wait, people bought XIII-2?
    1 1Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 5:29 pm
  • Heath_Hindman
    Heath_Hindman - Joined: May 25, 2011
    Haha nice XD

    Apparently only 5 of them, and they regret it.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 5:34 pm
  • Bretimus_v2
    Bretimus_v2 - Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    I haven't forced myself to play all of 13 yet.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 5:34 pm
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow - Joined: Mar 21, 2010
    Why anyone would think the sequel to a bad game would be good is beyond me
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 5:36 pm
  • danielrbischoff
    danielrbischoff - Joined: Nov 13, 2009
    I think the biggest issue is the schedule. The initial outing is too ambitious and overblown and the direct sequel is a rushed pile of unused assets from the previous game.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 6:45 pm
  • C_nate
    C_nate - Joined: Apr 19, 2009
    The game sounded promising. It seemed like they took in the feedback from 13 and made changes to this one so it would be better. I'm still holding out hope on this one.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 6:30 pm
  • Leon_Gehste
    Leon_Gehste - Joined: Jan 3, 2012
    At first when I got FFXIII i didn't like so I took it back. One day I decided to buy one on ebay and wouldn't you know I liked, I'm trying to beat it before the release of FFXIII-2. FFXIII was the first Final Fantasy game on the new generation of consoles so they tried something new to see what would happen. Last i heard FFXIV was the worse Final Fantasy released. I'm getting FFXIII-2 the day it comes out.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 7:43 pm
  • LawnGnome
    LawnGnome - Joined: Apr 25, 2007
    The last Final Fantasy game I cared about was VII.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 8:23 pm
  • Chunibrow
    Chunibrow - Joined: Mar 21, 2010
    Instead of FFXIII-2 why not make a Dragon Quest for the Xbox since DQ9 kicked all sorts of ass. I swear if they made a sequel for the Xbox that was better than DQ9 I would buy it twice.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 3rd, 2012 at 9:54 pm
  • Daddio
    Daddio - Joined: Nov 6, 2008
    I enjoyed the MMO type feel that FF12 had, to then go and make FF13 so linear until the last little bit is just completely confusing.
    1 1Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 4th, 2012 at 6:06 am
  • Bras
    Bras - Joined: Jul 16, 2008
    The only game I could get excited about would be Final Fantasy Versus XIII, because it's been said it has almost nothing in common with the other FFXIIIs.
    1 1Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 4th, 2012 at 6:26 am
  • Awaiken
    Awaiken - Joined: Jan 5, 2012
    It helps to mention If the photo is the 360 version or not since those tend to sell less in Japan. I have to say I'm disappointed that they put stickers on game covers over there ala GameStop.
    1 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 5th, 2012 at 3:33 am
  • OniAkuma2126
    OniAkuma2126 - Joined: Jun 3, 2011
    Those are PS3 styles. You can tell by the shorter box and the strip of clear plastic at the top. Also the Black band above the white box art gives it away also.
    0 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 28th, 2012 at 8:54 am
  • OdiousLupous
    OdiousLupous - Joined: Jul 14, 2011
    You cant polish a turd, but you can release a dlc for it ;)
    0 0Like or Dislike?
    Posted: Jan 11th, 2012 at 2:37 pm

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