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Quatermann, popular purveyor of gossip and speculation, has revealed in the February 2003 edition of EGM that Treasure's Ikaruga will not be released in the United States, citing lackluster sales of third-party GameCube titles and general unpopularity of shooters as the causes that led to Infogrames' decision to dump Ikaruga.
But I guess it doesn't really count as a cancellation if was never officially announced...
Source: Electronic Gaming Monthly
Er... No, it was never officially confirmed as coming to the US, but since when does Quartermann count as a source that can confirm anything? He's just a rumor-monger -- some things he says happen, some things do not. Can we get a solid confirmation before running with this?
Did'nt Working Designs say, that if nobody brought over Ikaruga, they would consider it?
Oh, so then you could look forward to playing it on your Gamecube 2.Quote:
Originally posted by gamevet
Did'nt Working Designs say, that if nobody brought over Ikaruga, they would consider it?
Well, if it does end up being true, I won't be too shocked. Definitely disappointed, but not the least bit shocked.
I won't beleive it until something more official is stated but it would suck to do that without giving it a chance. Ah well there's always the DC import route then.
The EB computers have it listed for a May release.
Well I can't say I'm not surprised by this bit of information. This game wasn't going to sell a whole lot of copies given the fact that shooters are a niche genre. It also doesn't help any that Joe Gamer thinks Doom and Goldeneye are shooters.
Until we get an official cancelation I'm still going to keep on hoping that some other company brings Ikaruga stateside.
In my years of video game retail I have seen many games come and go from the computers without ever getting released.Quote:
Originally posted by Mzo
The EB computers have it listed for a May release.
Trust me... the computers at EB don't know dick.
Count me in on the "I'm not surprised" group. ;P
Shooters do horribly in the U.S.
not to mention that 3rd party games don't sell too well on GC - then again, that's because they're usually all the PS2 ports from Acclaim, Midway, or something of the sort.
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Originally posted by haohmaru
Count me in on the "I'm not surprised" group. ;P
Shooters do horribly in the U.S.
No, bad shooters sell horribly. StarFox sold pretty well on both SNES and N64. It takes a game like Ikaruga, to make the US audience appreciate that market more, than they have in the last 6 or 7 years.
The shooters that we've gotten in the US, were'nt exactly the top of the heap. Sure the Dreamcast recieved quite a few, but they really did'nt do anything revolutionary for the genra. .Did I really wan't Gradius III and IV on the PS2? Is Silpheed TLP really a good representative on next gen shooters? No they are not!
Before we all assume that Quarterman is right shouldn't we look for real confirmation? After all isn't Quarterman the same guy that said Nintendo had behind the scenes paid off Capcom for full Street Fighter 2 exclusivity, and that was the reason the original SF2: Champion's Edition for Genesis was canned? That broke my heart, devastated me. Then I saw that Quarterman is full of shit when Street Fighter 2 Special Champions Edition not only came out but was the superior 16 bit SF2 game. Since then I've learned to take everything he says with a handfull of salt. BTW this guy also reported in 1995 that Shigeru Miyamoto was leaving Nintendo to take over Sony's internal games development. Obviously a right on the money call, seeing how much fun I'm having playing Mario Sunshine on my PS2 and all.....
Thats why they are called rumors genius...
GameStop's computers had Suikoden III for the XBOX listed as coming out for March ;)Quote:
Originally posted by Mzo
The EB computers have it listed for a May release.
In Sqoon's defense...rumors are better than no news whatsoever, and he did credit the source, so it's not like he's making up news. At the very least,...discussion can be generated from this, less negativity though.
Whoa, are you saying Star Fox and Ikaruga should be categorized similarly? I'd say Mars Matrix & Giga Wing are more similar to Ikaruga than Star Fox is, and neither of those did dick in the U.S.Quote:
Originally posted by gamevet
No, bad shooters sell horribly. StarFox sold pretty well on both SNES and N64. It takes a game like Ikaruga, to make the US audience appreciate that market more, than they have in the last 6 or 7 years.
The shooters that we've gotten in the US, were'nt exactly the top of the heap. Sure the Dreamcast recieved quite a few, but they really did'nt do anything revolutionary for the genra. .Did I really wan't Gradius III and IV on the PS2? Is Silpheed TLP really a good representative on next gen shooters? No they are not!
I think that Ikaruga would tank and a "big" company like Infogrames has nothing to gain from releasing it. It's more of an Agetec-like title to release, where they don't expect big numbers and don't spend big money to convert it.
