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Media Create Sales: Week 41, 2013 (Oct 07 - Oct 13)

I think Nintendo panicked when the 3DS was failing two years ago. They focused too many ressources on it and completely forgot about their next home console. I think we'll start seeing less 3DS games and more Wii U games the upcoming years.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh?
 

AmanoBuff

Member
Colors. New colors works pretty much every time. It won't last though, especially not with an inferior revision at no price break.

I admit I wouldn't buy this new Vita model due to the the LCD screen, but the lighter and slimmer form factor are more important for some people. Even more so in Japan, where people really use their portables outside a lot.


Really glad for Vita sales. I wasn't expecting even half of that on Pokemon week. I'm sure Danganronpa and that Soccer game also did a lot for vita sales.

Also, nice to see Sen no Kiseki doing as good as it is doing. Seems the decision to go PS3/Vita and to opt for a 3D style worked out well.
 

SmokyDave

Member
I haven't followed Japanese sales for long but surely 60k is a lot better than just "okay"?
60k is pretty good. 60k whilst standing in the humongous shadow of MH4 & Pokemon is fucking orgasmic. Sure, it's still notably lower than the 3DS. Sure, the YoY really ought to be higher when you compare the incentives to buy that have been present this year. Sure, the baseline might not rise notably. Sure, it could be under 10k in 3 weeks.

For now though, for today, I think 'okay' is a little on the pessimistic side.
 

Nibel

Member
Hmm, don't really see it.

I'd say rather that it's the same company in both instances, but the company's strengths align much better with the Japanese market and younger audiences that drive the handheld market than they do the Western market and 16-35 male demographics that drive the AAA home console industry.

I've personally always seen the handheld and home console industries as pretty distinct, while still being part of a larger whole in the gaming industry. Mobile has joined them too.

That statement might have been a bit hyperbole on my part; there are similarities between 3DS and Wii U, but still it feels like they've lost their head entirely with the Wii U compared to the 3DS which looks like a more than worthy successor of the DS now

It's alright buddy, if this makes you feel better inside it's all good.

Seems like I'm doing better than you if a gif is all that it takes to make you upset :lol

The DBZ one above is great, but Wii U isn't Trunks; more like Mr.Satan
 

Metallix87

Member
This isn't handheld land circa-2007.
unless you include smartphones/tablets
It's still Handheld Land. Mobile did some damage, yes, but 3DS is still doing 40k - 100k on regular weeks. Vita hitting sub-5k and a single week of 60k courtesy of a revision and colors is ridiculous. We shouldn't be celebrating this, we should be demanding that Sony work to ensure that sales don't slip below 20k next week.
 
Looks like I underestimated the new Vita model. I was thinking it'd do maybe half of that. Same goes for GTA5. Another product I didn't think would do well there. Good numbers.
 

L Thammy

Member
Of course they don't but 1-2 year of dev cycle isn't too unreasonable with some 3DS titles.

Well, we knew about at least this much at launch:
Animal Crossing™
Kid Icarus™: Uprising
Mario Kart™
nintendogs™ + cats
Paper Mario™
PilotWings Resort™
Star Fox 64™ 3D
Steel Diver™​
We also knew about 3D Land soon after, if I recall, so that's some major output. If it was the small games that were a reaction to the 3DS' early problems, one would think that we'd be hearing a lot about Act Academy Wii U level stuff being announced for the Wii U's eShop.
 

RM8

Member
I hate how both Pokémon and MH4 didn't get to appear for most of their first week for the sake of ridiculous numbers :(
 
Yes the Vita rise is temporary due to the new hardware, but I can really see it turning a corner in Japan soon. Its never gonna catch the 3DS but I think in the end we could see it turn out similar to the DS vs the PSP where the Vita does pretty well towards the middle to end of its lifecycle.
 

SmokyDave

Member
It's still Handheld Land. Mobile did some damage, yes, but 3DS is still doing 40k - 100k on regular weeks. Vita hitting sub-5k and a single week of 60k courtesy of a revision and colors is ridiculous. We shouldn't be celebrating this, we should be demanding that Sony work to ensure that sales don't slip below 20k next week.
I think they are working on it, as much as they can right now. It's never going to be a 'proper' competitor to the 3DS, so you should probably stop judging it as such. It'll help you see why people are pleasantly surprised rather than outraged.
 

RM8

Member
WiiU truly, really has no games. It's so sad to see. GCN and N64 weren't big successes but they managed to get great exclusive libraries. Yes, WiiU's heavy hitters are about to be released, but let's hope it's not too late. The numbers are beyond terrible, WiiU will be Nintendo's biggest non-VB failure and I'm not sure anything will be enough to prevent this.
 

Taker666

Member
I think the if the Wii U bundles do bad, I'll finally join the doom and gloom. Until then, I got my hopes high for a big turnaround.

I can't see the announced bundles doing anything much.

