Obviously not enough. Last number I heard two months ago was over ten thousand.

It's only selling a few hundred a month. We can blame pirates for the low sales.

100k? Exactly what kind of budget did the game have?

Sigh. Looks like we're not getting the 2nd one.

I've got a plan that could help RGC reach 100,000... RELEASE THE DAMN GAME IN THE UK!!

Xseed doesn't publish games in Europe as far as I can remember. And Rising Star Games have far more games already that they can handle.

Anyway, that seems like a really high number, I suppose it comes from paying the license of the game (since its based in a japanese show after all).

You could just play the JP version. It's not like you played the original for the story.

@8 bit

You aren't serious, right?
Not trying to sound like a douche. Really not, but they have to be able to justify the costs somehow. If the game doesn't sell, how can they pay for the cost of bringing it over here?

@Matouri

Had no idea it had text adventures in it. That is a problem.

@Okari

In addition to what the others said, the games do have a lot of in-jokes that are related to classic gaming. It really adds to the charm.

Well, at least these guys tell you how many more copies they need to sell to bring in the next game.

Unlike another company I'm thinking of..

@shihe
Or unlike companies that don't make the games even if you surpassed expectations. Like one in my head right now...

@ZS
The problem here isn't the game's budget, but licensing issues. It is based on a TV show, and comes from Bandai Namco. Must be really expesive for Xseed to bring, and almost a certain failure considering the sales of the first.
The game in general (worldwide) was probably successful, or else there wouldn't be a sequel.
Xseed isn't guilt tripping us. They are just being honest about profitability and Namco's exigencies.

It costs a lot more to localize a game then people think. Licensing, rating board fees, any additional programming to alter the game in order to fit the English text, the debug testing since if you alter the game text from one language to another you introduce errors that have to be found and fixed.

Also if there any dubbing that also commands fees. There is also marketing, production costs.

It's why games can cost anywhere from hundreds of thousands to fifty or sixty million dollars to make.

Also here is the thing at fourty bucks retail the dev usually makes ten dollars each sale while the publisher usually makes twenty.

When a game is at 20 it has to sell a lot more copies to make money then it does to sell the game at fourty.

Here's an idea: now, stay with me on this one, but maybe they should have, oh I don't know, advertised a bit more for this game? You know, let people know it actually exists? I haven't heard of the game at ALL outside of GoNintendo. Maybe if they made a few more people aware this game is even out there it would have sold a little better.

XSeed is cool and all but they'll get no sympathy from me. People need to learn to advertise for games if they want them to sell. Already established successful franchises like Mario, Sonic, and Halo can sell just fine by word of mouth, but new IPs like Retro Game Challenge need a little more help.

For an example, look at The Conduit. New IP, right? They advertised for it. Posters up in GameStop, pre-order bonuses, TV commercials airing all the damn time on Comedy Central. I don't expect The Conduit to reach Super Mario Galaxy or Halo 3 sales, but what they did can only help them. I mean, just look at how well it's selling on Amazon!

Sounds like an easy fan translation to me!