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ETC:
The Elite 20 List
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The
ballyhoo and, frankly, the madness surrounding Ikaruga last
week allowed us to crown a new sales leader as mentioned in
a website update. The Ikaruga comment sparked a slew of email
inquiries about the top 10 sellers in our company's history.
The obliging ilk that we are, we'll do a top 20 list today
for interested readers. Consider it a breather from what's
on television and radio, web and elsewhere today.
Some notable names are not
on the list but the market is fickle or unwitting. For example, Radiant
Silvergun on the Saturn doesn't even crack our top 50 list but this is because few knew what Radiant Silvergun
was - or
for that matter, what Treasure was, back in the day. Of
course, RS garners a lot of attention nowadays thanks to
it's $250 price tag for new copies of the game but to non-shmup
fanatics, it was "just another shooter" when it
debuted. Similarly, Sin & Punishment from Treasure
continues to sell when we restock but the installed base
of import N64 owners is dwarfed by consoles such as the DC
and even the SS. Others such as the Final Fantasy games do
excellent numbers but they lack endurance. From
Final Fantasy VII to IX, the first two weeks worth of sales
were very strong but petered out as the third week came
around. Gran Turismo 1 through 3 also did very well but
again, sales would diminish as the weeks passed. The
pervasiveness of the Japanese PS2 however allowed FFX to
breach the top 20 but the limitations of playing FFXI in the
USA will leave the series out of contention until FFXII
hits.
Our top 20 list is primarily made up of Dreamcast and
Saturn games, which are played on Sega consoles.
Ironic isn't it? For
the top DC and SS games, they were strong at the outset and
stayed strong for months and months on end. Some are still
attracting buyers after 1-2 years of availability in the market. We
still ship good numbers of Guilty Gear X which is nearing 2
years old and Shenmue 2 [EUR] had to be restocked many, many
times - it has always exceeded our forecasts. The
original preorder numbers we submitted for Shenmue 2 are
embarrassing given what has shipped in the nine months that it's been
available.
Naturally, we stifled a tear when Sega sang the
Saturn's swan song but we were emboldened when Japanese
Dreamcast console sales powered ahead in those early weeks
and months of 1998. Throughout 1999, Dreamcast consoles
remained vibrant and allowed us to build a viable user base
for future software titles. Sega console owners are about the most
devoted bunch we've ever had the pleasure of supplying (next
to Neo Geo folks) - and we squashed more tears when Sega
orphaned the Dreamcast in favor of a development
strategy for other platforms and consoles. We'll probably
never see the numbers we've enjoyed with the Saturn and
Dreamcast again but the years that we were able to participate in
Sega's consoles will always be remembered fondly. Here then
are our top 20 sellers. |
| 1 |
Ikaruga
[JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 2 |
Shenmue
2 [EUR] |
Dreamcast |
| 3 |
Capcom
vs SNK 2 [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 4 |
Guilty
Gear X [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 5 |
Sonic
Adventure 2 Birthday Pack [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 6 |
Dead
or Alive 2 [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 7 |
Capcom
vs SNK [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 8 |
Marvel
Super Heroes vs Street Fighter [JPN] |
Saturn |
| 9 |
Shenmue
[JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 10 |
Sakura
Taisen [JPN] |
Saturn |
| 11 |
Vampire
Saviour [JPN] |
Saturn |
| 12 |
Phantasy
Star Online v2.0 [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 13 |
Fire
Pro Wrestling D [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 14 |
Metal
Gear Solid 2 [JPN] |
Playstation
2 |
| 15 |
Vampire
Hunter [JPN] |
Saturn |
| 16 |
Sakura
Taisen 2 [JPN] |
Saturn |
| 17 |
King
of Fighters 2000 [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
| 18 |
Dance
Dance Revolution 3rd Mix [JPN] |
Playstation |
| 19 |
Final
Fantasy X + International [JPN] |
Playstation
2 |
| 20 |
Sakura
Taisen 4 [JPN] |
Dreamcast |
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