RnR3 First Week Sales

It’s that time again to judge a game while it’s in its prime and determine its success without looking into the long term. According to the Famitsu sales charts, via VGChartz, Ryuusei no Rockman (Mega Man Star Force) 3 sold 65,000 copies its first week of sales, putting it at #3 in nationwide Japanese game sales. Not too shabby! It even beat other new releases like Resistance 2 and FIFA 09.
But how does it compare to its predecessors? Well, the second RnR ended its first week in Japan at 80,000 copies. The original? 93,000 copies. A sad trend is appearing here. Of course, any discussion about video game sales today can’t go without mention the current financial situation and Japan’s economic recession. So, at least right now, it can’t be said if Ryuusei’s declining sales are due to peoples’ perception of the series or just people tightening their pocketbooks.

I will come out and say that, after playing the second title, I found it very weak. The gameplay was there, and new features made it fun, but the story was such a generic, cookie-cutter tale that I had a hard time pushing myself through it. On the other hand, I just completed RnR3 this weekend, and I was pretty astounded. For what the series is worth, it was a pretty amazing story, and the mere volume of the game is immense. I was expecting Capcom to heat things up, but I didn’t think they’d turn the series around for me. Given that, I’m hoping to see RnR3 do well in the long run.

LanceHeart