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NPD Sales Results for August 2014 [Up4: PS4 #1, XB1 last week sales 2x last Jul week]

nib95

Banned
we shouldn't do leak compilations this month...it attracts too much attention

PM then?
grinning-smiley-002.gif


EDIT: Just saw. Interesting results. I was expecting a larger drop off for the PS4 given the Destiny Bundle. I think September is going to be a big month for the console.
 

ZSaberLink

Media Create Maven
This is the full retail release list for the rest of the year as far as I can tell.

SEPTEMBER 23
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes - 2.0 Edition

SEPTEMBER 26
Hyrule Warriors

SEPTEMBER 30
Disney Planes: Fire & Rescue
Falling Skies: The Game

OCTOBER 5
Skylanders: Trap Team

OCTOBER 14
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures 2

OCTOBER 21
Just Dance 2015
The Voice: I Want You

OCTOBER 24
Bayonetta 2

NOVEMBER 11
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham

NOVEMBER 18
The Penguins of Madagascar
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Watch Dogs

DECEMBER 5
NES Remix Pack

HOLIDAY
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

You forgot Watch Dogs
 
For reference, (if anyone cares) Sony and Microsoft have to sell approx. 6.2M systems over the course of the next 4 months in order for the trailing-twelve month totals of their hardware to maintain above a 10.5M (relatively normal) annualised rate.

I think given the line up of software crammed into this period, it's entirely plausible they manage to do so.
 

ZSaberLink

Media Create Maven
The Xbox One is NOT a dreamcast, it's more akin to a Nintendo 64 right now. Not something I'd personally consider good in today's market, but sure.

The N64 was outselling the PS1 for a large portion of its first year, so I don't think that's an apt comparison for the US.
 
Yes, because those are the numbers I remember. Forgive me I missed two months.. My point still stands; both consoles are doing well and better than their predecessors. Yes, a gap exists but Xbox One is not Dreamcast. I expected a +80k or even higher difference this month from Sony.

I don't care about that, I have no investment in console wars or this gap nonsense .I was merely asking why you were using two numbers that mean very different things. ( one month gap vs cumulative gap)

Since you mentioned it's a mistake, that's fine. Last thing we need is misappropriation of numbers.
 

Opiate

Member
i think there are two ways to look at the ps4.

1. the successor to the ps3. the successor to the ps3 is doing super great right now. for seriously. the successor to the ps3 is beating the competition in almost every single region, selling a lot of software, and turning a profit. the successor to the ps3 looks like it will finish a clear first place at the end of the generation. the successor to the ps3 may equal or exceed the ps3's sales in less time, especially since it seems many developers are circling the wagons around it, unlike the ps3 where they flocked to other platforms.

2. the market leader. the market leader is doing relatively well to previous market leaders from a head-on comparison. month-to-month, week-to-week, it is not performing like previous market leaders. sales are consistently at a level that are more at home on second place consoles.

the ps4 can both be a success relative to the ps3 and and ill omen for the rest of the industry. it can be both a good thing for sony, and spell dire times for many other companies if they are going to come up short.

i give the ps4 five years because it's a fairly nice number. i suppose i should give it six based on sony's tendency to get a new platform out every six to seven years. but in that time, what is going to change? we already see a new major kind of game style emerging on these new consoles, where players are forced to play additional fees to play massive multiplayer online versions of third-person shooters, racing games, first-person shooters, and third-person action games (thank you blessed one michel ancel). in five years the idea of inexpensive accessible gameplay was introduced to a public at large, popularized on traditional gaming devices, and then exploded even larger on traditionally nongaming devices. what kind of effect will it have when enthusiasts are conditioned to paying for games as a service while companies like wb, ea, square enix, and sony roll out service-based platforms (in addition to existing ones like steam, gog, and desura)? how willing are they now to buy into such platforms, and how willing will they be in three years? in five years? what sort of effect will that have on the traditional market?

Another way to phrase this:

If we frame the discussion specifically about Sony, then Sony is doing quite well. The PS4 is doing better than the PS3 did in almost all capacities; software sales, hardware sales, profit.

If we frame the discussion to be about consoles generally, then the PS4 is in many ways a bad sign. It's underperforming what we would expect from a market leader, and that's without factoring in that we expect each generation to be bigger than the last, which isn't even close to happening right now.

The former perspective is more important right now, and definitely more important if you're a PS4-centric gamer. The latter perspective is more important long term, both for other companies but also for Sony.
 

