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[kswiston]

Wow. I had no idea. The LTD DS numbers are so much greater than the LTD GBA numbers (153.93M vs. 81.51M) but I didn't know that its launch was comparatively so much slower.

Actually, in North America, the final numbers were a lot closer than the Worldwide totals would leave you to believe:

Gameboy Advance Shipments to NA: 41.6M
NDS Shipments to NA: 59.9M

The DS still "won" by quite a bit, but it was only a 44% increase over the GBA, compared to the 89% increase worldwide. NDS almost doubled the GBA in Japan, and almost tripled the GBA in PAL countries.

 

[prag16]

Not to mention that both PS3 & 360 might get price cuts as well later on this year.

I guess they should and might, but iirc Sony isn't making that big a profit on the PS3 still due to cell being the clusterfuck that it is. I'm not sure how much they could drop it and still profit. Does anybody know the margins on that $199 12GB SKU?

 

[Horns]

GTA IV still continues to sell 5 years later.

 

[twothunder]

"Xbox 360 sold 107,000"

What a horrible sales month. Even the best selling console barely breaks 100.000.
Wii-U sales are poor ,but sadly unsurprising.

On a single-SKU basis, SMTIV, Luigi's Mansion, and GTA IV: Complete Edition would all have made the top 10.

http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/15/july-2013-npd-animal-crossing-is-officially-a-system-seller/

3DS doing okay and it's software is selling well enough. SMTIV selling well is nice to see.
Wish we got a new Fire Emblem retail + digital LTD ,but I guess you can't have it all.

 

[Second Circle Pad]

Vita < 17k < Wii U < DS < 32k < Wii < 36k

Where are these numbers from?

 

[michaelius]

Ignoring that the HD consoles also did bundles (and if they didn't, could have done bundles), if we assume that people buy consoles to play games, what's the difference between buying a $200 console and a $50 game versus a $250 console/game bundle?

Quite big if the $200 version is not offered in shops.

Also in Japan Wii Sports was sold separately and it's nowhere near 100% attach rate. More like <50%.

Where are these numbers from?

It's better if we don't know But they are accurate you can trust in it.

 

[johnny956]

Where are these numbers from?

creamsugar has the full report and leaks little details like this

 

[SmokyDave]

Subtlety isn't your forte, is it johnny?

 

[Striek]

Ok, so the DS had +1 holiday season and Pokemon had already been released. Based on that I think Nintendo is probably feeling fine about the 3DS numbers.

I doubt it very much. The DS poor start has been explained, 3DS month-by-month numbers would put it at "PSP after it 'died' in 2009 league", and remember Nintendo had two well selling handhelds on the market as well back in the day. The DS by comparison hasn't provided much competition.

7 million less handhelds sold in the same 29 month post new handheld launch period.

The gap between the 3DS and the DS is about to get really, really, really large. Even with Pokemon coming. Nintendo has successfully conquered the handheld market place, but its an increasingly niche market.

Add the PSP+Vita on either side and you see that neat graph Shrina posted, a decline that hasn't even bottomed out yet.

I don't think anyones feeling fine about this situation.

 

[Tom_Cody]

I doubt it very much. The DS poor start has been explained, 3DS month-by-month numbers would put it at "PSP after it 'died' in 2009 league", and remember Nintendo had two well selling handhelds on the market as well back in the day. The DS by comparison hasn't provided much competition.

7 million less handhelds sold in the same 29 month post new handheld launch period.

The gap between the 3DS and the DS is about to get really, really, really large. Even with Pokemon coming. Nintendo has successfully conquered the handheld market place, but its an increasingly niche market.

Add the PSP+Vita on either side and you see that neat graph Shrina posted, a decline that hasn't even bottomed out yet.

I don't think anyones feeling fine about this situation.

Wow, so the 3DS numbers are more sobering than I had realized. Whelp.

Still, it will be interesting to see where it is after this holiday season.

 

[Aquamarine]

Where are these numbers from?

NPD threads would be supremely boring without any leaks.

The company barely releases any information to the public these days, a real shame if you ask me.

 

[Lumyst]

We had this thread, but Nintendo released the GCN as a purple lunchbox with an asymmetric controller, stingy memory cards, wonky dual analog setup, mini discs, and intentionally downplayed tech specs as a selling point despite being more capable than PS2.

