Preorder Cancellations

Too Human

Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-02-2008, 5:23 PM
According to sales reports from Gamestop, EB Games, and Microsoft Co., there were an estimated 1.4 million preorders placed in the contiguous U.S. during the one-year period leading up to E3, 2008. After the release of the game's demo a reported 370,000 additional games were preordered, in addition to 495,000 cancellations.
During the E3 conferences and in the week after, a mere 45,000 preorders were cancelled while 350,000 more were made. There were only a reported 8,000 cancellations during the year prior to the demo's release.

The 1.4 million figure listed by the respective companies in this article is not inclusive of reported cancellations.
This means that in total, as of July 31, 2008 852,000 copies of Too Human have been preordered. It is expected that an additional 5% of these will be cancelled and as the release date approaches, Microsoft expects an approximate 200,000 additional preorders to be placed due to increased advertisement that is expected. The post-release figures expected for Too Human are an approximate 400,000 additional copies within the first 6 months of release.

By these approximations 1,409,400 copies of the game Too Human will have been purchased by Febuary 19th, 2009.

____________________________________________________________________________________

I know you are all going to ask for a source, I have a friend who is manager at a GameStop near my house, he got this report for no apparent reason. Obviously this is not the full report, I have paraphrased greatly (The actual document is 300some pages long and covers all projected figures for titles shown at E3 this year and a few other titles due to be released before Q3 2009.) No I will not be posting the document in its entirety and no I will not tell anyone which GameStop he works at, I don't want to get my friend fired.

Btw according to the report the top ten projected sellers for Q3 2008-Q3 2009 are
Gears of War 2
Fall Out 3
Halo Wars
Fable 2
Rockband 2
Soul Calibur IV
Star Wars: TFU
Battlefield: Bad Company
Guitar Hero WT
Soul Calibur IV

Too Human ranks in at 24th in the top sellers.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


FantasyMeister 08-02-2008, 5:57 PM
 AgainWeRise9 wrote:
By these approximations 1,409,400 copies of the game Too Human will have been purchased by Febuary 19th, 2009.


That is a massive number for any title.  Sounds about right though, I estimated about a million during its lifetime and I'm a pessimist.  Pretty much guarantees a sequel if my estimate or the report's estimate turn out correct.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-02-2008, 6:00 PM
 FantasyMeister wrote:
 AgainWeRise9 wrote:
By these approximations 1,409,400 copies of the game Too Human will have been purchased by Febuary 19th, 2009.


That is a massive number for any title.  Sounds about right though, I estimated about a million during its lifetime and I'm a pessimist.  Pretty much guarantees a sequel if my estimate or the report's estimate turn out correct.


The one thing the report doesn't seem to take into account is the fact that there is a HUGE number of blockbuster titles coming out and not every gamer can afford to buy a copy of each.

I think most of these figures are too generous and the actual sales will be quite a bit lower for most of the games. Too Human probably won't hit 1.4 million until the price drops after a few months, and i wouldnt expect more than 1.6 million lifetime.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


FantasyMeister 08-02-2008, 6:11 PM
Yeah, Final Fantasy XIII might be a major factor :)

I also found this bit interesting -

 AgainWeRise9 wrote:
This means that in total, as of July 31, 2008 852,000 copies of Too Human have been preordered. It is expected that an additional 5% of these will be cancelled and as the release date approaches, Microsoft expects an approximate 200,000 additional preorders to be placed due to increased advertisement that is expected.


If I did the math correctly, it means Too Human will sell 1,009,400 copies on launch day just on preorders alone.  In comparison, Halo 3 had around 1 million preorders 6 weeks before launch.  I can't see Too Human coming anywhere close to Halo 3 sales so maybe the report's figures are a little on the wild side :)  Still, encouraging news, thanks for posting it.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-02-2008, 6:51 PM
 FantasyMeister wrote:
Yeah, Final Fantasy XIII might be a major factor :)

I also found this bit interesting -

 AgainWeRise9 wrote:
This means that in total, as of July 31, 2008 852,000 copies of Too Human have been preordered. It is expected that an additional 5% of these will be cancelled and as the release date approaches, Microsoft expects an approximate 200,000 additional preorders to be placed due to increased advertisement that is expected.