The mass market won't give a shit about Wii Party U (it'll bomb Game & Wario style). The Fit meter for Wii Fit U is a nice addition and it's something that would have sold another round of Wii Fit software to current Wii owners....but Nintendo needed a much bigger,newer gimmick if they wanted to sell Wii U hardware to the fitness crowd (another round of balance board games won't pull them in ).

They need to get the price lower AND bundle Super Mario 3D World..or price even cheaper and bundle a dozen retro games..

Bundling more stuff that people probably won't want (and upping the price) won't sell hardware (no matter how much better value the pack is compared to the current model).
 

test_account

XP-39C²
How many weeks of the prediction league are counted regarding hardware sales? Is it one or two more weeks?


I hate how both Pokémon and MH4 didn't get to appear for most of their first week for the sake of ridiculous numbers :(
There were some stock issues and sellouts, so i'm not sure that the numbers would have been a lot bigger even with a few extra days. Hard to say for sure though.
 
It's still Handheld Land. Mobile did some damage, yes, but 3DS is still doing 40k - 100k on regular weeks. Vita hitting sub-5k and a single week of 60k courtesy of a revision and colors is ridiculous. We shouldn't be celebrating this, we should be demanding that Sony work to ensure that sales don't slip below 20k next week.

That's why there's a Gundam Breaker bundle at the end of the month, that's why the Vita TV and God Eater 2 (along with a bundle) would be dropping mid-November and that's also why FFX/X-2 (with another budnle) will drop late December. The Vita isn't a mainstream device like the 3DS but that doesn't mean it can't serve a healthy niche in Japan.

Yes the Vita rise is temporary due to the new hardware, but I can really see it turning a corner in Japan soon. Its never gonna catch the 3DS but I think in the end we could see it turn out similar to the DS vs the PSP where the Vita does pretty well towards the middle to end of its lifecycle.
The PSP got to that level because of Monster Hunter. The Vita would need an equivalent or something close to that to also have that kind of turnaround.
 

L~A

Member
So...

1) great for Pokémon X and Y. Pokémon as strong as ever in Japan.
2) Cool for GTA V in Japan. Better game, better sales... everything's logical here.
3) doesn't look like Monster Hunter 4 suffered much from Pokémon X and Y's release. Looks like the shortages are still a problem, though.
4) Cool for Dangenronpa, isn't that pretty great for a mere port? <insertportbegposthere>
5) Very great numbers for the 3DS. Let's see now if it can stay above 100k/week till early 2014 !
6) holy cow for Vita. Guess there's plenty of crow to be served today. Wasn't expecting such a rise during Pokémon week.
7) holy cow for Wii U... I knew the sales would get real bad before the bundles, but damn... At this rate, it's gonna hit 2k/week : /
Those bundles... they can't come soon enough, though I expect they won't help much in the end.

Overall, pretty good week.
 

yon61

Member
Yes the Vita rise is temporary due to the new hardware, but I can really see it turning a corner in Japan soon. Its never gonna catch the 3DS but I think in the end we could see it turn out similar to the DS vs the PSP where the Vita does pretty well towards the middle to end of its lifecycle.

It's like a constant deja vu with posts like these.
 

RM8

Member
That's why there's a Gundam Breaker bundle at the end of the month, that's why the Vita TV and God Eater 2 (along with a bundle) would be dropping mid-November and that's also why FFX/X-2 (with another budnle) will drop late December. The Vita isn't a mainstream device like the 3DS but that doesn't mean it can't serve a healthy niche in Japan.


The PSP got to that level because of Monster Hunter. The Vita would need an equivalent or something close to that to also have that kind of turnaround.
I refuse to call "healthy" any sub-GCN system, honestly. ViitaU have terrible diseases and haven't been given proper medication, that sounds much more accurate :p
 

Kid Ying

Member
I think party u has a much bigger value for a bundle than a couple retro games. It looks like a good game that really showcases the strenght of the wii u and is a sequel of a game that solds a lot. If the audience isnt there, it will do at least nintendoland numbers.

Its the best option for a bundle imo. It may get some of the people that liked the original game, unlike Mario.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
They are pushing it. There is an excellent bundle out at the end of the month. Sales will obviously hit rock bottom before the bundle is out. I'd wait to see what kind of boost it gets before writing it off for now.

I hope the bundle boosts sales. I want 3D World to perform well, it looks quite fun.
 

SmokyDave

Member
Exactly. I say it all the time: The Vita situation doesn't change until Sony stops treating it like a bastard child.

Yeah, the fuckers. They should push out a revised model in more colours that outsells the previous 7 weeks combined. They ought to line up some bundles and maybe some sort of TV based SKU. Why aren't they doing anything with the Soul Sacrifice IP?!

Man, you'd think they were supporting two existing platforms with a flagship in the pipeline for next month the way these lazy chumps act.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
Exactly. I say it all the time: The Vita situation doesn't change until Sony stops treating it like a bastard child.
Sony have tried a fair share lately though. The newly released Vita revision (and also in several of different colors), Vita TV and upcoming hardware bundles. The place where they could be stronger is in the 1st party software department, but Sony were never really stong in this department on the PSP either in comparison.
 

