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July 2008 NPD Article (Edge Online)

TheRagnCajun said:
Why the fuck would someone own a PS2 when they have a BC PS3?

I don't know. Ask the 4 millions of guys who have a PS2 and a PS3. I bet a lot of them have BC capable PS3s.

On the other hand, the BC on the 80GB PS3 is not perfect.
 
TheRagnCajun said:
Why the fuck would someone own a PS2 when they have a BC PS3?

Having both a 60gb PS3 with BC and a PS2 I can tell you why I still own my PS2:

Because my PS2 is modded to play import games, and because I own the PS2 version of Rock Band since the guitars from GH1/GH2/GH80's work fine with it

So yes thats why the fuck someone would own or opt for a PS2 even with a BC PS3 available
 
jetjevons said:
Wait did I read that right? Only 3-5% of gamers in NA are multi-console owners?
2-3% actually.

painful fart said:
The headline is particulary dumb as it could be interpreted as 2-3 % of the US population and it doesn´t mention next-gen consoles or that it applies to online gamers. And why specify a range of 2-3 % if it is as you assume that 3% percent own one or more console.

Dumb article is dumb.
The 2-3% figure is probably from the total respondent population, not just online players. The paragraph structure makes it look out of place.

However, even though the wording is sort of ambiguous, one would assume that the person writing the article had access to actual the NPD report itself and the 3% maximum was what they meant, given the headline. Possibly, the actual figure was 2.7% +/- 0.3%? Regardless, it probably wasn't 5% and even if it were, it's still a small proportion of people.
 
Sir Fragula said:
Of course it's all still contextless without the appropriate figures for Xbox and Gamecube owners.


Xbox and Gamecube to next-gen conversion numbers are pretty meaningless, as the respective successors already passed them.

Even with 100% of conversion, they'd only amount to 50%-60% of the installed bases for X360 and Wii.
 
jvm said:
PS2 NCAA Football 2009: 140-145K
Wii NCAA Football 2009: 40-45K
281875b.jpg

vs.
080318_sparty_wii.gif
 
painful fart said:
Fixed because all PS2 owners haven´t jumped in yet, some PS3 owners may still find the PS3 to expensive or whatever.

Why would future adoptions suddenly skew dramatically towards the PS3 when adoption to date is exactly in line with general populace's adoption rate? Why would PS2 owners be waiting for a cheaper PS3 but not non-PS2 owners?

This meme has always been a silly concept that anyone with a meaningful knowledge of console history could see was unlikely -- successful consoles have never provided a "brand name" boost to their failing successors -- so having specific numbers that back up this idea should really just strengthen it.

jetjevons said:
Wait did I read that right? Only 3-5% of gamers in NA are multi-console owners?

Only 3-5% of gamers are multi-current-gen console owners. Which makes sense, really: I'd guess a lot of core gamers adopt their second and third consoles closer to when the broader market adopt their first consoles.
 
Fantastical said:
Wait... seriously?

:lol

Wow... just... wow.

I mean seriously, there's a place for football-themed sports minigame collections, but it really ought to be done with a new IP rather than re-brand (and ruin) an existing one. I'm surprised it has sold as much as it has.
 
viciouskillersquirrel said:
Wait... seriously?

:lol

Wow... just... wow.

I mean seriously, there's a place for football-themed sports minigame collections, but it really ought to be done with a new IP rather than re-brand (and ruin) an existing one. I'm surprised it has sold as much as it has.

That's not what it is.
 
viciouskillersquirrel said:
That's what it looks like, and to a lot of customers, that's as far as they'll care to investigate.

They're throwing away an IP. It really doesn't make a lot of sense.
Shut up, EA knows what they're doing!

51uCRiEhD7L._SS400_.jpg
 
DeaconKnowledge said:
*rolleyes*

The cover isn't what's turning people off the Wii version guys.
You're right, it's the lack of features and the overall quality of the game compared to the other versions. The cover certainly doesn't help things, though.
 
Link said:
You're right, it's the lack of features and the overall quality of the game compared to the other versions. The cover certainly doesn't help things, though.


I think it's funny that while EA seems to understand that Madden sells on robust features and tight gameplay, they thought NCAA could survive on gimmickry.
 
Link said:
Just to give you guys an idea about where EA is coming from, here's the new cover download page for Madden. Notice anything missing?

http://www.easports.com/madden09/fullsite/news.jsp?itemID=favre_download
Yup. Exactly why they are failing so hard.

Poor EA, they are trying, but they just can't get a break on Nintendo consoles. They are getting pulled and pushed in all directions, with Activision breathing down thier neck and the Wii userbase simply not responding to them.
 
titiklabingapat said:
Yup. Exactly why they are failing so hard.

Poor EA, they are trying, but they just can't get a break on Nintendo consoles. They are getting pulled and pushed in all directions, with Activision breathing down thier neck and the Wii userbase simply not responding to them.
They've simply mischaracterised the Wii's userbase, apparently. It's like they don't do any market research at all.
 
jvm said:
Guys, be careful. Those are not distinct groups. In theory they could account for as little as 19% of the total number of PS2 owners (if Xbox 360 and PS3 owners were all Wii owners, for example).