If I did the math correctly, it means Too Human will sell 1,009,400 copies on launch day just on preorders alone.  In comparison, Halo 3 had around 1 million preorders 6 weeks before launch.  I can't see Too Human coming anywhere close to Halo 3 sales so maybe the report's figures are a little on the wild side :)  Still, encouraging news, thanks for posting it.


I'd say its about on track with the 1 million mark for opening day. Keep in mind this is a long awaited title and there's a pretty big following behind the title. It may come a bit shy of Halo 3 but it should be right up near 1 million

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Prophesizer 08-02-2008, 8:01 PM
Thats a ridiculous amount of Cancellations though, Seems the demo made soem horrible impressions since it went live.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


John E Tomorrow 08-02-2008, 8:22 PM
It's the control system. I think the pre-order folks that played the demo were too impatient in getting familiar with it. Biggest complaint being the sword using the right thumb-stick instead of buttons. However, I've just spent 1.5 hours playing through it a second time & going through all the skills, equipment, & so on & found it to be quite detailed for an Action RPG.  It reminds me of Marvel Ultimate Alliance, WH40k, LotR, Diablo, troop banter reminds me of Halo, & lastly the creatures you fight remind me of Geth in Mass Effect.  The color of the game has the usual black, gun metal, & neon glowies that have been a common staple for Microsoft exclusives such as Halo, GoW, & Mass Effect.

Lastly, when you realize that you are battling TONS of enemies, the game makes SO MUCH SENSE to use the  THUMB STICK for the sword. I mean, we've had a lot of button-masher games like Marvel Ultimate: Alliance & several Japanese style games & I really hate the repetitive-ness of button-mashing. This game turns that into a simple turning direction with the thumb stick to attack & after the second time through feels as if they really thought out the mechanics for the best way to play this kind of game.

For looking around, you use the LB to focus the camera to face where you're going. If you want to turn your head, hold the LB down & then move the analog right thumbstick. It all seems to work out once you know what button controls what function & use it for about 30 minutes.



Like to trash talk Sorny PS3 and Ninty Wii consoles? Go to:

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Re: Preorder Cancellations


T3kNi9e 08-02-2008, 8:34 PM
Not going to say whether it's true or not because I really wouldn't know because I don't know you in real life... But... I must say, it does sound believable and that list sounds about right when it comes to my own guesses/predictions.

This also would mean (if predictions hold true) that Xbox 360 is once again going to be the winner of the Fall/Winter Quarter...

Mass Effect Wikipedia Page

Re: Preorder Cancellations


TWODOGSz 08-03-2008, 8:16 AM
I'm not convinced of your claims as yet. But I found it interesting enough to run an article on it.

Too Human Rumour - 1 million preorders

I hope you're right, if only so I can play the full trilogy and get some ED2! Smile [:)]

OXCGN.com - Jump In!

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Larry526 08-03-2008, 4:10 PM
I love how people are making claim without quoting from any source. You must still in my high school lol.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-03-2008, 5:14 PM
 TWODOGSz wrote:
I'm not convinced of your claims as yet. But I found it interesting enough to run an article on it.

Too Human Rumour - 1 million preorders

I hope you're right, if only so I can play the full trilogy and get some ED2! Smile [:)]


I liked the article, very well written.





 Larry526 wrote:
I love how people are making claim without quoting from any source. You must still in my high school lol.


If you would actually READ instead of skimming over the article you would see my source is a file from Microsoft that is forecasting activity of game releases in the near future. If I could I would post a hard copy, but my friend doesn't want to get in any crap with Gamestop or Microsoft. Plus, I wouldn't really want to sit here and scan a
362 page article into my computer, especially with this 5 year old dinosaur of a combo printer-scanner I have it would take forever.

The numbers are a bit flaky, but it is an article written by someone who I can only guess is a corporate kiss *** trying to make his boss feel good about thier financial future, so some of the numbers seem a tad high. The rankings listings for the game releases seem to be about spot on with what you would guess, I'd just guess that all the sales figures were increased by about 10% to make them seem a little meatier.

