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January 2009 NPD Article (Gamasutra)
- Thread starter jvm
- Start date
Aaron Strife
Banned
Games without COD's mega sales status don't have mega budgets, either, which means that a Wii port would be even cheaper. DUR MATHRhindle said:
Fuck, really? Here I was waiting for Peter Moore to show up at my doorstep with a Wii.
titiklabingapat
Member
It shouldn't matter if it doesn't do as well proportionately. The sheer weight of the Wii userbase and the rate of it's growth alone should ensure that in the long run, that 125k can get 300k within 18 months.Rhindle said:
Then there is also the question of building the userbase on the platform that COD is undoubtedly cementing on the Wii, the same way that COD3 probably helped WOW Wii sales but was undercut by the absence of MW.
I think your post unfortunately got cemented together with Rhindle's nonsense and that's why you didn't get a hospitable reply. :lolSuperBonk said:
As for your agenda: is it regarding why Activision should port CoD5 to the Wii? It's simply because of:
1) From the ActiBlizz software titles, it's one of the titles that don't suffer from a down-port besides graphics
2) It's shown to sell even with a gimped port and a very late commercial entry into the release date (I think the first Wii ad was released after the game was more than a month old)
3) The Wiimote serves as a better FPS control than anything currently on the consoles, save for a USB KB+M (which stupidly, doesn't work with all FPS games)
I can see your point if it's a game that requires more than graphical power like Fallout, Dead Rising or Morrowind series, but it's not the case with CoD5.
Thanks for the response. To clarify, my argument was not that Activision shouldn't port games to Wii but that singling out COD5 for the purpose of justifying a port of the COD series to the Wii is rather silly. But those are all good points. Aside from the last one since I still prefer dual analog. Even more than keyboard and mouse! Yeah I'm one crazy motherfucker.Arde5643 said:
This thread sucks! Thanks buttheads!
Back on topic:
jmv, on page 5 it is said that the Top 10 accounted for only 14% of all unit sales. Am I misreading something? That would make for about 19 million in total unit sales for the month. That seems insanely high for January.
Back on topic:
jmv, on page 5 it is said that the Top 10 accounted for only 14% of all unit sales. Am I misreading something? That would make for about 19 million in total unit sales for the month. That seems insanely high for January.
Pureauthor
Member
Arde5643 said:
They never seem to realize that what they are demanding is that games that have essentially nothing going for them become mega-hits, and consistently.
mr_bishiuk
Banned
Did the Gamecube survive with just a title or two in the top 20?
Pureauthor
Member
mr_bishiuk said:
That comparison is utterly useless and you're smart enough to know why.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Cubey went into a coma in 2005 and never came out of it. It was pronounced dead by fall 06.
Should be interesting to see where the PS3 is at in Fall '10 - '11. I feel it's generally in a much better position support-wise than the Cube was at this point in its life, but these things tend to collapse quickly, so I guess we'll see.
Should be interesting to see where the PS3 is at in Fall '10 - '11. I feel it's generally in a much better position support-wise than the Cube was at this point in its life, but these things tend to collapse quickly, so I guess we'll see.
mr_bishiuk
Banned
Sorry I meant to ask what sort of sales was the GC getting at this point in its life cycle? Was it only having minimal impact on the charts?Pureauthor said:
titiklabingapat
Member
I highly doubt software support for the PS3 will collapse as quickly as the Cube's.
Sony is indeed lucky in that regard and has the PS2 to thank for it.
A better comparison would be with the N64.
Sony is indeed lucky in that regard and has the PS2 to thank for it.
A better comparison would be with the N64.
BishopLamont
Banned
Sony is lucky the 360 is doing well.titiklabingapat said:
Rhindle. :lol
You've picked up on a good point, and one that I didn't want to stress too firmly. Here's why.JJConrad said:
I had two means by which I could compute total software sales. The first is the one you give above, and yes, it's around 19 million. I decided to stick with them because it's almost a direct quote from the source.
The other way to get the total software came up with 17.3 million (going from memory), which is still quite healthy, no? Since it was a less-direct computation, I opted to go with the direct quote.
It's a point I need to clarify with NPD, I believe.
Good question. Anything else?
Stumpokapow
listen to the mad man
lol@people calling rhindle a troll.
After it launched they changed the COD5 commercial. The PC/360 footage was turned into Wii footage, the game actually looked fun and decent on the system so it was quite a succesfull campaign. It was also a stab at EA who said that Wii graphics weren't good enough for TV broadcasting.dionysus said:
DeaconKnowledge
Member
dionysus said:
From my understanding, the Wii version got advertised starting in December.
As someone who owns the Wii version of CoD 5, I'd like to assess some things.
