360's Eternal Sonata briefly tops Amazon Japan charts

by Christopher Grant on Jun 5th 2007 12:28PM

While not a chorus of evidence that the Xbox 360 is on the way to acceptance in the Japanese market, news that the Japanese-developed RPG Trusty Bell (that's Eternal Sonata for those of us outside Japan) made it to the top spot on Amazon would seem to indicate some success for Microsoft's white box.

This is reminiscent of two other highly anticipated Xbox 360 titles that managed to persuade unimpressed Japanese gamers to consider the Xbox 360: Blue Dragon and Gears of War. Though the title has since dropped from the number 1 to the number 3 place on Amazon's sales charts, we imagine the boys in Redmond are more saddened by the realization that -- at least according to the ESRB -- this erstwhile Xbox 360-exclusive is most likely going multiplatform.

[Via X3F]

Eternal Sonata

Source

Tags: Eternal-Sonata, JRPG, Microsoft, Namco-Bandai, RPG, Tri-Crescendo, Trusty-Bell, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (35)

/yawn

so the 80,000 or so 360 owners in japan decided to buy a copy on release day

/YAWN!!!

what will be more of interest is to see their amazon rank after week 1. i predict they drop outta the top 20 completely.

Oh god.... here comes the 360 flames and PS3 flames. I think Wii will quietly set this one out.

I heard they tried to make Eternal Sonata on the Wii, but it couldn't handle it. And also, the developers broke their TVs playtesting an early build and hurling their Wiimotes at them.

@2

Now it can't be avoided. Bwahahahaha!!!

---

In all seriousness, is anything else coming out around now in Japan worthwhile? If not, it's really not that impressive of a feat...

@Sheppy - YOU THOUGHT WRONG!!!

Wii wish we could get a RPG that looks beautiful.

Seriously, tho, this game looks prettier and prettier each time I see it.

this game will come to ps3 soon enough since most people in america that have a 360 don't play rpgs and there are only like 300k 360s sold in japan, this game would become a flop if it stayed 360 exclusive

The demo of this game had my jaw on the floor from beginning to end. It is so good in every way imaginable. I will be taking the day off when this comes out...

I don't give a fuck what the Japanese buy. As long as they keep making games that look this cool (and this is coming from someone who HATES J-RPGs,) the west will do our best to pick up that slack.

thanks for letting us know when it actually came out in Japan, I heard they were translating it as they were making it, whens the US release date?

Yes just what 360 needs.
a J-RPG.
When is this coming to america.

^September

Is the Amazon list really THAT indicative of what's going on sales-wise? I'd be more likely to judge when more than one source is used to make a top 10 list. But that's just me.

this game and blue dragon are the only reasons I want a 360.

glitched: see that part that says 2007/6/14? That's how they write 6/14/2007 in Japan. It's coming out June 14, 2007.

He asked for the US release date, Chris.

6/14 has been the release date for Trusty Bell since February, not Eternal Sonata.

Yeah, us USA owners hate RPGs. We totally didn't buy Oblivion. Even the mediocre Enchanted Arms sold okay here.

I wouldn't make sense to port this to a system with unhealthy sales at this point. You might see it go to the Wii, however. Or maybe a DS version.

it will make sense if the system starts selling, which is will at some point. 360 fanbois always scream about how bad the ps3 is doing but a year ago people where bitching about how bad the 360 was doing. every console has problems at the beginning until software starts kicking out for it, well every console except the wii i guess

This game is at the top of my list of must-haves ahead of titles for both current Nintendo systems.

The US version better be bloody region free, because Europe may never see this game. =/

Diecast, writing 'fanboi' does not make you cool. I'm sorry.

Apart from 720p/widescreen I think that even the PS2 can handle this game after playing the demo,so a wii version on widescreen 480p is not impossible, please, someone tell me that it can't and why...

#12. this game and blue dragon are the only reasons I want a 360.

Same Here

"Apart from 720p/widescreen I think that even the PS2 can handle this game after playing the demo,so a wii version on widescreen 480p is not impossible, please, someone tell me that it can't and why..."

Almost every game ever made *could* be made on a previous gen system if you reduced it's quality enough. So of course it *could* be done. In the meantime, go play Double Dragon on the Atari 2600 and that will tell you why I want to play Eternal Sonata on a 360/PS3

"Almost every game ever made *could* be made on a previous gen system if you reduced it's quality enough. So of course it *could* be done. In the meantime, go play Double Dragon on the Atari 2600 and that will tell you why I want to play Eternal Sonata on a 360/PS3"

I think that he meant that the game could be done on ps2/wii exactly the same, without 720p of course. After I played the demo I didn't saw anything next-gen, Rough Galaxy (PS2) looks better.

"I think that he meant that the game could be done on ps2/wii exactly the same, without 720p of course. After I played the demo I didn't saw anything next-gen, Rough Galaxy (PS2) looks better."

