I think that has more to do with the fact that its an older game and them wanting people to buy NSMB2 for full price.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
NPD October 2012 Sales Results [Up3: NBA, MoH, NSMB2 + History, Pokemon, RE6]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
I think that has more to do with the fact that its an older game and them wanting people to buy NSMB2 for full price.
They are giving consumers the superior Mario game.
The Vita section looked well-kept and organized. The 3DS section looked thrown together with lots of holes. Maybe that store wasn't getting much 3DS traffic (horrible streetpassing in my area, so very real possibility that there isn't much 3DS interest) and wanted to try another system to see if that did better?
MrCookiepants
Member
NSMB vs NSMB 2 launch aligned :
Thanks to The_lascar for the chart.
I wonder how NSMB U will sale now
How is it comparing to 3D Land? It seems to be doing much worse. Oh, sweet justice. :'(
Paladin CL
Member
PGR was even more neglected, that doesnt mean MS is treating Forza as great as it should be. Forza should get as much marketing and oportunities as Gears of War franchise.
And i didnt say MS is not putting any effort, im saying is not putting ENOUGH effort and in case of Forza Horizon was completely lacking and thats why the game is not selling as good as it should be.
Like i said GT is a monster and theres many reason associated to brand recognition that make GT sale more but in terms of game itself theres NO reason why Forza should not sell as much as GT, they have a far more polished game and with more features, quality is equal atleast.
GT sells a lot because apart from being a good game its part of a tradition now for playstation users.
That same series has been a mainstay in the npd for at least the last two years.... Over the last 24 months I bet it has been in the npd for at least 12 of them, what other franchise apart from COD can claim that?
XCOM did fine. It peaked at about 70k concurrent users on Steam which means it probably sold at least several hundred thousand worldwide on PC.
Too soon to judge NSMB2 performance, especially since Holiday season is coming: certainly, it won't don as much as NSMB, but I'm very positive about it selling more than half of what NSMB did.
P.S. NSMB debuted in May in US, while DS Lite debuted in June; that's the reason there's a pretty big second month ( 450k) and third month ( 300k)
P.S. NSMB debuted in May in US, while DS Lite debuted in June; that's the reason there's a pretty big second month ( 450k) and third month ( 300k)
I think the market has moved on enough to say that Wii and NDS were aberrations and not precursors of a new video game Golden Age. In the GBC/GBA era (don't have older data), the Mario handheld games got to 2-3 million usually. Those were all remakes, but it should provide a bit more realistic range than the 10+ million NSMB got to.
electroplankton
Banned
I really want to see how nsmb 2 will perform in december with the release of NSMB U. It seems to me nsmb 2 will be happy to reach half the LTD sales of nsmb DS
(and then you will tell me the 3ds would also be happy to reach half the LTD of the DS)
And both would still be good results. I mean, if NSMB2 will sell 13 milion units and 3DS 80 million, I'd call them success.
The fact is that we're also seeing a 3D entry in the Mario franchise doing amazingly and comparably, if not better ( Japan) than on Wii so far. So, I wouldn't reduce Mario staying power that much. I still think NSMB2 can get to 7 millions in US alone when it's done, it'll sell for years.
@elektroplankton: only 80 millions for 3DS would be a failure. 100 millions would be a good result ( despite the obvious drop) and what I think it'll do in the end.
Not that bad considering the factors:NSMB vs NSMB 2 launch aligned :
Thanks to The_lascar for the chart.
I wonder how NSMB U will sale now
NSMB1 marked the return of 2D Mario.
NPD doesn't count eShop purchases of NSMB2 (or digital sales to begin with... unless I'm mistaken here?)
Of course it'll take a lot for NSMB 2 to outsell NSMB 1's lifetime sales (it was a beast) but I think the game is actually doing fine itself. It'll likely be one of those evergreen titles that will keep selling and selling for years. It probably won't outsell NSMB1. So yeah, I wouldn't worry.
No, NSMB launched in May, but its sales have been affected by the DS Lite release the following month.
oh my bad i'll fix that
EDIT: yeah that was NSMB Wii that launched during the holidays lol
electroplankton
Banned
A failure? It depends.