The Quartermann section in EGM usually generates discussion, regardless of whether stories in there are true or not. I WAS going to hold out for the U.S GC version, but I figured I'd rather have a "bird in the hand", so I scored the DC version.:lol:
So... anyone talked to Atlus lately? They enjoy bringing us quality (and not-so-quality), quirky titles that other companies won't. Including ones from developers like Sony who refuse to publish their own games in the US. :rolleyes:
Quote:
Originally posted by haohmaru
Whoa, are you saying Star Fox and Ikaruga should be categorized similarly? I'd say Mars Matrix & Giga Wing are more similar to Ikaruga than Star Fox is, and neither of those did dick in the U.S.
I think that Ikaruga would tank and a "big" company like Infogrames has nothing to gain from releasing it. It's more of an Agetec-like title to release, where they don't expect big numbers and don't spend big money to convert it.
Star Fox is a shooter and so is Panzer Dragoon Orta. The shooter genra has faultered, because of the flood of top down shooters available back in the 16-bit era. People see this style of shooter and say, did'nt I play this kind of game back in the late 80's early 90's?
If the shooter market is to gain any repectability, it's going to take graphically revolutionary games to sway more gamers into this style of gaming. Hardcore shooter fans can appreciate games like Mars Matrix, Giga Wing and Ikaruga, but the part of the market that is needed to make it grow, needs to see something they've not seen before, for this market to earn respect.
Sure Infogames would be taking a big risk in releasing Ikaruga over here, but the game is already developed, so the only cost out of their pocket is porting and licensing the game. If they could sell 50,000 copies of the game, I'm sure they could make a decent profit from the game, but a decent profit is'nt what most game publishers are looking for.
It all boils down to money guys, it always does. Yes, this includes Nintendo, Sony, Sega, Squaresoft, Microsoft and Infogrames. Just business.
The japanese site still boasts that it will allow players to compete with those who have the European and American versions. I don't know if I buy this. It doesn't seem far-fetched, but I'm not conviced.
It's coming out, and that's from a source much closer to Infogrames than Quartermann.
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Sure Infogames would be taking a big risk in releasing Ikaruga over here, but the game is already developed, so the only cost out of their pocket is porting and licensing the game. If they could sell 50,000 copies of the game, I'm sure they could make a decent profit from the game, but a decent profit is'nt what most game publishers are looking for.
strikers sold around 100,000 on the playstation last time I checked. How many units does something need to sell for it to have been successful?
Depends who you are. If you're Treasure and you made a game with 3 people, then 20,000. If you're Sega, you need to sell roughly 6 billion copies to break even.Quote:
Originally posted by rezo
strikers sold around 100,000 on the playstation last time I checked. How many units does something need to sell for it to have been successful?
Like Frogacuda said, it depends on the game. A game like Shenmue needed to sell a couple of million units to be profitable because of the amount of development costs. Since Treasure has a relatively small staff, they don't need to sell many units to be profitable....although if you're read any interviews with Maegawa-san(sp), it would be nice.:D Not that it matters, but exactly how many copies did Ikaruga sell in Japan?
Quote:
Originally posted by Frogacuda
Depends who you are. If you're Treasure and you made a game with 3 people, then 20,000. If you're Sega, you need to sell roughly 6 billion copies to break even.
That's the thing. Infogames would have to port it to the Gamecube and alter the code to fit the Gamecube hardware. How long will that take them and how many people are they paying to do it? I'd think that with all the time they have spent already, that releasing it would be the better option.
Last month's(or maybe the month before) EGM shows Ikaruga as being available in January. This month's issue does'nt show it at all. Could this game be getting the treatment that Half-Life recieved on the Dreamcast? I hope not!
It isn't like importing is going to kill you guys...
A US release would be awesome, but I'm not gonna cry if it doesn't come out.
What was posted in Gaming Discussion earlier today:Quote:
What Lhadatt said when this rumor was orignally posted
Er... No, it was never officially confirmed as coming to the US, but since when does Quartermann count as a source that can confirm anything? He's just a rumor-monger -- some things he says happen, some things do not. Can we get a solid confirmation before running with this?
http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categorie...p?pf_id=232718
So there! :p
its allready being ported to the GC for a Japanese release so theres no need to port it to the GC AGAIN for a US releaseQuote:
Originally posted by gamevet
That's the thing. Infogames would have to port it to the Gamecube and alter the code to fit the Gamecube hardware. How long will that take them and how many people are they paying to do it? I'd think that with all the time they have spent already, that releasing it would be the better option.
From http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm :
Pretty sure those are from Famitsu, though they didn't say.Quote:
GameCube
Bomberman Jetters (Hudson) - 8, 8, 6, 7 (29 / 40)
Eternal Arcadia Legend (Sega) - 8, 8, 8, 8 (32 / 40)
Ikaruga (Treasure) - 10, 10, 8, 8 (36 / 40)
EB has never misreported anything. Ever.Quote:
SON OF A BITCH
that is all
I do not believe this was on the EB link when I posted it originally.
The price of Gamecube Ikaruga is:
$39.99
So. *clears throat*
HA!
And double HA!