Major Minor’s Majestic March Sold 600 Copies In First Two Days
New Wii rhythm game seems to have all the ingredients for a music game hit: The reuniting of PaRappa The Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and PaRappa artist Rodney Greenblat.
The duo also worked on the groundbreaking PlayStation title UmJammer Lammy.
Their latest offering, marching title Major Minor’s Majestic March, was released April 24. The game did not make the Media Create weekly top fifty for the 4/20 – 4/26 sales week. According to Japanese site Do Blog, the game didn’t get anywhere near the top fifty.
It apparently sold only 600 copies in its first two days on sale. Matsuura has had low sales before — PaRappa sold only 35,000 in its first month. Word of mouth caused that game to ultimately become a smash hit. Three hundred copies of the game were given out to V-Jump readers; however, those numbers should not factor into weekly sales.
We’ve compared the Do Blog sales tallies with the Media Create ones, and there is a discrepancy between the numbers: Some are lower, some are higher.
ゲームソフトランキング2009年04月20日～04月26日 [ドぶろぐ via チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@emwurst: Crack-crack-crack the egg into the toilet bowl?
Hey, they took all the good puns!
ManekiNeko
@Mit: I have a feeling that people don't want this because of the not-so-great reviews, and the character design is friggin' ugly. Please bring back parappa...I'm all up for more kickin' choppin'
U SELLIN' BAD
@UsernameOfTheDead: You gotta believe!
UsernameOfTheDead
I'm calling evergreen on this one.
UsernameOfTheDead
@ShaSt One: They had to believe this would be a failure
I bought this because I want to support the continued glory of Masaya Matsuura and Nanaonsha and Rodney Alan Greenblat; and I was a drum major in high school and I love marching bands.
The idea is fun. The art is great. The game hovers somewhere between total suckage and occasional fun. The control is actually quite terrible and the textures really look bad, like a playstation game. However, despite all that the game mechanic has some merit; sort of a speed-adjustable DDR.... but the control is really so bad that trying to control the tempo is pretty frustrating.
However, the big thing as always is the music. There's only one new song in the game by Matsuura, and the sad thing is that it is awesome. All the rest of the songs are lukewarm medleys of classic march music. It's a lot like Wii Music... a fun idea, but who the hell wants to play row row row your boat?
If the songs had been more memorable it would have carried the game. If anyone had playtested the control at all, that would have saved the game. But I don't think I'll be playing it again too soon.
MATSUURA-SAN WE NEED MORE FROM YOU
I think marketing may have to do with this. I had no idea the Parappa guy worked on this. I also thought it was a WiiWare game. I also thought it was aimed at children. I listen to about 20 gaming podcasts, read about 4 gaming blogs and generally hear a lot about video games, but this has only been mentioned in passing and I've not seen any ads for it ever.
@yoshirox85: I saw the Quick Look on Giant Bomb and it looks like an ok KIDS game. Besides that. It looked incredibly frustrating and terrible.
The videos of this made it look absolutely awful.
Moonshadow101
@thewafflecult: Argh, Um Jammer Lammy seems impossibly hard to me. Too bad cause I really wanted to like it.
I have both PaRappa and Lammy, so I was looking forward to this game many months ago. After reading a bunch of very negative reviews online though, I just forgot all about it. Perhaps the game should have been a WiiWare title instead of a full priced retail game. Maybe that would have made a small difference in expectations?
thinkfreemind
@ashdown: I hope not, I love Parappa. Although, it would appear pretty dated these days considering the resurgence of music games.
thewafflecult
And I was one of them. Though frankly it deserves to sell less.
Nobuyuki
@Go Go Gadget: Thugmunk: Basically what I'm saying is, this game is gone- it's a flop. They're going to make Parappa 3 regardless, if they think there's a market for it. I don't think the fate of MMMM can determine this outcome one way or another.
@Go Go Gadget: Thugmunk: No, it's GGGGarbage.
I want a new Parappa...
MDX
@thewafflecult: Oh wait, I misread that. Right game.
I love you even more.
thewafflecult
@TriplEEE13: Wrong game, but that's ok I still love you.
thewafflecult
I just noticed in the screenshot that the subtitle reads: GGGG.