If you don't believe the article, I could really care less. I don't have some ridiculous plot to make up random numbers to make myself popular on the Xbox forums lol. Happy reading.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


unverbal 08-04-2008, 8:13 AM
While I am not doubting the existence of the document, I'm a bit confused as to why Too Human would be 24th on the list with almost a million pre-orders.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-04-2008, 11:04 AM
 unverbal wrote:
While I am not doubting the existence of the document, I'm a bit confused as to why Too Human would be 24th on the list with almost a million pre-orders.


Too human has a very small audience of gamers, there are a ton of huge games coming out between Q3 2008 and Q3 2009. Too human is expected to make only a few thousand more sales outside of the first months its available, where most games tend to continue selling for almost a year after release.

and heres why too human is only 24th.

Gears of War 2, Rockband 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, Star Wars: TFU, Soul Calibur IV, BattleField: BC, Halo Wars, Fall Out 3, Fable 2, Mercenaries 2, Saints Row 2, Dead Space, Warhammer: Battle March, Mortal Kombat vs. DC, Tomb Raider, world in Conflict, Unreal Tournament 3, Ninja Gaiden II, Madden 09

Notice all the 3's 2's and established franchises that are coming out this year? and thats only the games that are coming out in the next 5-6 months, theres still a whole other 6 months of releases, most of which havent been announced yet.

The only reason Too Human is expected to sell 1 million+ preorders is because of all the hype, the fact the demo came out so far before release, and because of a very dedicated group of gamers who want a good RPG for the 360.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-04-2008, 11:07 AM
By the way...i thought something looked off in my typing...

You'll notice both number 6 and 10 on the top 10 games are both Soul Calibur IV, number 10 is supposed to be Unreal Tournament 3. Sorry i didnt catch this in time to edit in the post.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Zip Martin 08-04-2008, 12:08 PM
Thanks for the post. It proves I'm not the only one cancelling my pre-order after playing the demo. The game looks good and plays smoothly. The control scheme takes a little getting used to, but it works well. The bottom line for me is that it's just not what I expected and the appeal is lost. I will definitely rent it and maybe a longer play through will sell it. One of the other factors that has been mentioned here is that there are other titles that are competing for my wallet. Unfortunately, I will have to make gaming choices based on finances this fall.

There's got to be another way.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


F0XTR0T369 08-04-2008, 2:17 PM
Here is something else to think about:


About a month ago myself and four of my good friends all pre ordered Too Human.  We have been waiting for what seems like forever to get this game.  We all pre ordered from amazon so we could get the pre order bonus.  After playing the demo when it came out, two of my friends canceled their pre orders.  When I asked them why, they stated that they couldn't wait a couple extra days for the game to come in the mail and where not paying 10.00 for over night shipping when they could just get it at 12:00 a.m. the night before at walmart.

So you see, some people are actually cancelling pre orders, just so they can get the game faster, with out paying for over night shipping.  Something to think about when looking at cancelation numbers.

A coward gets scared and quits. A hero gets scared, but still goes on.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Zip Martin 08-04-2008, 4:02 PM
The other BIG factor that has me waffling is the lack of multiplayer in the demo. I will buy this game if mp sells me. Not putting it in the demo causes me to have to wait for the rental to decide. Given that the co-op side ( I would think ) would get the most play; it should have been demo'd. The drop from 4 to 2 players is not totally a deal breaker. I could see the screen getting very crowded and hard to follow, but I'm old ...

There's got to be another way.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-04-2008, 5:01 PM
 F0XTR0T369 wrote:
Here is something else to think about:


About a month ago myself and four of my good friends all pre ordered Too Human.  We have been waiting for what seems like forever to get this game.  We all pre ordered from amazon so we could get the pre order bonus.  After playing the demo when it came out, two of my friends canceled their pre orders.  When I asked them why, they stated that they couldn't wait a couple extra days for the game to come in the mail and where not paying 10.00 for over night shipping when they could just get it at 12:00 a.m. the night before at walmart.