Basically ... you cannot add the percentages.

I thought I had mentioned this in the article, but maybe I should double check.
Ok, sorry. This was definitely my mistake there.

Interesting statistics anyway. Damn shame we don't get these from other market areas.
 
Heh, I was in the store the other day checking out some games and there was this guy and his buddy looking at the Wii NCAA. He was already confused as to why there was a mascot on the front cover, but then to turn the box over and look on the back only to see a huge picture of mascots playing football. His reaction was pretty funny. :lol :-/
 
Ronin said:
Heh, I was in the store the other day checking out some games and there was this guy and his buddy looking at the Wii NCAA. He was already confused as to why there was a mascot on the front cover, but then to turn the box over and look on the back only to see a huge picture of mascots playing football. His reaction was pretty funny. :lol :-/


I'm not really sure the heads at EA completely get it. It's as if they have conditioned themselves to believe that "Real" gamers don't own/play Wii. Only little kids and people who are attracted to "cute" looking things/stuff

Throwing a Mascot on the cover and glorifying mascot play was NOT the way to attract people. Sure, give them the "All Play" features but t STOP trying to "Dumb it down" or kiddify it.

Give them competent features with competent graphics, sounds and online play and maybe briefly mention a "Wii exclusive" Mascot mode but don't ax the goods and glorify the Mascot shit.
 
Thier head is in the right place though. They used to call it Family Play. They learned from Nintendo that attaching the word "family" is the death kneel of your marketing to everyone else.
 
viciouskillersquirrel said:
The 2-3% figure is probably from the total respondent population, not just online players. The paragraph structure makes it look out of place.

However, even though the wording is sort of ambiguous, one would assume that the person writing the article had access to actual the NPD report itself and the 3% maximum was what they meant, given the headline. Possibly, the actual figure was 2.7% +/- 0.3%?
Those assumption make the article even more incomprehensable.

I also would like to know why you and Charlequin believe there are more gamers with all three next-gen consoles than there are gamers that own just two of the next-gen consoles, because that is what you say if you think the 3% is the total number.
Personally I find that very unlikely.

Charlequin said:
Why would future adoptions suddenly skew dramatically towards the PS3 when adoption to date is exactly in line with general populace's adoption rate? Why would PS2 owners be waiting for a cheaper PS3 but not non-PS2 owners?
I don´t know why ask these question I just said we can´t know what the great majority of PS2 owners will do in the future or can we? We don´t know the reasons why they haven´t jumped in on any new console yet.
 
painful fart said:
Those assumption make the article even more incomprehensable.

I also would like to know why you and Charlequin believe there are more gamers with all three next-gen consoles than there are gamers that own just two of the next-gen consoles, because that is what you say if you think the 3% is the total number.
Personally I find that very unlikely.

I don´t know why ask these question I just said we can´t know what the great majority of PS2 owners will do in the future or can we? We don´t know the reasons why they haven´t jumped in on any new console yet.
Statistically, they're likely to do the same thing they've always historically done: go to the market leader regardless of past history. It's the safest bet.

Also, the thing about more owning three than two, well, the line between casual and hardcore (the ones who go multiconsole) is really quite steep. Once you go multiconsole (as in you must have the games you want regardless of cost) it becomes habit forming, it seems. You mustn't forget the peer pressure effect of places like GAF.
 
TheRagnCajun said:
Why the fuck would someone own a PS2 when they have a BC PS3?

You really can't answer that? Off the top of my head:

1. They have more than one TV, and use the PS3 with one and the PS2 with another (maybe their kid's TV).

2. They want to play Guitar Hero or another game with its own peripheral, without buying even more hardware to do so.

3. They know that even hardware BC isn't perfect.

4. They're an enthusiast and don't get rid of their old systems.

5. Their PS2 is modded, and the games on its HDD don't seem to work on the PS3.

Take your pick. I have a launch model PS3, and two PS2s (a barely working launch model, and a slim). And I fall into more than one of these categories.
 
painful fart said:
I don´t know why ask these question I just said we can´t know what the great majority of PS2 owners will do in the future or can we? We don´t know the reasons why they haven´t jumped in on any new console yet.
Because Nintendo can't make Wii's fast enough?
 
I was first disappointed in the NCAA football sales. But after seeing that cover, I'm glad it sold poorly.

It says a lot when a console with half the userbase of the Wii, sells over 3 times more copies of NCAA with 40-45K, after they released the kid gimped ass version they thought would definitely be a hit. That's 7 times less than what they could've potentially got. Hopefully, they've learnt.
 
titiklabingapat said:
Thier head is in the right place though. They used to call it Family Play. They learned from Nintendo that attaching the word "family" is the death kneel of your marketing to everyone else.

