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[ViperVisor]

they released an overpriced, half ass designed console with a very subpar launch line up.

That could be said of the PS2.

I can blame Nintendo for not investing enough in software if this year ends up underwhelming, now is too early.

What worries me is that this goes well beyond just Nintendo. The industry as a whole being fail. Bloaters waddling through the money tree forests. Getting whatever is easiest to pick. Not trying to be inventive to get more, better to just wait for someone to chainsaw something and then follow the thunder to get at what is left. The controlled burn of ports or uncontrolled shovelware like termites who also eat what you hope to collect.

Not saying the old days were puppies and sunshine but the recent past and foreseeable future is troubling.
Is it just that we have had a decade now of machines that can make produce whatever world you want? Is 3DS just a crutch to compensate for atrophy elsewhere?
You'd think, based on history, or hope there would of been more neat and successful games on Wii and some outstanding in 1 or both. Didn't happen. 3DS so far sucks.

Am I wrong and the NPD top 10s we see every month with all the derivatives is just the cover page that is ever-present for this story?

 

[Dreams-Visions]

PS3's May sales are going to be diabolical. I'm hearing stories of people returning them left and right because of this PSN thing.

I suggest people be ready for an anomaly month.

 

[Deadly Joker]

PS3's May sales are going to be diabolical. I'm hearing stories of people returning them left and right because of this PSN thing.

I suggest people be ready for an anomaly month.

Do you think less than 100k?

 

[wayward archer]

PS3's May sales are going to be diabolical. I'm hearing stories of people returning them left and right because of this PSN thing.

I suggest people be ready for an anomaly month.

It ain't gonna be good. Especially since I can imagine people buying Black Ops + PS3 or SOCOM 4 + PS3 who don't keep up with gaming news.

 

[Anth0ny]

Absolutely not surprised at those DS numbers. I'd imagine way more people are buying Pokemon and a cheap DS than a $250 DS (since the public can't tell the difference between DS and 3DS) and *insert crappy launch title*.

Oh, and PS3 is definitely gonna sell like shit this month. That is going to be a sight to see.

 

[smurfx]

Yeah I think people are over reacting. Wait till they get some big name games out.. or at least wait till the holiday season rolls around.

are people really overreacting? did the ds have such stiff competition from smart phones and apple with the ipod touch and iphone? i bet many kids these days would prefer having a smart phone in their pocket than a 3ds,psp or whatever other portable console.

 

[Tutomos]

What will Nintendo do to convince the female audience which consists of 50% of DS's install base to buy a 3DS.

 

[jamesinclair]

What will Nintendo do to convince the entire audience which consists of 100% of DS's install base to buy a 3DS.

Fixed

 

[Jeels]

That could be said of the PS2.

I can blame Nintendo for not investing enough in software if this year ends up underwhelming, now is too early.

What worries me is that this goes well beyond just Nintendo. The industry as a whole being fail. Bloaters waddling through the money tree forests. Getting whatever is easiest to pick. Not trying to be inventive to get more, better to just wait for someone to chainsaw something and then follow the thunder to get at what is left. The controlled burn of ports or uncontrolled shovelware like termites who also eat what you hope to collect.

Not saying the old days were puppies and sunshine but the recent past and foreseeable future is troubling.
Is it just that we have had a decade now of machines that can make produce whatever world you want? Is 3DS just a crutch to compensate for atrophy elsewhere?
You'd think, based on history, or hope there would of been more neat and successful games on Wii and some outstanding in 1 or both. Didn't happen. 3DS so far sucks.

Am I wrong and the NPD top 10s we see every month with all the derivatives is just the cover page that is ever-present for this story?

I completely disagree, the only place where I feel like there isn't a diverse line up of games whether we want to call them "blockbuster", "hardcore", "indie", whatever is on Nintendo's console and new handheld. We have some amazing titles coming out every month, whether they be gems that only people in certain circles discover, or reboots of popular franchises.

 

[Warm Machine]

3d isn't being rejected because people don't like the tech, it is because it isn't practical for many peoples situations. I was thinking of upgrading my tv to a 3d one. Then I thought about when I'm in the kitchen, or when my wife and I are watching a movie with our child in the room, the 3d is problematic in those circumstances. Then there is a massive lack of content in comparison.

I'm pro 3d for games. They are the best application for the tech. I feel bad for the fraction of the population who can't see the effect. That said, the 3DS has so many problems with it's marketing I'm not surprised it isn't doing very well yet. The 3d is not something you can show in an ad on tv, online, or in print. The name of the console is terrible as it sounds like a revision rather than a new console.

Most of all I maintain the market for handhelds is growing up and iOS and other devices are having a significant impact.