So you see, some people are actually cancelling pre orders, just so they can get the game faster, with out paying for over night shipping.  Something to think about when looking at cancelation numbers.


while this would account for a couple of cancellations, most people take into account the shipping and other downsides of ordering online in advance. I'd guess about 95-98% of cancellations are just people who lost interest over the game.

Interesting tid-bit, the number of preorders being cancelled coincided right along with the announcement that 4 player co-op had been axed.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Lunar Savage 08-04-2008, 5:35 PM
I personally don't think I'll be getting this game.

1. It wasn't what I expected at all. 

2. I don't like the control scheme (no real camera control just irks the crap outta me), although I will say melee via the right analog stick is interesting. I think perhaps though, that to do melee, you should've had to hold down the left bumper or left trigger while using the right analog stick. And while not holding it, you get full camera control on the right stick. That makes more sense to me than the current scheme.

And the last reason I probably won't be getting this game is because I'm on SD. I could barely read anything in the menus. I don't want to have to strain my eyes to play a damn game. Especially one that looks like it will rely heavily on menus to do customization of armor, weapons, and any RPG aspects. Which the RPG side is weak as *** IMO...well...at least from what little the demo showed. So I don't understand why people who want a good RPG on the 360 would support this game. I am one such person btw. I LOVE RPGs. :D

*Tips top hat, adjusts monocle, and walks away with a cane* And yes, that IS Mr. Peanut laying unconscious on the curb.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


DarkStar33Cdn 08-04-2008, 7:10 PM
What your forgetting is that despite cancellations it could already be a success. The game is not for everyone and I assume there is a standard pre-order churn for the industry.

If 50% of the 1.4M pre-orders got canceled that still 700,000 copies and 35 million in sales. Rocket the cancelation figure to 75% and it would still bring in 17 million dollars. Thats pretty good considering its one of the only original IPs being released in this timeframe.

You are also forgetting the large portion of gamers who simply go to there local big box store and pickup the title on launch. Unless they give you something unique I see absolutely no reason to pre-order anything anymore.

For both Halo 3 and GTA I simply walked over on launch night/day and grabbed a copy off the shelf. I haven't needed to preordered a single game from this generation because supply is more then sufficent.

That said despite all the criticism and negativity people who like the game are going to buy it. They did a good job on releasing a finished demo early enough so that people could make up there own minds rather then relying on what others tell them to think.
My Home Theater (46" Sharp Aquos 92U, Sony BDP-S350, Pioneer XS-215 5.1 System)

Re: Preorder Cancellations


II Durbin II 08-04-2008, 7:25 PM
 TWODOGSz wrote:
I'm not convinced of your claims as yet. But I found it interesting enough to run an article on it.

Too Human Rumour - 1 million preorders

I hope you're right, if only so I can play the full trilogy and get some ED2! Smile [:)]


i wouldn't agree with the numbers either.

as a matter of fact, i just spoke to Jessica, my Game Stop Store Manager here in Michigan and she said no such information has been made available to store managers what so ever.  i printed this article and let her look it over just for clarity's sake. 

now, i'm sure these numbers are available somewhere, but it appears not as the op claims. 
so op, like to back up your claim or provide some tangible proof?! 

 

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Lord Twisted 08-04-2008, 7:42 PM

 durbin09 wrote:
 TWODOGSz wrote:
I'm not convinced of your claims as yet. But I found it interesting enough to run an article on it.

Too Human Rumour - 1 million preorders

I hope you're right, if only so I can play the full trilogy and get some ED2! Smile [:)]


i wouldn't agree with the numbers either.

as a matter of fact, i just spoke to Jessica, my Game Stop Store Manager here in Michigan and she said no such information has been made available to store managers what so ever.  i printed this article and let her look it over just for clarity's sake. 

now, i'm sure these numbers are available somewhere, but it appears not as the op claims. 
so op, like to back up your claim or provide some tangible proof?! 

 

 

 Perhaps only General Manager received it.  I talked to a manager of one of my local game retail stores, and he said that his store gets faxes for the general manager several times a day, and he just slaps them all in a folder for the GM to pick up when he comes through the store.

