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[Flying_Phoenix]

Interestingly, I think it's because the iPhone can do one thing far better than regular cell phones: surf the web.

According to the same survey (conducted by IMJ Mobile, s=300), surfing the web is the most used feature of the phone, with 25%, followed by email (24%), music (21%), making phone calls (17%), and then apps (7%), with various other things like Google Maps, the camera, and the calendar making up the rest.

I'd also like to point out somewhat cynically that the average iPhone owner in Japan is probably quite different from the average keitai owner.

Why is the iPhone struggling so much in Japan when the iPod didn't?

 

[jcm]

91% have downloaded at least one app. But I think the data clearly show the iPhone isn't selling as a downloadable media device quite the same way it is elsewhere. Note the question isn't "What is most important to you?", it's "what do you use your iPhone for?"

Gotcha. Thanks for the info.

Regardless, the argument being that the main issue with the PSPGo is that it's a download-only console seems faulty because, though we've yet to see NPD's for October, I'm pretty sure sales for PSPGo in the United States will be less-than-stellar.

We can all agree that the market for the iPhone and Apps in the US is thriving, right?

It is, but it's different. iPhone games are cheap and easily pirated. Can the PSP Go play pirated games? That's not a rhetorical question - I really don't know the answer.

 

[ethelred]

"App" is not synonymous with "games" and we should probably stop conducting this conversation as though they are the same. The iPhone was brought up to counter the notion that the market isn't ready for a digital distribution-only gaming device, and aside from the numerous other flaws and logical gaps that make any comparison between the iPhone and the PSPGo perilous (the iPhone isn't a gaming device, it's a phone; the iPhone's functions broadly eclipse those of the PSP Go or any other handheld gaming device because it is not a gaming device; the iPhone's games sell for a fraction of the cost), backing up that assertion with the justification that 91% of iPhone owners have downloaded an app is faulty. Did they download an instant messaging app? An eBay app? Some type of email app? Apps aren't all games; I'm not even sure that they're predominantly games. And unless someone can muster some evidence suggesting that the iPhone is viewed primarily as a gaming device by a significant chunk of the population that is then ready to go out and purchase iPhones solely for the ability to download high-end gaming software, it is, frankly, an irrelevant sidepoint in any discussion relating to the PSP Go.

Regardless, the argument being that the main issue with the PSPGo is that it's a download-only console seems faulty because, though we've yet to see NPD's for October, I'm pretty sure sales for PSPGo in the United States will be less-than-stellar.

We can all agree that the market for the iPhone and Apps in the US is thriving, right?

That it is DD-only certainly is the main issue. The app store is thriving in the US, but that doesn't mean people are buying the iPhones for apps. People were buying iPhones in droves well before the app store was created or announced, and they have continued to do so since then -- for a multitude of the functions it offers (email, phoning, texting, Google maps, internet, music, video, etc.). Gaming is just one of many functions. And saying "well in a phone I bought I can also download some cheap 1-3$ games to supplement everything else it does," that's great, but it is not comparable to a DD-only gaming device that is nothing at all like the iPhone.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Why is the iPhone struggling so much in Japan when the iPod didn't?

I wouldn't say it's "struggling", it's just a different world over here. Mostly it's a matter of competition. There are tons of phones that can do just about as much as an iPhone can here, all at competitive prices and in a wide range of colours and styles.

Additionally, iPhone is shacked up with Softbank, which has piss-poor network coverage outside of the big cities. And the iPhone (particularly until recently) has had poor support for Japan-specific functions like Edy.

Also, awesome new phones come out every week here, so you can't just hang in there with one model for six months and expect to thrive.

Compare to the iPod where there was a wide open market where the plan worked out more or less the same way as it did in America, and well...