Exactly, but in reality "All Play" isn't that much better, not to mention they are using "friendlier" covers as boxart. Like I said, all they need to do is continue giving the expected amount of content and features AND include these new All Play modes, but NOT necessarily make them the center of focus.

As with the "Family" thing you almost immediately scare off any potential non casuals with any hint of dumbed down features or gameplay once you start putting a huge emphasis on the "All inclusive aspects", as was exactly the case with NCAA 09.
 
A slight bit off topic but not only does Madden 09 for the Wii have a much better cover than NCAA, it plays better too.

Still not going to sell up there with the big boys, but I hope it does better than the really shitty 08 for Wii saleswise.
 
painful fart said:
I was thinking of that one myself or perhaps they still think the Wii is to expensive.
Are those the people still buying PS2s?
Are PS2 owners still buying PS2s?
 
Good read, software revenue breakdown is very interesting. No wonder Microsoft is returning to the "since launch" revenue pr spins in their NPD responses. ;-)


Also, I'm surprised 40.000 people actually bought NCAA Football Wii. I'm not sure why EA thinks this is the way to go, did EA on the casual console PS2 ever had to resort to such means? I don't think so. If you look at even the past few months, all the best selling multi platform titles that were on Wii where "normal", no horrific shitty boxart like the one above and such. Oke, they weren't sport titles but still.
 
Soule said:
Marginally better, but goddamn... I thought they were both photoshops for lols
I'm really not sure it is better. They have "All-Play" splashed across the thing like it's some kind of backyard football game.

titiklabingapat said:
Thier head is in the right place though. They used to call it Family Play. They learned from Nintendo that attaching the word "family" is the death kneel of your marketing to everyone else.
I'd disagree with their head being in the right place. All that boxart does is scream "for kids!" Look at that commercial for Madden, where the guy is playing with his daughter and he mentions the adaptive gameplay. That would have been the perfect marketing for the Wii version. So what does EA do? They use it to advertise the 360 version.
 
I think one of the major shortcomings of 3rd party attempts on the Wii is the idea that they need to replicate the Mii, and their attempts at doing so. Instead of seeing avatars that are easily customizable, bear reasonable resemblances to their real life counter-parts, that are cross-game compatible, slightly cartoony but not over the top... They make these fuck-ugly imitations with bright colors, massive heads, little customization, no cross game compatibility, and in styles that could only be appealing to mentally handicapped children. They need to cut that shit out, and either use standard gaming characters, or license Miis. (I realize that's a mascot on the cover, but I feel like they are assuming the Wii audience likes these ridiculously over the top shitty caricatures). Of course, this is probably just a result of their assumption that the Wii market is filled with children and strange adults, as opposed to... I don't know... A wide demograph of normal people.
 
PSGames said:
I'm not so sure, when you look at past generations the platform with the most 3rd party support was the victor each and every time.

Genesis vs. SNES. Before Playstation, first party games were a hugely significant driving factor in sales for the generational leader. Playstation changed the focus to third parties with a relatively minor addition from first party games, but that is not how it has been "each and every time."
 
10% of PS2 owners also own a PS3
18% of PS2 owners also own an Xbox 360
19% of PS2 owners also own a Wii
This is kind of interesting. Mostly it seems to confirm that PS2 owners are making their purchases just like everyone else, and aren't the block that will en masse upgrade to one option like some people hope. If we take the LTD sales of the three current systems, and were told to split up a total of 47% between them based on that, it would work out to 19.7% Wii, 18.5% X360, and 8.8% PS3. Almost exactly what the reality shows, with just a slight advantage for PS3.
 
Haunted One said:
Only the best-selling versions are there - and why are these the best-selling versions? etc. etc. Totally a vicious cycle.

Wii trounced the PSP version. Considering it very likely had much better legs, it might have gotten very close to or passed the PS3 version as well. This year should be 360>>PS2~=PS3>WII for the first month. However, that'll still be a new record for Madden's debut on a Nintendo system since the start of last-gen, and it'll should still likely have better legs than the PS3 version.

EA is a massive company that is having a very hard time changing directions (b/c of inertia) mid-generation. They've started, which is better than nothing, but they still have a ways to go.
 
donny2112 said:
Wii trounced the PSP version. Considering it very likely had much better legs, it might have gotten very close to or passed the PS3 version as well. This year should be 360>>PS2~=PS3>WII for the first month. However, that'll still be a new record for Madden's debut on a Nintendo system since the start of last-gen, and it'll should still likely have better legs than the PS3 version.

EA is a massive company that is having a very hard time changing directions (b/c of inertia) mid-generation. They've started, which is better than nothing, but they still have a ways to go.

I find hard to believe that the Wii version (116k first month) came close to the Ps3 version (336k first month) but if you name some sources where I can see the legs maybe I will believe you.

And the Wii version certainly didn't trounce the PSP version the first month when it sold less than 40k more. Both sold like shit
 
Haunted One said:
Only the best-selling versions are there - and why are these the best-selling versions? etc. etc. Totally a vicious cycle.


Just goes to show how EA really feels about Wii support with their sports franchises.
 
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