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NPD Sales Results for March 2013 [Up5: BioShock Infinite]

F

Father_Brain

Banned
John Harker said:
woa at the fall of Dead Space and Metal Gear. Neither even appear once on the top 10 xbox or ps3 sku. Even Defiance managed to do that.
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I know MGR is just a spinoff, but it was pretty heavily marketed and it's the first original console MG in nearly five years. I don't think this bodes too well for MGSV; I wouldn't be surprised if that fails to break 600K in its debut month (MGS4 sold nearly a million with hardware bundles included).
 
SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
The Horror the horror said:
Those two systems never had the sort of killer apps Nintendo has to accompany and support a system relaunch.

I will agree, however, that a simple transformation of the Wii U's design and marketing image is not enough. In addition to those, it needs to be relaunched with a killer app (Mario Kart or Smash Brothers would suffice), a more attractive price, a much improved account system, a flood of VC games (no more arbitrary piecemeal BS), and perhaps some enhancements made to its hardware property to satisfy SOME third party publishers, which would mean Nintendo's bottom line taking a hit, but in the long run they should stand to profit.
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I'll agree that the system needs a heavy marketing push if/when they're ready to drop the price and release some heavy hitting games.
But from my take consumers are so uninterested that it's not going to change much. Sega was such a big name in the 16-bit era, but there was such disinterest in Saturn that they couldn't rekindle interest even when dropping the price of the hardware, offering three of their best games for free, and marketing it with the return of the "Sega Scream".
 
A

Agent Icebeezy

Welcome beautful toddler, Madison Elizabeth, to the horde!
I've already noted that I'm holding off on most purchases. To prepared for a glorious launch timeframe for the PS4 and Durango. Additionally, I'm not really buying anything because I don't want to get burned when a Durango or PS4 version of the game comes out and I'm stuck with the PS3 or 360 version. I have a million games to play on Steam to hold me over until that time as well as unopened games on the 360/PS3. I'm not hurting for entertainment now.
 
M

Mr_Antimatter

Member
Father_Brain said:
On the hardware level alone, Vita is in a no-man's land when it comes to AAA development: it's close enough to HD consoles that most third parties can't justify the costs of making exclusive games that take full advantage of the hardware, yet not close enough to easily handle ports from those platforms.

That wouldn't be an insurmountable problem given more favorable market conditions, but given the actual conditions (3DS as presumed dedicated handheld victor before Vita launched, Western disinterest in dedicated handhelds, several years of poor to terrible PSP sales in the West prior to Vita launch, the apparent disappearance of the PSP-era Dudebros on the Go market), it's not hard to see why things played out as they have.



In the current market, I doubt that GoW Vita would sell significantly better than Uncharted, which as of last December, had failed to break 300K retail in the US after over ten months on sale.

In the West, I'd guess that GT would sell around 1/4 of what GT PSP did in those regions (~865K combined).
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Ah, how is the Vitas power levels even a factor in this? It's tablet parts, and so i'm told, very easy to dev for. I can't imagine development for it is all that more expensive then any other portable game.

If anything, it's the PSP's poor US sales that are keeping developers away.
 
M

Meier

Member
creamsugar said:
MH3U:
3DS: 3/5
Wii U: 2/5

Wii U ver is 13th of all Wii U SW LTD.
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So let's say around 80k for the 3DS version and 50k for the Wii U version. That means 12 other titles have sold at least 50k for the Wii U.. I mean, that's not great but given the userbase, it's actually not terrible (the overall software sales). I'm pretty impressed by those 3DS numbers for the game.
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
michaelius said:
???

Creamsugar had UGA above 300k when he posted best selling Vita games few months ago. And having game on PSN+ since September sure is helping to sell retail copies ;)
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If you're going to accuse me of getting facts wrong, you probably should, y'know, check first to make sure that I actually do have my facts wrong.

creamsugar said:
Vita SW LTD
Include bundle, and I have no idea which one is 1st party so I post all.

317k
cod
300k
u:ga
ac3
200k
mk
nfl
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PSN is a silly rationalization until there's actual proof to the contrary. I'm just not aware of any evidence that the sale/download ratio is good enough to make the poor retail performance of any Vita (or Wii U, or 3DS) game completely irrelevant.
 
S

Sid

Member
The Horror the horror said:
Those two systems never had the sort of killer apps Nintendo has to accompany and support a system relaunch.
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The PS3 sure did,many more than Nintendo too.The combined strength of Sony's first party and the excellent third party support along with the price cut put the PS3 in the position that it is in today.
 
S

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
ShinUltramanJ said:
I don't understand this concept of relaunching, and how that's perceived to have this magical effect to turn things around as if consumers are oblivious to the fact that it's a repackaged dud.