GEE GEE GEE GEE BABY BABY would be an awesome song in the next music game.
thewafflecult
@ashdown: That sounds like code for "Oh shit, this game is trash.. let me throw out a bullshit statement like 'I'll work on Parappa 3 if you fans buy my new game!' to con them into buying a game that won't hold their interest longer than an old man gumming down some rocks would."
Yeah, probably word for word.
@thewafflecult:
Kick, Punch, you all remember! Chop Chop back again, yes forever!
TriplEEE13
@emwurst: The fat lady flowed and rapped :(
@emwurst: No it's just garbage. No witty pun involved. No one wants to play it and just look at his FACE.
......
...
Nope, no pun.
@ShaSt One: Looks like this game is beat.
emwurst
wow... even crap like barbie's adventures would've sold more.
@ashdown: I hope that isn't the case. To be honest, I loved the Parappa and Ujammer Lammy games, but even though I love the Wii, the game doesn't seem that appealing to me.
Shin-san
:/
It definitely did not kkkkkkick or ppppunch anywhere.
PsycheE
@p3hrmne:
..wat? Were you expecting it to sell like 50 copies the first two weeks or something? o_o Sure, it's a relatively niche game, but 600 copies is still pretty damn disappointing.
Dammit. Didn't he say he'd work on PaRappa 3 if this sold?
ashdown
Ouch..
That's a kick in the balls.
Sebnotic
that's better than i thought it'd do
I still have my copy of Um Jammer Lammy. Feels good, man.
thewafflecult
LOL
Oh my god. D:
It just doesn't seem very fun at all....and I have nothing but love for the Wii...
I guess that's a Parappa on that franchise
OW
Really makes me wonder how well the American sales did. I thought Japan would have slightly more interest in this title than us.
@Mit: The fact is gameplay wise is has nothing on Parappa or UmJammer Lammy. I mean, even the controls suck from what i've heard.
They can't blame this on us gamers, this is a shoddy game.
They should of just made an Um Jammer Lammy Sequel. "Leave it to Lammy"
Flyhawk
Don't know specifically why it's selling badly but I do know for a fact that the game is pretty damn short and awful.
Ganepark32
@ulotrichous: One new song? One!? Someone dropped the ball here.
Major Minor, but no General Specific or Private Public? Atleast throw in the Ranting Swede.
Maybe if they'd given it a better title.....
Stormgazer
I really wanted to like this game, but its terrible character design (really, what was Greenblatt thinking!) and bad reviews have kept me far away from it.
@myketuna: Watched the same QL. It looked terrible!
@ShaSt One: Must be because it's so early in the morning, but I laughed so hard your comment that I woke up my wife.
Buttah: The Delicious One
That's pretty harsh, but at least it makes MadWorld's sales look awesome by comparison.
天
I wasn't even aware that this was out - haven't heard anything about it since its announcement. :S
promotion probably would have helped it a fair bit, even if it (apparently it seems) is a bad game
@PatrickF**kingStar: lmao nice
@thewafflecult: YAY SNSD! I wonder if the Japanese version also has the dorky english voiceovers.
pressstart
i think its just the classic music? i will buy this just because i like Parappa and stuff
pandafresh
That's sad.
@Mit: This is the first time I've even heard of this game. So some advertising would be nice. Any advertising would be nice.
Apparently somebody needed a lot of coasters. I had high hopes for this game, but unfortunately it really stunk.
Of course the exact same game with High School Musical in the title would have done fine anyway.
I didn't even know it came out. Looked at some videos of it....doesn't come close to the charm of Parappa and Um Jammer Lammy. As much as I'd like to support a game from Matsuura, it just does not look fun.
sweetie55
@Combichristoffersen: 50? Oh no, no, no. I was thinking more like none. In two months.
A baton rhythm game? Are you kidding me?
I'm glad this isn't selling.
I love Wii, I love Parappa, I love UmJammer, but this just looked .... really really not fun for me.
hopefully this goes to show that not every fun-time romp of a cutsie game will automatically sell on Wii, that Wii-owners actually make purchase decisions. not all of us, but most.
Crash__Man
This should let them know that we want ANOTHER FREAKIN' PARAPPA! also, don't put it on the Wii... the Wii sucks.
This was on my "day one list" from the moment I heard about it . . . until I heard that you can essentially finish the (broken) final product within about an hour. Considering the price of new games in Japan, I just couldn't bite. I'll pick it up once it hits the bargain bin, just to throw some support to this dream team in hopes of something more . . .
pigz0011