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[matmanx1]

The puzzling (or perhaps terrifying if you happen to be a Sony shareholder) thing about the Vita at this point is the complete silence from not only Capcom and it's MH franchise but also Square Enix in regards to future development plans. At least from Capcom the Vita is getting some quality fighting game ports but to not even have some future vague plans from Square about a Final Fantasy something or an original IP for Vita is pretty damning.

And I don't think it's all Sony's fault. Square just seems so terribly managed these days and with the recent failure of FFXIV and the underperforming FFXIII-2 I think they've gotten really cautious. There's no telling how much money they've put into Versus and there's still no end in sight with that one and with today's announcement about the shifting of large scale products to outsourcing all the signs are there. Square's Japanese side is in need of a drastic overhaul and I think they know it and it's effecting the amount and type of products they undertake.

I wonder if we'll hear anything at all from Square during this calendar year about Vita development plans. Half of me says "no" but the other half says Sony can't possibly afford to not get Square to at least commit to something publicly by TGS. I guess we'll see.

 

[Ratrat]

FFx port! Er maybe xi?

 

[Truth101]

The puzzling (or perhaps terrifying if you happen to be a Sony shareholder) thing about the Vita at this point is the complete silence from not only Capcom and it's MH franchise but also Square Enix in regards to future development plans. At least from Capcom the Vita is getting some quality fighting game ports but to not even have some future vague plans from Square about a Final Fantasy something or an original IP for Vita is pretty damning.

And I don't think it's all Sony's fault. Square just seems so terribly managed these days and with the recent failure of FFXIV and the underperforming FFXIII-2 I think they've gotten really cautious. There's no telling how much money they've put into Versus and there's still no end in sight with that one and with today's announcement about the shifting of large scale products to outsourcing all the signs are there. Square's Japanese side is in need of a drastic overhaul and I think they know it and it's effecting the amount and type of products they undertake.

I wonder if we'll hear anything at all from Square during this calendar year about Vita development plans. Half of me says "no" but the other half says Sony can't possibly afford to not get Square to at least commit to something publicly by TGS. I guess we'll see.

FFX HD PSV/PS3

...

lol

 

[airmangataosenai]

In particular, who said what, before and after?

I expected more by 3DS, for example, but seeing its numbers I am not saying the result is catastrophic but quite obvious + 3DS XL has been just announced.

I'm not accusing anyone of anything and I don't remember who said what, but go back and look at the predictions for later weeks in the previous threads. Very few had Persona over 100k FW and pretty much every one I saw for DQM had it around 900k+ for 5 weeks of tracking.

 

[Truth101]

I'm not accusing anyone of anything and I don't remember who said what, but go back and look at the predictions for later weeks in the previous threads. Very few had Persona over 100k FW and pretty much every one I saw for DQM had it around 900k+ for 5 weeks of tracking.

I'll agree with the Persona thing, but I saw quite a few people low-balling DQ:M numbers. Laughably low actually.

 

[Nekki]

IF DQM:TW's sales decline by only 10% per week (not that unlikely) it will reach around 800k in it's fifth week, after then it would need 3 more weeks to reach 1m, but by then, it'll probably start dropping a lot more. Even without this perfect scenario happening, i'm quite sure it will reach 1M soon.

As for P4G, it's holding well, and it's a type of title that is very much needed to keep the platform afloat.. sadly they are far and few between now and the release of Miku.

Pokemon opening quite strongly, what are the second weeks of prior titles??

It's kind of a scary thought that, with a second week drop of 80%, it would sell 300k units... that's the opening week of many mid tier games!!

 

[AGITΩ]

3DS is doing alright, but I'm expecting it to slow down everywhere until the XL comes out. News on that is spreading and fast. Even today I had people asking if it was already out, and I'm like "wut? it was just announced". I've even seen some 3DS's being returned post announcement that were still within the 30 day return policy.

 

[Truth101]

3DS is doing alright, but I'm expecting it to slow down everywhere until the XL comes out. News on that is spreading and fast. Even today I had people asking if it was already out, and I'm like "wut? it was just announced". I've even seen some 3DS's being returned post announcement that were still within the 30 day return policy.

Where do you work?

 

[Takao]

Where do you work?

Best Buy in the US according to his profile...

 

[Truth101]

Best Buy in the US according to his profile...

Oh, thought he was from Japan-GAF.

