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NPD Sales Results For March 2017 [Up2: Year to date charts, platform specific charts]

All I'll say about Zelda sales is that "it was expected."

Seriously. Go back to every NPD thread when Hyrule Warriors, Zelda WW HD and TP HD were released. Go see how high those games charted despite being a WiiU game and how well those games sold on the WiiU.

Zelda's fanbase in the US market has always been reflective of an extremely sizable core audience who are not only significant in quantity, but truly loyal to the franchise, with a large percentage of them buying even remasters and spin-offs.

The performance of the Zelda franchise in the US market has always been unquestionably strong.

There are some games that go above and beyond the notion of their limited install base and Zelda is one of them. That being said, Zelda also hits its peak sooner, given its audience is more the hardcore gamer.

Well this will be a crossover hit between people new to the series and veterans. I have a bunch of friends that have never played a Zelda game that have either gotten it or are extremely interested in it and want a Switch. It should end up one of the best selling games in the series, maybe the best.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
You're misreading, that post and the post it replied to was about next month (April).

Ah, I admit I didn't read the post he quoted, I thought he was talking about the launch. My apologies to LordOcidax for the misunderstanding, then.
 

Hero

Member
This has been fun guys

See on the forum on other topics

Signing off from this thread now. See you next month. Mat will be back on the forum and then you have a double barrelled shotgun of 2 NPD guys

Thanks again for stopping by and providing us with good, solid information!
 
I will be surprised if Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gets the top spot next month. Mario Kart 8 released on Wii U when there were over 6.25 million Wii U consoles shipped (estimating 5+ million sold based on Wikipedia), so by the time MK8D comes out, I don't think there will be more than 2.8 to 3 million Switch units out there.

Happy for both 1-2-Switch and especially Super Bomberman R. And if those sales are not counting digital, then they probably did even better.

who else
afaik there is no other big game release.

so the only game that could top the chart again is Wildlands
 

Zedark

Member
I will be surprised if Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gets the top spot next month. Mario Kart 8 released on Wii U when there were over 6.25 million Wii U consoles shipped (estimating 5+ million sold based on Wikipedia), so by the time MK8D comes out, I don't think there will be more than 2.8 to 3 million Switch units out there.

Happy for both 1-2-Switch and especially Super Bomberman R. And if those sales are not counting digital, then they probably did even better.
I think they will have sold 3.5 million by that time already, and there are very few titles launching in April with Persona 5 the biggest, so it is definite possibility, though Persona 5 should not be underestimated, and Wildlands will have a not insignificant sales amount as well (as will Zelda I think). We'll see what the numbers turn out to be.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
This has been fun guys

See on the forum on other topics

Signing off from this thread now. See you next month. Mat will be back on the forum and then you have a double barrelled shotgun of 2 NPD guys

Thank you for your great contribution to the thread :)
 

Pepboy

Member
Yeah but it has the disadvantage of only being tracked for two days. So I think it will be close.

I also think Mario Kart has far fewer day one purchases and is more of an evergreen. Zelda will continue to sell nearly 1:1 but many may wait a while to pick up Mario Kart. As long as they get 300k switch on shelves, I think Zelda will outsell. I wouldn't be surprised if Kart was like... 8 or 9 on the overall top 10.
 
Ubisoft is a monster.
Also, damn people, stop buying GTA.
Have you guys played GTA recently? Not only is the base game an evergreen title, GTA online is like adding rocket league to it! Honestly, you guys should really check out the game, it's always something different and new.
 

Kolx

Member
Zelda was competing with itself on Switch and WiiU. Horizon a new ip was competing with a very jammed month on ps4. The fact Horizon managed to become this close to the combined sales (+1 million vs 1.38 million) and even beat Zelda on switch is impressive.
 

Elandyll

Banned
No, you are wrong... Lot of Gafers said before this thread that Zelda had no chance against Horizon (Bigger usar base + Marketing)... And look what happened. Also asked for a confirmation to the NPD guy. Thats it.. You are the console warrior here, not me... I have both games and i love both.
You've been saying that a lot, and having spent a lot of time reading HZD threads in Feb and March I don't remember that being a thing, beside perhaps the odd silly drive-by meant as inflamatory.
Do you have links to these "Lots of Gafers"?
 

Charamiwa

Banned
I also think Mario Kart has far fewer day one purchases and is more of an evergreen. Zelda will continue to sell nearly 1:1 but many may wait a while to pick up Mario Kart. As long as they get 300k switch on shelves, I think Zelda will outsell. I wouldn't be surprised if Kart was like... 8 or 9 on the overall top 10.

The game is number 1 in the Amazon charts and has been for a while now, I think it'll start strong.
 
