We've been keeping a close eye on Ubisoft's upcoming East-meets-West shooter Red Steel 2 - seriously, we have some of the world's best content on it, y'know - which is now due for launch in March of this year. Perhaps taking on board the recent discussion of mature games on Wii, the company has decided to lower its sales estimate from one million to 500,000 units sold.
Speaking on a financial conference call earlier this week, Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot had this to say about the game's figures:
On Red Steel we decided, in our expectations, to divide the quantity by two and previously we had around a million.
This seems a shrewd decision on Ubi's part - very few third-party titles make it to one million sales, let alone action games aimed squarely at the core market, so this seems a more realistic appraisal of Red Steel 2's sales potential. Of course, having the MotionPlus attachment bundled with every UK Wii sold since October must surely expand the game's potential audience, though we'll wait and see how it sells when it sees the light of day in March this year.
[source totalvideogames.com]
Comments 36
From what I've seen so far, it looks really awesome. But Ubisoft, just advertise the hell out of it and lets hope that the game is really really good.
It looks like it's suffering an identity crisis. The Japanese theme was the main thing that kept me interested in the first one. I'm not really into playing as an Asian cowboy with a gun and a sword in the wild west, or whatever.
They should have named it something else. A lot of people still have a bad taste in their mouth after the first RS. Not that it was terrible, it was just a huge slap in the face to all of those hugely excited gamers who had just purchased a Wii (like me) and had no idea how it would handle or what it would look like. All we had up to that point was dreams, and Red Steels Playstation 2 graphics and silly controls reminded us there was no Santa, and probably no God, either. On a seperate and random note, Golden Sun DS proved that there is a God after all, and God bless him.
@Gavin
Same here. Red Steel was fun, but not that great, and a lot of the charm and appeal came from the Japanese setting that really gave the game a mood and environment I liked a lot. This one looks better, gameplay-wise, but I'm not attracted to the new setting
Well, my pre-order still stands, so that's one sale out of 500,000!
@Sean: Make that 2.
I have high hopes for this game, but they neeeeeed to advertise more at this point the consoles life.
If it plays as good as it looks, I expect it to reach 1 million. Ubisoft knows how to advertise their products. Most of their games have been either a mill of half of that. (Rabbids series, No More Heroes etc.)
@JimLad: Agreed. I can recall seeing TV ads for the first Red Steel -- though that was a launch title, so Nintendo was putting money behind everything.
Ubisoft is run by grown-ups, I'm sure they can front the money for some in-store displays.
While I'm digging it, the graphical style is going to put off the Call of Duty fanboys.
I can't wait to see how this one turns out.
Im interested on this one. If reviews are fairly positive I will pick it up.
March release eh? Good, my birthday is in March
I'm sure this game will be better than the last, but I also wonder why they didn't name it something else if it has been redone completely with new graphics, new story, new GAMEPLAY?! And, to top it all off, they use the name of a game that disappointed the heck out of everyone.
I don't care if they didn't change the name. sure the first one was a dissapointment but this one looks great, and as for the graphical style and the setting I think it all looks fantastic!
I wish they'd make two different versions of it: Mature and Teen.
As other people have said: advertise the hell out of this thing. Red Steel 1 was a bust, so they don't really have the benefit of the people who bought the first one being likely to buy the second one.
Well, I'm buying the game, so count me into those numbers. I still think the game will definitely do 1 million worldwide and maybe go up to 1.5 million. Let's probe to other 3rd party publishers that a well developed game DOES sell on Wii...
Graphics look top-notch. I never played the first one but I'll definitely give this one a try. I heard the complaints about the first one and Ubisoft would be stupid to not listen so I'm willing to assume they have fixed many of the issues. Ubisoft in general usually releases good games so I have hopes.
I'm definately interested in the title, but I'l likely wait for a few reviews to come in before sealing the deal.
They are going to shoot for that amount of sales on purpose, because they surely aren't going to do anything to make the game sell, or so people know it exists.
I'd wager they're sticking to the name because it's established (the first game sold over 1M too) and much safer to slap on a 2 than go forth with a new IP.
Anyway, I passed on the first one but have my eyes firmly set on this one. Not much of a Western type, but I'm getting a good Sukiyaki Western Django vibe out of this. Plus, more FPS is okay in my book!
I'm not getting it, but hope it does well
I'm not really troubled by the name. I always see two types of franchises in terms of naming. Those that continue the same story and characters like we're all used to and those that cary similar themes but not necessarily characters and setting. The latter includes games like Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto (to an extent), and Final Fantasy.
Sure each entry is an entirely different entity, but the gameplay elements are so powerful from game to game that its not difficult to identify them as a single series. It looks like Red Steel is focusing on the sword/gun gameplay as opposed to the same aesthetic elements.
Also, its not as illogical to stick with the name as most of us seem to think. The first game did sell over a million copies, granted that's partially because it was a launch title, and despite the overwhelming disappointment across the internet, we need to remember that the internet community is often just a vocal minority. Every corner you turn you'll find a comment or a forum thread about how the Wii sucks, how Wii Sports is stupid, or how they can't believe people like Carnival games. But all of these keep selling, so there's a large contingent of people out there whose gaming opinions differ greatly with those you're likely to hear around the internet. And then there's thos of us that genuinely enjoyed the first game and are eager to pick up the sequel.
Same as Objection Blaster. Also, doesn't this come with a Motion Plus?
It got a cool theme, asian and wild wild west together, just like kill bill =)
I'm not that interested in Red Steel 2. I might consider a purchase if it's received well.
On those other things Assassin's Creed 1 wasn't the best then 2 came along and made everything right. I can see the arguments both ways with Red Steel, but hopefully this rocks!
I doubt it will sell good due to the 1st one
Unless its bundled with WMP and they advertise the hell out of it
@Masticore: I've seen listings for it with and without Motion Plus, so I think it's going to be pack-in optional. Since my pre-order was only £29.99 I suspect it's without, though I've only seen two entries at Amazon and my pre-order was through GAME who only have the one listing...guess it'll be a surprise!
Looking forward to this game, I just hope it won't disappoint me like the first one.
Edit: It definitely looks a lot better than the first one!
I'm sure they sliced their expectations in half when they realized a late-beta leaked to the internet 2 days ago and is ALREADY being pirated by thousands of fans.
Same goes for No More Heroes 2.
As long as they have good advertisment for it the game should sale while.
Im definitely getting it...
I did like the first one, and I never understood why so many people were so disappointed. I guess if you were expecting something amazing then it would have been pretty bad, but I went in not expecting much and I liked it. If this one is better than that's awesome, but Ubisoft has always been kind of hit-and-miss.
I'm actually looking forward to this one. I've always wanted to use a samurai sword in a shooter. I hope it fairs well.
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