 


Pirate Ninja King

Re: Preorder Cancellations


II Durbin II 08-04-2008, 9:58 PM
yeah, i agree Twisted, i'm sure it's out there, but the 300 pages quoted by the op!?!

i like this thread, but just wasn't too clear where he was going.  was this a "diss" or what, lots of info that never really drew a conclusion. 

just getting to know SK, Dennis and crew, they've done nothing to lose support.  now if you want to compare that, i can go on and on about Ea and not wanting to support that company!!
Big Smile [:D]

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Lord Twisted 08-04-2008, 10:21 PM

 durbin09 wrote:
yeah, i agree Twisted, i'm sure it's out there, but the 300 pages quoted by the op!?!

i like this thread, but just wasn't too clear where he was going.  was this a "diss" or what, lots of info that never really drew a conclusion. 

just getting to know SK, Dennis and crew, they've done nothing to lose support.  now if you want to compare that, i can go on and on about Ea and not wanting to support that company!!
Big Smile [:D]

 

 I got the idea...but I don't know for a fact...

   That the OP was trying to point out, that even with all the trash comments that this forums has been getting, Microsoft, and SK still expect really good sells out of this game. Which is a great thing, if this game sells well, then it means that SK can begin production on #2 and hopefully get it out quickly, as well as #3.

  Sadly, I am not to well educated on SK, but I think they were behind Legacy of Kain which was a great game, and I think that a local company actually did some of the art work in that game, if not others of theirs.

 And as far as I know, it is the only SK game I have played. 

  I hope this game becomes their crowning achievment we need good developers with a head for RPG type games rather then FPS.

 


Pirate Ninja King

Re: Preorder Cancellations


II Durbin II 08-05-2008, 12:06 AM
here, here Twisted, well said my friend!

in the same boat and it would be very cool to come in on a game that pushed Sk to the top!
i've got faith in them so far and to issue of the past, well, if people can't move on, then let them be left behind.



Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-05-2008, 2:51 PM
 Lord Twisted wrote:

 durbin09 wrote:
yeah, i agree Twisted, i'm sure it's out there, but the 300 pages quoted by the op!?!

i like this thread, but just wasn't too clear where he was going.  was this a "diss" or what, lots of info that never really drew a conclusion. 

just getting to know SK, Dennis and crew, they've done nothing to lose support.  now if you want to compare that, i can go on and on about Ea and not wanting to support that company!!
Big Smile [:D]

 

 I got the idea...but I don't know for a fact...

   That the OP was trying to point out, that even with all the trash comments that this forums has been getting, Microsoft, and SK still expect really good sells out of this game. Which is a great thing, if this game sells well, then it means that SK can begin production on #2 and hopefully get it out quickly, as well as #3.

  Sadly, I am not to well educated on SK, but I think they were behind Legacy of Kain which was a great game, and I think that a local company actually did some of the art work in that game, if not others of theirs.

 And as far as I know, it is the only SK game I have played. 

  I hope this game becomes their crowning achievment we need good developers with a head for RPG type games rather then FPS.

 



I posted this article because I know that there are a ton of players becoming doubtful of how many players are going to actually be buying this game. I know that after the demo release I was worried there wouldn't be a large group of people to play with Via live, so when my friend showed me the article I posted here just to give a little perspective on the situation. despite a LOT, and i do mean a LOT of complaints about the controls and camera, and even with the sub-par graphics, the game is still going to be selling strong and there's going to be a fairly massive community for atleast a short while after release.


Re: Preorder Cancellations


Lord Twisted 08-05-2008, 4:36 PM
 All I need is a short while. Sadly I only need this game to entertain me until October when all the other games start releasing, if this game keeps me going even longer then that, well, all the better.
Pirate Ninja King

Re: Preorder Cancellations


F0XTR0T369 08-05-2008, 4:53 PM
I agree with Twisted.  Some where the Live Community became all about multi fps games.  Although I like a lot of these games, I too am looking for more multi player games that are of different genres.

The love hate relationship that is going on with SK right now, isn't about their game, its between FPS and other Genres, where the fps fans are trashing the game and other genre fans are praising it or at least willing to give it a try.