The examples you gave were of two wildly successful systems. By the same token you can look at the revamped Atari Lynx which launched with an exclusive Batman game that sank like a rock. Or how about the 3DO and it's slicker revamps that failed to do anything? Consumers aren't as dumb as gamers think.

Price cuts and more Nintendo games will help the U's dim future, but it's never going to be a serious challenger this generation. Hopefully this reality check will wake Nintendo up to the fact that they don't have the "Midas touch", and actual effort needs to be put forth in future system launches.
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The same could have been (and was) said about both the original DS/3DS before the DS Lite/3DS price cut. Compelling software coupled with price drops/relaunches has proven to right the ship for Nintendo hardware before, so it is understandable to think it could happen again.
 
B

big youth

Member
There should be a strikeout system on here. Thought the 3DS was going to fail? there's one strike. Think the Wii U is going to fail? Get ready for another strike. dumb idea folks, move along.
 
S

Sid

Member
Skiesofwonder said:
The same could have been (and was) said about both the original DS/3DS before the DS Lite/3DS price cut. Compelling software coupled with price drops/relaunches has proven to right the ship for Nintendo hardware before, so it is nothing completely insane to think it could happen again.
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The handheld market is a lot different than the home console one and in this case the examples of N64 and Gamecube are much more appropriate.
 
A

anon_mastermind

Member
While Nintendo's fumbled the ball big time with Wii U so far, I understand why they are holding back on advertising and/or a price drop until the big games come, and until the other two next-gen consoles launch. By that time the Wii U could look a lot more attractive to the consumer; not from a technical standpoint, but it will have games like 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda WW, Wii Fit and in my opinion their ace-in-the hole Wii Sports U. If Nintendo has any shot at recapturing the casual crowd it's via Wii Fit U and Wii Sports U. They should launch not far from each other and go all-in on the advertising. Hopefully they are packed with content and fresh gameplay ideas. Wii Sports U hardware bundle makes sense too.
 
L

liger05

Member
anon_mastermind said:
While Nintendo's fumbled the ball big time with Wii U so far, I understand why they are holding back on advertising and/or a price drop until the big games come, and until the other two next-gen consoles launch. By that time the Wii U could look a lot more attractive to the consumer; not from a technical standpoint, but it will have games like 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda WW, Wii Fit and in my opinion their ace-in-the hole Wii Sports U. If Nintendo has any shot at recapturing the casual crowd it's via Wii Fit U and Wii Sports U. They should launch not far from each other and go all-in on the advertising. Hopefully they are packed with content and fresh gameplay ideas. Wii Sports U hardware bundle makes sense too.
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What if the Gamepad is the problem here and people just have no desire to play console games with that?
 
The Horror the horror

The Horror the horror

Banned
Sid said:
The PS3 sure did,many more than Nintendo too.The combined strength of Sony's first party and the excellent third party support along with the price cut put the PS3 in the position that it is in today.
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I was referring to the Linux and the 3DO (bolded portion of the quote), and explaining why it was unsound to compare the failed relaunches of those two systems to a hypothetical relaunch of the Wii U.
 
S

Sid

Member
The Horror the horror said:
I was referring to the Linux and the 3DO (bolded portion of the quote), and explaining why it was unsound to compare the failed relaunches of those two systems to a hypothetical relaunch of the Wii U.
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Sorry,as for the WiiU relaunch I think it'll start to pick up a lot of steam if Ninty cuts the price and delivers all the promised titles this fall.
 
A

anon_mastermind

Member
liger05 said:
What if the Gamepad is the problem here and people just have no desire to play console games with that?
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It's too early to say that because they haven't really attempted to drive home to concept of Wii U in advertising yet. It's a versatile controller, it even can act as a handheld. Nintendo's advertising campaign for Wii U this fall needs to be stellar for them to turn this around.
 
S

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
Sid said:
The handheld market is a lot different than the home console one and in this case the examples of N64 and Gamecube are much more appropriate.
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A "lot different" as in the 3DS will have much more competition in the handheld market with smartphones and tablets then the WiiU will ever have in the home console market. Just looking at this previous home console generation, the PS3 was also in a large hole out the gate (selling better then the WiiU to date, but still having lackluster sales while coming to the market a year into the generation and directly competing with the Wii phenomenon) and it ended up selling 70 million+ worldwide with compelling exclusive software, the slim release, blu-ray playback, and price drops. The Xbox 360 also saw a "relaunch" itself with the unprecedented rise in sales after the release of Kinect, which landed three years after the initial release of the 360. It can be done on the home console front.