 

[Log4Girlz]

It's not quite as easy as that honestly.

I think the3DS is just too expensive for what it is. I mean the PS3 has some of the best exclusive software of the generation but it's still in 3rd place in the US. Most of that reason is because of the cost.

The second major hurdle is the 3D. I think people are rejecting 3D regardless of glasses free or not. People see it as a gimmick (which it is) and when you build platform around a gimmick people don't like then it shows in the sales.

Now, will the system start selling like crazy when some Mario games come around? Yes, but I will be very surprised if the 3DS ever reaches anywhere near DS numbers when everything is said and done.

I do not see this rejection at the theatre I work for in general. It is one of the busiest in north america and has the most number of 3D screens. The notable exception is Thor, during our midnight show people were swarming to the 2D.

 

[Four_Chamber]

Glad that SOCOM 4 flopped,that will teach them to make an actual real SOCOM game. Also PS3 hardware is pretty impressive,very close to 360.

Just read through this thread- this post was curious. Nearly 50% more sales (a difference of nearly 100k units) is very close?

I know April is ghost town for software, but its pretty amazing to see Kinect titles in the top 10- I thought it would do well, but no idea it would push the envelope this quickly. E3 is going to be interesting as its clear there is a sizable market for the Kinect that already exists and a potential one that has been created by the Wii slowdown.

Microsoft really continues to push on with moving software as well and it will be interesting how they will do later in the year when some of their big exclusives sell. They must be feeling pretty good right now.

 

[French]

Wow, 360 is the new Wii, no exclusive since last year ( until September ) and it's first.

Next month will be painful for Sony.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

James Cameron

I stand corrected.

 

[Biggzy]

Do you think Sony execs are sitting in their chairs in some boardroom and looking at the admittedly early 3DS numbers and are more than getting a little bit nervous over the NGP?

 

[Pride]

Wow, 360 is the new Wii, no exclusive since last year ( until September ) and it's first.

Next month will be painful for Sony.

The Xbox 360 has had 4 exclusives so far this year, and 4 more planned to release before August...

 

[Shurs]

The Xbox 360 has had 4 exclusives so far this year, and 4 more planned to release before August...

Not that I'm doubting you, but can you list the 8 games you're talking about?

 

[dragonfart28]

The fact that DS is still a huge success should be reassuring for Nintendo. They made the right move to launch 3DS at the time that they did. As DS numbers slowly drop, the opposite will happen with 3DS to give them that smooth transition from one generation to the next. We all know that the 3DS price is too high, so the move upward will coincide with the next price drop. In the meantime, Nintendo will continue to make a healthy profit.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

Portal 2 PS3 didn't even get top 10? Huh?

 

[Pride]

Not that I'm doubting you, but can you list the 8 games you're talking about?

Released
Carnival Games: Monkey See, Monkey Do
Body & Brain Connection
Fantastic Pets
Dance Paradise

Planned to release
UFC Trainer
Power Up Heroes (or might be Power Up fighters, I forget but I think THQ is the publisher)
WipeOut
Michael Phelps

 

[Shurs]

Released
Carnival Games: Monkey See, Monkey Do
Body & Brain Connection
Fantastic Pets
Dance Paradise

Planned to release
UFC Trainer
Power Up Heroes (or might be Power Up fighters, I forget but I think THQ is the publisher)
WipeOut
Michael Phelps

Seems like the Wii comparison is apt

That said, there have been enough excellent multi-platform releases to keep my 360 running this year.

 

[French]

Released
Carnival Games: Monkey See, Monkey Do
Body & Brain Connection
Fantastic Pets
Dance Paradise

Planned to release
UFC Trainer
Power Up Heroes (or might be Power Up fighters, I forget but I think THQ is the publisher)
WipeOut
Michael Phelps

Wow.

 

[Megadragon15]

Released
Carnival Games: Monkey See, Monkey Do
Body & Brain Connection
Fantastic Pets
Dance Paradise

Planned to release
UFC Trainer
Power Up Heroes (or might be Power Up fighters, I forget but I think THQ is the publisher)
WipeOut
Michael Phelps

Kinect exclusives...

 

[megamerican]

Do you think Sony execs are sitting in their chairs in some boardroom and looking at the admittedly early 3DS numbers and are more than getting a little bit nervous over the NGP?

Yeah I was wondering about this myself.

Does Sony see this as Nintendo fumbling, giving the NGP more of a shot? Or do they see this as no interest in dedicated handhelds?

 

[Elios83]

Do you think Sony execs are sitting in their chairs in some boardroom and looking at the admittedly early 3DS numbers and are more than getting a little bit nervous over the NGP?

