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[Zzoram]

It's not just that. As bad as it may sound, since a lot of us suckers pay for Live, we make it a fricking point to look for new content all the time and to download and try every demo possible. Like it or not, things like that help boost software sales.

I download demos, and I was a fool and bought Live to play Gears of War online. I played some Rainbow 6 Vegas online, some Halo 3, some Star Trek Legacy, some Burger King games, Carcassonne and that's about it. I download demos too. My Gold expires end of January but I don't know if I'll renew it, maybe when I get the next big multiplayer game.

 

[Gahiggidy]

Well, I just meant that your bias is well-documented. I love you for it though. Don't ever change.

Ok, thats cool. I thought you were saying I was a joke character, or something.

 

[Darth Sonik]

Yeah what were the GHIII #'s for last month again?

 

[AndersTheSwede]

It can´t possibly be like that. Nobody reasoned like that when the 360 Madden outsold the PS2 Madden earlier in the fall.

This comparison doesn't work.

There are way more changes to Madden from 07->08 (particularly the 360 version) than GHII->GHIII. The marketplace is accustomed to annual madden releases, and the changes and improvements made to each successive game. The 360 version outsold PS2 version (initially) because there was pent up demand for a good Madden game on the 360 (all previous were trash) and the 360 being the new hardcore system of choice in America.

But whats there to improve in a great rhythm game?

The only real changes between GHII and GHIII are songs and some tweaks. And new songs can be had for GHII through DLC.

Really, why would anyone buy GHIII if they already had GHII?

 

[caldazar]

Another intersting point stemming from this that we will never know. Do weekly DLC content from XBLA, PSN and Wii VC affect sales? If somehow everyone jumped onboard and bought Wipeout on the PSN, that would actually make a blip on a "real NPD" chart, won't it?

Currently NPD tracks sales in a sample of brick-and-mortar stores as well as a couple online merchants (amazon) and uses that as a basis to estimate sales at stores (online and offline) that aren't in their tracking system.

For something that was released ONLY in a store that the NPD does not track, I don't see how they would have any scientific method of tracking those sales. Only Nintendo, Sony, and can tell us complete sales data for their online stores.

 

[Wiktor]

So uh...is that good? I swear they must have put millllllllllions into making that game.

for one week? Yeah... preety good. Most of the sales will come from Europe anyway

 

[Zzoram]

This comparison doesn't work.

There are way more changes to Madden from 07->08 (particularly the 360 version) than GHII->GHIII. The marketplace is accustomed to annual madden releases, and the changes and improvements made to each successive game. The 360 version outsold PS2 version (initially) because there was pent up demand for a good Madden game on the 360 (all previous were trash) and the 360 being the new hardcore system of choice in America.

But whats there to improve in a great rhythm game?

The only real changes between GHII and GHIII are songs and some tweaks. And new songs can be had for GHII through DLC.

Really, why would anyone buy GHIII if they already had GHII?

I bought GH3 bundle then bought GH2 dvd-only used. I probably shouldn't have bought GH2 at all, but now that I have it I jump between the two.

 

[Zzoram]

Currently NPD tracks sales in a sample of brick-and-mortar stores as well as a couple online merchants (amazon) and uses that as a basis to estimate sales at stores (online and offline) that aren't in their tracking system.

For something that was released ONLY in a store that the NPD does not track, I don't see how they would have any scientific method of tracking those sales. Only Nintendo, Sony, and can tell us complete sales data for their online stores.

We know horse armor sold at least 50,000 and that GH2 song packs are over 300,000. If people will pay $6.25 for 3 songs, they'll pay $10 for a good XBLA release.

 

[Narag]

Really, why would anyone buy GHIII if they already had GHII?

New tracks, of course. The big selling point of any GH is the set list.

 

[duk]

I think it's safe to say that all mp devs/pubs will their games to 360 as well this gen.

 

[caldazar]

Yeah, it will have legs on torrent lists.