Thanks.

 

[matmanx1]

FFX HD PSV/PS3

...

lol

Ooops, I totally forgot that was coming to both Vita and PS3! My mistake, carry on.

 

[Nekki]

Well I didn't want to wait so here's a comparison of the latest games and their second weeks:

[NDS]Pokemon Diamond/Pearl - 433,793/2,020,153 (drop of about 70%)

[NDS]Pokemon Platinum - 319,052/1,286,727 (again around 70%)

[NDS]Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver - 492,385/1,901,365 (65%)

[NDS]Pokemon Black/White - 772,172/3,409,457 (70%)

So considering a 70% drop for B&W2 is quite likely, second week numbers could be around 470k, which would be very nice, and tracking around HG/SS level.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

The lack of announced support is a bit weird because Capcom loves to release multiplatform games and there are many ports that could've had a vita version with minimal effort (say RE4/CV, RE:R or Okami). And the only things that Vita is going to get from Capcom in the first year are two late fighting game ports.

I mean, there are going to be like 20 RE games getting released in one year and for every console and Vita isn't getting any of them.

But in retrospect and looking at Capcom's typical handheld support in the first year, 3DS is the exception.

Naw, GBA had excellent day one Capcom support. MMBN at launch, which was quickly followed by a ton of notable ports (SSF2T, Final Fight, BOF1-2), Phoenix Wright and even MMBN2 within the first year. PSP had decent upfront support too albeit all ports (Darkstalkers, BOF3, MML1-2, MHP) and a remake (MMMHX).

Though on the subject of Capcom's Vita support, didn't they originally have 4 games planned, including another launch window game or something?

 

[Joseph Flemming]

I understand that people here wanted a 3DS Pokemon, and I understand that the drama of Media Create is in seeing how much hardware is pushed by big games.

But some games aren't designed to push hardware—they're designed because there's an easy-money market that already exists. With the DS evaporating (and with a gap in the Pokemon schedule), Nintendo had one last chance to ring a huge audience dry with the old assets, and they took it. Not because it would sell 3DS's, but because it was good business. And so it was: they've now made fortune on a budget that was mostly advertising. And it didn't give the 3DS any less clout—it's still outselling its predecessor 40:1, and killing the competition, with the biggest games yet to come.

B&W2 is hurting nothing, nor is it infringing on a possible 3DS Pokemon. Those games will come when they're needed (in great numbers) and each one of them will sell a bitchload of hardware.

Long time lurker, first time poster.. I have to agree with this statement 100%

 

[Kandinsky]

Sad, sad week, I guess/hope people are waiting for the white Vita :/

Name an exclusive Capcom PS3 game. HD ports don't count.

E.X.Troopers console version!

 

[creamsugar]

Games on Nintendo platform (May, Apr 30 - Jun 3, Media Create)
Source: Nintendo DREAM Aug issue

May / LTD
01.[3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry no Wonderland 3D - 513,183 / 513,183
02.[Wii] MARIO PARTY 9 - 247,508 / 400,390
03.[3DS] MARIO TENNIS OPEN - 143,124 / 143,124
04.[3DS] Fire Emblem: Awakening - 98,086 / 400,999
05.[3DS] SUPER MARIO 3D LAND - 70,116 / 1,605,114
06.[3DS] MARIO KART 7 - 55,914 / 1,728,338
07.[3DS] Monster Hunter 3 G - 48,785 / 1,465,659
08.[3DS] Kid Icarus: Uprising - 41,457 / 284,552
09.[3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - 32,830 / 176,356
10.[Wii] Wii Sports Resort - 27,788 / 953,286
11.[Wii] Wii Party - 21,631 / 2,358,604
12.[3DS] Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance - 19,078 / 318,031
13.[NDS] Pokemon Conquest - 17,509 / 326,507
14.[3DS] Harvest Moon: The Land of Origin - 17,237 / 189,976
15.[Wii] MARIO KART Wii - 16,580 / 3,570,996
16.[3DS] Dynasty Warriors Vs. - 16,322 / 31,900
17.[3DS] nintendogs＋cats - 15,549 / 557,378
18.[3DS] GUILD01 - 14,790 / 14,790
19.[3DS] Cho-ricchi! Tamagotchi no Puchi Puchi Omisecchi - 14,237 / 27,024
20.[Wii] JUST DANCE Wii - 14,228 / 600,385

 

[Augemitbutter]

Tokyo Jungle will sell 200k+.

nuts.

