3rd , 6th and 12th June 2008 seem like the dates nestled in Enid Blyton’s “The Enchanted Wood”, where a new land would magically appear on the “Faraway Tree” and would shower goodies to all its curious yet loving bunch of inhabitants. Butter scones, tarts, jams and sweet breads are the sweet ingredients that fantasies are made of. But when war is looming around the horizon blood, vengeance, pride and honor are the fantasies that lies embedded in the hearts of valiant soldiers.
Two agents of destruction (Ryu and Snake) seeking for retribution, set out in their quest to meet their destiny and conquer their fears in the month of June, but it seems Snake’s saga is going to chip Ryu’s “gaiden” (Japanese for the continuing saga) into a million pieces even prior to its release.
This does not imply Metal Gear is a better game than Ninja Gaiden by any way. Both are AAA games in addition of having a huge history dating way back to the NES. They belong to different genres. No comparison is being made here in terms of visuals or gameplay. It’s the sales figures that I speak about. A week’s difference might not do too good for Microsoft especially since this is one of the must haves this year for the console.
It has been clear right form the start that Ninja Gaiden II was not going to be a system seller for Xbox 360, whilst Metal Gear Solid 4 was the biggest PlayStation 3 title that was on its lineup after Grand Theft Auto 4 and this game is guaranteed to be a system seller. Both games are poised to do extremely well, but it seems Metal Gear is going to have an upper hand in the sales figures upon release.
A poll on the site shows that, not only is Metal Gear Solid 4 going to outstrip Ninja Gaiden in terms of sales, but it is also going to do so by a huge margin, the last figures that have been as follows:
Total Respondents: 154 (as of May 7, 2008)
Game to pick up in June
Metal Gear Solid 4: 134 (Roughly 85.35%)
Ninja Gaiden II: 20 (Roughly 12.98%)
Most owners of both consoles are going to pick up both games for their systems, but owners with a Xbox 360 are going to get hold of a PlayStation 3 to complete Snake’s tale ultimately leading to a spike in PS3 sales figures in the month of June, whereas PS3 owners without an Xbox 360 are most probably going to defer their purchase of the console till November 2008 till Gears of War 2 hits the community.
The marketing ploy of releasing Ninja Gaiden II on June 3 in America has been made purely on the basis that an early release in America will compensate for the battle that is going to ensue on June 12, this is going to work to certain extent, but it is difficult for Microsoft not to slide down eventually, no matter how exceptionally well the game is received initially.
Sony did something similar with Heavenly Sword releasing it on September 12, two weeks before Halo 3 and although it was a new IP with excellent production values, it did not quite make the grade that it was expected to initially (in terms of sales). It took the game a considerable amount of time to hit a million copies. Had Sony delayed the game till October it would have fared much better in the absence of Grand Theft Auto 4 which was due to be released in 2007 at that point of time.
A July release of the game would have been much more feasible since it would have given Microsoft ample time to throw its weight around and PlayStation 3 owners would have also picked up an Xbox 360 post their tedious session with Metal Gear Solid 4 to give Ryu’s slick action packed saga a whirl through.
– By Neelesh Mukherjee