Nintendo Reveals How Much Sales Butt Fire Emblem: Awakening Kicked

[StewShearerOld]

Nintendo Reveals How Much Sales Butt Fire Emblem: Awakening Kicked

Nearly two million copies of Fire Emblem: Awakening were sold to gamers around the world.

Fire Emblem: Awakening was <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/10165-Fire-Emblem-Awakening-Review>a remarkable entry in the Fire Emblem franchise. And while fans of the game might point toward the additions and alterations it brought to the series' formula as the main reason why, we'd be willing to bet that Nintendo was more dazzled by the dollars and cents the game brought in. Whereas previous Fire Emblems failed to find much audience appreciation outside of Japan, Awakening was successful around the globe, selling more copies in its first month of international release than other games from the series did during the breadth of their entire existence. That being case, Nintendo has recently released revealed just how successful the game really was.

According to <a href=http://renka-web.com/news/news_001.html>promotional materials released by Nintendo, Fire Emblem: Awakening, since its 2012 release, has sold 1.79 million copies. Granted, that might not sound like much when compared to the industry's heaviest hitters, but it's fairly impressive when you consider that Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, the last game in the series released prior to Awakening, only managed to sell 250,000 copies total. Awakening, in its first month alone, managed to sell 183,000 copies, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/122726-Fire-Emblem-Awakening-Breaks-Franchise-Sales-Records>breaking sales records for the 25-year-old franchise.

When you consider the depth of this success, it's almost no wonder that Nintendo and Intelligent Systems seem to doubling down on some of the gameplay options that arguably made Awakening more tenable to wider audiences. The next entry in the series, Fire Emblem If will remove franchise mainstays such as breakable weapons and will also add in an expanded selection of casual gameplay modes aimed at making it easier for gamers less interested in the franchise's traditionally brutal difficulty. We're also sure that the plan to split If into <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/140329-New-Fire-Emblem-Will-Have-Black-and-White-Versions>two games has absolutely nothing to do with further boosting sales.

Source: <a href=http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/05/an_impressive_179_million_players_have_crossed_swords_with_fire_emblem_awakening>Nintendo Life


Permalink

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Why does 1.8 million sales not sound like much? Call of Duty isn't being played by old school traditional Srpg fans. It's an entirely different market that buys that game. Comparing these sales is like comparing how many views a new Lord of the Rings movie gets to this or something. Just cause it's a "videogame" it doesn't mean the actual audiences are the same and that there were a much bigger "potential" audience out there that FE failed to tap which CoD didn't fail to tap. All those people were never gonna play this anyways, no matter WHAT it was like.


Ok, now with that cleared. Sounds good for nintendo. I hope they don't go too far the casual side though. I'm pretty sure people liked the relationships between the chars more than how "easy" it was in Awakening.

 

[Covarr]

Sales also need to be weighed against development costs. The industry's heaviest hitters cost a fortune to make; Fire Emblem games are relatively low-budget.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Aerosteam]

Well deserved, definitely.

Now, I really hope the next game keeps "If" as a subtitle outside of Japan.

 

[VanQ]

I'm still not sure what to make of them splitting the game into two like they have. I know that you can buy the other campaign as DLC regardless of which version you buy, but the completionist in me demands both physical covers.

Curse my loose wallet!

 

[Aerosteam]

Snip.

I totally have the same problem, they even had to have matching box art! :<

Spoiler

But if I had to choose one... I'd go for White Version because I want mah short red-haired waifu...

 

[Fox12]

I remember when Nintendo threatened to discontinue the entire franchise if Awakening didn't break ahundred thousand. It's amazing what a kick in the butt can do for motivation.

 

[Lightspeaker]

I'm still not sure what to make of them splitting the game into two like they have. I know that you can buy the other campaign as DLC regardless of which version you buy, but the completionist in me demands both physical covers.

Curse my loose wallet!

Oh ye gods, really? Its available as DLC, not just separate physical copies?

Gah, this makes my decision of which one to buy about a hundred times harder. X-(

 

[shintakie10]

Snip.

I totally have the same problem, they even had to have matching box art! :<

Spoiler

But if I had to choose one... I'd go for White Version because I want mah short red-haired waifu...

The hair in the night version is simply outstanding though. How can you not love that ridiculous hair? And random ass bows everywhere! And blue hair. Its a scientific fact that blue hair > red hair.

Also holy crap, I totally didn't realize they were gettin rid of weapon durability. That's like, my biggest annoyance with the game. That and not being able to see who can gain affection with who in a map, but the weapon thing was annoyin.

Can't wait for the US release.

 

[MazokuRanma]

Why does 1.8 million sales not sound like much? Call of Duty isn't being played by old school traditional Srpg fans. It's an entirely different market that buys that game. Comparing these sales is like comparing how many views a new Lord of the Rings movie gets to this or something. Just cause it's a "videogame" it doesn't mean the actual audiences are the same and that there were a much bigger "potential" audience out there that FE failed to tap which CoD didn't fail to tap. All those people were never gonna play this anyways, no matter WHAT it was like.


Ok, now with that cleared. Sounds good for nintendo. I hope they don't go too far the casual side though. I'm pretty sure people liked the relationships between the chars more than how "easy" it was in Awakening.

