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NPD April 2011 Sales Results [Update 6: Nintendo DS Hardware, Pokemon LTD]

jjasper said:
I don't see why Nintendo made damn game boxes look almost identical it is just inviting confusion.

Hmm... yep

wpid-61VqGsKtxBL.jpg
lego_star_wars_3ds-(page-picture-large).jpg
 

Tron 2.0

Member
Dark FaZe said:
Nintendo is stretched so thin...I'm really concerned with how much 1st party content will be available for the Wii successor.
Do you think so?

At this point all of their internal studios are either wrapping up their (presumably) last Wii projects or already focused on 3DS/Cafe.

I just don't think they've done a very good job of releasing compelling software on a reasonable timeframe.
 

Anth0ny

Member
WrikaWrek said:
Nintendo got cocky and dropped the ball.

Wii seems like it has little tank in it, probably because there's simply no quality software for it coming out.

3DS suffers from an image problem, people think it's just another DS lite.

Kinect is a hit and MS has to play their cards right.

Wii I wouldn't be worried about if I'm Nintendo. If it (somehow) doesn't pick up exponentially after the price drop in a couple of days... Cafe is right around the corner anyways.

I completely agree with your 3DS statement. That, and the fact that the 3D is crap is simply kicking it's ass. N64 ports aren't going to help. I'm really curious how Nintendo plans to fix this problem. Sure, it'll sell in November/December, but if it's selling like this for 10 months a year, that's simply not good enough.
 

AniHawk

Member
Dark FaZe said:
Nintendo is stretched so thin...I'm really concerned with how much 1st party content will be available for the Wii successor.

they've been outsourcing a lot of the early 3ds stuff, which leads me to believe they're more focused on cafe and thought they could let the 3ds coast on ports and remakes like the gba did.
 

Tron 2.0

Member
Anth0ny said:
Wii I wouldn't be worried about if I'm Nintendo. If it (somehow) doesn't pick up exponentially after the price drop in a couple of days... Cafe is right around the corner anyways.
The Wii has been easily found for $169.99 for the past few weeks. Will $20 more off make a huge difference?

AniHawk said:
they've been outsourcing a lot of the early 3ds stuff, which leads me to believe they're more focused on cafe and thought they could let the 3ds coast on ports and remakes like the gba did.
Generally, I feel like they've mishandled every aspect of the 3DS launch.
 
Glad to see Mortal Kombat got the sales it deserved. Portal sold way more than what NPD says, I wish Steam would blow our minds by releasing sales figures.

Really disappointed to see the 3DS isn't selling as well as it should... maybe it's going to be a NDS repeat: slow start that builds up to a rolling wave of unstoppable momentum?
 

Pachinko

Member
Those 3DS sales are not really that terrible , it's a much different market than it was in say 2005. Back then you had the standard DS limp out of the gate for upwards of a year , the psp set the world on fire a few months into 2005 and little else worth mentioning portable wise.

Now though, you've got 3 different product lines from nintendo- DS lite, DSi/DSi XL and now 3DS. The latter of which costs 100$ more than any of the other models. Yes I realize it's the next gen DS but the average customer does not realize that. Fearing a repeat of sellouts like the wii had Nintendo spent zilch on marketing, allowing the system to sell on brand name alone. They also took a chance and relied almost exclusively on 3rd parties to carry the software side of things , the first real 1st party effort? - a port of a nearly 13 year old N64 game that's already been available on both virtual console and has a wind waker pre-order bonus.

If nothing else the retail channel is probably stuffed with units now, so it'd be worth it for nintendo to start advertising the 3DS a bit... well at least as soon as Zelda is available. tech demos and sloppy rushed DS port-ups do not sell a system.