 

[danielijohnson]

"App" is not synonymous with "games" and we should probably stop conducting this conversation as though they are the same. The iPhone was brought up to counter the notion that the market isn't ready for a digital distribution-only gaming device, and aside from the numerous other flaws and logical gaps that make any comparison between the iPhone and the PSPGo perilous (the iPhone isn't a gaming device, it's a phone; the iPhone's functions broadly eclipse those of the PSP Go or any other handheld gaming device because it is not a gaming device; the iPhone's games sell for a fraction of the cost), backing up that assertion with the justification that 91% of iPhone owners have downloaded an app is faulty. Did they download an instant messaging app? An eBay app? Some type of email app? Apps aren't all games; I'm not even sure that they're predominantly games. And unless someone can muster some evidence suggesting that the iPhone is viewed primarily as a gaming device by a significant chunk of the population that is then ready to go out and purchase iPhones solely for the ability to download high-end gaming software, it is, frankly, an irrelevant sidepoint in any discussion relating to the PSP Go

That's fine.

I just think there are many more contributing factors to why the PSPGo is (going to be) a sales failure than it's download-only format.

Edit: To clarify a bit, I think the issue is pricing and positioning.

 

[Orgen]

Predictions:

[NDS] Summon Night X: Tears Crown (Namco Bandai)- 37K
[NDS] Tamagotchi no Narikiri Channel (Namco Bandai)- 56K
[WII] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Nintendo)- 125K
[PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (Konami)- 214K
[PS3] 3D Dot Game Heroes (From Software)- 31K

 

[ethelred]

That's fine.

I just think there are many more contributing factors to why the PSPGo is (going to be) a sales failure than it's download-only format.

Oh, sure. That's the one area where you can compare the PSP Go and the iPhone: multi-functionality. Only, where the iPhone's multifunctionality is a route to its success, the PSP Go is multifunctional in its failure.

But I think that if you got IMJ Mobile to do a survey of Japanese users asking why they want the PSP Go to fail, DD-only would come in front with 43%, followed by too pricey (15%), not enough games / restrictive library (14%), not the DS (10%), worse product than the PSP3k (9%), low battery life (7%), and so on.

 

[danielijohnson]

Oh, sure. That's the one area where you can compare the PSP Go and the iPhone: multi-functionality. Only, where the iPhone's multifunctionality is a route to its success, the PSP Go is multifunctional in its failure.

But I think that if you got IMJ Mobile to do a survey of Japanese users asking why they want the PSP Go to fail, DD-only would come in front with 43%, followed by too pricey (15%), not enough games / restrictive library (14%), not the DS (10%), worse product than the PSP3k (9%), low battery life (7%), and so on.

That looks about right. I guess I just got hung up on the words "the market" since a similar survery conducted in the US would probably have different results.

 

[test_account]

Do you even know what ''legs'' mean?

PS3: 152K, 55K, 51K, 40K
WII: 35K, 31K, 30K, 26K

Which system has better legs?

Does "legs" only mean when something is selling relatively stable numbers and has a low percentage drop from week to week? Honest question, i am wondering about it. I thought that "legs" was mostly used when something has some "staying power" (or what i shall say), regardless on how big or small the percentage drops are. Or are "legs" defined differently when it comes to hardware sales compared to software sales?

All consoles have staying power in the way that they usually sell every week for several of years in a row though, but i am thinking more about for example that the PS3 sale is higher than several of people expected, and the PS3 sales are better than what it used to do (like 10k-15k a week), so it have had staying power so far in this way.

I know what you mean though, the Wii have had less percentage drop in those 4 weeks compared to the PS3, so in this way the Wii has more stable sales/better legs indeed, that is true But i just wanted to ask how "legs" are defined when it comes to hardware sales.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I wouldn't say it's "struggling", it's just a different world over here. Mostly it's a matter of competition. There are tons of phones that can do just about as much as an iPhone can here, all at competitive prices and in a wide range of colours and styles.

Additionally, iPhone is shacked up with Softbank, which has piss-poor network coverage outside of the big cities. And the iPhone (particularly until recently) has had poor support for Japan-specific functions like Edy.

Also, awesome new phones come out every week here, so you can't just hang in there with one model for six months and expect to thrive.

Compare to the iPod where there was a wide open market where the plan worked out more or less the same way as it did in America, and well...

Ah I see. So in short: The iPhone is under a bad service provider and lacks many features that seem to be standard in Japanese phones both in hardware and software.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

That looks about right. I guess I just got hung up on the words "the market" since a similar survery conducted in the US would probably have different results.