They can go as casual as they like, provided they don't remove the original difficulty level as an option. I'm not about to touch casual mode, I like the tension from knowing I have to make the right choices to keep my players alive, but they can add an 'I win' button for all I care if it means they keep making these games and leaving my current choice of gameplay available.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I hope Fire Emblem can keep growing a larger fan base going forward. It's nice to see an awesome franchise get a miraculous second chance just before it was about to die too. I'm still kicking myself for not getting the game the moment it was released, but I guess my over 170 hours played makes up for it.

By the way Nintendo, if you could release this outside of Japan sometime in 2015, that would be wonderful.

 

[Arpegus]

"Nintendo Reveals How Much Sales Butt Fire Emblem: Awakening Kicked"
Ok, I'm just posting to say that I spent 15 seconds pondering this title and wondering what game franchise "Butt Fire: Awakening" was. And now that I realize my mistake, I don't think i'll ever be able to think of this franchise without smirking again.

butttt fireeeaa emmmbbblemm,
via sine fine,
facile eunt socii...

 

[Souplex]

Why does 1.8 million sales not sound like much? Call of Duty isn't being played by old school traditional Srpg fans. It's an entirely different market that buys that game. Comparing these sales is like comparing how many views a new Lord of the Rings movie gets to this or something. Just cause it's a "videogame" it doesn't mean the actual audiences are the same and that there were a much bigger "potential" audience out there that FE failed to tap which CoD didn't fail to tap. All those people were never gonna play this anyways, no matter WHAT it was like.

Some googling reveals that XCOM (The other big name in the genre) sold 0.64 million. It was considered a huge success, and it seems like it cost a lot more than Awakening.
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/70978/xcom-enemy-unknown/

 

[ShenCS]

Can I just chime in to say that it's a very confusing time to be a long time Fire Emblem fan. Awakening was a stupendous game in its own right (so many hours...) but was also pretty lackluster for a Fire Emblem game. That being said, if they release and polish up Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn on the 3DS, they can do whatever they need to.

Can we all agree on the split version thing being total bull? I can't think of a single way that it's a good idea for anyone but the money makers. And the marketing strategy only makes it worse: "Your choices matter! Specifically the one you had to make without any sort of knowledge or context on the game proper which decides the entire game experience for you and locks you out of half the content we made unless you give us more money."
I kinda want the game (for it is only one) to under-perform just so they don't try this tripe again.

 

[09philj]

They haven't specifically stated that the worldwide release will be split into two versions. For all we know, it's just the Japanese market getting screwed over that way.

As for altering the gameplay, having more options is probably better. Awakening had Classic (permadeath) mode for series veterans and masochists, and Newcomer (None permadeath) for people who haven't played before or who can't handle avoidable character death very well (I freely admit being both). The best thing was that either mode could be played on any difficulty. Weapon durability being removed isn't necessarily a bad thing either; it's just that gameplay will need to be tweaked to fit around it. I am looking forward to the new game immensely and will be one of the few games I break my "never pre-order" rule for (The other being Bravely Second.).

 

[kenu12345]

Can I just chime in to say that it's a very confusing time to be a long time Fire Emblem fan. Awakening was a stupendous game in its own right (so many hours...) but was also pretty lackluster for a Fire Emblem game. That being said, if they release and polish up Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn on the 3DS, they can do whatever they need to.

Can we all agree on the split version thing being total bull? I can't think of a single way that it's a good idea for anyone but the money makers. And the marketing strategy only makes it worse: "Your choices matter! Specifically the one you had to make without any sort of knowledge or context on the game proper which decides the entire game experience for you and locks you out of half the content we made unless you give us more money."
I kinda want the game (for it is only one) to under-perform just so they don't try this tripe again.

Well each is a whole Fire Emblem in their own rights with their own campaign, so I say that it isn't that bad. Heck, they are even willing to give one half off once you but the other which is just plain awesome. I am hoping Black Kingdom goes back to classic Fire Emblem

 

[DrOswald]

I'm still not sure what to make of them splitting the game into two like they have. I know that you can buy the other campaign as DLC regardless of which version you buy, but the completionist in me demands both physical covers.

Curse my loose wallet!

Oh ye gods, really? Its available as DLC, not just separate physical copies?

Gah, this makes my decision of which one to buy about a hundred times harder. X-(

Also, the second one is 50% off if you get it as DLC.

 

[DrOswald]

Can I just chime in to say that it's a very confusing time to be a long time Fire Emblem fan. Awakening was a stupendous game in its own right (so many hours...) but was also pretty lackluster for a Fire Emblem game. That being said, if they release and polish up Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn on the 3DS, they can do whatever they need to.

Can we all agree on the split version thing being total bull? I can't think of a single way that it's a good idea for anyone but the money makers. And the marketing strategy only makes it worse: "Your choices matter! Specifically the one you had to make without any sort of knowledge or context on the game proper which decides the entire game experience for you and locks you out of half the content we made unless you give us more money."
I kinda want the game (for it is only one) to under-perform just so they don't try this tripe again.

I have played every fire emblem released in the United States to completion, and I thought Awakening was easily the best one.

Also, they are two separate games, not two versions of the same game. It is good for people who want two Fire Emblem games instead of one.