Back on the competition line though- Not only are there 3 versions of DS available , causing what is sure to be some retail confusion, but there also still exists a sony PSP for super cheap and more importantly to kids these days- smartphones and ipods , even ipads. I fully expect the price of the 3DS has something to do with it but when the other models still sell well , why cut their price ? This is likely why the regular old DS lite is being discontinued this year, price drop the remaining units in a couple months down to 99 USD, and knock 30 bones of the price of a DSi and DSi XL , then you have room to squeeze 30-50$ of the 3DS when direct competition arrives with sony's NGP. For the time being Nintendo are mainly competing with themselves and they've priced the 3DS out of that market, it doesn't seem cool enough to buy over an ipod and it's too much money to buy over a psp or regular DS.

If it's not moving 500K a month from september onward , especially if they do a minor price adjustment , then maybe I'd be concerned if I worked at nintendo. Shareholders ; however, are right to worry a bit, I don't think Nintendo will reach the stock heights they had in 2007/2008 ever again.
 

Huff

Banned
Tron 2.0 said:
The Wii has been easily found for $169.99 for the past few weeks. Will $20 more off make a huge difference?

Generally, I feel like they've mishandled every aspect of the 3DS launch.

I think it's the new Kart bundle that will help it rather than just a 20$ discount.
 

BY2K

Membero Americo
3DS sales are gonna go "BOOM!" once OoT 3D comes out. But before that, Nintendo better have some sweets reveals for the handheld at E3.
 

Tron 2.0

Member
BroHuffman said:
I think it's the new Kart bundle that will help it rather than just a 20$ discount.
Completely forgot that it was a bundle.

Still...


BY2K said:
3DS sales are gonna go "BOOM!" once OoT 3D comes out. But before that, Nintendo better have some sweets reveals for the handheld at E3.
I can't imagine the Zelda remake having that big of an effect.
 
BY2K said:
3DS sales are gonna go "BOOM!" once OoT 3D comes out. But before that, Nintendo better have some sweets reveals for the handheld at E3.


While I hope they do, they technically don't NEED it.
I mean, Mario Kart and Super Mario... That'll pretty much guarantee victory.
 

squicken

Member
Really surprised at how quickly the Wii sales dropped. The decline of the PS2 was much more gradual than the Wii seems to be. Almost certainly related to the continuing software support the former received.

Software sales just don't look good. Portal2 and Crysis2 just didn't sell what I figured they would have. Also surprising how far off PS3 skus are compared to their 360 counterparts, since PS3 hardware sales are pretty good
 

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
Chiggs said:
Seriously. I think manufacturers need to step back and take a look at the market's reaction to 3D. People are really resisting this tech.
3D isn't really the machine's problem right now. It's that the 3D is the ONLY selling point of the series right now. The thing needs software in a bad way.

I had one preordered and dropped it because there wasn't anything coming out in the first couple of months that justified getting one at launch. I'm sure I'm hardly unique.

I wouldn't be quick to jump to any conclusions about whether the machine is in any trouble or not until after we see how it fares in its first holiday season. Which is still a long way off. There will be a good amount of software then, plus tons of marketing and, theoretically, consumer demand. If it's still struggling after that, then yeah, there's a problem.
 

overcast

Member
jjasper said:
I don't see why Nintendo made damn game boxes look almost identical it is just inviting confusion.
Especially since the market for the DS was kids/parents buying games for kids. They will be confused.
 

Amir0x

Banned
BY2K said:
3DS sales are gonna go "BOOM!" once OoT 3D comes out. But before that, Nintendo better have some sweets reveals for the handheld at E3.

you think a remake of an N64 game is going to make the system go boom?


Fascinating.

Because I think it is the 3DS continued inability to have a single game that defines IT as a NEW platform for NEW ideas and games and concepts is certainly part of the problem here and Zelda neatly fits into all those problems.
 

apana

Member
At this point quite a few people know that the 3DS is not just another DS, they just don't seem all that enthused about the 3D. Wii is definitely at the end.
 

DrForester

Kills Photobucket
Rocket Punch said:
Hmm... yep

wpid-61VqGsKtxBL.jpg
lego_star_wars_3ds-(page-picture-large).jpg


Well, NDS games are in dark grey cases, 3DS games are in white cases. While box art is similar, the case color makes it obvious to anyone which system it's for.
 

