Chrono Cross sales in Japan

[X4220]

Probably pointless and too late to discuss about this now, but can someone offer some explanation why Chrono Cross didn't perform better in Japan?
Maybe I am totally wrong, but 850000 copies in Japan doesn't look really good to me considering:
a) legacy of Chrono Trigger
b) quality of Chrono Cross
c) reputation of late Square at that time
d) game was released in November.Aren't that best time to sell big games?
e) number of PS owners at that time in Japan.I don't have exact numbers, but surely much bigger than PS3 userbase now, and Tales of Xillia sold almost 750000 copies on PS3 in Japan...
So, what went wrong !?

[TheMage]

Probably because it was a re-release, right? For the PS3 and PSP Or do you mean when it first came out.

Re-releases with no changes usually don't sell as well. CTDS had new content so I believe that sold good but Chrono Cross is just ported. If people already have the game and theres no changes most people wont buy it and will play it on their older system.

[Mr Bekkler]

I think X does mean when it first came out. I don't know the numbers and don't have the answers, but perhaps it was released late on the console like mother 3, perhaps it was released the same year as a competing rpg also made by Square(stupid geniuses) or Enix(pre-merger) at the time, like an FF or DQ title, or even something completely different. Maybe it got bad early reviews in japan. Just possibilities.

[alfadorredux]

Hmmm. CC did come out relatively late in the lifespan of the PSX: six months before the release of the PS2, and after the release of the Sega Dreamcast (not the most popular console, but it could have funneled some money away from PSX games for a while, especially since it was the first of its generation).

Wikipedia gives the following timeline for Japanese Squaresoft releases in late 1999:

Front Mission 3       September 2, 1999
Threads of Fate       October 14, 1999
Chrono Trigger       November 2, 1999 (PSX port with anime cutscenes)
Chrono Cross         November 18, 1999
Parasite Eve II         December 16, 1999
Chocobo Collection      December 22, 1999

Enix brought out Valkyrie Profile and Torneko in roughtly the same timeframe.

There were several RPG or pseudo-RPG releases in Japan from other studios around that time, too: Legend of Dragoon, Koudelka, Growlanser I, Arc the Lad III, Dragon Valor, Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, and Shenmue. The most likely competitor is still Parasite Eve II, though.

[Lennis]

Wikipedia gives the following timeline for Japanese Squaresoft releases in late 1999:

Front Mission 3       September 2, 1999
Threads of Fate       October 14, 1999
Chrono Trigger       November 2, 1999 (PSX port with anime cutscenes)
Chrono Cross         November 18, 1999
Parasite Eve II         December 16, 1999
Chocobo Collection      December 22, 1999

Wow.  I had forgotten how many projects were in Squaresoft's tank back then.  Six RPGs in four months?!  No wonder Chrono Cross didn't do so well.  The market was over-saturated with RPGs, and at a time when people were no doubt saving their money for the upcoming PS2.


What's sad is that the disappointing numbers for Chrono Cross probably contributed to Square/Enix's decision to reject Chrono Break; numbers that had nothing to do with the quality of the game.  (You will note that all of the above franchises are either dead or on nostalgic life-support.  That is not a coincidence.  This insanely quick turnaround in an already saturated market killed all of these franchises, I would wager.  And thereafter, Square/Enix decided that only Final Fantasy titles would sell.  Idiotic.)   


Does anyone have the sales numbers for the other games on the list?  I'd like to confirm my theory.

[HeadlessFritz]

Nostalgic life-support... I like that.