Crytek seems to just be blazing the path towards finanical ruin, oblivious to the changes in the market around them. Reminds me of the RIAA.

Crytek is based in Germany. Germany is still PC-land. They'll do fine.

It's true that they would do *better* on consoles, but most companies cater first and foremost to their home countries, since that's the demographic they know best. Nintendo does this too.

 

[Lefty42o]

COD4 and Assassins Creed were the big sellers, like it or not, thats what the mass consumer wanted in November. It's not just the PS3, it's the 360 as well. Mass Effect did somewhat better, but can primarily be attributed to a much larger North American base.

The PS3 can't win. If it's 3rd party sales are lacking but it's 1st party is selling (R:FOM, MotorStorm), they get hounded. If they're 3rd parties are selling and their 1st party is lacking, they get hounded. I personally think Uncharted and Ratchet are two of the best games on the PS3, multiplatform or not. But it doesn't change the fact nearly all HD gamers have spoken, and the majority chose Assassins Creed + COD4. I don't see why that falls on Sony--I've seen a fair share of advertising for Uncharted, and it's received good reviews and positive word of mouth--what else can be done to make it a success?

I still think Uncharted will do well overall. But like I said, it's a post holiday game. Most HD gamers have already decided what they wanted this holiday, and it was the COD4+Assassin's Creed combo. In Jan/Feb when releases are slow and people who just bought their consoles have more cash to spend, and people start finishing Assassins Creed and COD4, Uncharted will see a boost.

Edit: Whoops, I quoted the wrong person. Fixed now.

don't bank on it. its just not that good of a a game. thats why i said in another thread the demo hurt it. cause many will play it and say meh as many did. 117k is a huge bomba and post holiday or not if it can't break 117k in a holiday month gamers have spoken loud and clear

 

[GhaleonEB]

don't bank on it. its just not that good of a a game. thats why i said in another thread the demo hurt it. cause many will play it and say meh as many did. 117k is a huge bomba and post holiday or not if it can't break 117k in a holiday month gamers have spoken loud and clear

And this is the first time I've seen it argued that a game released during the holidays will see a boost after the holidays are over. Some games carry their sales over pretty well, especially the huge hits, but if a game does poorly in November and December, it does not get resurrected in January.

 

[Wiktor]

Crytek is based in Germany. Germany is still PC-land. They'll do fine.

Plus nothing released in 2008 will come even close to Crysis graphicaly. It will continue t sell well all through the whole next year as it will be the game people will buy along with their new Dx10 GPUs.

 

[Zzoram]

I'm so glad Europe is still PC-land and has good PC developers. PC is a great platform, it would be a shame if it no longer got great games.

 

[AndersTheSwede]

Plus nothing released in 2008 will come even close to Crysis graphically. It'll sell well all through the whole next year as it will be the game people will buy along with their new Dx10 GPUs.

Good thing DX10 is off to a fast start!

 

[Wiktor]

Good thing DX10 is off to a fast start!

lmao DX9 did the same thing though

 

[Battersea Power Station]

Anything worth noting in the last 42 pages?

 

[beelzebozo]

Anything worth noting in the last 42 pages?

klingon translation of the bible on 22

 

[unomas]

Anything worth noting in the last 42 pages?

Not really I'm off to play some more COD 4 to get my ass handed to me. Have a good one boys!

 

[Zzoram]

Anything worth noting in the last 42 pages?

Nothing has changed

Hardware

Wii>360>PS3
NDS>PSP

Software

360>Wii>PS3

 

[caldazar]

Well really, along with pirates and hardware, another big reason for developers moving away from PC is that PC gaming dollars are being concentrated in fewer places thanks to MMOs. Instead of buying a dozen or two games a year, gamers are more inclined to play the hell out of one or two games.

I have no hard data to back this up, but I would be willing to make a small wager that the total amount of annual revenue for World of WarCraft this year is greater than the total annual revenue of all PS3 games combined.