We have to see how the overall market we'll move in the next few years.
It's clear that the handheld market wont' sustain the numbers of the previous generation (230 million units between DS and PSP); it might also happen that the industry as whole will decline sharply.
80 million units will be the userbase pulled by GBA during its lifetime. Yeah, probably it may end up a bit higher, but still I don't see a failure such figure. Maybe a disappointing result, but not a failure.
GBA sold that much in a lil bit more than 3 years though, while the 3DS will probably be around for at least another 3-4 years.
Rhazer Fusion
Member
Lol, well I liked RE6 crazy as that sounds. Yeah, it has problems like I said, but I still like it better than quite a bit of games I've played this year that didn't receive near the same amount of hate. Didn't play Borderlands 2 yet, but I loved the first one and Dishonored looks good. I guess gaming is becoming too "Hollywood" to me, yes RE6 included and these top tens are looking the same to me month after month.
electroplankton
Banned
GBA sold 81.51 million units worldwide as of December 2009. Of course it didn't sell a lot some years after DS launch, but it's highly unlikely that it sold 80 million units as of mid-2004 (in a lil bit more than 3 years); GBA was strong in the whole 2004 and until 2006.
m.i.s.
Banned
I think even 80 million is optimistic at this stage. 7" tablets will be a key test in the run-up to Xmas '12. ie the devices are cheaper than the 3DS with free to cheap 0.99 cent games. And with battery life better than either of the two current dedicated handhelds.
Of-course, Nintendo will always have their fallback position of their own games available on their own device and Japan is already there but I think Nintendo's position is only going to get weaker in a unit sales aspect. I think Iwata realises this which is why he's resisted droppping prices further -- to encourage sales -- as a return to profitability is his number one priority.
electroplankton
Banned
Weaker than the past generation? Of course. I think no one could expect results similar to what the DS did. Let's what happen during the Christmas season, and after a mainline Pokémon. Also: when the price point of 3DS will be lower, at least comparable to those of GBA and DS.
m.i.s.
Banned
How much lower do you think Nintendo will price the 3DS and at what point in time? I personally can't see Nintendo dropping prices that much considering Iwata's aim to return Nintendo back in to the black. Also, someone correct me if I'm wrong but I've never seen Nintendo ever drop prices of their software mid-generation. Excepting, "players choice" titles.
Snowden's Secret
Banned
So if NSMB2 sells half as much as NSMB, is that success or failure? 13 million copies would still likely make it one of the best selling games of the generation.
Commercial wise? It's a success. In the long term, however, losing half your customer is not good when you're seeking to grow.
Exterminieren
Banned
Didn't the prices of DS titles drop?
I think expecting growth over NSMB2 is a fool's errand. Capturing that lightning in a bottle again is not going to be a reality, and this is true for 3DS vs DS as a whole, IMO.
Heart Attack
Member
I hope that the 3DS becomes a success. I don't want Nintendo to stop making handheld devices.
They did do a permanent price drop on both SSBB and DKCR.
Why would they give people the much worse game?
Handheld console are dead. Thanks Apple & its products for this.
Those are only numbers for shipments.
That chart doesn't mean much. We are now reaching the lift off point for the DS. System sells 35 million more units in the next 15 months. 3DS is about to start lagging behind. Does that chart expand out to 60 months?
Now, I think the 3DS is still going to end up with a healthy market share in the end. It's not like the device is doing poorly, but I think the DS comparisons needs to stop. The 3DS isn't going to come close to reach the heights of DS. However the device will still bank a lot of money for Nintendo.
Now, I think the 3DS is still going to end up with a healthy market share in the end. It's not like the device is doing poorly, but I think the DS comparisons needs to stop. The 3DS isn't going to come close to reach the heights of DS. However the device will still bank a lot of money for Nintendo.
They are all shipments, so it doesn't matter =/
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I'd suspect the DS family WAS a precursor to a golden age, just not the one enthusiasts were imagining. It hit a lot of mainstream success and the touch generations titles, not just NSMB and Mario Kart, struck a nerve. The mobile game world seems to have slid right into the new slot that was carved out.
Doesn't benefit Nintendo due to that audience now having their attention fragmented by other devices, but anyway.