First, when it debuted, it was hard as hell to find. I went to five stores to find it because the first 3 insisted there WAS no Wii version of CoD: WaW. The fourth guy at Future Shop said their copies released two weeks after the HD versions (I was able to score one on launch day at EB however.) Also, for the first month or so, there was zero advertising indicating there was a Wii version. Anecdotally; WAY undershipped, WAY under-advertised.
Second, yeah, CoD: WaW is gimped in comparison with the HD versions (No Vehicles, 8 player max, No zombie Mode)but to say it is a bad game is really mistreating it. It is hands down the best FPS on Wii right now, the online is flawless, and what is there is just a downscaled version of the HD game. I would argue that it's worth the 50 bucks in a heartbeat.
Looking at the sales; what's happening with CoD: WaW is EXACTLY what happened with Guitar Hero: the game debuted haphazardly on Wii just to cover the spread, sales explode after release when people discover the product is competent, then the developer scrambles to address a market that was under their ass the whole time. Considering this I highly doubt Link's hypothesis that MW2 or whatever the next CoD is WON'T make it to Wii; Activision of all companies isn't a fan of leaving easy money on the table.
Alcibiades said:
That's true. World of Warcraft is Acitvision-Blizzard's most important game, after all.
@SuperBonk
CoD:WaW is singled out because it keeps getting brought up by some of those on the side that HD games should not be ported to the Wii as evidence that porting to the Wii isn't a good idea. It's crazy as WaW is an indication that porting to the Wii is a great idea (as shown in some of the previous posts in this thread). That game's performance was brought up in the Nov NPD thread, the Dec NPD thread, the Dec Gamasutra article, and again in this Jan Gamasutra article.
@JJConrad
Assume ~4.1 million in software for the 360 (tie ratio given this month vs. assumed constant tie ratio since September) and 1.5 million for PS3 (couldn't have been much of an increase over Jan-08 or Sony would've put it out in a press release), which leaves ~13.4 million for the PS2, Wii, NDS, PSP, and GBA. I could see the PS2, Wii, and NDS easily taking a huge bulk of that total through sheer volume of software available. If it's a high estimate on total software for January, it probably isn't too high (as shown by jvm's 17.3 alternate estimate).
Segata Sanshiro said:
Bite your tongue! Fire Emblem: PoR and DK:Jungle Beat came out in 2005. :lol
DeaconKnowledge
Member
Link said:
Your posts are typically self-defeating in nature; so no, I couldn't tell.
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
titiklabingapat said:
Fixed. Sony should send a gift basket that MS doesn't have the balls to lead in this industry and take on Nintendo. It's like 2 failures keeping each other from drowning.
BTW, I hope Activision gets this point: it makes no sense to ignore the Wii now that it looks to be the undisputed king in all 3 territories. But even better, with no slowdown by Nintendo, they have the best chance on leading the next generation. And they are bringing in more customers. Why ignore this potential? All big games should hit the Wii. It's an investment. Nobody knows where the next GTA is coming from. The best chance is on the Wii.
BishopLamont
Banned
Activision should really give the Wii it's very own Call of Duty made ground up for it, or at the very least a new FPS IP with a good budget.
I can't think of any previous console generation with a situation quite like this. It is certainly very interesting.
I am pleased that things had not turned out as I once feared. While I was correct in assuming the Wii would become the number one console, I didn't expect the 360/PS3 to remain the primary focus of so many development houses. It seems to me that the HD systems can co-exist nicely with the Wii, which is great. All three are doing well enough to survive (though Sony is certainly hurting the most).
The only really unfortunate thing about the Wii is how much great Japanese software is being passed over for release in North America (or at least heavily delayed). The Wii is a great platform in Japan with a nice mix of hardcore games as well as those aimed at the new Nintendo focus. It has a balanced almost PS2-like library, in a way, yet the US library is terrible in comparison.
I am pleased that things had not turned out as I once feared. While I was correct in assuming the Wii would become the number one console, I didn't expect the 360/PS3 to remain the primary focus of so many development houses. It seems to me that the HD systems can co-exist nicely with the Wii, which is great. All three are doing well enough to survive (though Sony is certainly hurting the most).
The only really unfortunate thing about the Wii is how much great Japanese software is being passed over for release in North America (or at least heavily delayed). The Wii is a great platform in Japan with a nice mix of hardcore games as well as those aimed at the new Nintendo focus. It has a balanced almost PS2-like library, in a way, yet the US library is terrible in comparison.