Nintendo houses some of the greatest selling gaming franchises in the world, and has a history of turning around its systems in dire situations under Iwata. I fail to see how comparing the situation to the N64 and GCN is more "appropriate", considering Nintendo was under different management and going after a different market with those consoles (strictly hardcore and Nintendo gamers) with comparable hardware capabilities as their competition. The WiiU is more much down the line of the DS, with weaker hardware capabilities and casual, consumer-friendly "gimmicks" that provide "innovative" experiences. Nintendo has yet to provide a compelling enough reason to win over a large amount of consumers, but it isn't crazy to think they have something in the works to turn their situation around like they did with the DS.
 
A

AranhaHunter

Banned
UberTag said:
The Vita can be easily salvaged in Japan. That's a market that can easily support two portables.
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Sure, it can be salvaged if it gets

FFX/X2 in August
Jump in September
GE2 in October
Exclusive GT in November
Exclusive DQXI, MHP4, FFType 1 in 2014

The first four lines may happen. The last one simply isn't and that's the most important one.
 
S

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
anon_mastermind said:
While Nintendo's fumbled the ball big time with Wii U so far, I understand why they are holding back on advertising and/or a price drop until the big games come, and until the other two next-gen consoles launch. By that time the Wii U could look a lot more attractive to the consumer; not from a technical standpoint, but it will have games like 3D Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda WW, Wii Fit and in my opinion their ace-in-the hole Wii Sports U. If Nintendo has any shot at recapturing the casual crowd it's via Wii Fit U and Wii Sports U. They should launch not far from each other and go all-in on the advertising. Hopefully they are packed with content and fresh gameplay ideas. Wii Sports U hardware bundle makes sense too.
Click to expand...


Wii Sports U and Wii Fit U might help move some consoles, but is going to do little to differentiate itself from the cheaper Kinect + 360, much less the Wii. Nintendo needs something completely unique that sells the gamerpad experience, using asymmetrical gameplay, NFC, dual screen play, etc. Personally, I think they need to push out the Vitality Sensor along with Wii U Relax, and start creating content around that in-junction with the Gamerpad. Having your own personal screen for biometric feedback fits so well, and would provide something totally different and unique to the gaming market.
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
Sid said:
The handheld market is a lot different than the home console one and in this case the examples of N64 and Gamecube are much more appropriate.
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You're right about one thing; the handheld market is a lot different than the home console market one. But I'd say the handheld market was far more dire because everyone was (and is) calling for the death of the 3DS because of an era of smartphones and tablets.
 
S

Sid

Member
Those 'great' IPs didn't do jackshit for Nintendo during the N64 and GCN days and I don't think they'll do much for the WiiU in the long term. I know the WiiU is weak as shit but they are still trying to go after the core gamer with this and failing miserably at that and whether the upcoming software provides a boost in the long term remains to be seen.WiiUs gimmicks don't have the same impact as the waggle.The 3DS barely has any competition in the deidcated portable space.BTW both the PS3 and the 360 rose not only because of their exclusive lineup but also because of their excellent third party support and we all know how the WiiU is doing in that regard.
 
A

Amir0x

Banned
Vita should combine with Wii U, and then they'd be selling exactly 100,000! An impressive number for the Nintendo Gamecube...


...wait, no it's not, 'cause then the Gamecube still would have had a better month than Wii U in the same comparable timeframe lol

Vita needs to commit suicide. It's sad since it's easily the best gaming dedicated handheld ever made hardware-wise, but the market has spoken and now it's just a hole in Sony's pocket.
 
A

ambientmystic

Member
Amir0x said:
Vita should combine with Wii U, and then they'd be selling exactly 100,000! An impressive number for the Nintendo Gamecube...


...wait, no it's not, 'cause then the Gamecube still would have had a better month than Wii U in the same comparable timeframe lol

Vita needs to commit suicide. It's sad since it's easily the best gaming dedicated handheld ever made hardware-wise, but the market has spoken and now it's just a hole in Sony's pocket.
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Vita to be repurposed as the PS4's alternative controller. Rebirth.
 
J

John Harker

Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
Saty said:
I guess Crysis 3 managed that?
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Nope, not Crysis 3 either! Jan-February 2013 games just flatlined.

That's what happens when the market shrinks so much, and yet you have like 8 games launch in MARCH. A lot of titles are just going to have the bottom fall out real quick.
 
