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Bayonetta 2 sales are suffering in Japan

Bayonetta 2 is off to a slow start in Japan as the Wii U exclusive has only managed to sell 38,828 copies since its launch on the 20th of September. This number is a far cry from the 135,242 copies sold when the original Bayonetta launched for the PS3, the first game also managed to sell 64,325 copies on the Xbox 360 back in 2009.

This marks an 81 per cent decrease in first week sales when compared to the original. However, with the sequel being exclusive to the Wii U, a console which isn't doing so well itself, this may have been bound to happen since the game has yet to release in North America and Europe.

bayonetta-2-logo

Bayonetta 2 is an action hack and slash game, developed by Platinum Games. Despite then the original title's previous success and the sequel's critical success in Japan, it doesn't seem to be off to a good start.

The game will launch on the Wii U in North America and Europe on the 24th of October, over a month after the official Japanese release. Australia will get it the day after on the 25th.

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KitGuru Says: Maybe Japanese Wii U owners just don't want a hack and slash title, the game may do far better once released in other territories. Its worth noting that not all Wii U exclusive titles are prone to poor sales, Mario Kart 8 and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD both did very well at launch. Do any of you guys own a Wii U? I've been thinking about getting one myself with Smash Brothers coming up.

Source: 4Gamer

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15 comments

  1. You can get them fairly cheap and they are the only way to play the best exclusive games of this console generation so far. So long as it’s as well as a PC, PS4 or Xbox1 then it is well worth having.

  2. “Best exclusive games of this console generation”
    You mean remakes of decade old franchises? Yeah, clearly the “best” exclusives….

  3. Ha, try playing them rather than talking rubbish, everything is pretty much a rehash these days, at least Nintendo are honest about it. Quick look at Metacritic for exclusive retail games scoring over 80% on:

    WiiU: Super Mario 3d World 93%, Zelda 90%, Mario Kart 88%, Pikmin 87%, NSMB 84%, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate 82%, Donkey Kong 83%, Lego Undercover 80%.

    Xbox1 you have Titanfall 86%, Forza Horizon 85%,

    PS4 TLOU 95%, Infamous 80%.

    Clearly you miss most of the other major titles which is why it is a 2nd console for me, but still the best exclusives.

  4. I can’t believe how retarded so-called ‘journalists are with those sales… They all say its first “week” is a big flop with only 38k sold! Oh I didn’t realize a week only had 2 days! It sold 38k in 2 days folks; not 7. That would equal to more or less 133k in a week. Which isn’t bad at all.

    Seriously, I can’t believe every website are spewing the same bullshit. No wonder the Wii U is doing badly with retarded journalists bringing it down whenever they can.

  5. Despite the fact that day-1 sales cannot be extrapolated for a whole week (meaning it won’t be 133k by the end of current week), I agree the journalist here didn’t get his fact right.

    Media Creates sales figures goes from 2014/09/15 to 2014/09/21.
    Bayonetta having been released on september 21st, its indeed only 2 days

  6. Well I did say “more or less”. What astonishes me is that every single website I’ve seen reports that same bullshit. “Bayonetta 2 is a flop! only sold 38k in a week!”. Not only is it NOT in “a week”, but also they act as if having bad sales in Japan for home consoles games was terrible. Home consoles are a dying breed in Japan. It’s all about handhelds there.

  7. the fact that PS4 was released late with just a few japanese-type games doesn’t help for home console ^^

  8. I doubt releasing later than other countries change much for a console, but yeah the few japanes-type games issue is definitely a big issue.

    But in general, that market has been on the decline for years now in Japan. Meanwhile, 3DS and PSVita are going better there than anywhere else. Yes, even the Vita.

  9. You have to admit the previous gen (PS3) was not their (japan devs) forte. So much that people started talking about japan decline in making video games.
    Lots of devs kept making PS2-like games on weaker hardware, hence (3)DS & PSP/Vita glory.

    Not sure if the direction has now taken the japanese market with go back.

  10. I think this was, again, something exaggerated by the medias. Sure a lot of japanese devs didn’t transition well to the then-next-gen, but plenty of them did. Plenty of western devs made shitty games too, or made well-received games… that aren’t really games anymore, but that’s another story. Some of the best games from last gen were japanese.

    You’re right though, last-gen, western games were much more prominent than japanese ones, while handhelds have more japanese games on average I think.

  11. Just so you know, the first Bayonetta was release in Japan on a Thursday. the “1st week sales” were made on 4 days instead of 2 here.
    But let’s wait for the current week sales to judge

  12. Good point.

  13. So metacritic is now the bar for how good a game is? Lol. And that’s why publishers pay companies to give them good reviews.

  14. Metacritic is a combination of all the reviews it can find. By it’s very nature it can’t be bribed and is a ideal way to get a good and unbiased viewpoint. That said as I own most of the top games on the Wii U and PS4 I am basing it on my own opinion first and using that as supporting evidence. Deal with the fact that your Nintendo hate doesn’t change that they have the best exclusives so far, or at least give a decent reason why you feel another console has the upper hand.

  15. Second week (1st complete one) : 6970 more games sold in japan … let’s face it, the IP is dead over there