 

[Mpl90]

Tokyo Jungle will sell 200k+.

Amazing. A light of hope in this dark world

Fixed.

 

[michaelius]

The puzzling (or perhaps terrifying if you happen to be a Sony shareholder) thing about the Vita at this point is the complete silence from not only Capcom and it's MH franchise but also Square Enix in regards to future development plans. At least from Capcom the Vita is getting some quality fighting game ports but to not even have some future vague plans from Square about a Final Fantasy something or an original IP for Vita is pretty damning.

And I don't think it's all Sony's fault. Square just seems so terribly managed these days and with the recent failure of FFXIV and the underperforming FFXIII-2 I think they've gotten really cautious. There's no telling how much money they've put into Versus and there's still no end in sight with that one and with today's announcement about the shifting of large scale products to outsourcing all the signs are there. Square's Japanese side is in need of a drastic overhaul and I think they know it and it's effecting the amount and type of products they undertake.

I wonder if we'll hear anything at all from Square during this calendar year about Vita development plans. Half of me says "no" but the other half says Sony can't possibly afford to not get Square to at least commit to something publicly by TGS. I guess we'll see.

Apart from FF X HD fror PSV/PS3 which was already mention

It's crazy they don't do anything with Type-0. It should be their first choice to port it to PSV and make worldwide release.

 

[BishopLamont]

I get the feeling every third party is just taking a wait and see approach and is starting work on next-gen consoles and the only reason 3DS gets support is that its the current leading console and its something for them to get by for now.

Its a pretty tense time coz it feels like nothing is getting announced.

 

[Takao]

Tokyo Junge's success is a good thing. Its third week is higher that most of the other PlayStation C.A.M.P. title's LTDs

 

[Durante]

Tokyo Junge's success is a good thing. Its third week is higher that most of the other PlayStation C.A.M.P. title's LTDs

What are the other Playstation C.A.M.P. titles? I wasn't even aware of it before Tokyo Jungle.

 

[Takao]

What are the other Playstation C.A.M.P. titles? I wasn't even aware of it before Tokyo Jungle.

My Lord/Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman/No Heroes Allowed, Diamond and the Sound of a Gunshot, Trash Panic, Patchwork Heroes, My Stylist, and some other stuff I can't remember off the top of my head.

 

[Mpl90]

I get the feeling every third party is just taking a wait and see approach and is starting work on next-gen consoles and the only reason 3DS gets support is that its the current leading console and its something for them to get by for now.

Its a pretty tense time coz it feels like nothing is getting announced.

In these last months we've had many announcements, but I'm seeing the treand generally slowing down a bit too. Probably, it's just that it's Summer and, correct me if I'm wrong, there aren't many announcements in this period. We should see them in a good number the nearer we are at TGS.

 

[Izayoi]

Vita... I'm legitimately getting worried now. Why, Sony?

 

[hiska-kun]

I'm not accusing anyone of anything and I don't remember who said what, but go back and look at the predictions for later weeks in the previous threads. Very few had Persona over 100k FW and pretty much every one I saw for DQM had it around 900k+ for 5 weeks of tracking.

Do you know that DQM was supply constrained on its second and third week? Maybe 900k is a little optimistic, but more than 800k was a pretty safe bet. Now it's obvious that we won't see this numbers yet, because the second hand probably has done its job. Also, some people can have prefered to buy Pokemon instead.

And for the ones who predicted less than 100k for Persona, I don't know how many were them, but these people probably weren't aware about retailers expectations. They said that pre orders were higher than Persona 3 (PS2), so an opening over 100k was guaranted.

 

[jimmypython]

Tokyo Jungle is still there.....AMAZING!

 

[BadWolf]

The thing about announcements is that they don't really drive the sales, they make us happy but that's about it. Soul Sacrifice was announced and looks really good but that does nothing for the sales since the release is quite a ways off. Persona 4 sold great on the Vita but it was the actual release that spiked sales for the hardware, not the game's announcement. Same thing will happen with the Miku game's release.

So, imo, there are games being worked on but Sony and the devs are being silent because announcements mean nothing if the release isn't any time soon. Stuff takes time to make, especially if they have more brand new IPs in the works ala Soul Sacrifice and Gravity Daze (which, imo, are of a very high quality) or other games of a high quality that would help drive sales.