I do think NSMB's sales were high not just because of that, but due to the return of a new 2D Mario game. It's something the average person really recognizes. Nintendo abandoned that market for years, left money on the table.
I won't be surprised if 2D Mario games continue to sell higher across their lifespan than 3D games, whatever the overall scale is reduced to.
Doesn't benefit Nintendo due to that audience now having their attention fragmented by other devices, but anyway.
I do think NSMB's sales were high not just because of that, but due to the return of a new 2D Mario game. It's something the average person really recognizes. Nintendo abandoned that market for years, left money on the table.
I won't be surprised if 2D Mario games continue to sell higher across their lifespan than 3D games, whatever the overall scale is reduced to.
I posted it because it was said that handheld market is dead, not that 3DS won't reach DS LTD ( which is something no one believe)
So you are trying to say 3DS go well in the rest of the world? I beg to differ.
That's what frustrates me most, it looked like the DS hit a huge sweet spot and what it represented was here to stay... then iOS (and to a lesser extent Android) busted in and ran off with audience that was the lifeblood, while convincing many core gamers that handhelds were redundant to cellphones. Maybe it was inevitable that anyone doing a good enough job with mobile games would run off with that audience (read: NOT anyone before iOS in the US at least), but it seems that it's plausible the iOS/Android marketplaces could let the whole thing be run into the ground carelessly, and either way help further kill the middle ground between the two extremes of high end console games and cheaper downloadable stuff.
Still, it is reassuring that the traditional handheld market doesn't actually seem to be KILLED, and I half suspect it can actually kick around for quite awhile, at least until some of the positives that make it more appealing to me come to mobile (good standardized physical controls, reliable hardware that won't be obsolete in just a year... and eventually we'll be able to backup our games to the computer WITHOUT deleting the save date, right?)
Relevant for contrast. And now the last sales report from Nintendo.
It seems less that the market is shrinking by a lot and more that now it's being contrasted to a much bigger one, like the Sun versus a red giant.
Spirit Icana
Member
I think New Super Mario Bros. 2's less than stellar performance has to do with the game itself more than any thing else. Unlike the first NEW Super Mario Bros. which was tagged with the name NEW because it was the first NEW Super Mario Bros. game in over a decade, this is the third New Super Mario Bros. to explore the same now boring themes, carry the same horrible music, and basically look like the same game kids already have on their DS' and families still enjoy on their Wii's. The coin gimmick has failed to entice much of the previous buyers to jump in again.
It also doesn't help that, if I'm right and more consumers look at NSMB 2 as a less valuable item compared to the DS release, then you add up the fact that the $39.99 NSMB 2 is a game that is supposed to sell the more expensive 3DS ($159.99) and 3DS XL($199.99) compared to the DS Lite($129.99) it's no wonder we're seeing a pretty steep decline.
I believe NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii U will see a pretty big decline from the Wii game as well. Of course we can't begin to observe this until well after launch, unless somehow the game isn't the number 1 title on Wii U after the holidays.
It also doesn't help that, if I'm right and more consumers look at NSMB 2 as a less valuable item compared to the DS release, then you add up the fact that the $39.99 NSMB 2 is a game that is supposed to sell the more expensive 3DS ($159.99) and 3DS XL($199.99) compared to the DS Lite($129.99) it's no wonder we're seeing a pretty steep decline.
I believe NEW Super Mario Bros. Wii U will see a pretty big decline from the Wii game as well. Of course we can't begin to observe this until well after launch, unless somehow the game isn't the number 1 title on Wii U after the holidays.
Also NSMB2 came out much closer to the holidays than NSMB1 did, so it's not improbable that some sales may've been delayed to use it as a Christmas gift. Though it really does seem like NoA's blowing it by not putting out an appealing Mario bundle for Christmas like they did last year.
electroplankton
Banned
I was thinking more about the price of the hardware. How much was the GBA when it launched? And the DS? You see, those platforms had a mass-market price to begin with. 3DS doesn't. Even with the cut, the price is still above the predecessors; and introducing a more expensive version doesn't seem to help a lot.
Handheld platforms need to be cheaper, that's not a novelty.
