Sony
Mann, 42, whos played the series for a decade, was one of about 170 fans lined up at 6 a.m. in downtown Tokyo yesterday to pay 9,240 yen ($103) and be first to battle monsters from the lowerworld of Pulse. The game, projected to challenge Nintendo Co.s “New Super Mario Bros. Wii” as Japans best-selling title this year, is only available for Sony Corp.s PlayStation 3 console in the country.
“Make no mistake, this should help lift sales of the PlayStation,” said Yusuke Tsunoda, an analyst at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. “The Wii has peaked out, but PlayStation is still on the upswing.”
Sony may prolong the rise in PlayStation 3 sales and chip away at Nintendos lead in the console market should the titles popularity in the U.S. and Europe mirror Japans when the game goes on sale in the worlds two biggest markets in March. Yoichi Wada, president of franchise creator Square Enix Holdings Co. forecast it will sell at least 2 million “Final Fantasy XIII” copies in Japan.
Sony and Microsoft Corp., maker of the Xbox 360, initially lose money on hardware sales, betting a broad user base will lead to higher earnings from proprietary software and licensing fees from third-party developers. Final Fantasy will also be available for the Xbox 360 outside Japan.
PlayStation Trails Wii
At the end of September, Kyoto-based Nintendo had sold more than 56 million Wii machines since the console was introduced three years ago, more than double the PS3s sales since 2006, according to the companies latest earnings statements.
In “Final Fantasy XIII,” gamers control characters from the land of Cocoon in high-definition images. Square Enix recruited Grammy-nominated artist Leona Lewis to sing the theme song.
“The look, the action, the characters — this game is just mind-blowing,” said Mann, whos on his fourth trip to Japan to buy a Final Fantasy game and plans to buy a German copy once its available. The title is scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. and Europe from March 9.
Square Enix shipped 1.8 million units of “Final Fantasy XIII” to Japanese retailers, Wada said yesterday. Worldwide sales of title may reach 5.6 million, Barclays Plc said in a report on Dec. 16.
4 Million Sales
The new game will probably help Tokyo-based Sony increase PS3 sales in Japan by 500,000 units, Hirokazu Hamamura, president of research firm Enterbrain Inc., said in September. Enterbrain yesterday said PS3 sales in Japan exceeded 4 million since the consoles release in November 2006.
Sony Chief Executive Office Howard Stringer in July said the then $400 price mark was unprofitable. The electronics maker, which in August cut the PS3s price 25 percent to $299, is still losing money on each console according to industry researcher ISuppli Corp.
Double Punch
“At this point Sonys got a double punch going for it, in the positive sense,” said Jay Defibaugh, a games analyst at MF Global FXA Securities Ltd. in Tokyo. “Youve got a price cut thats brought out the perception of value combined with a very big title.”
Sony has risen 35 percent this year to close at 2,590 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange yesterday. That compares with a 37 percent drop for Nintendo and a 34 percent slide for Square Enix. Japans benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average has climbed 15 percent.
“Final Fantasy” may face tougher competition abroad, said Tokais Tsunoda. Outside Japan, the game will face competition from Activision Blizzard Inc.s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ and Ubisoft Entertainment AGs “Assassins Creed 2.”
Key Market
“Japan is kind of a special case this time because Final Fantasy doesnt have any rivals,” Tsunoda said.