BishopLamont said:
They could go the Shaun White route and create one game for the PS360, one for the Wii, call them the same name, and share marketing. Honestly, I think the Wii's likely to get a better FPS out of the deal if they try to stick a lot closer to what IW does with MW2, though.
donny2112 said:
If the Conduit is in any way successful (still unknown at this point) then it would be easier for Activision to ration a Wii specific version (not a ported over engine as we see in Cod WaW Wii)
Activison is always reactionary (see Guitar Hero and how that progressed from GHIII to GHWT) when it comes to Wii
We often make fun of Ubisoft but they have proven with Shaun White (I mean come on snowboarding is about as niche as you can get) that if you do not just port something you can earn praise from the industry and make a lot of money (since Shaun White scored highest on Wii and has sold more on the platform)
Hopefully SEGA's latest efforts (their trifecta of HoTD Overkill, MadWorld and Conduit) are not in vein, judging at least by the push they have promised MadWorld (this week they talked about advertising it and its now tail ended on the HoTD commercial as well as an unlockable trailer in the game) and the positive review scores and advertising they are giving HoTD Overkill it will be at least be a valiant effort.
andthebeatgoeson
Junior Member
With so many devs/pubs in trouble, I don't think they are really coexisting very well. In many ways, they are in direct conflict with each other. I think co-existance would require great sales and profit on both sides of the table. DS and PSP are closer to a happy co-existance than HD and Wii.dark10x said:
frankie_baby
Member
ElFly said:
there's still probably 9 months to release so thats enough time to put a lot of extra effort into the wii version of MW2
plagiarize
Banned
i was pretty sure this day would come. as i always said, the market for hardcore games wasn't going to disappear no matter how big the wii became.dark10x said:
dark10x said:
I think your fears weren't founded very close to reality in the first place. Hardcore gaming was never going to die out thanks to casual gaming. Hardcore gaming was always in danger of snuffing itself out due to... well, we're seeing a light version of it this gen. Could've been worse. Glad it wasn't.
Link said:
The thinking is that IW seems to know how to design FPS levels/game structure well, and Activision probably didn't enlist a separate top-tier team to do a possible Wii version. In that case, trying to mimic the levels/game structure of the IW game (with intelligently Wii-designed controls) would probably result in a better overall game than a totally, separately developed game.
AniHawk said:
It's not over. In an IGN GameScoop podcast from earlier this year, Jeremy Dunham predicted that two Top 20 western publishers would go under this year. I'm thinking that THQ might've been one of the ones he was thinking of when making that prediction, but there would still be another. No, he did not consider Midway a Top 20 western publisher.
donny2112 said:
I don't know about this year (maybe), but I'd wager that in, say, 5 years' time, several major publishers of today will become minor, and other minor, if not new publishers and developers will rise and become the kings of tomorrow. I don't see many big publishers managing today's disruption well, if only because they're just so big and thus suffer massive inertia. Maybe EA? Just a guess though.
Luckyman said:
I cannot remember but I do not think CoD3 did well on Wii in the UK either (at least I dont remember it doing much more than 100k), where as in the US it sold more than the PS3 version (according to IGN and NPD)
Interestingly enough though almost all the light gun games on Wii have at least done 100k, maybe the UK likes light gun shooters and Activision should have marketed it towards the Wii Zapper crowd
Version 3.0
Member
Nice article as always, jvm. Thanks.
You sure sparked some controversy with CoD: WaW (or Rhindle did). I was watching this title with some interest, as I adored CoD3 and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 on the Wii, despite the fact that they're bland, mediocre games outside of the controls. So my interest is in seeing some FPS success on the Wii, in the hopes of better games in the genre down the line. I'm really stoked about The Conduit, but anything not in the beaten-to-death WWII genre would probably get a purchase out of me.
I bought WaW for the Wii, and can testify to its relative scarcity--I had to go to Gamestop to get it, a place I ususally avoid. I also got the 3rd degree when I bought it. I've always wondered how much influence sales clerks have on the whole...I can easily picture somebody being dissuaded from buying a game if they got the kind of reaction I did.
You sure sparked some controversy with CoD: WaW (or Rhindle did). I was watching this title with some interest, as I adored CoD3 and Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 on the Wii, despite the fact that they're bland, mediocre games outside of the controls. So my interest is in seeing some FPS success on the Wii, in the hopes of better games in the genre down the line. I'm really stoked about The Conduit, but anything not in the beaten-to-death WWII genre would probably get a purchase out of me.
I bought WaW for the Wii, and can testify to its relative scarcity--I had to go to Gamestop to get it, a place I ususally avoid. I also got the 3rd degree when I bought it. I've always wondered how much influence sales clerks have on the whole...I can easily picture somebody being dissuaded from buying a game if they got the kind of reaction I did.