Can NamcoBandai best the sales slump?

[Jaruka]

As we all know, Dragonball Z games have been selling rather awfully for the last few years. To start this off I will post the sales information according to VGChartz.

Sales (in Millions):
Dragon Ball Z Budokai: 3.09 (2.17 from the US)
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2: 2.41 (1.63 from the US - EU and Japanese sales consistent)
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 3: 1.94 (Global market now lower than US sales alone on the first game. Europe decreases minimally)
Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi: 1.66 (Japan rises and US & EU lower again with Japan buying more)
Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 2: 1.4 (Everyone lower still and near equal share between PS2 & Wii - Possible due to new characters on the Wii)
Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3: 3.97 (Highest selling game. US sales still rather low but sales in Europe and Japan explode from Europe selling 0.02 units of Tenkaichi 2 to 0.87 units)

Dragonball Z Burst Limit: 1.26 (overall sells almost 2x on PS3)
Dragonball Z Raging Blast: 1.13 (Sells slightly less than Burst Limit with approximately 0.65m sales in the US- Sells better on PS3 again)
Dragonball Z Raging Blast 2: 1.02 (Only scrapes 1 million but sells better on the 360 than Raging Blast does)
Dragonball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi: 0.89 (We all know why this sold badly, don't we)

So, my question to you guys is how do they beat this?

It may seem impossible but Tenkaichi 3 moved from four years of poor sales and almost tripled. Since when we've had a few games of poor sales but not too far from those of Tenkaichi 2 (until Ultimate Tenkaichi, anyway).

I'd be really interested to hear what you guys have to say but will suggest that maybe their sales will increase this year due to the new movie being out in Japan (Japan alone has shown to be able to equal the global sales of Ultimate Tenkaichi) and perhaps the supposed extra development time could lead to a genuinely good game.

[Hellspawn28]

I'm surprise Budokai 3 sold less then the first two games despite it having the best reviews. I think the later games getting mixed reviews is the reason why they have sold poorly. The first Sparking game sold well because it was something new and different, it also had the Budokai name slap on to it. I think Namco Bandai needs to try something new and fresh.

[InfernalVegito]

If they want sales they need to stop removing characters over and over again just to add them later in a sequel.

[Super Sayian Prime]

VGChartz ...

[Jaruka]

I'm surprise Budokai 3 sold less then the first two games despite it having the best reviews. I think the later games getting mixed reviews is the reason why they have sold poorly. The first Sparking game sold well because it was something new and different, it also had the Budokai name slap on to it. I think Namco Bandai needs to try something new and fresh.

I would assume that websites like IGN are far more influential now than they were last generation come to think about it.

If they want sales they need to stop removing characters over and over again just to add them later in a sequel.

Even small-time characters? They seemed to notice that with RB2 and so instead added brand-new characters with Tarble, Hatchiyak and the Androids.

VGChartz ...

To be fair it's the best we have to go on.

[Saimaroimaru]

I just hope that this gen is just a black sheep era and that we will get comparably better games than what the 360 and Ps3 were served with so far.

[sintzu]

my question to you guys is how do they beat this?

take what worked in tenkaichi and raging blast and put them in one game with the new addition of boss fightes

[dbboxkaifan]

Missing there DBZ Budokai HD and DBZ For Kinect, but Namco Bandai or anyone never released the sales figures of either, I'd guess. Guess they didn't sell too well.

As bad as Dragon Ball: Ultimate Blast can be, it has a nice collection of media content so that at least is good-- great. Thinking about getting the Original Japanese edition Dragon Ball Ultimate Blast but there's other games I'm more interested getting.

Moving on, I don't believe NB can pump up the sales but it's worth a shot with the new game that they're keeping secret until their FaceBook page hits 100k. Hopefully they won't disappoint.

[Saiyan Prince Vegeta]

They could, if a good game is made. Before I buy a game now I like to check the reviews before picking it up, and I'm sure there are other people like me. If they actually made a good story following DB through Z (maybe GT too, but it might lower the quality because of Dev time) I could see people who aren't fans of the series picking it up as long as the reviews are good too. I would actually complain and say DB games are only made for people who know the story in and out, but I won't because I'm sure that's true.

[DBZ Mick]

I never follow reviews. I usually research the game and make up my own mind. Hellspawn is right in that they need to do something new and fresh. I think people are sick of the same things. That or do some big compilation thign with over 200 characters that'll appeal to the masses but not those crave quality gameplay.

[dbboxkaifan]

Hellspawn is right in that they need to do something new and fresh..

Dragon Ball: Ultimate Blast and Dragon Ball Z: For Kinect were both in the right track, each in their own ways.

DBZFK allows the player to actually make the moves (& more) to battle out the opponent whereas DBUB's a random winning chance and that's freaking stupid. No idea why Spike thought it would be a good idea to implement such randomness.

If Spike takes the good out of all their games that they've produced throughout the years, they could very well achieve to produce a great quality DBZ fighting game.

[seansmith9322]

I think they need to market the games a lot better in the US. I don't think I have ever seen A draganball game commercial in my entire life haha. Of course I read gameinformer and IGN so I'm aware of when and if they do, but still for the people who don't it would be helpful.

[Hellspawn28]

The first RB game is the last Dragon Ball game that I saw ads for on TV. Even with better marketing, I still see RB2 doing poorly because the game got mixed reviews from critics and fans. Sagas had a good amount of ads on the Internet and on TV, the game bombed because everyone was bashing the game apart.

[DBZ Mick]

Never seen any adds for Dragonball games here in Australia. I do remember some for collectible caps/tazo/pog things in chips though.

[mysticboy]

So, my question to you guys is how do they beat this?

Taking a break, then hyping the shit out of their next game.

[Jaruka]

So, my question to you guys is how do they beat this?

Taking a break, then hyping the shit out of their next game.

Which is what many assume they're doing this year.

I've never seen any adverts on television either but previously I've only had the normal state television package in the UK and those tend to have very little adverts (if any).

[Saiga]

For what it's worth, I remember reading something about Namco Bandai's rep saying Ultimate Tenkaichi sold a lot better than VG Chartz reported.