And the graphics being bad?  LoL, I've owned an atari, nes and everything up to are current gaming platforms.  There is nothing wrong with the graphics in this game.  Seems alot of the younger gamers out there, that got into gaming when the ps2 came out, seem to want more and more.  Not saying there is anything wrong with that, but for all us "old time" gamers out there, we have seen bad graphics and this game doesnt' come close.

A coward gets scared and quits. A hero gets scared, but still goes on.

Re: Preorder Cancellations


AgainWeRise9 08-05-2008, 5:07 PM
 F0XTR0T369 wrote:
I agree with Twisted.  Some where the Live Community became all about multi fps games.  Although I like a lot of these games, I too am looking for more multi player games that are of different genres.

The love hate relationship that is going on with SK right now, isn't about their game, its between FPS and other Genres, where the fps fans are trashing the game and other genre fans are praising it or at least willing to give it a try.

And the graphics being bad?  LoL, I've owned an atari, nes and everything up to are current gaming platforms.  There is nothing wrong with the graphics in this game.  Seems alot of the younger gamers out there, that got into gaming when the ps2 came out, seem to want more and more.  Not saying there is anything wrong with that, but for all us "old time" gamers out there, we have seen bad graphics and this game doesnt' come close.


Well, they do have a point when they complain about the graphics. Every time a new game comes out now adays, it either has a cartoony, cel-shaded look, or the graphics are intentionally stylized, OR it has graphics that bring tears to your eyes. This is going to be the first game in a while now that hasn't pushed graphics beyond the envelope, and thats what majority of gamers have come to expect.

SK has used the number of units on screen as an excuse, but gears of war 2 has over a hundered extremely detailed units on screen at a time, and Star Wars: TFU has more units on screen at once, all while using 3 processor and memory destroying physics engines with realistic DMM. Too Human IS severely lacking in the graphics department no matter what you say these days. It just simply doesn't live up to every other title coming out this year (or in this case, part of last year too...)

Re: Preorder Cancellations


Lord Twisted 08-05-2008, 8:12 PM

 AgainWeRise9 wrote:
 F0XTR0T369 wrote:
I agree with Twisted.  Some where the Live Community became all about multi fps games.  Although I like a lot of these games, I too am looking for more multi player games that are of different genres.

The love hate relationship that is going on with SK right now, isn't about their game, its between FPS and other Genres, where the fps fans are trashing the game and other genre fans are praising it or at least willing to give it a try.

And the graphics being bad?  LoL, I've owned an atari, nes and everything up to are current gaming platforms.  There is nothing wrong with the graphics in this game.  Seems alot of the younger gamers out there, that got into gaming when the ps2 came out, seem to want more and more.  Not saying there is anything wrong with that, but for all us "old time" gamers out there, we have seen bad graphics and this game doesnt' come close.


Well, they do have a point when they complain about the graphics. Every time a new game comes out now adays, it either has a cartoony, cel-shaded look, or the graphics are intentionally stylized, OR it has graphics that bring tears to your eyes. This is going to be the first game in a while now that hasn't pushed graphics beyond the envelope, and thats what majority of gamers have come to expect.

SK has used the number of units on screen as an excuse, but gears of war 2 has over a hundered extremely detailed units on screen at a time, and Star Wars: TFU has more units on screen at once, all while using 3 processor and memory destroying physics engines with realistic DMM. Too Human IS severely lacking in the graphics department no matter what you say these days. It just simply doesn't live up to every other title coming out this year (or in this case, part of last year too...)

 

 This game is not going to have the best graphics, but honestly...the majority of the gamers are looking for better and better graphics?  That must be why the Wii was sold out of everywhere for a long long time, because it's a graphics paradise?

  Honestly, there are only a few types of gamers that are more interested in graphics then in gameplay.  A game can have the best damn graphics in the world, but if it plays like crud, the game is rated as "Crud"..

  Where as if a game has great play value and dated graphics, it is reviewed as "outdated graphics, but awesome play"

 

 So all in all, if this game has a good story, and plays well, the reviews are going to be in favor of the game.

 If they pounded a bunch of graphics into the game, and the results were, oh I don't know...Two Worlds like, with severe lag, and crappy play. SK's reviews would sink the instant it was released.


Pirate Ninja King
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