We should be happy GTAV continues to chart. It proves that new audiences are entering the console space everyday and is not a repeat purchaser who already owned GTAV before.

GTAV is the "game to pick up" for people who buy consoles. It makes perfect sense.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Zelda was competing with itself on Switch and WiiU. Horizon a new ip was competing with a very jammed month on ps4. The fact Horizon managed to become this close to the combined sales (+1 million vs 1.38 million) and even beat Zelda on switch is impressive.

I have both and love both, but PS4's userbase is colossal compared to Switch at this point. It's not necessarily that surprising that Horizon outsold a game on a supply-constrained new hardware launch with a much smaller userbase.

Regardless, I'm extremely happy that a new IP with a non-sexualized female lead character is doing so well. Hopefully this bodes well for the future of that style of character in the game industry.
 
All I'll say about Zelda sales is that "it was expected."

Seriously. Go back to every NPD thread when Hyrule Warriors, Zelda WW HD and TP HD were released. Go see how high those games charted despite being a WiiU game and how well those games sold on the WiiU.

Zelda's fanbase in the US market has always been reflective of an extremely sizable core audience who are not only significant in quantity, but truly loyal to the franchise, with a large percentage of them buying even remasters and spin-offs.

The performance of the Zelda franchise in the US market has always been unquestionably strong.

There are some games that go above and beyond the notion of their limited install base and Zelda is one of them. That being said, Zelda also hits its peak sooner, given its audience is more the hardcore gamer.

I'm not completely sure if it was expected, skyward sword only sold 3 million lifetime and at the time people were saying the series wouldn't reach Twilight Princess numbers again. Looks like it's happening.
 
I have both and love both, but PS4's userbase is colossal compared to Switch at this point. It's not necessarily that surprising that Horizon outsold a supply-constrained new hardware launch with a much smaller userbase.

Regardless, I'm extremely happy that a new IP with a non-sexualized female lead character is doing so well. Hopefully this bodes well for the future of that style of character in the game industry.

It's not surprising, but it's also not surprising that Zelda did this well either.

Just like Gears and Halo at their peak popularity, Zelda falls in the category of games that sell ridiculously well in spite of its install base, not because of it.
 

Unknown?

Member
I'm not completely sure if it was expected, skyward sword only sold 3 million lifetime and at the time people were saying the series wouldn't reach Twilight Princess numbers again. Looks like it's happening.
People are dumb though. It's like people saying GT Sport has no power anymore. It'll probably do GT5 numbers.
 

Kolx

Member
I have both and love both, but PS4's userbase is colossal compared to Switch at this point. It's not necessarily that surprising that Horizon outsold a supply-constrained new hardware launch with a much smaller userbase.

Regardless, I'm extremely happy that a new IP with a non-sexualized female lead character is doing so well. Hopefully this bodes well for the future of that style of character in the game industry.

Comparing PS to Nintendo consoles in strict console sold is not fair imo. The majority of people who buy a PS console buy it to play the biggest 3rd party games not because they care about Sony exclusives. It's the opposite on Nintendo consoles where Nintendo output is why people buy the console in the first place since big 3rd party support is basically non-existent.
 

Charamiwa

Banned
You've been saying that a lot, and having spent a lot of time reading HZD threads in Feb and March I don't remember that being a thing, beside perhaps the odd silly drive-by meant as inflamatory.
Do you have links to these "Lots of Gafers"?

That's one of the problem with this forum, people just hold selective grudges in the back of their minds and then can't help but say "I told you sold" or "but I thought Gaf told me that..." even if there was no particular trend.

During the lead up to Horizon and Zelda I remember:
- after the great reviews for Horizon people saying they couldn't wait for the meltdowns when Zelda score lower
- when Zelda got rave reviews some people made fun of Horizon and how Zelda beat it
- then people saying Horizon would sell more, even maybe in Japan with possible meltdowns (yes it was a thing)
- and now you can see people downplaying Horizon's success (you can also see people downplaying Zelda's success to be fair)

Basically, a lot of people talk a lot of shit, and holding selective grudges isn't good for anybody.
 
That's one of the problem with this forum, people just hold selective grudges in the back of their minds and then can't help but say "I told you sold" or "but I thought Gaf told me that..." even if there was no particular trend.

During the lead up to Horizon and Zelda I remember:
- after the great reviews for Horizon people saying they couldn't wait for the meltdowns when Zelda score lower
- when Zelda got rave reviews some people made fun of Horizon and how Zelda beat it
- then people saying Horizon would sell more, even maybe in Japan with possible meltdowns (yes it was a thing)
- and now you can see people downplaying Horizon's success (you can also see people downplaying Zelda's success to be fair)

Basically, a lot of people talk a lot of shit, and holding selective grudges isn't good for anybody.