Listen, on your 19" 480i TV it might not look that impressive, but on a 60" 1080p, the only games that look as good or better (that I've personally seen) are Motorstorm and Gears of War. In addition, the newer gen systems will provide for far better sound, and the sound in Eternal Sonata is top notch (especially the music). Finally, there is more to it then just 480p vs 720p. Ever heard of more polygons? Better textures? More effects? Again, go play Double Dragon on the 2600.

"Again, go play Double Dragon on the 2600."

Did that even drop on 2600? I know the point you're trying to make but still.

And for the record, I agree with you. This COULD have been done on PS2, yes. But it would take drastic hits on polys and performance.

"Did that even drop on 2600?"

Yep. It's scary bad looking. But hey, IT'S DOUBLE DRAGON! Why buy a Master System to play the arcade version when you can just fire it up on your trusty 2600?

Incidently, game, set, match....

http://www.joystiq.com/gallery/eternal-sonata/186265/

Aside from the hair, the ONLY place where a polygon edge is visible is at the very base of the chin. I have NEVER seen such a rounded face in realtime. And yes, that includes gears.

It's just that lesser individuals see the anime style and try to think the simplified art design and textures equate to simplified models. Not so. The faces, eyes, so many details are rounded in their silluotes. This is what the extra power does. Less chunky poly surfaces.

@sheppy
Yeah - this game reminds me of watching Ghost in the Shell (if it was in HD).

@GJM

I have an HDTV, I played Eternal Sonata on it, it just have a high resolution, the game can be done on current-gen consoles without taking a performance hit,there isn't anything in the DEMO next-gen,and I know that anime/cel style is not less complex to do than realistic graphics, that's not what I'm saying it looks that it could be done in PS2/Xbox/GC/Wii, BTW Wind Waker looks better...yeah, Ghost in the Shell looks like Eternal Sonata...and Ghost in the Shell 2 looks like Blue Dragon? They are entirely different things.

I personally finished Wind Waker on my "old" 60" 720p. I played Eternal Sonata on my new 60" 1080p. To say Wind Waker looks better, in my opinion, is extremely laughable. To my eyes, Eternal Sonata not blows away WW, but blows away most games I have ever seen. To say nothing in the demo is next gen just screams "huh?" to me. The background graphics are unbelievable and the character models are amazing. The sound is also something that is of a much higher quality then what is possible last gen. In my opinion, the gameplay is the only thing doable on a last gen system.

@GJM

I didn't played it on a 19" 480i TV, I played it on my HDTV and that's why I said it looks prettier because of the added resolution (720p). Using your point, then casual gamers will not see any difference at all playing Sonata on 480i SDTV with ps2 Rough Galaxy playing at its side on the same TV.

Are you a graphics whore? Half-Life 2 looks worse on Xbox than PC but it will give you the same experience, specially if you don't play the PC version.

And I agree with duke, I don't think that porting it to the wii or ps2 for that matter will make an impact in its performance.

But it WILL make a difference even on a 480i 19" TV. Just not as much. My buddy was blown away by Gears on his SDTV. You do know that there is more to next gen games than resolution, right? No, I am definitely not a graphics whore, but who wouldn't chose graphics if it's an option? I could have played Half Life 2 on the Xbox, but I chose to do so on the PC for the better presentation. I own all of the systems so to as always have the best possible option for gaming available. I don't understand all of the people who comment on this site who don't want the best possible experience out of life. Why ever get a color TV? Why ever get a car with air conditioning? Why ever own your own home? Why ever eat anywhere but McDonalds?

I understand your point, but I'm just talking about Sonata, not other next-gen games like Gears, that I know looks awesome even on a 4:3 480i TV, Sonata is essentially a PS2 game with higher resolution, I just can't see the "more polygons? Better textures? More effects?" you're saying, all I see is "wow, a shiny PS2 game". Of course, that's just my opinion.

@Hikaru,
I just finished GoWII on my 60" 1080p. And while I felt it was one of the most impressive games I have ever played regardless of "gen" - it's simply not opinion that it doesn't even hold a pixel of a candle to Eternal Sonata as far as graphics, sound, effects, etc goes. Ninja Gaiden Sigma - now that's a "shiny last gen game" in my opinion. Eternal Sonata cleary raises the bar. I'm glad Blue Dragon releases before it because ES would probably have ruined it for me.

As a side note, I was also impressed by the world design, the great score, and especially the battle system in the game.

It's now (6/07/2007) fourth:

1) Zelda (Phantom Hourglass?) for DS (2007/6/23)
2) Nintendo Wii for 31,980 yen...isn't that over the MSRP?
3) Some game from Bandai for PS2 (2007/08/30)
4) Trusty Bell with Special Soundtrack DVD (2007/06/14)
5) Super Robot Wars: OG (2007/06/28)

Although Trusty Bell is sitting up there in the top 5 (even above Super Robot Wars!), notice that the release date is the nearest. So the other items will definitely be moving up in rank -- including Metal Gear 20th and Dragon Quest Swords, which are further down the list.

As for doing Eternal Sonata on the PS2? It could be done, but it sure as hell won't be as nice. Replace all those nicely rounded polys with blurry textures, maybe.

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360's Eternal Sonata briefly tops Amazon Japan charts

Eternal Sonata

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