 

[Jirotrom]

Have some dignity Luke, this is a hard time for us game loving PS3 folk. Uncharted deserved better then fucking AC.

I don't own a ps3, but i can't help but agree on the matter.

 

[Lobster]

Will we ever find out what Mario and Sonic + Umbrella Chronicles did?

 

[argon]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aTnhEyskdX1I&refer=us

Sony's PlayStation 3 Wins Market Share From Wii, Xbox in U.S.

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 video- game console won market share from Nintendo Co.'s Wii player and Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 in the U.S. in November as price cuts helped attract users.

The PlayStation 3 controlled 21 percent of the market for the latest generations of players in the U.S. last month, from 12 percent in October, according to calculations based on data from researcher NPD Group Inc. Wii's share fell to 44 percent from 52 percent. Sales of the PS3 almost quadrupled in November, compared with the Wii's 89 percent gain.

Sony, based in Tokyo, outsold the Wii for the first time in Japan last month after cutting the PS3 price in October and unveiling a cheaper model. Shipments of the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 doubled in November as sales picked up in the days after Thanksgiving, when consumers start shopping for Christmas.

``The combination of the price cut and seasonal lift gave the PS3 the biggest October-to-November sales increase of any hardware platform,'' Anita Frazier, an analyst at NPD, wrote in an e-mailed statement.

U.S. retailers sold 466,000 PlayStation 3s last month, while Wii sales rose to 981,000 consoles, according to data from Port Washington, New York-based NPD. Wii outsold the PS3 by almost four-to-one in October.

Sony lowered the price for the PlayStation 3 by $100 to $499 in October and introduced a $399 model last month. The PlayStation outsold the Wii in the period from Oct. 29 to Nov. 25, according to Tokyo-based researcher Enterbrain Inc.

Combined U.S. sales of the PlayStation 3, Wii and Xbox 360 reached 2.2 million units in November, from 1 million in October, according to NPD. Nintendo is based in Kyoto.

PlayStation 3 and Wii were introduced in November 2006, a year after Xbox 360. PlayStation 3 initially sold in versions that cost $599 and $499. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, dropped the price of the cheapest Xbox 360 to $280 from $300 in August.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Cho in Seoul at kcho2@bloomberg.net

I love it how some journalists try to spin things to make it look like Sony is gaining on its competitors.

 

[caldazar]

Will we ever find out what Mario and Sonic + Umbrella Chronicles did?

We will if we do a search on the thread!

 

[WinFonda]

don't bank on it. its just not that good of a a game. thats why i said in another thread the demo hurt it. cause many will play it and say meh as many did. 117k is a huge bomba and post holiday or not if it can't break 117k in a holiday month gamers have spoken loud and clear

Oh for fuck's sake, have you even played the game? It's one of the best games all year.

 

[Wiktor]

Well really, along with pirates and hardware, another big reason for developers moving away from PC.

I don't know about that. I mean... consolized games sell much worse on PC than PC-only ones. I think the fact that a lot of biggest PC devs moved to multiplat development is the very reason why we're seeing the rebirt of more niche pcgames right now.
If it wasn't for the big boys moving to consoles I doubt we would have so many simulators or adventure getting released and annouced . There's simply more room now in PCgaming for small devs (too small to ever make it in console market).
And I doubt we would see such great sales for STALKER and Witcher if old-time big PC devs would stay focused on PC.
So for me it's good news

 

[Zzoram]

Well really, along with pirates and hardware, another big reason for developers moving away from PC is that PC gaming dollars are being concentrated in fewer places thanks to MMOs. Instead of buying a dozen or two games a year, gamers are more inclined to play the hell out of one or two games.

I have no hard data to back this up, but I would be willing to make a small wager that the total amount of annual revenue for World of WarCraft this year is greater than the total annual revenue of all PS3 games combined.