Imo no, especially if they can launch the Wi-fi model at less than 300$.
Sony will make a lot of marketing noise about the NGP being a sort of tablet-like device with a PS3-like hardware combining dual analog, touch and motion controls in a single device with integrated store and online services at a cheap price compared to smartphones, tablets and Apple products.
If that will work it will depend on the market but on paper they have a good marketing position.
Nintendo on the other hand made a big mistake with the 3DS, they have completely failed to let people notice or believe that it's a next gen product and not just an expensive DS with a 3D screen. Beside that the thing right now is not really attractive, for kids/teens it's too expensive, for hardcore gamers it lacks a compelling software lineup, for high tech enthusiasts it's not high tech enough, it doesn't have something that really attracts casual gamers either, 3D doesn't seem to be a 'casual' feature.

 

[Four_Chamber]

PS3's May sales are going to be diabolical. I'm hearing stories of people returning them left and right because of this PSN thing.

I suggest people be ready for an anomaly month.

Yeah, the April effect of the PSN outage was miniscule as the full disclosure of the event didn't happen until the tail end of April.

I'm real interested to see what the sales in May and going forward are going to look like. The negative publicity isn't going to die out the second PSN is turned back on.

 

[smurfx]

Do you think Sony execs are sitting in their chairs in some boardroom and looking at the admittedly early 3DS numbers and are more than getting a little bit nervous over the NGP?

i'd say they are feeling nervous but at the same time they feel they can perhaps steal away some of nintendo future handheld market right now that they are weak.

 

[Elios83]

I'm real interested to see what the sales in May and going forward are going to look like. The negative publicity isn't going to die out the second PSN is turned back on.

Well you know unless on June 6 they're all "PSN fully back online, upgraded, free gifts and PS3 at 199$ for all" XD

 

[marc^o^]

The fact that DS is still a huge success should be reassuring for Nintendo. They made the right move to launch 3DS at the time that they did. As DS numbers slowly drop, the opposite will happen with 3DS to give them that smooth transition from one generation to the next. We all know that the 3DS price is too high, so the move upward will coincide with the next price drop. In the meantime, Nintendo will continue to make a healthy profit.

This. Pretty much what Iwata said to investors in the last meeting. And Nintendo is still selling twice as much hardware than Microsoft. They could be doing better, but could also be in a worse position. From 3D to Street Pass, 3DS could become viral, but it needs Mario Kart to explode.

 

[Zen]

The difference is motion controls were not rejected by the mainstream. Some people here on GAF may not like motion control, but the mainstream does. 3D is being rejected on almost every level at every age at every income level.

Well, not at the theater at least.

 

[Oppo]

Little known fact: the programmers were forbidden from using the letter "c" while working on Mortal Kombat. The key itself was removed from the keyboards.

are you saying Mortal Kombat was programmed in K++?

i'm here until thursday, folks

 

[Thunder Monkey]

i'm here until thursday, folks

Not if I shoot you first.

*pulls gun*

 

[donny2112]

Well, not at the theater at least.

3DS as a 3-D movie player without 1) buying a new TV, 2) buying glasses, and 3) with being able to take it with you, should be a great selling point. They just have to get a 3DSXL with movie support out there

Spoiler

so I can buy it

.

 

[Grakl]

There is no reason to worry about the 3DS right now. It's been 2 months.

 

[AlphaTwo00]

There is no reason to worry about the 3DS right now. The next pokemon game isn't here yet.

.

 

[Outtrigger888]

3DS as a 3-D movie player without 1) buying a new TV, 2) buying glasses, and 3) with being able to take it with you, should be a great selling point. They just have to get a 3DSXL with movie support out there

Spoiler

so I can buy it

.

Theres a bunch of phones coming out with 3d support like the evo 3d, and it even shoots 3d movies. The 3DS is kinda behind the times and it just came out. Still enjoying it though.

 

[donny2112]

There is no reason to worry about the 3DS right now. It's been 2 months.

That means we have two data points. Being the Sales-Agers that we are, we can look back at other launch sales and see that it's way underperforming those. We can look at other regions and see that it's not doing so hot elsewhere either (I like the 3DS coming to Europe in 20XX schtick ). We can look at the upcoming release lists and not see anything potentially system-selling outside of ports, which we wouldn't expect to sell many systems, anyways.

It's been two months. We have enough history and information to say that these are a bad two months and it doesn't look to get better soon. Whether that makes you "worry" or not ... *shrugs*

 

[zero_suit]

That means we have two data points. Being the Sales-Agers that we are, we can look back at other launch sales and see that it's way underperforming those.

It's been two months. We have enough history and information to say that these are a bad two months and it doesn't look to get better soon. Whether that makes you "worry" or not ... *shrugs*

PSP had excellent launch sales in NA, and we all know how that turned out...