Jamix012

Member
For reference, (if anyone cares) Sony and Microsoft have to sell approx. 6.2M systems over the course of the next 4 months in order for the trailing-twelve month totals of their hardware to maintain above a 10.5M (relatively normal) annualised rate.

I think given the line up of software crammed into this period, it's entirely plausible they manage to do so.

I'm confused, is the 10.5million referring to a decent world wide annual rate for one console or a combined annual rate for the US?
Edit: Already answered I guess.
 
Yea people are delusional if they really think ms can close the gap during the holidays.

I think they can, give how aggressive and desperate they have become recently. Sony would be foolish not to counter-attack with some heavy offers starting October. Far Cry and GTA 5 bundles should do the trick...
 

Jamix012

Member
The N64 was outselling the PS1 for a large portion of its first year, so I don't think that's an apt comparison for the US.

It's not COMPLETELY in line with the N64, but it's like the N64 in the sense that it's strongest region is the US (where it is somewhat competetive) but got decimated worldwide, even ending up 3rd place in Japan like the Xbone will. I also feel the Xbox One will finish it's LTD around the N64's +- 5 million.
 
Closing the gap between monthly sales yea it is. I already said not overall. Regardless of last month or this months sales the evidence from this month show its possible it could top the PS4...and I guess it will do so holidays.

Again: proportionately the XB1 is not closing any sort of gap with the PS4 unless you're very selective about what month you use.
 

Opiate

Member
For reference, (if anyone cares) Sony and Microsoft have to sell approx. 6.2M systems over the course of the next 4 months in order for the trailing-twelve month totals of their hardware to maintain above a 10.5M (relatively normal) annualised rate.

I think given the line up of software crammed into this period, it's entirely plausible they manage to do so.

Again, I don't think this particular statistic you've latched on to is a very good one.

First, it ignores that we expect each generation to be larger than the one which came before it. It is an economic necessity, as game production costs continue to ramp up rapidly.

Second, it ignores the Wii, which is a massive oversight given how popular that system was. There are generations where you can sort-of-kind-of ignore Nintendo (like this one, where their hardware totals will likely be very low), but not last generation.

Third, as you say, the launch sales are still propping the current sales up. It ignores the shape of the curve.

I think it's essentially the most positive way one could possibly frame the current sales environment. That doesn't make it wrong, it just means it's a more positive framing than I think is accurate.
 
Yes, because those are the numbers I remember. Forgive me I missed two months.. My point still stands; both consoles are doing well and better than their predecessors. Yes, a gap exists but Xbox One is not Dreamcast. I expected a +80k or even higher difference this month from Sony.

Actually, not really. It's not about about missing two months. It's about not comparing the numbers properly.

I don't care about "gap" but if you're going to use 475k for June, then August isn't 30k, but rather 500+k.

Please note that I'm not arguing with you over either consoles, but only on your usage of numbers.
 
If we frame the discussion to be about consoles generally, then the PS4 is in many ways a bad sign. It's underperforming what we would expect from a market leader, and that's without factoring in that we expect each generation to be bigger than the last, which isn't even close to happening right now.
There's a place in between looking at it solely from Sony's perspective and looking at it from a homogenous console perspective though.

Yes, we're at that point of the thread again.

Anyway, current sales indicate an ill-omen for a certain type of console, one which has broad demographic appeal and can attract a broad tent of users from the onset. Although again, I don't think we're at that point where that consumer segment is necessarily being actively targeted.

The hardware sales are in line what these two makers with their focus on certain market segments, traditionally sell.

Although the lack of expected userbase growth and escalating budgets don't fit well together I agree.
And I agree, looking at the console market more broadly and in the context of the wider gaming market, it's certainly not a good thing to lose a massive chunk of users to other avenues.
But I think there's room for granularity in looking at the state of the current market, and the impact that will be had on the players in it.

Fake edit: This is essentially in response to your reply to me as well.
 

Hubble

Member
Actually, not really. It's not about about missing two months. It's about not comparing the numbers properly.

I don't care about "gap" but if you're going to use 475k for June, then August isn't 30k, but rather 500+k.

Please note that I'm not arguing with you over either consoles, but only on your usage of numbers.