 

[matmanx1]

Sad, sad week, I guess/hope people are waiting for the white Vita :/


E.X.Troopers console version!

On the subject of the White Vita Amazon.jp is already sold out. I don't know how many Sony shipped so maybe the allocations were really small. I wonder how the stock levels are at local retailers and what games (if any) are being bought with the system.

 

[Cygnus X-1]

Remember when they called Pokemon ' just a fad' back in the Red/Blue days?

No, because I had no internet at that time.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

The thing about announcements is that they don't really drive the sales, they make us happy but that's about it. Soul Sacrifice was announced and looks really good but that does nothing for the sales since the release is quite a ways off. Persona 4 sold great on the Vita but it was the actual release that spiked sales for the hardware, not the game's announcement. Same thing will happen with the Miku game's release.

So, imo, there are games being worked on but Sony and the devs are being silent because announcements mean nothing if the release isn't any time soon. Stuff takes time to make, especially if they have more brand new IPs in the works ala Soul Sacrifice and Gravity Daze (which, imo, are of a very high quality) or other games of a high quality that would help drive sales.

3DS sales increased by alot in Japan and stayed at that level for weeks when MH3G and MH4 were anounced for the 3DS.

 

[Father_Brain]

3DS sales increased by alot in Japan and stayed at that level for weeks when MH3G and MH4 were anounced for the 3DS.

True, but MH is a uniquely large established IP, and it probably also helped that TV ads for MH3G began running almost simultaneously with the announcement (very rare for a game three months away from release).

 

[Chris1964]

Famitsu Sales: Week 25, 2012 (Jun 11 - Jun 17)

01./00. [PSV] Persona 4 Golden <RPG> (Atlus) {2012.06.14} (¥7.329) - 152.499 / NEW
02./02. [3DS] Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2012.05.31} (¥5.490) - 82.856 / 672.560 (-18%)
03./00. [PS3] Lollipop Chainsaw # <ACT> (Kadokawa Games) {2012.06.14} (¥7.980) - 50.013 / NEW
04./01. [PS3] Tokyo Jungle <ADV> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2012.06.07} (¥4.980) - 37.748 / 147.933 (-66%)
05./00. [PSP] Akiba's Trip Plus <ADV> (Acquire) {2012.06.14} (¥3.990) - 26.902 / NEW
06./05. [3DS] Mario Tennis Open <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.05.24} (¥4.800) - 18.347 / 214.919 (-28%)
07./04. [PS3] Dragon's Dogma <ACT> (Capcom) {2012.05.24} (¥7.990) - 17.012 / 435.222 (-49%)
08./00. [360] Lollipop Chainsaw # <ACT> (Kadokawa Games) {2012.06.14} (¥7.980) - 14.434 / NEW
09./06. [WII] Mario Party 9 <ETC> (Nintendo) {2012.04.26} (¥5.800) - 14.194 / 433.979 (-7%)
10./08. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land # <ACT> (Nintendo) {2011.11.03} (¥4.800) - 8.556 / 1.632.317 (+4%)
11./03. [PSV] Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Battle Destiny <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.06.07} (¥5.980) - 7.791 / 47.829 (-81%)
12./09. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3G # <ACT> (Capcom) {2011.12.10} (¥5.800) - 7.480 / 1.468.777 (-9%)
13./00. [360] Root Double: Before Crime After Days # <ADV> (Yeti) {2012.06.14} (¥7.140) - 6.599 / NEW
14./10. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 <RCE> (Nintendo) {2011.12.01} (¥4.800) - 6.477 / 1.742.522 (-1%)
15./12. [3DS] Fire Emblem: Awakening <SLG> (Nintendo) {2012.04.19} (¥4.800) - 4.274 / 418.750 (-19%)
16./14. [WII] Wii Sports Resort # <SPT> (Nintendo) {2009.06.25} (¥4.800) - 3.800 / 2.900.208 (+5%)
17./11. [PS3] Jissen Pachislot Secrets! Fist of the North Star F: Seikimatsu Kyuuseishu Densetsu <TBL> (Sega) {2012.05.31} (¥5.544) - 3.585 / 24.924 (-35%)
18./15. [3DS] Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.01} (¥4.800) - 3.033 / 185.586 (-15%)
19./16. [WII] Wii Party # <ETC> (Nintendo) {2010.07.08} (¥4.800) - 2.945 / 2.290.144 (-12%)
20./00. [PSP] World Neverland: Naruru Oukoku Monogatari <SLG> (Althi) {2012.06.14} (¥3.990) - 2.932 / NEW
21./00. [3DS] Gon: BakuBakuBakuBaku Adventure <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.06.14} (¥5.040) - 2.849 / NEW
22./18. [WII] Mario Kart Wii <RCE> (Nintendo) {2008.04.10} (¥5.800) - 2.783 / 3.518.507 (+5%)
23./23. [PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2012 <SPT> (Konami) {2011.10.06} (¥7.980) - 2.715 / 477.193 (+26%)
24./00. [PSP] Bakudan Handan # <ADV> (Idea Factory) {2012.06.14} (¥6.090) - 2.687 / NEW
25./25. [NDS] Pokemon Black / White # <RPG> (Pokemon Co.) {2010.09.18} (¥4.800) - 2.608 / 5.454.147 (+25%)
26./19. [3DS] Harvest Moon: A New Beginning <SLG> (Marvelous AQL) {2012.02.23} (¥5.040) - 2.530 / 194.081 (-2%)
27./13. [3DS] Guild 01 <ETC> (Level 5) {2012.05.31} (¥3.980) - 2.502 / 24.109 (-49%)
28./17. [3DS] Kid Icarus: Uprising <ACT> (Nintendo) {2012.03.22} (¥5.800) - 2.262 / 304.043 (-22%)
29./20. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Definitive Edition # <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2011.11.23} (¥5.040) - 2.255 / 232.924 (-4%)
30./00. [PS3] FIFA 12 (EA Best Hits) <SPT> (Electronic Arts) {2012.06.14} (¥3.654) - 2.218 / NEW