Hazelhurst

Member
Frankfurt said:
If there's one game that truly is worth every penny, it's MK. incredibly polished, fleshed, fun, packed with content. It's a love letter, going beyond what any fighting game has ever offered.
I couldn't agree more. My Game of the Year so far.
 

Huff

Banned
Door2Dawn said:
Yeah because the N64 and the 3DS are completely the same.

What a fucking stupid comment. I really hope that was a joke.

Well, looks like they're going to have a lot of the same games...
 

gimz

Member
Jeels said:
Thinking of selling my 3DS if I don't see a ton of impressive stuff at E3.

Im pretty sure Nintendo has a lot to show for 3DS at E3
30 mins talking about the "May" update
 

Tron 2.0

Member
Door2Dawn said:
Yeah because the N64 and the 3DS are completely the same.

What a fucking stupid comment. I really hope that was a joke.
I meant it tongue-in-cheek.

But the post I was responding to was indicating that the 3DS was guaranteed to sell gangbusters because it will have Mario.

Clearly, that's not the case.
 
Amir0x said:
you think a remake of an N64 game is going to make the system go boom?


Fascinating.

Because I think it is the 3DS continued inability to have a single game that defines IT as a NEW platform for NEW ideas and games and concepts is certainly part of the problem here and Zelda neatly fits into all those problems.
What's fascinating about it? Twilight Princess sold ~7 million WW, right? OoT is a beloved game, it'll put up a huge number.

Orders of magnitude better than anything that's come out for the system so far.

The "definitive" 3DS game will almost certainly be Mario.
 
Chiggs said:
Seriously. I think manufacturers need to step back and take a look at the market's reaction to 3D. People are really resisting this tech.

I guess im the only sucker buying into it

3D tv
2 3DS's
Soon to have the EVO 3D phone

ill look back and laugh at myself in the future
 

Amir0x

Banned
Tron 2.0 said:
I meant it tongue-in-cheek.

But the nugget of truth - that Nintendo cannot rest on its laurels - is absolutely true. And personally, I'd say the fact that they have Pokemon is the bigger ace in their sleeve than Mario kart.

Elforkusu said:
What's fascinating about it? Twilight Princess sold ~7 million WW, right? OoT is a beloved game, it'll put up a huge number.

Orders of magnitude better than anything that's come out for the system so far.

Which was a brand new game that nobody played benefiting from launch fumes. All launch games do better.

I'm not saying Ocarina of Time won't sell well, I'm saying it pretty clearly WON'T be a system seller. Only brand new 3DS titles will sell the system to people, not remakes of ancient games.
 
DrForester said:
Well, NDS games are in dark grey cases, 3DS games are in white cases. While box art is similar, the case color makes it obvious to anyone which system it's for.

Also, the 3DS cases are slimmer than the Ds ones.
 

Boney

Banned
Amir0x said:
you think a remake of an N64 game is going to make the system go boom?


Fascinating.

Because I think it is the 3DS continued inability to have a single game that defines IT as a NEW platform for NEW ideas and games and concepts is certainly part of the problem here and Zelda neatly fits into all those problems.
I think it's somewhere in the middle. Same as the GBA before it, there's both, people who have never played them, and pick it up based on brand recognition, and people that really want it cause they grew up with the game and what not. But this isn't enough to push them to get over the excesively expensive price tag, and there's not much going on other than a zelda remake, which they can still play on their old N64.

OoT should work as either a good launch game, or a complement to a key defining game. Because zelda isn't a defining game.
 

TEJ

Member
BY2K said:
3DS sales are gonna go "BOOM!" once OoT 3D comes out. But before that, Nintendo better have some sweets reveals for the handheld at E3.

I think it's Mario Kart that's going to make the 3DS boom in sales. I mean, MK DS and MK Wii were huge sellers. Aren't both past 10 million ww by now?
 