I said the monthly gap in August was 30k, obviously not total.
 

scoobs

Member
it happened largely thanks to europe and other regions, as it didn't do half that in the us and japan combined. japan is essentially a non-factor now in the console realm, and the xbox one is doing seemingly pretty bad in parts of europe. so maybe it'll do about 14m a year spread out across mostly europe. i just don't know what would make sales in the us suddenly double year over year and more to make up for the gap.

that's just one console manufacturer though, and that's getting them to last gen sales in slightly faster time, which is fair to a market leader but unfair to any one company. even if you want to say the xbox one is the only other platform that matters right now, it's looking to massively underperform the 360, and that's a big problem.

Well I guess the question is.... why do you automatically assume PS4 will do worse than PS3 in any region (minus Japan)? Especially given their much better start this generation. Seems a little pessimistic given the reality of the situation. The whole doom and gloom, consoles are dead seems to be proven wrong at this point. People clearly want the things, lets stop pretending they don't.
 
So is there like a special subsect of NPD Ninjas whose sole mission is to keep 3DS numbers from coming out? I've always wondered why that system is the last to get leaked if it ever does
 
I personally dislike discussing the subjective argument of system seller lineups. It's so opinionated, especially when they're not mainline entry games.

Will Halo MCC sell well? Unquestionably. Will it sell anywhere near a mainline new Halo? Probably not, but even that is just a guess looking at historical trends of collection games. Will it push XB1 to sell more than PS4 in November? I don't know, I'm not a prophet.
 
So is there like a special subsect of NPD Ninjas whose sole mission is to keep 3DS numbers from coming out? I've always wondered why that system is the last to get leaked if it ever does

cause the console numbers always get leaked together, and Vita comes first cause lolvita

besides, a handheld pie chart would just be "everything is 3DS"
we should do this for a super pac-man
 
I guess we're at the wait for Master Chief Collection part now. The gap is only going to widen tremendously next month with the Destiny bundle and unless PS4 has an abysmal holiday the One would have to have a massive holiday to even come close to closing the gap. It's not even really a worthwhile scenario to think about currently.

Shame Wii U has collapsed back to death. Seems I was completely wrong about Wii U's monthly sales remaining above 70k for a while. I wonder when we will see a real price drop.
 

BigDug13

Member
I personally dislike discussing the subjective argument of system seller lineups. It's so opinionated, especially when they're not mainline entry games.

Will Halo MCC sell well? Unquestionably. Will it sell anywhere near a mainline new Halo? Probably not, but even that is just a guess looking at historical trends of collection games. Will it push XB1 to sell more than PS4 in November? I don't know, I'm not a prophet.

I guess the question you have to ask is whether or not most Halo fans already own an XBO.
 

Jamix012

Member
Well I guess the question is.... why do you automatically assume PS4 will do worse than PS3 in any region (minus Japan)? Especially given their much better start this generation. Seems a little pessimistic

The PS4 has so far demonstrated that it is pretty front loaded. I'm just playing Devil's advocate here (because I think the PS4 could likely outsell the PS3), but this generation COULD be shorter and we don't know how well the PS4 will fare relative to the PS3 in the coming years. If it follows a Wii or Pre-kinect 360 trajectory it'll cross streams with the PS3, but as I said, I don't think that'll happen.
 

cilonen

Member
And here comes another NOVEMBER.

Im not sure whats the point of telling me when was the last time it closed a gap instead of talking about the possibility that it may close the gap. The failure to look at these things objectively is hurting in here. MS lineup of games this holiday is hands down (I dont care if they appeal to you or not) better than what sony has. Its not that hard to look from this point of view.

I thought the launch lineup for Xbone was supposed to be hands down better too. That didn't help.
 
3ds isn't fun enough


why else do you think the vita always gets leaked first?

I always knew you and cream were masochists :p

cause the console numbers always get leaked together, and Vita comes first cause lolvita

besides, a handheld pie chart would just be "everything is 3DS"
we should do this for a super pac-man

Right but then why does it take like a day and a half after the other leaks to get it?

It's like "Get Vita, 1 - 3 hours later get home consoles, 6 - 48 hours later maybe get 3DS"

I'm not complaining as I'm patient, I'm just legitimately curious but it's not a big deal
 

ZSaberLink

Media Create Maven
3ds isn't fun enough


why else do you think the vita always gets leaked first?

So all things considered... are the numbers good/bad/fine in your opinion compared to July and the rest of this year?

Also out of curiosity, how have the LTDs lined up b/w the XB1, PS4 and Wii U in terms of Lego Movie, Lego Hobbit and Lego Marvel?

I'm assuming
Movie: Wii U > PS4 > XB1
Marvel: XB1 >= PS4 >= Wii U (it's been different in different months)
Hobbit: bad > bad > bad?
 
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