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NPD Sales Results for February 2014 [Up2: PS4/XB1/Wii U/360 Hardware, BD/Poke/DK]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Graphics Horse
Member
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
I think there is still a future for dedicated hardware, much like there is still a market for point and shoot cameras, Mp3 players and the like.
However there is only room for one player and that player either has to go extremely high end or extremely low end, with extensive and diverse software support.
Sony doesn't care enough but Nintendo are too concerned with profit margins/value of IP at the low end and are too techically incompetent at the High end.
whatever happens, the days of the GBA/NDS are well and truly over.
However there is only room for one player and that player either has to go extremely high end or extremely low end, with extensive and diverse software support.
Sony doesn't care enough but Nintendo are too concerned with profit margins/value of IP at the low end and are too techically incompetent at the High end.
whatever happens, the days of the GBA/NDS are well and truly over.
Ninty Legend
Member
This is more well said than that nonsense by a mile.
Metallix87
Member
Mine, surprisingly. DS was clearly an anomaly, but 3DS is still selling very well and is on-track to tromp the GBA in sales. Unfortunately, as I've said, pricing and content are major hurdles it still needs to overcome, and fast, but it's clear handhelds are here to stay.
theprodigy
Member
I bet it's an e-reader
Beer Monkey
Member
Wow, you know, if MS comes out with a Kinect-free SKU at $100 less, they could actually win North America.
I'm still annoyed at the power disparity but I have to give them props.
I'm still annoyed at the power disparity but I have to give them props.
ultratruman
Banned
QoL is a robot.
QoLbot. You read it here first.
QoLbot. You read it here first.
Mutanthands
Member
Ok. But Nintendo is losing money, and has done so for nearly 3 years. Pokémon, Animal Crossing, 2D and 3D Mario, and Mario Kart are out. Lowering the prices lowers profits even further. Despite sales, something is not working. I don't see where you are coming from with this.
Graphics Horse
Member
Finally, R.O.B. returns to reclaim the mascot spot that Mario ripped away from his claws during a Gyromite session.
OldKingDoran
Banned
nah, it was dead when Sony decided not to fund/moneyhat Vita exclusives, and instead pump in 50 million+ for God of War Ascension.
Just think. 50 million that could have went towards Vita games, instead went for a game nobody really asked for or particularly wanted.
Dragon's Crown took about 1 million, and is fantastic on PS3/Vita. We could have had tons more of those great mid sized AA games.
thank god for Tecmo Koei and Xseed
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
Ofcourse Xbone is going to change more than the 360 over its life-time. The 360 was a great product at the right time at the right place. It lacked the hard-core software support over the course of its life but maintained an edge on multi-plat titles.
But their vision is so horribly wrong. Nothing about it is "balanced". That word has never been more falsly attributed to a product. It's lacking in both hardware and integration with common tech (the 50/24hz fiascos). As a next-gen console it might be doing well now but once friends of friends start visiting their friends and seeing the difference between Xbone and PS4 Call of Duty first hand there will be a tough pill to swallow for the people who believe in a parity between the consoles graphically.
And before we actually know how much PS4 can sell without being out of stock everywhere any comparison between the two is guesswork at best. We can say that the Xbone is doing good numbers compared to expectations but anything else is a stab in the dark.
I want good products to succeed but I'm not certain that the Xbone is a good product. Let's wait and see what happens.
Metallix87
Member
What's not working is the way they've been handling hardware development. Nintendo pushing for a 3D screen, which adds nothing outside of a handful of experiences, was foolish. The same holds true for the Game Pad. This generation is proof that they need to be smarter when developing their hardware in order to keep costs down and keep prices reasonable.
ultratruman
Banned
Medibot?
MEDIBOT
the ultimate blue ocean
Well, let's see: http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/sales/hard_soft/index.html
The 3DS is at 42.74 million shipped.
It has 152.29 million software units shipped.
The GBA is at 81.54 million shipped.
It has 377.42 million software units shipped.
Nintendo's expected total for the 3DS this year is:
Hardware: 13.5 million
Software: 66 million
Even if we assumed it held at 2013 levels for the next three years, which is really unlikely, it would take:
3 years to beat out the GBA's hardware total
Over 3 years to beat out the GBA's software total
When we assume decline, we're probably seeing at least 4 years to top the GBA on either front.
This isn't exactly "tromp"ing the GBA, especially given that the GBA was a short life system.
kinoki
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
Care to elaborate?
Heh guess Nintendo is fucked in QoL business.
These. Nintendo will be in a lot of trouble if they're trying to go down the health market route.
casinoman921
Member
Selling hardware at a profit out of the gate needs to be their focus for the future. Nintendo can't survive selling at a loss. It sounds very simple but that's how they were able to stay in the game for so long before the Wii and DS. Consoles kept going down in sales, but they were able to make money still.
It sucks saying the dedicated handheld market is collapsing when really it's going back to the pre-DS/PSP days with just Nintendo dominating as usual. The 3DS could be doing better, but it needs another price cut and software knocked down $5-$10. Problem is already losing money on hardware. For the future, no point in Sony making another one, but Nintendo can get away with it. Just has to be a cheap launch of $100-$120, with software at max $30. This might be a little harder to sell at a profit, but I think the tech will get cheaper in a couple years. We'll see.
It sucks saying the dedicated handheld market is collapsing when really it's going back to the pre-DS/PSP days with just Nintendo dominating as usual. The 3DS could be doing better, but it needs another price cut and software knocked down $5-$10. Problem is already losing money on hardware. For the future, no point in Sony making another one, but Nintendo can get away with it. Just has to be a cheap launch of $100-$120, with software at max $30. This might be a little harder to sell at a profit, but I think the tech will get cheaper in a couple years. We'll see.
