Capcom Goes 360 Because of Dead Rising Success

Dead Rising rises up to the occasion it seems. The “brisk repeat business” for the game is as relentless as the zombies that are chasing you around the “Mall of Death.” According to NikkoCitiGroup, Capcom has already shipped 320, 000 copies of Dead Rising on it’s first week, and as of today, is expecting larger shipments in the area of 450, 000 units. Based on the game’s extremely well performance, NikkoCitiGroup upped its fiscal year – that ends March 2007 – shipment expectations to 800,000 units from 660,000.

Analyst for the investment firm Soichiro Fukuda attributes the game’s success to trial downloads. “Robust Dead Rising sales suggest the establishment of a successful pattern for US marketing whereby trial version downloads stimulate interest and lead to stronger actual sales,” says Fukuda.

He further speculates that this could encourage Capcom to go multiplatform, taking current PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive titles and giving it the 360 twist. Some of the titles that have been only previously been announced for the PS3 are Devil May Cry 4 and Monster Hunter 3. Whether gamers will welcome the port (because at this point compatibility issues will arise), we have yet to find out.

Meantime, it isn’t just the dead that are rising. NikkoCitiGroup raised its fiscal 2007 earnings forecast for Capcom to 8.2 billion yen ($70.8 million) from 7.8 billion yen ($67.3 million); fiscal 2008 to 10.8 billion yen ($93.2 million) from 9.5 billion yen ($82 million); and fiscal 2009 to 12.5 billion yen ($107.9 million) from 11 billion yen ($95 million).

Via next-gen

Dead Rising rises up to the occasion it seems. The “brisk repeat business” for the game is as relentless as the zombies that are chasing you around the “Mall of Death.” According to NikkoCitiGroup, Capcom has already shipped 320, 000 copies of Dead Rising on it’s first week, and as of today, is expecting larger shipments in the area of 450, 000 units. Based on the game’s extremely well performance, NikkoCitiGroup upped its fiscal year – that ends March 2007 – shipment expectations to 800,000 units from 660,000.

Analyst for the investment firm Soichiro Fukuda attributes the game’s success to trial downloads. “Robust Dead Rising sales suggest the establishment of a successful pattern for US marketing whereby trial version downloads stimulate interest and lead to stronger actual sales,” says Fukuda.

He further speculates that this could encourage Capcom to go multiplatform, taking current PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive titles and giving it the 360 twist. Some of the titles that have been only previously been announced for the PS3 are Devil May Cry 4 and Monster Hunter 3. Whether gamers will welcome the port (because at this point compatibility issues will arise), we have yet to find out.

Meantime, it isn’t just the dead that are rising. NikkoCitiGroup raised its fiscal 2007 earnings forecast for Capcom to 8.2 billion yen ($70.8 million) from 7.8 billion yen ($67.3 million); fiscal 2008 to 10.8 billion yen ($93.2 million) from 9.5 billion yen ($82 million); and fiscal 2009 to 12.5 billion yen ($107.9 million) from 11 billion yen ($95 million).

Via next-gen