WoW brought in revenue of USD$1.1 Billion for fiscal 2007. Considering NPD said:

Video Game Software (US)
$2.63 billion

And that the US is the biggest games market in the world, it's unlikely the global industry is more than $7billion, so WoW is like 15% of the games industry software revenue.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Oh my God. I don't believe those numbers.

Why not? PC games have never sold the kind of numbers console games do, unfortunately...

Crytek is based in Germany. Germany is still PC-land. They'll do fine.

It's true that they would do *better* on consoles, but most companies cater first and foremost to their home countries, since that's the demographic they know best. Nintendo does this too.

Yeah, I'd expect for the European sales to overall be better than the US ones are... PC games definitely do do better there.

 

[Meier]

Say what you will about XBLM's advertising, it is 24/7 telling you about 360 games

...and movies or tv shows. And I'm paying a premium fee to be advertised to -- sweet!

 

[Zzoram]

I don't know about that. I mean... consolized games sell much worse on PC than PC-only ones. I think the fact that a lot of biggest PC devs moved to multiplat development is the very reason why we're seeing the rebirt of more niche pcgames right now.
If it wasn't for the big boys moving to consoles I doubt we would have so many simulators or adventure getting released and annouced . There's simply more room now in PCgaming for small devs (too small to ever make it in console market).
And I doubt we would see such great sales for STALKER and Witcher if old-time big PC devs would stay focused on PC.
So for me it's good news

Fact: CDProjekt RED, developers of The Witcher, have started hiring people to fill the position of "Xbox 360 programmer".

 

[Sharp]

WoW brought in revenue of USD$1.1 Billion for fiscal 2007. Considering NPD said:

Video Game Software (US)
$2.63 billion

And that the US is the biggest games market in the world, it's unlikely the global industry is more than $7billion, so WoW is like 15% of the games industry software revenue.

Except... that was for the month.

 

[Wiktor]

Fact: CDProjekt RED, developers of The Witcher, have started hiring people to fill the position of "Xbox 360 programmer".

Sure they did. But we all know they will stay PC-focused(it's more profitable for them). So any console versions will either be ports from PC or console spin-offs.

 

[Diatribe1974]

November NPD: What the shit?! Edition

Right now, I'm all but convinced that Sony PS3 fans are more willing to TALK about the games they want, instead of BUYING the games they're TALKING about. Seriously. Other than a few rare exceptions to the rule, PS3 game sales are sad and borderline, pathetic. When PS3 owners let true gems such as Ratchet & Clank: ToD .. and .. Uncharted: Drakes Fortune... TANK, because they're not buying, you guys show how pathetic you truely are in the end.

What's next, guys? Complaining that all you're getting is 360 ports? Well, you'd not get them if you SUPPORTED your system. Jesus. You paid all this money for your system and you're not willing to pony up 60$ for a game in support of it? OMFG, this is just nuts! To date, the PS3 system is fairly relative in install base vs. what the 360 was during it's initial 1st year out, but in the 360's defense, their fans SUPPORTED their system with SALES of the software.

All I can say is that after December, if some truely incredible software sales #'s don't come in, don't be surprised if more 3rd party devs start pledging support for their once PS3-Only games, to now be Multi-platform games and those 3rd party that don't go, are the last PS3-Exclusive you get......all because you didn't support the system.

Do you system proud, PS3 fans. Support the system. Right now, you're letting the PS3 get it's butt handed to them by everyone else. It's sad. Like Hulk Hogen beating up Steven Hawking or something.

 

[duk]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aTnhEyskdX1I&refer=us

I love it how some journalists try to spin things to make it look like Sony is gaining on its competitors.

good god, is that guy for real

 

[Zzoram]

Except... that was for the month.

Doh :lol

Ok, good point. BUT, November is the biggest retail month of the year isn't it? WoW money flows in steady. Also, console software retail sales has money divied up to more parties, retailer, developer, publisher, platform holder. WoW just has made the majority of its money from people paying fees straight to the publisher/developer and no platform fee.