S

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
Sid said:
Those 'great' IPs didn't do jackshit for Nintendo during the N64 and GCN days and I don't think they'll do much for the WiiU in the long term. I know the WiiU is weak as shit but they are still trying to go after the core gamer with this and failing miserably at that and whether the upcoming software provides a boost in the long term remains to be seen.WiiUs gimmicks don't have the same impact as the waggle.
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Correct. If Nintendo goes after solely the hardcore then they will end up with similar results to the N64 and GCN. But the WiiU is not doing that, hence the weaker hardware capabilities and Gamerpad controller. The WiiU was suppose to be a system that covers all bases (hardcore/Nintendo-core/casual), and honestly they are currently doing a horrible job of getting any of those three to bite. But the DS was having the same exact problems as the WiiU in its early life and we saw how that ended up with the launch of the DS Lite and some compelling software (Brain Training, Nintendogs, NSMB DS, etc.). It is too early to say Nintendo couldn't do the same with WiiU.

The 3DS barely has any competition in the deidcated portable space.
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If you want to ignore smartphones and tablets as competition because they aren't "dedicated", then sure.
 
S

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
allan-bh said:
46.4m as of January 2012.

Xbox 360 has a real chance of becoming the most successful home console in US history.
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Yeah, it should be very interesting to see what happens when the Xbox 360 digitally-only box launches.

Edit: sorry for the DP.
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
UberTag said:
The Vita can be easily salvaged in Japan. That's a market that can easily support two portables.
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Yep, all SCE needs to do is moneyhat (more like fund, at this point) exclusive installments in every third-party franchise that sold well there on PSP. That, or travel back and time and change history so that SCEJ isn't such a pathetically weak regional first party. Easy!

Mr_Antimatter said:
Ah, how is the Vitas power levels even a factor in this? It's tablet parts, and so i'm told, very easy to dev for. I can't imagine development for it is all that more expensive then any other portable game.

If anything, it's the PSP's poor US sales that are keeping developers away.
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HD console-level assets take more time and cost more money to make.

I don't think PSP's poor US sales would be enough in themselves to explain why ACIII:L is the only HD-console-style exclusive that any third party in the world has released or announced for Vita, though they're certainly a factor. But certainly, if industry expectations for Vita had been better before it launched, third parties would have been more willing to take chances on HD-style exclusives, or to put lower-end games on Vita rather than 3DS.
 
A

allan-bh

Member
I'm wondering if Gears Judgment sold more than Halo CE: Anniversary in nov/11. Only thing I know is that Halo sold less than 700k.
 
S

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
Sid said:
DS also had great third party support....
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Not for the majority of the first year.

Here was the launch list in 2004:

Asphalt Urban GT (Gameloft)
Feel the Magic: XY/XX (Sega)
Madden NFL 2005 (Electronic Arts)
Ping Pals (THQ)
Ridge Racer DS (Namco)
Spider-Man 2 (Activision)
Sprung (Ubisoft)
Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt demo (Nintendo)
Super Mario 64 DS (Nintendo)
The Urbz: Sims in the City (Electronic Arts)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour (Electronic Arts)


And then notable third party releases in the following year:



May 5 Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
June 27 Meteos
August 8 Madden NFL 06
September 13 Scooby-Doo! Unmasked
September 19 Tak: The Great Juju Challenge
September 20 Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
October 4 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
October 4 Trauma Center: Under the Knife
October 5th: Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney
November 5 Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
November 15 Sonic Rush
November 15 Pac-Man World 3
November 16 Need for Speed: Most Wanted
 
C

Chinpoko_Master

Member
We're already seeing third parties giving up on the Wii U, and they're not coming back, especially when the PS4 and Durango come out and there's a noticeable power gap. There's nothing on the horizon that's going to change that.
 
S

Saty

Member
John Harker said:
Nope, not Crysis 3 either! Jan-February 2013 games just flatlined.

That's what happens when the market shrinks so much, and yet you have like 8 games launch in MARCH. A lot of titles are just going to have the bottom fall out real quick.
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Wow.

Do you know if SimCity and HOTS are close to the top 10?
 
B

BlackJace

Member
Sid said:
Those 'great' IPs didn't do jackshit for Nintendo during the N64 and GCN days and I don't think they'll do much for the WiiU in the long term. I know the WiiU is weak as shit but they are still trying to go after the core gamer with this and failing miserably at that and whether the upcoming software provides a boost in the long term remains to be seen.WiiUs gimmicks don't have the same impact as the waggle.The 3DS barely has any competition in the deidcated portable space.BTW both the PS3 and the 360 rose not only because of their exclusive lineup but also because of their excellent third party support and we all know how the WiiU is doing in that regard.
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Ugh, I thought we got this out of our systems earlier in the thread.
 
D

Drago

Member
John Harker said:
Nope, not Crysis 3 either! Jan-February 2013 games just flatlined.

That's what happens when the market shrinks so much, and yet you have like 8 games launch in MARCH. A lot of titles are just going to have the bottom fall out real quick.
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John, if you don't mind, could you give me a hint as to how Sly did in its second month?

I feel like I'm the only one really interested in how it did :p
 
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