Top 30

3DS - 11
PS3 - 6
WII - 5
PSP - 3
360 - 2
PSV - 2
NDS - 1

SOFTWARE

------------------------------------------------
|System | This Week  | Last Week  | Last Year  |
------------------------------------------------
|  3DS  |      25,9% |      35,0% |      29,4% |
|  PSV  |      25,4% |       8,4% |       0,0% |
|  PS3  |      22,7% |      33,2% |      12,8% |
|  PSP  |      11,8% |      10,2% |      30,8% |
|  WII  |       6,9% |       8,3% |       7,0% |
|  360  |       3,9% |       1,0% |       8,8% |
|  NDS  |       3,2% |       3,7% |      10,4% |
|  OTH  |       0,1% |       0,1% |       0,1% |
------------------------------------------------

HARDWARE

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|System | This Week  | Last Week  | Last Year  |     YTD    |  Last YTD  |     LTD     |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3DS # |     56.394 |     61.212 |     41.086 |  2.152.595 |  1.126.513 |   6.288.334 |
|  PSV  |     31.657 |     12.256 |            |    341.557 |            |     744.351 |
|  PS3  |     15.183 |     15.830 |     14.327 |    681.680 |    606.081 |   8.098.828 |
| PSP # |     10.327 |     10.385 |     28.026 |    490.465 |  1.052.644 |  18.727.573 |
|  WII  |      5.381 |      5.760 |      7.031 |    259.865 |    404.137 |  12.427.608 |
|  360  |      1.107 |      1.321 |      2.465 |     32.615 |     66.871 |   1.553.353 |
|  PS2  |        496 |        395 |      1.230 |     13.212 |     33.820 |  21.967.503 |
| NDS # |        387 |        332 |      7.892 |     19.739 |    608.250 |  32.855.241 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  ALL  |    120.932 |    107.491 |    102.057 |  3.991.728 |  3.898.316 | 102.662.791 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  3DS  |     56.394 |     61.212 |     41.086 |  2.152.595 |  1.126.513 |   6.288.334 |
|  DSi  |        387 |        332 |      7.591 |     19.739 |    583.366 |   8.264.937 |
|  PSP  |     10.327 |     10.385 |     27.843 |    490.465 |  1.033.514 |  18.566.998 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[The M.O.B]

Wasn't Nintendo still making plenty of money in the Gamecube era, I know GBA played a huge role in that but from what I recall Nintendo wasn't bleeding money because of the GC for long.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

Wasn't Nintendo still making plenty of money in the Gamecube era, I know GBA played a huge roll In that but from what I recall Nintendo wasn't bleeding money because of the GC for long.