The perception of the system was far worse than the reality, at least at the start. Despite Rogue Leader, REmake, Zero, Metroid Prime and Eternal Darkness landing in the first year, they couldn't shake the "kiddie" stigma, the Xbox took the N64's place as the console fps king (thanks for nothing Perfect Dark 2 and Duke Nukem Forever) and NCL didn't help with the way the system was marketed (let's be honest, the Wind Waker reveal hurt their brand in NA a LOT) and the way they pushed off-screen play via the GBA instead of online gaming.

I seem to remember it being all about the "kiddy" image. And I forget, were GTAIII, Vice City and San Andreas a big deal? Xbox and PS2 had that game, so it was reaffirming that the Gamecube was the kiddy console by not getting those games. Oh and the mini-discs, I remember people thinking you couldn't fit a full game on that, and even though the Gamecube was more powerful than the PS2 I don't think many people knew that (We did get it beaten in our heads that the Xbox was the most powerful though).

 

[Mileena]

Damn @ DS and Wii > Wii U and Vita

I laughed

 

[jcm]

Some comps. Transcribed by hand, hopefully accurate.

Year Over Year               
           2013     2012    % Change
360         107      203     -47.29%
PS3          79      140     -43.57%
WIU          29                  N/A
WII          35       70     -50.00%
3DS         150      131      14.50%
NDS          31      125     -75.20%
PSV          16       47     -65.96%
PSP           5       25     -80.00%
               
Family               
MSFT        107      203     -47.29%
SONY        100      212     -52.83%
NINT        245      326     -24.85%
               
HAND        202      328     -38.41%
CONSOLE     250      413     -39.47%
               
Gen over Gen               
Console    2013     2006    % Change
360                  206     
PS2                  241     
XBX                   12     
GCN                   44     
TOTAL       250      503     -50.30%
               
Handheld   2013     2007    % Change
NDS                  405     
PSP                  214     
GBA                   87     
Total       202      706     -71.39%

 

[Z3M0G]

GTA IV still continues to sell 5 years later.

5 years?

5 YEARS!?!?! D:

 

[Manmademan]

Two things that stand out to me:

- The barren wasteland that is the Wii U release schedule, man they really messed up there.

- All those great Gamecube games and such low numbers. Why? REmake, Metroid Prime, Pikmin, Eternal Darkness, RE Zero, Smash Bros, Rogue Leader, Luigi... all in the console's first year. What happened there? Wii U deserved to tank with no games coming out but the GC deserved so much more, so much quality in its first year, and all exclusive games.

what happened is that nintendo screwed up with the N64, and many gamers wrote them off and bought either a DC two years earlier, or a PS2 one year earlier.

On top of that, it was Rare that made the N64 in the US with games like goldeneye and perfect dark. Rare was entirely absent for the GC, as it was sold to microsoft right around launch time. In fact, the N64 was very much a shooterbox- if you wanted FPS on console you had an N64. The PS1 was very weak here. The GC had virtually none at all. that audience all went to MS and bought Halo.

Given all that, you're left with just the nintendo hardcore on that system which accounts for the sales it saw for hardware and software.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Shiiitttttt @ the numbers!

 

[Sez]

Some comps. Transcribed by hand, hopefully accurate.

Year Over Year               
           2013     2012    % Change
360         107      203     -47.29%
PS3          79      140     -43.57%
WIU          29                  N/A
WII          35       70     -50.00%
3DS         150      131      14.50%
NDS          31      125     -75.20%
PSV          16       47     -65.96%
PSP           5       25     -80.00%
               
Family               
MSFT        107      203     -47.29%
SONY        100      212     -52.83%
NINT        245      326     -24.85%
               
HAND        202      328     -38.41%
CONSOLE     250      413     -39.47%
               
Gen over Gen               
Console    2013     2006    % Change
360                  206     
PS2                  241     
XBX                   12     
GCN                   44     
TOTAL       250      503     -50.30%
               
Handheld   2013     2007    % Change
NDS                  405     
PSP                  214     
GBA                   87     
Total       202      706     -71.39%

If we compare by generations, this month the old gen sold over 250k while in 2007 the old gen sold less than 300k. The difference is small.