Metallix87
Member
Unfortunately, this is mostly due to pricing and software. Factor in those elements, and the truth is clear. 3DS is still $160 to $200 for all intents and purposes. Kids realize that the $130 2DS is a lesser model. The software is still too expensive, and there's a lot less of it. GBA launched at $99 with games at $29.99, and the support was extremely robust.
Mr_Antimatter
Member
I'd say the killing blow was the memory cards. If they had gone with SD cards, we'd all have vitas right now. But they wanted 20-$100 more profit, and it killed their console.
I don't know how smoothly you think you just transitioned from "tromping" to "the truth is clear," but fundamentally and radically changing pricing and software strategy says far more about the entire model and ecosystem.
I don't think you've demonstrated how the truth is clear at all. If anything, it is clearer than ever that the entire model is being tromped.
Metallix87
Member
I disagree. The Vita needed to make memory cards 100% optional. That is the biggest hurdle it faced at launch.
Fine, then I'll leave it at this: I believe that there is no chance handhelds are going away any time soon, if ever. The expanded DS audience moved on to mobile, but the GBA audience will remain when all is said and done, IMO.
ultratruman
Banned
That's a bit of stretch mate, but it's true that a lack of built-in memory and expensive, proprietary memory cards can be seen as one of the bigger nails in the Vita's coffin.
This is my first time saying this on this thread. Not sure where you're getting that from.
NeonZ
Member
I know that the 3DS sales aren't looking good right now, but are they actually losing money on that side by itself, or is it due to the Wii U and now the development of this QoL platform?
The issue with all these comments about Nintendo going mobile is that it'd automatically mean the death of their only relevant product line right now. Even if it ends up successful, it's very unlikely that it'd result in profits comparable to their golden age in portables anyway, due to licensing and lower price involved in that market. So, we're looking at a contraction either way.
A new portable generation, attempting to avoid the 3DS pitfalls, like unnecessary 3d raising costs and initial high price, and maybe adding something cheap to make it more appealing to western gamers (like a tv out?) should be considered before just throwing it away. Their console business is another matter though...
The GBA launched in March, 2001. By the end of 2003, it had sold 49.4 million units.
The 3DS launched in March, 2011. By the end of 2013, it has sold 42.7 million units.
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2004/040129e.pdf#page=3
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/library/historical_data/pdf/consolidated_sales1312.pdf
Metallix87
Member
What does the situation look like if you subtracted Japan from the totals of both systems?
casinoman921
Member
And smartphone mania taking over the world
Metallix87
Member
Indeed. The 3DS itself needs to drop to $130, the XL to $150, and the 2DS to $99, and software prices need to go down by about $5 - $10.
OldKingDoran
Banned
SCEA needs to bundle Vita with a game. Digital/Physical, watever, but bundle it.
Also include a 4gb memory card. One can dream
Also include a 4gb memory card. One can dream
Um, not exactly. The first 3 million Xbox One owners during November & December just happen to be hardcore Xbox fans.
Average consumers will just most likely see Xbox One as a home gaming console, & they aren't going to shell out $500 w/tax plus $60 for a yearly subscription to Xbox Live Gold just to do most of the things that Xbox One does in which most of the same things that Xbox One has can be done for a lot cheaper on other devices for much less, & without a required subscription.
Well, on a really basic level (unfortunately I don't have time right now for an indepth boil down):
Final GBA reported total in Japan: 15,348,849
Current 3DS reported total in Japan: 15,037,116
Given this, the 3DS is doing proportionally notably worse in the West relative to the GBA in comparison to the 3DS versus the GBA in Japan.
Or, in other words, handhelds have held on much better in Japan than in the West, and are still bigger than they were in the GBA days there, whereas that doesn't seem true in the West.
People thought it was nearly DOA for the first 6 months, too.
The real issue with 3DS IMO is that it hasn't had a definitive revision. DS Lite and GBA SP were both pretty huge for Nintendo and provided a huge second wind for those systems, 3DSXL and 2DS? Not so much.
Steverulez
Member
Did Fable Anniversary bomb? Combing through but cant find anything on it
Usually these kinds of re-releases are low volume products that sell in bargain bins for a long period of time.
They also usually appeal to the kinds of consumers buying a 360 late in the generation, so upfront sales won't be the best measure of their success.
Metallix87
Member
Aren't there several bundles already?
And_Gignac
Member
Nintendo is only losing money because of poor designing choices. Nintendo hast lost money during the las three years due to unnecessary gimmicks like the tablet controller and the 3D screen of the 3DS. Those consoles would have sold exactly the same, even a little bit more, without the gimmicks an Nintendo would be in the black like always. Saying Nintendo needs to exit hardware without considering the actual reasons of their actual financial struggles is ludicrous.
It's more than just that. The dedicated gaming handheld market is just dying to mobile & tablets at a much faster rate than before.
Ya, I thought that GBA was huge in the America's (like 40M+ for the region). I don't see the 3DS beating that total regardless of how much longer it is on the market. Sales are already on a decline it seems.
All bundles were limited so far.
The next one is the Borderlands one with the Slim.
Metallix87
Member
Again, I very much doubt that.
And_Gignac
Member
Not dying, just having a reduction. Nintendo can survive with a 30m LTD selling handheld console and all their software royalties.
TechnicPuppet
Nothing! I said nothing!
Well for a start people going to friends houses and noticing how much better COD looks on the PS4.
Edit: It does look better, but average Joes or me for that matter are not going to notice this in isolation.
theprodigy
Member
uh....Nintendo handhelds probably aren't dipping below 30M LTD anytime soon, so I don't think they need to worry about that happening
DR2K
Banned
It's an e reader for your physical books.