Jan 12, 2010
Before the game’s Western release, the DS hit from Square-Enix is already going into the bargain bin. Having already sold 4 million copies in its home country of Japan, Square-Enix is re-releasing it and a bunch of other games as part of its “Ultimate Hits” line, also including Dragon Quest IV, Dragon Quest V and Final Fantasy IV.
Each game will cost ¥2,940, which is about USD$32.
Though it may more accurately reflect the western pricing of the game, it doesn’t speak well of the game to be putting it at a budget price before the rest of the world even sees it – perhaps in response to the many Japanese gamers posting their dissatisfaction with the latest title in the long-running series, many complaining that the original ¥6000 price was too much.
At the time of writing, there is still no set release date for Dragon Quest 9 in the U.S. or Europe.
I don't think selling 4 million copies can be considered a bad thing... or that marking it down should be seen as a bad thing either.
It sold over 4 million copies at the regular price, so they probably figure lowering the price will get it out to those that wanted to wait for a lower price point.
It seems like you're trying to make a negative out of what has been a hit in Japan. Sure there may have been some that didn't like the way the series went in DQIX - that doesn't mean it wasn't one of the top selling games there last year.
It's just stupid planning – why would you put a game in the main line of a flagship series into a bargain price before you even release it in the largest territory in terms of circulation? Selling 4MM is not bad at all, but when you consider DQ8 sold three million in its first week ALONE, that's a pretty weak showing for the franchise.
Sure it did well compared to the other games that came out last year, but 2009 was kind of a dry year. And now, before it even sees an english-language release, it's already in bargain bins. That does not show confidence no matter how you slice it.
I'm of the thinking that this isn't exactly the first time its happened though. With RPGs there is usually a longer localization time, and these titles can reach bargain bin prices before the rest of the world even gets their release.
And I'm not sure why a cheaper price is being put out there as being a negative. Sure a price drop within a few weeks of release can be a sign of a developer not having faith in a game, but in this case it's been a while since the game was released in Japan - and its a DS game not a full-fledged console game. DS games tend to drop in price faster (at least around here they do).
As for the stupid planning part.. why? Will a game being released in America cause more people to start buying it in Japan? And since the game is in Japanese its not as if all the people waiting here and in Europe are gonna suddenly decide to import it because of the cheaper price point.
Reducing the price can only increase circulation in Japan, and there are tons of fans out there in the rest of the world waiting to get it when it's localized. I don't see how a price reduction at this point can hurt the game at all.
It's a matter of operating globally. Territories interact. In the case of Dragon Quest specifically, you need to keep the game's value up in its home territory because it will not do as well in others: To wit, again using DQ8 as an example, it only sold 450k in North America during the period of its release to September 2008, only a fraction of its 6.5MM total sales by that point. If the game is cheaper in Japan by the time of its release in other territories, they cannot reasonably expect to ask for a higher price elsewhere. Maybe they will, but it'll raise some eyebrows.
Basically, they are not treating their flagship franchise with the respect that is necessary for it to remain a flagship franchise.
Yes, I understand RPGs have a longer turnaround time when it comes to localization, but if the price of the game is already dropping before it's done, either your localization team isn't getting it out fast enough, or there are other issues at play. Either way, it's not a thing that should be happening. It's not smart business.