In the other hand, the difference in handhelds is abysmal.

 

[Aquamarine]

The fact that it isn't actually doing that much better is profoundly depressing.

Want to know something even more sad?

Wii U > Vita > OUYA > PSP

OUYA, in its second month, is already outperforming one of Sony's consoles, and it isn't too far behind from the other one. :-(

 

[Manmademan]

Want to know something even more sad?

Wii U > Vita > OUYA > PSP

OUYA, in its second month, is already outperforming one of Sony's consoles, and it isn't too far behind from the other one. :-(

you can't be serious. The PSP is a dead platform. it's gotten no relevant stateside releases for years now. You might as well say it's outperforming the PS2.

as for the Vita, sales are poor but even at that level Ouya has no shot at passing it.

 

[Celine]

Want to know something even more sad?

Wii U > Vita > OUYA > PSP

OUYA, in its second month, is already outperforming one of Sony's consoles, and it isn't too far behind from the other one. :-(

Slowly but steadily Ouya will reach the top.

 

[cloudyy]

Kiddy stigma aside (which I don't think did matter in the eyes of the general consumer), the PS2 could do everything (+dvd) the GC was doing, so there was really no reason to get a gamecube over a ps2, especially since the latter was already in the market for over a year.

 

[Aquamarine]

you can't be serious. The PSP is a dead platform. it's gotten no relevant stateside releases for years now. You might as well say it's outperforming the PS2.

as for the Vita, sales are poor but even at that level Ouya has no shot at passing it.

I was half-joking...

But I did actually think PSP would at least manage to sell better than OUYA this month. While software sales may be dead, hardware sales for the PSP are still barely alive in the USA.

 

[jcm]

If we compare by generations, this month the old gen sold over 250k while in 2007 the old gen sold less than 300k. The difference is small.

In the other hand, the difference in handhelds is abysmal.

I use 2006 as the comp year for consoles, because that year had 1 new console released, and two due at the end of the year. In 2007 we had 3 new consoles already. So if you look at the 2006 comparison, the difference is that we don't have a PS2 this gen (even PS3 + 360 is down 22% compared to 2006 PS2), and that the Wii U is abysmal when compared to the 2006 360 (down 86%).

 

[CosmicQueso]

One thing I wish would get more attention is the total number of titles being released.

Year to date, 189 releases have hit the retail market (handheld and consoles only), while between January and July in 2012 296 releases were in market.

That's a 36% decline in products launched, which outpaces the overall decline in sales. That means titles are selling more, on average, this year than last.

 

[airmangataosenai]

Actually, in North America, the final numbers were a lot closer than the Worldwide totals would leave you to believe:

Gameboy Advance Shipments to NA: 41.6M
NDS Shipments to NA: 59.9M

The DS still "won" by quite a bit, but it was only a 44% increase over the GBA, compared to the 89% increase worldwide. NDS almost doubled the GBA in Japan, and almost tripled the GBA in PAL countries.

The main reason for this was also obvious: GBA was only out for 3.5 years before it's successor hit. It still went strong for another year or two even with Nintendo actively trying to kill it, it's sort of crazy but the thing might've even had more worldwide sales potential than the DS had it been given actual software support by Nintendo (Mario Kart was the only big-name title from them developed inhouse) and a full life cycle.

 

[Aquamarine]

The main reason for this was also obvious: GBA was only out for 3.5 years before it's successor hit. It still went strong for another year or two even with Nintendo actively trying to kill it, it's sort of crazy but the thing might've even had more worldwide sales potential than the DS had it been given actual software support by Nintendo (Mario Kart was the only big-name title from them developed inhouse) and a full life cycle.

Technically speaking, Nintendo didn't even develop Mario Kart GBA in-house.

Intelligent Systems---which is not a first-party subsidiary of Nintendo---did all of the programming, graphics, and planning for Mario Kart GBA. Nintendo only supervised and helped out a little bit with the sound...that's it.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

If we compare by generations, this month the old gen sold over 250k while in 2007 the old gen sold less than 300k. The difference is small.

The revenue generated by this gen is FAR higher. The ASP of the PS3 and 360 are almost double that of the PS2 and Xbox at this stage in the game.