 

[Kafel]

I remember that chart late last year with a study about what people want/plan to buy.

Is there one about the 3DS ?

Price aside, I don't think people even WANT it. I'm surrounded by people who play videogames, various ages, gender, brand loyalty and noone cares.

 

[Mooreberg]

The 3DS will sell a shitload eventually once Nintendo puts something on it that a lot of people want. The larger to question to me for 3DS and eventually "Cafe" is if this whole app store model has really taken away a lot of the "casual" gamers. If these people now want to get games for $0.99 to $9.99 I don't see what is going to get them back. And the enthusiast purchasers are buying their software on Xbox.

 

[neptunes]

Do you think Sony execs are sitting in their chairs in some boardroom and looking at the admittedly early 3DS numbers and are more than getting a little bit nervous over the NGP?

They should be nervous, if they have access to good market research information they would know whether or not the handheld market has room for growth. They would have more knowledge than us. Sony kind of needs nintendo to do moderately well, Nintendo's success ensures that they can capture some decent marketshare as well. I know most of us deny it but I truly believe apple is cutting into some of their handheld marketshare, if only the ultra casual market that bought nintedogs+brain training a couple years ago. There was no iPhone/iPad/iPod equivalent on the market 6 years ago. I don't think nintendo will reach the total lifetime sales of the DS family ever again.

 

[donny2112]

PSP had excellent launch sales in NA, and we all know how that turned out...

And DS had a pretty pathetic first year. Doesn't change that the 3DS has had a bad couple of first months with nothing looking to change that soon. Doesn't mean it will always be that way, but it's looking to be that way for a while from now.

 

[watershed]

Yeah, people shouldn't mistake saying that the 3ds has had a bad launch with saying that the 3ds is doomed. 2 different ideas, one factual the other to be determined.

 

[Servbot #42]

Wow the Xbox 360 has been on a roll and doesn't show a sign of stopping anytime soon, that makes a price this year all but impossible, that's pretty crazy. I guess i'll just have buy one at the current price oh well.

 

[Busty]

Do we have an idea that the LTD numbers for Crysis 2 are yet?

I'd like to see Crytek do well but it seems like one of those games that people talk about but no one really buys full price.

In my anecdotal opinion/evidence anyway.

 

[S1kkZ]

Wow the Xbox 360 has been on a roll and doesn't show a sign of stopping anytime soon, that makes a price this year all but impossible, that's pretty crazy. I guess i'll just have buy one at the current price oh well.

wait until e3 (in 3 weeks), there should be a price drop in the us.

 

[Annoying Old Party Man]

No one expected Nintendo to be so unprepared with 3DS, mostly because we expected the system to launch last December. But it seems as if Nintendo really wasn't ready for this.

1) They don't have any major software ready
2) Online aka half the system is almost absent
3) Third parties are mostly absent, and we haven't seen evidence of support since last E3 - that list was great but we remember the developer lists for PS3 and what became of it.


These are all questions that we don't have answers for. The answers will be provided soon, in 20 days.

For the time being, 3DS sales are slow but satisfactory. The situation could be completely different by Christmas time, if their online applications are cool and diverse, the line-up has been enhanced by third party offerings everyone wants to see (accurate ports of sports games, some original action games, both retail and DLC from third parties, etc) and the price has dropped.

All these three points can be accomplished by Nintendo but will they? We will see soon, I assume

 

[Dedication Through Light]

PS3's May sales are going to be diabolical. I'm hearing stories of people returning them left and right because of this PSN thing.

I suggest people be ready for an anomaly month.

Werent the PS3 units still sold? Can numbers be subtracted? I think the huge sales at multiple retailers perhaps thwarted any affect, especially since it also seemed quite a few people didnt even know PSN was down. I think more units were still sold in May this year than may of last year (154K?)

 

[Servbot #42]

wait until e3 (in 3 weeks), there should be a price drop in the us.

Yeah i'm definitely gonna wait until after E3 before buying a Xbox, who knows maybe i'll get lucky and a price drop will happen but this interview with a Xbox Group product manager doesn't get my hopes up.

With these strong sales figures in mind, Dennis said that gamers should not expect the Xbox 360 to follow the Wii's price cut. "You really only drop price when you need to, and with the continued momentum that we've got, we don't have any plans in the works," he said. "As long as we continue to bring great games and have good momentum, that isn't something you'll see us consider."

 

[Subitai]

MS has to be careful with things like price cuts. They still operate with the scars of court battles. Even in closed do meetings, managers are careful to not say things like, "We're going to crush the competition." Until sales actually do drop relative to the competition, and give MS the data to cover themselves with in any potential future breakup litigation, I don't think we'll get a 360 price drop.