DrForester said:
Well, NDS games are in dark grey cases, 3DS games are in white cases. While box art is similar, the case color makes it obvious to anyone which system it's for.
The easiest way to tell is to ask, "Does this game look overpriced and not any good?"

If the answer is yes, it's for the 3DS.

Amir0x said:
Which was a brand new game that nobody played benefiting from launch fumes. All launch games do better.

I'm not saying Ocarina of Time won't sell well, I'm saying it pretty clearly WON'T be a system seller. Only brand new 3DS titles will sell the system to people, not remakes of ancient games.
Dubious. I wouldn't own a 3DS if not for OoT, and it's not even out yet. Anecdotally overruled!

fernoca said:
It might sell to the current owners and a few here and there, but seeing how Super Mario 64DS wasn't the DS' system seller; even as a launch title, it's kinda hard to assume that Ocarina of Time will...even when Mario has been a more consistent seller than Zelda.
Mario 64 DS was (vastly) inferior to the N64 version. OoT is supposedly vastly superior.
 

fernoca

Member
Elfforkusu said:
What's fascinating about it? Twilight Princess sold ~7 million WW, right? OoT is a beloved game, it'll put up a huge number.

Orders of magnitude better than anything that's come out for the system so far.
It might sell to the current owners and a few here and there, but seeing how Super Mario 64DS wasn't the DS' system seller; even as a launch title, it's kinda hard to assume that Ocarina of Time will...even when Mario has been a more consistent seller than Zelda.
 

Scum

Junior Member
There's currently nothing after the launch titles that's compelling for the 3DS at the moment. Doesn't help either when Pokemon Black & White are DS/DSi titles.
It just needs "3DS" titles and the sooner, the better. Perhaps, Pokemon Grey...
 
Pretty bad numbers for both Wii and 3DS. The former shows that perhaps the mass market that lifted the Wii to those heights has indeed turned away towards the next shiny thing (Kinect). I don't think conservative pricecuts are going to be of any meaning anymore.

In the case of the latter, it's pretty rough to sell a gaming system on the premise of its technology alone. It needs something that can sell the idea of 3D gaming, in the same way Wii Sports sold the idea of motion-controlled gaming. It's pretty early in its lifecycle, though, so it has plenty of time to get things going.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Hmm... I thought Portal 2 PS3 did decently on the US.

Guess not?
 

Boney

Banned
fernoca said:
It might sell to the current owners and a few here and there, but seeing how Super Mario 64DS wasn't the DS' system seller; even as a launch title, it's kinda hard to assume that Ocarina of Time will...even when Mario has been a more consistent seller than Zelda.
Mario 64DS did end up doing great numbers though. Think it's like 7 or 6 millions I think. It's just that they work as easy pick up games. They're just not driving factors into adoption.

Heck I can even argue that Mario Kart fits in the same bill.
 
I'm not surprised by the MK numbers at all, it's always been a strong seller to the casual audience. It's the fighting game community that has always ignored it. And although it's no where close to MvC3 or SSF4 popularity in that area, at least it's finally making strides in the tournament scene. Hopefully more of these casual fans get on youtube and watch tournament matches or something and hopefully encourage them to level up and come out for these tournaments.
 

gimz

Member
i think if Nintendo want Zelda OOT to do well they really need to advertise the game more
right now the younger generation doesnt know Zelda OOT, and the older people like us already played it so many times.
 

apana

Member
SteelAttack said:
Pretty bad numbers for both Wii and 3DS. The former shows that perhaps the mass market that lifted the Wii to those heights has indeed turned away towards the next shiny thing (Kinect). I don't think conservative pricecuts are going to be of any meaning anymore.

In the case of the latter, it's pretty rough to sell a gaming system on the premise of its technology alone. It needs something that can sell the idea of 3D gaming, in the same way Wii Sports sold the idea of motion-controlled gaming. It's pretty early in its lifecycle, though, so it has plenty of time to get things going.

