^ Yeah, but that's the issue you're missing. The context of other data doesn't meet the original reason of even having a sales listing "officially" by Capcom if you're just going to put projected numbers in place of actual sales.

But it's not even this that bugs me as much really, because I know a line has to be drawn somewhere. It's more that they would do this straight away, automatically update the "platinum" list and put out a press release immediately touting sales that haven't even had the trickle down time to happen.

If this was done near the end of this current FY I'd understand a little more. Clearly the data Capcom produces was a "sales target" that is only there to please shareholders and thats just a pile of crap. I mean if it sold beyond expectations and they were shipping new copies fine, not an issue. But it's not. And so Capcom mislabels this data. And when this happens how I can I really trust any numbers they have? It becomes as much of a guideline as any other guess.

The "2 million units" was project "sales" for a FY for a game that released in March which gave it less than two weeks to meet. By Capcom's own admission they technically even failed to meet that by somewhere around 300,000 units (which obviously were part of the numbers shipped in Japanese release after the previous FY end).

The second part is that the sales indicated by US, UK, and Japan all show steep drop offs. If we take the curve into account the actual sales for the game (console only - excluding PC) is probably only at around 1.5 million units at the time of writing - including Japan. At the point at where Capcom shipped, according to them, 1.7 million by FY end, the maximum that may have been actually sold in the US and UK was probably at most 700-800,000 units. Also not the 2million projected as "sales" by Capcom for the year. So this too is a misleading title to say it actually had sold even 1.7 million let alone 2.

I don't also and never doubted in the end all the copies shipped will be sold somehow in the long run, but the time to do this will be diluted by extra PC copies out and then the release of RE6 will probably dent anylong time MP gaming which will give this a shorter shelf life. So likely end up being liquidated by stockists (like most overstocked games) because as far as I figure there is still around 500,000 console units out there worldwide.

You just have to understand that the whole "fool me once, fool me twice" thing applies to Capcom's data to me. It will always be "number of units shipped" not sold, no matter what the total is and Capcom's label for it.

I think it's fair for Capcom to put every game on their platinum list, whether the context is good or bad. Every game is different, so the list can't account for every possible type of performance. That's why Capcom has to contextualize alongside the NPD and so forth. I think it serves its purpose as long as you look into it and have a good understanding of the situation...

Japan's sell-through rate for ORC was 85% in the first week, btw. So the shipment already rose there. Still, I think you're placing a little bit too much faith in the lack of presence ORC has in the current US/UK charts. A lot of sales happen behind the scenes, so it's a little too early to say whether ORC was a disappointment or not. If anything, it's shocking everyone and reminding us how strong RE is as an IP.

The 2.0 million expectation for FY 2011 says it includes Japan, but in actuality it doesn't. The game came out in Asia outside of Japan in March, which is why Japan was listed in the expectation in spite of it dropping in the following fiscal year. Very easy to misinterpret and Capcom should be clearer, but that's the explanation. They acknowledged missing the 2.0 million target for FY 2011 in the earnings announcement meeting verbally.

Those behind the scenes sales can at least be guessed upon with a look at the bottom placed item on the charts, which currently is quite small. When you add in the recent US data for April has shown what I believe I saw listed by commenters as a record low in sales for some years, I somehow don't believe ORC has kept a heavy sales momentum there at all.

The drop off in the UK was very steep, and Japan's hasn't been that kind either. First week was great but the second week drop off was almost 80%. The game hasn't proven to have any sort of legs behind it regardless of not knowing full numbers currently just by looking at those alone, I really just doubt that it's kept any sort of momentum anywhere. I'm not doubting the game has sold beyond perhaps many peoples expectations, including my own, but it's hardly going to officially reach anywhere near 2 million anytime soon.

Cheers for the explination on the Japanese numbers, it makes more sense and obviously should be explained better by Capcom, but again we're still taking shipped product not actual sales and so my issue with it still stands.

I'm happy to see a projection of several million for RE6. Given the scope and size and sales of previous main titles it's a sure possibility of actual sales. But if I see Capcom putting out a PR material just touting that direct sales almost immediately I'm going to be far more doubtful - unless it is of course they say shipments haven't met demands and they're sending more out because it's a smashing success.

The RE series usually drops by 70-80% in its second week in Japan -- its the longer-than-usual sales pattern it follows that keeps it afloat.

Revelations dropped by 70%, while RE5 dropped by 80%. So it's not that unusual on that front either. I do think ORC will have a shorter span overall given its relatively low quality. Still, about 400,000 or so for a third person western shooter in Japan is pretty darn good. Bad elsewhere though, I agree.

The game's Japanese MSRP is also telling in terms of its development cost; Revelations was about ¥5980 while ORC was merely ¥1000 more.

Yeah I can agree 400,000 units in Japan for this type of game is great but I'd love to know - and you may have heard or seen this - the general critical response to the title by players, if after being sold on the Biohazard brand, if the game was generally unloved by most players like in the west. The few Japanese reviews I saw put it in the same 60-70% average that Western reviewers did, but I'd love to know what the players take on it is there.

I just remembered something I forgot to say about the RE6 sales. Earlier you said...

And I agree they have to put context. But the problem is Capcom hasn't contextalized any of those pieces of data on the IR site, much as I said already earlier on this page. There are blind sheep on various sites right now calling the game a complete success because it "met sales targets" because Capcom said so, but you and I know that as of this point in time it didn't. And this annoys me too.

Given Capcom's history on this, the "record setting" target of 7 million units for RE6 was always going to be a record seller. That is because Capcom is going to ship 7 million units even if they don't actually all sell. It will be a false statement then.

Say if RE6 sells say only 4 or 5 million for some silly reason, but Capcom ships the whole 7... given the statements about ORC's "sales" they'll still now call RE6 the best selling title in the franchise when thats not actually true. You've got to see as much as I do how wrong that actually is.

Okay, I see what you mean now. Yeah, that would be quite misleading.

I don't understand. If anything it should show that people want co-op zombie killing.

My only beef is that operation raccoon city doesn't deserve those sales, it's a terrible game.