Pokémon lost half of the sales, but it's hardly a failure, even in the long term. The point is, when you reach such incredible numbers, you cannot think to expand forever, nor to keep the exact figures over years, because conditions change accordingly. The legacy from the super-popularity of Mario, though, is really benefiting Nintendo.
"Vita is dying"
"No, no! The whole industry is dying!".
Me_Marcadet
Member
I hope nobody expected growth but it was not crazy to expect better sales for the game.
The 3ds will not sell as much as the ds, it's obvious and we shouldn't worry about that goal. We should although worry about the performance of the big franchises and if we see big drops with the sales of the big names I think nintendo has failed.
If NSMB 2 doesn't do more than 300k this christmas, I really would start to worry about nintendo and their strategy.
You can't expect to beat records with every sequels but when you have several games from the same franchise who sell at the same level, the moment a sequel underperforms you should worry about it.
electroplankton
Banned
I think you shouldn't worry about that.
If you're talking about Mario, NSMB got those units in a span of time of six years.
hmmmmmm
I meant that, over time, NSMB2 is more likely to be the best selling Mario game on the system going by the numbers of NSMB and NSMBW versus other non-karting Mario games on their respective systems, even if SM3D may have more sales right now (and will still have more for now, at least in America, due to NoAs excessive bundling of it)
I'm positive that NSMB2 will have more sales at the end of the 3DS life cycle, and I would be very surprised if it doesn't
Yeah, you look at the numbers for the DS and the biggest jumps seem to coincide with price cuts and appealing models. If the 3DS can quickly get another cut so we have, say, the 3DS at $130 and the 3DS XL at $160 we may well see a HUGE jump in sales and talk of death will either look silly or will be comparing it to smartphones. As if a devoted device can beat out a phone that everyone has a use for.
Me_Marcadet
Member
And we will see in six years where NSMB 2 will be. If it fails to do more than 20 million would it mean nintendo mismanaged the franchise ?
NSMB DS held a monopoly for 3 years and half too. NSMB 2 will be competing with NSMB U and is already competing with 3d land.
I think the ultimate goal would be the LTD of NSMB DS with the combined sales of 3DL and NSMB2.
That doesn't seem likely, since Nintendo is already losing money. A big price cut now isn't going to help them return to profitability any time soon.
metalslimer
Member
Why are people really discussing NSMB2's sales? It's very easy to figure out why it's not selling up the original's standards.
1) There has been Mario overload in terms of platformign games in the past few years. 3D Land came out in November for christ's sake . And now NSMBU is coming in a few days.
2) The 3DS isn't as popular as the DS was and isn't attracting the same audience. When the DS Lite came out the DS picked up a lot and NSMB benefited a lot from that. The XL hasn't done nearly as much for the 3DS, so Mario sales aren't as great
3) The series just isn't "NEW" anymore. NSMB2 added nothing to really shake up the series. NSMB was a return to the classic, NSMBW added 4 player multplayer and was on a console. Online multiplayer could have brought a revival of interest in the games the same way I think online gaming really helped Diamond and Pearl bring Pokemon interest back.
Now this should probably scare Nintendo because they were probably hoping to have this game continue to make a them a huge amount of money to bankroll their other expenses. Now they shouldn't go into panic mode until seeing NSMBU's sales though.
1) There has been Mario overload in terms of platformign games in the past few years. 3D Land came out in November for christ's sake . And now NSMBU is coming in a few days.
2) The 3DS isn't as popular as the DS was and isn't attracting the same audience. When the DS Lite came out the DS picked up a lot and NSMB benefited a lot from that. The XL hasn't done nearly as much for the 3DS, so Mario sales aren't as great
3) The series just isn't "NEW" anymore. NSMB2 added nothing to really shake up the series. NSMB was a return to the classic, NSMBW added 4 player multplayer and was on a console. Online multiplayer could have brought a revival of interest in the games the same way I think online gaming really helped Diamond and Pearl bring Pokemon interest back.
Now this should probably scare Nintendo because they were probably hoping to have this game continue to make a them a huge amount of money to bankroll their other expenses. Now they shouldn't go into panic mode until seeing NSMBU's sales though.