Dragon

Banned
When it takes a new hardware revision and new colors just to spur "okay" sales, I'd say yes, for the average consumer, it is beyond comprehension, unfortunately.

Seems like something the WiiU should do anyway, even jumping up to 60K should be done if it could be.
 

creid

Member
05./00. [PSV] Dangan-Ronpa 1-2: Reload <ADV> (Spike Chunsoft) {2013.10.10} (¥5.229) - 76.172 / NEW

Is it just me, or does this seem really high for (1) a re-release (2) of a visual novel (3) on Vita? (given that 1 2 and 3 usually don't exactly get the highest sales...) Is this the first packaged release since the anime aired? Was the anime popular?
 
I refuse to call "healthy" any sub-GCN system, honestly. ViitaU have terrible diseases and haven't been given proper medication, that sounds much more accurate :p

Depends on how you look at it. There's an audience for both systems but they are incredibly small. The WiiU is devoid of meaningful third party support and overall software sales are paltry as a result, and that isn't healthy at all. The Vita on the other hand has a steadier stream of software that serves its audience well (though maybe smaller titles on average), so it's 'healthy' in that sense. Of course looking at the larger picture, they're both very niche products. Honestly the upcoming holidays would be telling: last year the Vita had nothing so sales were beyond pathetic and it should do better this year by default, but also there's an actual holiday push this time; same for the WiiU (to a certain extent anyway). The GC was able to put out relatively big numbers during the holidays in Japan so maybe I'll use that as a barometer of sorts :p

05./00. [PSV] Dangan-Ronpa 1-2: Reload <ADV> (Spike Chunsoft) {2013.10.10} (¥5.229) - 76.172 / NEW

Is it just me, or does this seem really high for (1) a re-release (2) of a visual novel (3) on Vita? (given that 1 2 and 3 usually result in low sales) Is this the first packaged release since the anime aired? Was the anime popular?
Does seem like the anime had a positive effect. The PSP games shot up the charts prior to the release of this game so there's a general increased sense of awareness. It's impressive but I'm not necessarily surprised by the numbers.
 

Acosta

Member
Holy shit Vita. And I thought 20k was way too optimistic (and people were talking of sub 10k, lol, not without reason I must say to be fair).

Excellent news! That's way, way better than I expected. Vita is truly "saved" , it will have a long life. Third party stuff still doing very solid numbers.

Wii U is dead (and I just bought one :p, fortunately it has enough games I'm interested to justify it, just the Nintendo stuff makes it worth).
 
So can we start discussion on why the Wii U stormed out of the gate, then lost so much momentum so quickly? Was it the benefit of being the new hardware in time for Christmas? Because every console has seen a drought after launch, but the numbers never swung so low for other consoles.

The only reason people are holding on to the idea that the Wii U is salvageable is because of its launch month. Outside of that, sales have flatlined to the point where you can safely call it a bad experiment.
 

Metallix87

Member
Seems like something the WiiU should do anyway, even jumping up to 60K should be done if it could be.
We'll see what the upcoming bundles and 3D World do for Wii U. I still think it's problem is Nintendo's poor marketing and release schedule.
 

joedick

Member
Why would anybody in Japan buy a Wii U now when there are better value bundles being advertised that are coming soon?
 

Kid Ying

Member
It was christmas, it was a new console and it had Mario, the biggest game on the console till now. I think that's about it.

Wiiu had a couple of spikes when big software was released (DQX and Pikmin) but that's about it. Right now it's a very bad product, almost no games the whole year and a big price to boot. Specially because one of the consoles aims is children and their parents don't want to pay such a high price. The gamepad is a viability too. The only games till now that uses it well are Nintendoland and Game and Wario and those were released a long time ago already. Only now Nintendo is releasing another game that uses it well, which is Wii Party U.

I think that's about it. Wiiu schedule for the holidays is a little better. Mario, Taiko, Mario and Sonic, Party U and the bundles might help. Even Disney Infinity might get a little bit of the pie considering the time it's released, but, to me, it all depend on those bundles. If they manage to get some of the Wii audience in, those games will do well. If not, the situation is preaty bleak.
 

Cha

Member
Wow. Colour me surprised!
Vita actually sold well during Pokéweek. Was hoping it would somehow manage to do close to 30k because of the new vita, but this is great! Well...for now anyway - I doubt next week is gonna be anywhere near that number. Looking forward to seeing how things hold up. Vita, Fighting!
 

Yanikun

Banned
I realize I should be happy to see the Vita doing way better numbers this week than I predicted, but I'm not. It would be like being happy to see Wii U sales get a massive boost because of a $55 Mario Party HD port. The Vita 2000 is the most pointless revision I've ever seen. It's lazy and it's Sony cutting corners for themselves while barely even lowering the price for consumers -- it's only 51 yen cheaper than the OLED model. Yeah it has 1GB of built-in memory, but a 4GB memory card is 950 yen on Amazon and 1,320 at Yodobashi.

Plus it looks like the Yinlips to me.
 
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