Just FYI, this wasn't something that came out of nowhere. The preorder tracking leading up to launch made it seem like it might be a thing but most didn't really believe it.
 
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1357362&highlight=
but just 2
and 2 thought zelda would outsell HZD

i'm pretty sure in other topics the pictures is similar.

Truth is i don't think much people expected nintendo to ship\sold as much hardware as they did .
So along with Zelda being 1 to 1 mess up people predications .
Still people should be happy that both of them do really well .
Plus HZD doing well will hopefully mean we get more females leads with a diverse cast .
 

Charamiwa

Banned
Comparing PS to Nintendo consoles in strict console sold is not fair imo. The majority of people who buy a PS console buy it to play the biggest 3rd party games not because they care about Sony exclusives. It's the opposite on Nintendo consoles where Nintendo output is why people buy the console in the first place since big 3rd party support is basically non-existent.

But it's also unfair because Zelda sold as much as it could on Switch (and then some, more than 100% attach rate) so there's no doubt it would have sold better if more Switch were available. So there's arguments for both. All in all I think it's silly to compare, especially when both did really good.
 

Elandyll

Banned

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
It's not surprising, but it's also not surprising that Zelda did this well either.

Just like Gears and Halo at their peak popularity, Zelda falls in the category of games that sell ridiculously well in spite of its install base, not because of it.

Never said it was surprising for Zelda. I expected it to sell well.

Comparing PS to Nintendo consoles in strict console sold is not fair imo. The majority of people who buy a PS console buy it to play the biggest 3rd party games not because they care about Sony exclusives. It's the opposite on Nintendo consoles where Nintendo output is why people buy the console in the first place since big 3rd party support is basically non-existent.

"Not fair?" LOL...you absolutely have to take total userbase into account when comparing game sales. That's a ludicrous argument to exclude that major factor. Early in console launches, it can have a huge effect on game sale numbers. Simple mathematics.
 

LordKano

Member
Just FYI, this wasn't something that came out of nowhere. The preorder tracking leading up to launch made it seem like it might be a thing but most didn't really believe it.

Problem is that these preorder trackers are misleading if you don't know how to handle them properly. One would think that a game with more preorders "points" will inevitably sell more than a game with less, when it's not necessarily the case. Even more in Japan where you have multiple rankings in different stores.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I have to give major credit to NPD now. Providing bigger lists as well as having reps come in here and provide some information is a huge help and pretty much revives these threads. Well done, NPD.
 
Point is, you're comparing shipped numbers you're extrapolating (on the higher side, how convenient) vs sold copies (on the lower side).

Wrong, I used sold numbers. Sell through was estimated to be near shipment.

The 220k figure (which is outdated but whatever) is about sold copies that has been estimated by Steamspy while you're figuring 700 to 800k copies can only be PS4 ones, based on shipped numbers
.

Its not outdated. We are comparing with the first month time frame, not LTD.


There's no struggling with that idea, I'm just telling you, what you're comparing are oranges and apples.
Hence why you're taking it to the level of not reading this very thread and jumping to conclusions, to get to the same side again.

I've been talking about sold the entire time.

PS4 JP - 300k (inc digital) sold
PS4 NPD - approx 150k (inc digital) (200k - 50k (PC sales, poster said 77k was Nier's LTD in USA atm)) sold

Ain't hard to see another 300k from EU and rest of Asia with digital hence PS4 Nier being 700-800k sold. I repeat sold. Nier PC = 220k sold at the time of that report.

Once again proving, how you continue to beat around the bush, unable to actually reply to the point at hand. You can say my estimations are iffy, like you said, PC Nier was 70k rather than 50k (though that doesn't change much), but this whole apples and oranges thing you keep going on about never had any hold.

Give it a rest guys, noone cares. It shouldn't be this important to you which platform the game sold the most on. Be happy that a niche game was successful and that both PS4 and PC gamers got to enjoy it. It's a shame it wasn't released on Xbox too.

I'm just curious on how far he will continue being adamant.
 

Zedark

Member
I have to give major credit to NPD now. Providing bigger lists as well as having reps come in here and provide some information is a huge help and pretty much revives these threads. Well done, NPD.

Having a top 20 rather than a top 10 is awesome, gives much more insight for the lesser sellers, which was sorely lacking with just a top 10 ranking.
 
The fact Horizon managed to become this close to the combined sales (+1 million vs 1.38 million) and even beat Zelda on switch is impressive.

The fact that Horizon sold more units than there were Switch units shipped to the US is... not that impressive? I'd be more shocked if Horizon didn't hit 1 million units sold.
 
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