The problem is you need to go in to the demo with an open mind, people are quick to just say this is crap, as I did the first time. I skipped through the instructions so I didn't really understand what the game wanted from me. But one day when I got bored I decided to give it another chance, but that time with an open mind, and I found the game-play authentic and addicting, so I decided to pick it up because of the second play on the demo.It's got great anime styled cinematics. Great voice acting in my opinion at least. Great fresh style of game-play, that is extremely like-able. It's not a chop job game. I liked it soo much I just ripped right through it, and for me that's a rarity, normally I'll stop a game forever before I finally finish it unless it is strong enough to keep sucking me back in, which it did just that. By this I mean the plot was just as addictive as the game-play at least to me. Not to get cheesy on you all, but any fan of rpgs if they went into the game with an open mind could find a place for the game in their hearts and on their shelves. It has a lot of likability, It really is a new style of rpg unlike anything I've played but just as rewarding as any other style of game, and for it to fly under the radar and because of that not to be made a regular style of game i think would be a loss to me and a loss to rpg gamers as a whole, originality like this should be embraced to show the developers if they try something new that there are a lot of open-minded gamers out there willing to accept new approaches to game creations. Otherwise the developers will stay on the beaten path, which is okay sometimes, but it's nice to see a fresh breath of air such as this game in all of it's entirety

Simply put, this is a case of releasing a game at the wrong time. I bought the game just because of the demo, but have yet to break into it because of the flood of other games right now.

This is a great and needed game for the PS3. Just maybe if Sega would have waited till Feb.09, to release it would have sold better, and still may, if the Game stores are not in a rush to dump it in the bargain bin, which typically they are. I was hoping that by buying it on day one, would show support for the style of game play, even if I can't get to it till much later down the road.

I am always at a loss of understanding, why some companies throw games out at the Holidays, simply hoping people will buy it, because they are impulse shopping. Some great games always get lost at the Holidays, because of the onslaught and avalanche of games. Sega may simply be trying to get their sales in within the fourth quarter.

Yes it is a SRPG, so it does have a niche, but sometimes it is nice to turn to a game like this. I hope more people will give this genre a try, because it is certainly a nice addition to the type of games out there, and is certainly a genre that is very limited on the PS3, but I am hoping more will follow, and this from an American :)

Does anyone think offering a demo would have improved sales for this title? I realize it is a niche title with limited potential regardless, but I've often wondered if Sony couldn't help themselves by requiring demos at least on all PSN games (like 360 does for XBLA and XNA) and pressuring publishers like Sega to release demos for retail games like this one. Of course in this case the decision is up to Sega, but I think this could help the PS3's attach rate in general.
There are many games I have purchased (primarily on XBLA) that I would never have picked up without trying them first.

It is sad that such a fantastic game has not done so well . . . or for that matter, not done well at all. Thirty-three thousand copies is abysmal by any standard.

I personally do not own the game (yet). I have a strict rule of only owning three unfinished games at any one time. This allows me to actually beat all the games that I purchase. However, I have played the demo, and a co-worker has the game, and we have played it some on the PS3 in the office break room during lunch hour. So I most certainly appreciate what Sega WOW has done with this game, and it is most certainly on my short list of "must buy" titles. All the same, it is still sad to actually see the game perform so dismally at retail.

Which leads us to what I think are the core problems why Valkyria Chronicles has sold like crap in the first place:

1. It was an RPG hosted exclusively on the wrong console - I got no problem with console exclusivity, but if you are going to host a game exclusively on a console and expect it to do well, then you need to host it exclusively on the one console most associated with a particular genre of game - either that, or drop exclusivity altogether and go multi-console.

   This gen, the RPG console is beyond the shadow of any doubt, the Xbox 360. To host any form of RPG, be it Western RPG or Japanese RPG, exclusively on any other console, is tantamount to suicide. It's no different than hosting a shooter on the wrong console.

   And as if to prove my point, Haze, Unreal Tournament 3 and now Resistance 2, all shooters, all initially exclusive to PS3 (a console largely unassociated with shooters), and consequently, all failed miserably in sells. Had they all been exclusive on the right system, they all would have likely enjoyed million-seller status. Lesson for 3rd parties - best to chose a lot more carefully where you put your exclusive titles, or go multi-console and call it a day.

2. it was released at a point in the year against all the year's biggest blockbusters; very few lesser known games stand a chance in this type of environment. Had they released this game in the spring or the winter or even the summer, they may have moved a few hundred thousand copies more on that decision alone.
   
   
3. it was hardly marketed at all; if you did not already know about Valkyria Chronicles, the marketing for the game was so nonexistent, chances are you are never going to know about it.
   
   
4. SEGA management. Let's face it, when was the last time SEGA management actually did anything right? They have an almost unerring habit of taking good things, and finding a way to run them into the ground. So it comes as no surprise they have done the same with the first triple-A RPG to surface from internally within the company since they ran the Dreamcast into the ground. Considering that points 1, 2, and 3 are perfectly obvious even to a moron, it takes SEGA management to not be able to not only miss one of those points, but to miss all three of them simultaneously.

I would have picked this up if they had released it on the 360.

I think Sega fumbled a bit as well, as they seem to have underestimated the initial demand. I tried to buy it when it came out, but it was sold out at all the local stores. I asked the clerk at Gamespot about it and he said they only received a few copies, which sold out quickly. A week later I still couldn't find it, so ended up buying Resistance 2, and later LBP. I might pick up VC once I finish those two, but who knows if I'll remember about it by then.

Strategy/RPG games are always a niche market though. A game like VC, which is supposedly amazing, still doesn't have much of a chance against mainstream titles like R2 or Gears 2.

Japanese companies usually do a poor job marketing their product to non-JRPG consumers. The bottom-line is that they resist change and think it's ok to market to US gamers the same way they market internally to Japanese consumers.

definitely poor marketing is partially responsible for it's poor sales. how can sony expect to sell games if it doesn't buy advertising space?

the game is good, i got it the first day it came out. it's one of the reasons why i'm playing the ps3 far more than the xbox 360, at the moment.

Truth is Americans would rather play meatheaded games like Gears, Halo, Resistance, etc than games like Valkyria Chronicles. It's no wonder the 360 is doing so well in that country as most of the games on the system are shooters, shooters, shooters and more shooters.

Philip K Dick was right, American people are anti-intellectual. In other words, their not interested in games of idea!

Solution: Bring it to 360! I'll buy it!

and i really haven't heard of this game outside a random episode of X-Play. awareness is virtually zero. I had to investigate myself to find out if it was worthwhile or not...and it certainly seems so. Too bad it's on the PS3 only right now.

WOW. This is such a great game unfortunately it had to come out where sequels typically rule.