 

[Yoboman]

Oh Sony, where did you go so wrong with the PS3?

 

[Sharp]

Doh :lol

Ok, good point. BUT, November is the biggest retail month of the year isn't it? WoW money flows in steady.

Nooo, at least for video games that would be December. Anyway, the figure you gave for WoW was for the entire fiscal year. Not trying to downplay World of Warcraft's incredible stranglehold on the MMO market, mind you, but it's nowhere near that level of domination of the entire industry.

 

[GhaleonEB]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aTnhEyskdX1I&refer=us

I love it how some journalists try to spin things to make it look like Sony is gaining on its competitors.

Yeah. That's an interesting angle. The actual unit sales gap between the PS3 and 360/Wii grew in November. I can see market share being one angle in an overall article, but the headline? I suppose that's more sexy than "Gap between PS3 and rivals widens to 300k - 500k units".

 

[Zzoram]

The PS3 looks so much better when you talk about percentages, and it seems all the PR and even some news coverage is doing just that.

 

[Jirotrom]

time for my minute bitch.

I'm fucking utterly disappointed that both Zack and Wiki and Uncharted had such low sales.... that is all.

 

[Diatribe1974]

time for my minute bitch.

I'm fucking utterly disappointed that both Zack and Wiki and Uncharted had such low sales.... that is all.

Zak & Wiki, I'm not suprised with (even though it's a great game), but that is the price you have to pay when casuals buy your system in the numbers they are (when Grandma and Grandpas are buying it, you know your software #'s will reflect it). With Uncharted, that is sooooooooooooooooooooo sad to see when a great game like it (and godd*mned motherf*cking Ratchet & Clank: ToD) gets IGNORED by people paying 400-600$ for a system, yet they don't feel the need to buy a 60$ game to support their system-only great games.

Sad, I know.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Any new software numbers since page 20 or so?

 

[pDawg]

Oh Sony, where did you go so wrong with the PS3?

 

[Stuneseht]

I guess Ps3 owners now know how it feels to be a gamecube owner of last generation.
Those were my lowest days:lol

 

[Owzers]

Oh for fuck's sake, have you even played the game? It's one of the best games all year.

If people didn't like the demo they aren't going to go out and rent/buy the game because GAF/journalists like it.

 

[Penguin]

time for my minute bitch.

I'm fucking utterly disappointed that both Zack and Wiki and Uncharted had such low sales.... that is all.

Why at Zack and Wiki?
I mean it was a good game, but as far as I could tell Capcom left it to float in the water.
Other than IGN there was hardly any pre-release coverage.
And I believe next to no ads for the game.
I'm sure there will be a sequel nonetheless.

Let's hope that No More Heroes does better.

And speaking of 3rd party Wii games, what the hell happened to Rayman Raving Rabbids 2? :lol

 

[Matt]

Zak & Wiki, I'm not suprised with (even though it's a great game), but that is the price you have to pay when casuals buy your system in the numbers they are (when Grandma and Grandpas are buying it, you know your software #'s will reflect it).

Z&W selling like it did has NOTHING to do with Wii being a "casual" system. If the game had been released on the 360 it would have sold (proportionally) just as badly. It's an incredibly niche game, despite its high quality.

 

[Lobster]

Again, for anyone who missed it or doesn't feel like wading through the thread...

WII MARIO AND SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES (E) 328K
WII WII ZAPPER W/ LINK'S CROSSBOW TRAINING (E) 232K
WII LEGO STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE TRILOGY (E) 180K
WII HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL (E) 180K
WII RESIDENT EVIL UMBRELLA CHRONICLES (M) 121K
WII MANHUNT 2 (M) 19K

Oh shit. Good numbers for Lego Star Wars, Mario and Sonic + Umbrella Chronicles. 3rd parties must be pretty happy!

edit: So..no MoH:H2 numbers??