No Kinect isn't the issue. Wii is out there basically with no software to propel it. Ocarina will give the 3DS a little forward momentum in the States but I'm doubtful about Japan and Europe.
 

watershed

Banned
Nintendo 3DS - 194K

Let's see, 3ds's first full month on the market. Overpriced, under advertised. Lacking key features, and missing a single killer app or system defining game or a strong line up in general. 194k makes sense to me.
 

Indyana

Member
DrForester said:
I think a lot will depend on how well the new price point goes. It's only the Wii's 2nd Price Drop.
After these sales with many shops clearing stock, I don't think the price drop will make a big difference. The first one didn't work very well until New Super Mario Bros Wii was released. Maybe the Wii Select games and the Mario Kart bundle can help... maybe.
Dark FaZe said:
I think the world is just not that interested in new videogame platforms of any kind at this point but I could be wrong.

One thing to take note of is that along with a poor economy right now and rising gas prices a lot of people are finding a lot more electronics to put their money into. iPhones,iPads, kindles, etc. I wonder if the 3DS' failings thus far is less about the appeal of the hardware self and more about gaming and electronic fatigue in general.

I think the stream is going to be DOA.
You could be right but they can't keep the Wii alive much longer so they have no choice. And the more time passes Apple becomes a bigger threat.
TEJ said:
I think it's Mario Kart that's going to make the 3DS boom in sales. I mean, MK DS and MK Wii were huge sellers. Aren't both past 10 million ww by now?
20+ million ww.
 

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
Door2Dawn said:
Yeah because the N64 and the 3DS are completely the same.

What a fucking stupid comment. I really hope that was a joke.
N64 could only WISH it had games like Starfox 64 3D and Legend Of Zelda: OoT.
 

fernoca

Member
Elfforkusu said:
Mario 64 DS was (vastly) inferior to the N64 version. OoT is supposedly vastly superior.
Well, I wouldn't call the lack of an analog stick as "vastly inferior", when the game had better visuals, more playable characters, new stages, bosses and new modes. While Ocarina of Time is apparently the exact same game with updated visuals.

Mario 64DS still did a few millions, but it wasn't a system seller. If anything the upcoming Mario 3D and Mario Kart 3D will be system seller.

But at this point, is anybody's guess. Heck Nintendogs was a system seller to many in the original DS, yet the 3DS version failed to do the same as "system sellers".


Boney said:
Mario 64DS did end up doing great numbers though. Think it's like 7 or 6 millions I think. It's just that they work as easy pick up games. They're just not driving factors into adoption.

Heck I can even argue that Mario Kart fits in the same bill.
Yep, but keep in mind that what's been argued is not the overall sales, but the game being a system seller. The game can sell 500k units at release, but if the hardware only sells 100k that month it won't do much.
 

Huff

Banned
ULTROS! said:
Hmm... I thought Portal 2 PS3 did decently on the US.

Guess not?

Out of the 640k Portal sold, PS3 probably got around 30% of the sales. Puts it around 190k.

Yeah thats not great. Valve only has itself to blame though.
 

SlickVic

Member
Don't know if the bomba comments in that thread on the TRU/Amazon sale for Portal 2 and MK were just a joke, but I'm just glad to see that wasn't the case and both games ended up doing quite well for themselves. I'm sure Portal 2 also got a nice chunk of sales off Steam to add to these numbers.
 

Chiggs

Member
Outtrigger888 said:
I guess im the only sucker buying into it

3D tv
2 3DS's
Soon to have the EVO 3D phone

ill look back and laugh at myself in the future

I have a 3D television, too; I just don't really use it and firmly believe the tech is going to change again.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Elfforkusu said:
Dubious. I wouldn't own a 3DS if not for OoT, and it's not even out yet. Anecdotally overruled!

If you really want to sit here and argue that Ocarina of Time is going to be a system seller then you be my guest. It's not even going to take long to prove the lie to that.

artwalknoon said:
Overpriced, under advertised.

Overpriced, perhaps, but not under advertised. There are 3DS advertisement every five seconds on TV. I saw three 3DS commercials in just the past day. One during Conan O'Brien, for example.
 
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