I think Nintendo had two bad quarters with the GC and they quickly recouped the loss. If I remember correctly they had one bad quarter when it launched and one when it went $99. However, the GC for most of it's life was a profitable machine. I may be wrong and there may have been only one bad quarter.

 

[Bruno MB]

21./00. [3DS] Gon: BakuBakuBakuBaku Adventure <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.06.14} (¥5.040) - 2.849 / NEW

It never had a chance.

27./13. [3DS] Guild 01 <ETC> (Level 5) {2012.05.31} (¥3.980) - 2.502 / 24.109 (-49%)

Bad fist week and no legs, good luck with Guild 02 Level 5.

Famitsu

01./00. [PSV] Persona 4 Golden <RPG> (Atlus) {2012.06.14} (¥7.329) - 152.499 / NEW
06./05. [3DS] Mario Tennis Open <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.05.24} (¥4.800) - 18.347 / 214.919 (-28%)

Media Create

01./00. [PSV] Persona 4 Golden <RPG> (Atlus) {2012.06.14} (¥7.329) - 137.076 / NEW <84,11%>
07./05. [3DS] Mario Tennis Open <SPT> (Nintendo) {2012.05.24} (¥4.800) - 17.856 / 185.011 (-26%)

Noticeable discrepancy between the main trackers, Persona 4 Golden looks even better with that +150k opening.

 

[Spiegel]

Famitsu Sales: Week 25, 2012 (Jun 11 - Jun 17)

01./00. [PSV] Persona 4 Golden <RPG> (Atlus) {2012.06.14} (¥7.329) - 152.499 / NEW

So Dengeki and Famitsu have tracked the game 10k and 15k higher than M-C in the first week. These are fantastic numbers.

I guess we could see a bigger drop next week from these two if M-C undertracked it and they've compensated this week.

 

[Mpl90]

No retailer reports about today's releases? Robotics;Notes, Culdcept, White Vita, MGS HD... there were quite a few interesting things.

 

[test_account]

Wasn't Nintendo still making plenty of money in the Gamecube era, I know GBA played a huge role in that but from what I recall Nintendo wasn't bleeding money because of the GC for long.

As far as i know, there are no seperate Gamecube numbers regarding cost and profit, so it is pretty much a guess if the Gamecube was profitable or not.

 

[Celine]

As far as i know, there are no seperate Gamecube numbers regarding cost and profit, so it is pretty much a guess if the Gamecube was profitable or not.

A guess but an easy one.

 

[test_account]

A guess but an easy one.

What is the guess based on? I mean, what specific numbers and what reasons? How much was the R&D costs for the Gamecube?

 

[Celine]

What is the guess based on? I mean, what specific numbers and what reasons? How much was the R&D costs for the Gamecube?

First we should agree that specific numbers for a system (be profits or R&D costs) can be obtained by people outside Nintendo top management.
My guess is based on 3 things:
1- For how much and how long was GC sold at loss.
2- How well first party software sold.
3- How much were (total) R&D expenses during those years or even previously.

My ideas are the following
1- It was sold at a loss just briefly at the beginning and when the price was cut at $99.
However GC design was really cost effective.
So despite the low sales I don't think the hardware caused a loss.

2- Obviously minor marketshare limit the overall total software you can sell but it is no mistery that Nintendo games, contrary to Sega Enterprise' games, sold quite well on GC.

3- R&D is indeed why I'm so confident.
I can't find the list of Nintendo R&D over years that I read some years ago however Nintendo R&D ballooned after the GC/GBA era (in conjunction with the unprecedent success of Wii/DS combined).
Before Nintendo R&D was famous for being frugal (god bless you Yamauchi).

When I have more time I will check on Nintendo ir site.

 

[test_account]

First we should agree that specific numbers for a system (be profits or R&D costs) can be obtained by people outside Nintendo top management.

Do you mean can't instead of can?

My guess is based on 3 things:
1- For how much and how long was GC sold at loss.
2- How well first party software sold.
3- How much were (total) R&D expenses during those years or even previously.

My ideas are the following
1- It was sold at a loss just briefly at the beginning and when the price was cut at $99.
However GC design was really cost effective.
So despite the low sales I don't think the hardware caused a loss.

