CAPCOM: Resident Evil 2 -- The Shocks Begin
FEB 24, 1998, M2 Communications - Ahead of its scheduled spring launch
in the UK, Capcom's Resident Evil 2 has shattered sales records in the
US and Japan to become the most successful PlayStation game of all
time.  In Japan the games-buying public went crazy for the
eagerly-anticipated sequel. On January 29th, the day of Resident Evil
2's release, retailers had to open up two hours early to appease the
crowds that had gathered outside.
By the time the dust had settled on the first day, an incredible 1.8
million copies of the game had been sold. This makes Resident Evil 2
easily the fastest-selling PlayStation game ever launched in Japan. It
has left other landmark titles standing: Final Fantasy VII took four
months to hit the 1.8 million mark whilst Gran Turismo recently
shifted 1.4 million units in its first month on sale.
In the US, meanwhile, 650,000 copies of Resident Evil 2 were sold in
the first weekend of release. Again this is a new record for the
territory. It pulled in revenues of over $19 million in two days,
out-performing all movies released in the US so far, with the
exception of Titanic.  The game will ship in the UK on April 29th and
Virgin Interactive, Capcom's long-term distribution partner, is
already preparing for another record-breaking ship-out, this time in
excess of 250,000 in a single weekend, part of a pan-European roll-out
of more than 800,000.   Total global sales of Resident Evil 2 are
expected to rapidly soar past the world-wide figure of four million
achieved by the franchise since the release of the original in 1996.
Virgin Interactive's deputy managing director Sean Brennan comments:
"Our relationship with Capcom has delivered some notable successes in
the past few years, but Resident Evil 2 will take us into a different
ball park. The incredible success achieved by the title in Japan and
US has only increased pre-release expectations that were already
massive. Make no mistake, we will deliver, with the biggest
PlayStation hit ever seen, accompanied by a suitably immodest sales
and marketing offensive that will leave retailers, rivals and
consumers gasping."
From:  Silicon Times Report / February 27, 1998 / No.1408
... Thou shalt not try to herd cats.
--- JetMail 0.99beta22
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