 

[Rocky]

NPD threads would be supremely boring without any leaks.

The company barely releases any information to the public these days, a real shame if you ask me.

I really don't get all the cloak and dagger stuff in these NPD threads. And why companies don't share these figures.

How come they have no issue sharing the Japanese figures every week with full details but every other region is treated like its some big forbidden secret? It's just sales figures.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

I really don't get all the cloak and dagger stuff in these NPD threads. And why companies don't share these figures.

How come they have no issue sharing the Japanese figures every week with full details but every other region is treated like its some big forbidden secret? It's just sales figures.

NPD Monetized the results, and the sharing of info may make one company seem like its product is in some way inferior to the others, or otherwise affect the companies' valuation.

 

[metalslimer]

The handheld market is not reverting to GBA levels. I don't think some people here realize exactly how well the GBA sold. Looking it back it was an insane risk to launch the DS because no matter what they said they couldn't go back to the gba when they stop developing games for it, so they essentially killed a record breaking platform. It makes me wonder where the hell that company is at right now

 

[Celine]

The main reason for this was also obvious: GBA was only out for 3.5 years before it's successor hit. It still went strong for another year or two even with Nintendo actively trying to kill it, it's sort of crazy but the thing might've even had more worldwide sales potential than the DS had it been given actual software support by Nintendo (Mario Kart was the only big-name title from them developed inhouse) and a full life cycle.

Not in Europe.

GBA software support was fine as it was.

Technically speaking, Nintendo didn't even develop Mario Kart GBA in-house.

Intelligent Systems---which is not a first-party subsidiary of Nintendo---did all of the programming, graphics, and planning for Mario Kart GBA. Nintendo only supervised and helped out a little bit with the sound...that's it.

Common thing back in the day.
Since the handheld projects were led by R&D1.

 

[allan-bh]

Wii U > Vita > OUYA > PSP

PSP number leaked?

 

[AndrewDean84xX]

How is this a negative? The DS didn't have smart phones and tablets to compete with. If anything, only being 1.5 million behind in NA is a huge feat, imo. I'm sure others have said the same thing before me. I just wanted to voice my distaste with MP's comment.

 

[jcm]

I really don't get all the cloak and dagger stuff in these NPD threads. And why companies don't share these figures.

How come they have no issue sharing the Japanese figures every week with full details but every other region is treated like its some big forbidden secret? It's just sales figures.

The companies that track Japanese sales release their numbers publicly. The company that tracks US sales doesn't, and they actively go after people who subscribe to that data and leak it.

How is this a negative? The DS didn't have smart phones and tablets to compete with. If anything, only being 1.5 million behind in NA is a huge feat, imo. I'm sure others have said the same thing before me. I just wanted to voice my distaste with MP's comment.

It's a negative because it's bad for Nintendo. Smart phones and tablets are an explanation for the underwhelming sales, but that does't mean they aren't underwhelming. Nintendo doesn't get any extra money for making a good effort.

 

[metalslimer]

How is this a negative? The DS didn't have smart phones and tablets to compete with. If anything, only being 1.5 million behind in NA is a huge feat, imo. I'm sure others have said the same thing before me. I just wanted to voice my distaste with MP's comment.

Because the ds sold like shit for a long time and didn't shoot into the stars until like 2 years in. Actually the DS had some ridiculously low months, and is probably one of the best recovery stories in the US anyway.

 

[CosmicQueso]

I really don't get all the cloak and dagger stuff in these NPD threads. And why companies don't share these figures.

How come they have no issue sharing the Japanese figures every week with full details but every other region is treated like its some big forbidden secret? It's just sales figures.

Because contracts. NPD makes its money by selling data to publishers, the investment community and others willing to spend that much. In other words, releasing that information to the public would cause people to get their pants sued off of them.

 

[AndrewDean84xX]

Because the ds sold like shit for a long time and didn't shoot into the stars until like 2 years in.

But wasn't a Pokemon out at that time? That makes a huge difference.

 

[Sez]

How is this a negative? The DS didn't have smart phones and tablets to compete with. If anything, only being 1.5 million behind in NA is a huge feat, imo. I'm sure others have said the same thing before me. I just wanted to voice my distaste with MP's comment.