2- Obviously minor marketshare limit the overall total software you can sell but it is no mistery that Nintendo games, contrary to Sega Enterprise' games, sold quite well on GC.

3- R&D is indeed why I'm so confident.
I can't find the list of Nintendo R&D over years that I read some years ago however Nintendo R&D ballooned after the GC/GBA era (in conjunction with the unprecedent success of Wii/DS combined).
Before Nintendo R&D was famous for being frugal (god bless you Yamauchi).

When I have more time I will check on Nintendo ir site.

Is there any info regarding production costs for the Gamecube? I know you say "i think", but i'm just curious what you're basing this on.

Regarding R&D costs, i found this searching on Google:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/135010-15-nintendo-increases-spending

"The Kyoto-based game maker said it plans to boost research and
development (R&D) costs 27 percent from a year ago to 20 billion yen
($180 million) in the business year ending March 31, in part to fund
development costs for Revolution."

It doesnt say much regarding the Gamecube R&D though. The Gamecube came out in 2001, so the R&D for the Gamecube would from before 2001, and maybe early 2001 too. This article is from 2004 and it only does comparison to 2003.

 

[grimshawish]

The Gamecube certainly made a profit on units and in terms of software it also performed well for Nintendo.

Marketing costs/Research/General Admin/Day-to-day business costs? Nah.
Handhelds held up Nintendo; Gamecube I'd call a reasonable success and certainly did no long term harm to Nintendo.


Ofc we don't know. Its all guess work. But without handhelds I think Gamecube would be a disaster as a lot of the business functions would be unaffordable on it. (imo)

 

[Celine]

When I have more time I will check on Nintendo ir site.

Nintendo R&D costs in US$ million (yen-US$ conversion by Nintendo unless specified otherwise)

2001- 54.7
2002- 41.0
2003- 34.2
2004- 47.0
2005- 65.4
2006- 103.9
2007- 121.0
2008- 157.7
2009- 193.6
2010- 258.3
2011- 363.5
2012- 663.0 *
2013- 692.0 **

* My conversion from yen to US$ using today exchange.
** Nintendo forecast ( and my conversion)

EDIT:
To be clear the year 2001 mean from April 1st 2000 to March 31st 2001.

Do you mean can't instead of can?

Yep, my bad.

 

[idwl]

Nintendo R&D costs in US$ million (yen-US$ conversion by Nintendo unless specified otherwise)

2001- 54.7
2002- 41.0
2003- 34.2
2004- 47.0
2005- 65.4
2006- 103.9
2007- 121.0
2008- 157.7
2009- 193.6
2010- 258.3
2011- 363.5
2012- 663.0 *
2013- 692.0 **

* My conversion from yen to US$ using today exchange.
** Nintendo forecast ( and my conversion)

EDIT:
To be clear the year 2001 mean from April 1st 2000 to March 31st 2001.


Yep, my bad.

So R&D includes game development right?

 

[mugurumakensei]

So R&D includes game development right?

R&D budgets are separate from game budgets. General and OS applications may fall under R&D.

 

[idwl]

R&D budgets are separate from software budgets.

so what are they spending about 600 million for next year? more accessories?
Do we know how much their software budgets have been , not for individual titles but all of them?

 

[beril]

Nintendo R&D costs in US$ million (yen-US$ conversion by Nintendo unless specified otherwise)

2001- 54.7
2002- 41.0
2003- 34.2
2004- 47.0
2005- 65.4
2006- 103.9
2007- 121.0
2008- 157.7
2009- 193.6
2010- 258.3
2011- 363.5
2012- 663.0 *
2013- 692.0 **

* My conversion from yen to US$ using today exchange.
** Nintendo forecast ( and my conversion)

EDIT:
To be clear the year 2001 mean from April 1st 2000 to March 31st 2001.


Yep, my bad.

The exchange rates make it rather misleading. There hasn't been that massive rise in R&D in the last years, and most of Nintendos development is in Japan so the numbers really should be in yen.

2010: 45.5 billion
2011: 52.8 billion
2011: 52.7 billion
2013: 55.0 billion

Also marketing is a bigger cost than R&D

 

[mugurumakensei]

so what are they spending about 600 million for next year? more accessories?
Do we know how much their software budgets have been , not for individual titles but all of them?

Ongoing items related to 3DS and Wii-U most likely. I imagine a huge chunk is polishing Miiverse.