Is not about numbers, it's about trends. The handheld market is shrinking very fast, the gap between DS and 3DS will continue to increase. Next nintendo handheld will probably sell less than the 3DS and Sony could leave the market.

 

[metalslimer]

But wasn't a Pokemon out at that time? That makes a huge difference.

It really doesn't matter, the 3DS will never come close to catching the DS now even when its own pokemon launches. Also software is massively down even pre pokemon.

 

[Aquamarine]

I really don't get all the cloak and dagger stuff in these NPD threads. And why companies don't share these figures.

How come they have no issue sharing the Japanese figures every week with full details but every other region is treated like its some big forbidden secret? It's just sales figures.

Once upon a time, NPD was more liberal about sharing data.

Not only did they share hardware figures every month, but there was even an NPD liaison on GAF!

The honest reason is that one day upper NPD management decided "There's no point in sharing data for free, and we get enough publicity as-is from only revealing the Top 10, so why bother anymore?"----so they stopped giving out any kind of numerical data.

 

[Yoshi]

One thing I wish would get more attention is the total number of titles being released.

Year to date, 189 releases have hit the retail market (handheld and consoles only), while between January and July in 2012 296 releases were in market.

That's a 36% decline in products launched, which outpaces the overall decline in sales. That means titles are selling more, on average, this year than last.

That's assuming only new games sell.

 

[SmokyDave]

But wasn't a Pokemon out at that time? That makes a huge difference.

No, Pokemon wasn't out in that time. Read the thread man!

DS had competition from the GBA and the PSP. The point is that dedicated handhelds are rapidly shrinking and the 3DS isn't the exception to the rule. There is no exception.

 

[airmangataosenai]

Do the DS numbers include an extra holiday vs. the 3DS?

Even if you got arid of the first holiday season for the DS and compared them 27 months DS vs. 29 months for 3DS, DS still comes out ahead.

 

[Rocky]

Once upon a time, NPD was more liberal about sharing data.

Not only did they share hardware figures every month, but there was even an NPD liaison on GAF!

The honest reason is that one day upper NPD management decided "There's no point in sharing data for free, and we get enough publicity as-is from only revealing the Top 10, so why bother anymore?"----so they stopped giving out any kind of numerical data.

Wow, I never knew that. Is that why the European figures don't have hardware either?

I can't believe that NPD actually charges for sales figures. But I can't say I'm surprised, this country just gets greedier and greedier every day. I'm almost ashamed to say I'm a citizen of it.

 

[soldat7]

Minecraft ... seriously. Don't people have PCs?

My three kids love nothing more in life than to fire up the 360 and play Minecraft together.

 

[metalslimer]

At least with european data we get weekly charts and individual formats. Fuck npd. The combined top 10 has ruined everything

 

[Aquamarine]

Wow, I never knew that. Is that why the European figures don't have hardware either?

I can't believe that NPD actually charges for sales figures. But I can't say I'm surprised, this country just gets greedier and greedier every day. I'm almost ashamed to say I'm a citizen of it.

Indeed. European hardware figures are hard to come by...

...and if you want to get access to full European hardware data, be prepared to pay a ridiculous amount of money for it.

 

[CosmicQueso]

That's assuming only new games sell.

Sales of new games generate over 80% of annual revenues. So yeah, it's the driving factor.

I can't believe that NPD actually charges for sales figures. But I can't say I'm surprised, this country just gets greedier and greedier every day. I'm almost ashamed to say I'm a citizen of it.

I don't even...

 

[jvm]

One thing I wish would get more attention is the total number of titles being released.

Year to date, 189 releases have hit the retail market (handheld and consoles only), while between January and July in 2012 296 releases were in market.

That's a 36% decline in products launched, which outpaces the overall decline in sales. That means titles are selling more, on average, this year than last.

This was NPD's comment on that:

“Though there was only one game in the top 10 that was launched in July (NCAA Football 14), collectively, new launches from July 2013 were up compared to games launching in July 2012. As there was about the same number of software SKUs launched this year versus last year, we are seeing an increase of dollars and units generated per SKU from games launches this July compared to last.”

So July-to-July the comparison is that there were more new launches this year. But YTD launches are down.