Yeah, well, you're new here, so it's not a big deal, but usually in the Media Create threads we're talking about the Japanese market unless otherwise specified.

 

[ethelred]

That looks about right. I guess I just got hung up on the words "the market" since a similar survery conducted in the US would probably have different results.

I don't think it would, as even in the US the market is conditioned, thanks to XBLA and iPhone, to think of digital distribution as a venue for small, short, low budget, and (most importantly here) cheap games. I don't think there are many people interested in paying above 10-15$ (on the absolute high end) for games, and I think if you came up with a device that fixed all of the PSP Go's over flaws (such as unit pricing) and tested the market to see if it would be interested in a device selling digitally distributed 20-40$ games, there would still be a huge lack of interest. And I think if you built a gaming device offering nothing but PSP Mini or iPhone-app style gaming software, there wouldn't be a lot of interest in that, either.

That's setting aside the most important point, though, which is...

Yeah, well, you're new here, so it's not a big deal, but usually in the Media Create threads we're talking about the Japanese market unless otherwise specified.

... that.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I don't think it would, as even in the US the market is conditioned, thanks to XBLA and iPhone, to think of digital distribution as a venue for small, short, low budget, and (most importantly here) cheap games. I don't think there are many people interested in paying above 10-15$ (on the absolute high end) for games, and I think if you came up with a device that fixed all of the PSP Go's over flaws (such as unit pricing) and tested the market to see if it would be interested in a device selling digitally distributed 20-40$ games, there would still be a huge lack of interest. And I think if you built a gaming device offering nothing but PSP Mini or iPhone-app style gaming software, there wouldn't be a lot of interest in that, either.

 

[ethelred]

So now we're getting so desperate that we're dragging US PC gaming into the equation as well? I'm sure that's a comparison that'll hold up against console gaming much better than the iPhone one... I'm sure. So sure.

 

[danielijohnson]

Haha. That's cool. I'll try to stick to Japanese sales discussion.

 

[Pureauthor]

Do we even get any sales numbers for Steam games anyway?

 

[A Twisty Fluken]

http://i34.tinypic.com/2w5ugsy.jpg

You mean the platform whose hard numbers are so compelling that PR stats are always in percentages?

Unless I'm mistaken, we have no hard numbers to back up any claims regarding steam.

 

[Grampasso]

So now we're getting so desperate that we're dragging US PC gaming into the equation as well? I'm sure that's a comparison that'll hold up against console gaming much better than the iPhone one... I'm sure. So sure.

:lol

 

[gcubed]

Does "legs" only mean when something is selling relatively stable numbers and has a low percentage drop from week to week? Honest question, i am wondering about it. I thought that "legs" was mostly used when something has some "staying power" (or what i shall say), regardless on how big or small the percentage drops are. Or are "legs" defined differently when it comes to hardware sales compared to software sales?

All consoles have staying power in the way that they usually sell every week for several of years in a row though, but i am thinking more about for example that the PS3 sale is higher than several of people expected, and the PS3 sales are better than what it used to do (like 10k-15k a week), so it have had staying power so far in this way.

I know what you mean though, the Wii have had less percentage drop in those 4 weeks compared to the PS3, so in this way the Wii has more stable sales/better legs indeed, that is true But i just wanted to ask how "legs" are defined when it comes to hardware sales.

maybe a better word would have been impact instead of legs to apparently prevent panties from becoming bunched. He's just arguing semantics now because you're point was clear days ago when you originally posted your response.

 

[poppabk]

Does "legs" only mean when something is selling relatively stable numbers and has a low percentage drop from week to week? Honest question, i am wondering about it. I thought that "legs" was mostly used when something has some "staying power" (or what i shall say), regardless on how big or small the percentage drops are. Or are "legs" defined differently when it comes to hardware sales compared to software sales?

All consoles have staying power in the way that they usually sell every week for several of years in a row though, but i am thinking more about for example that the PS3 sale is higher than several of people expected, and the PS3 sales are better than what it used to do (like 10k-15k a week), so it have had staying power so far in this way.

I know what you mean though, the Wii have had less percentage drop in those 4 weeks compared to the PS3, so in this way the Wii has more stable sales/better legs indeed, that is true But i just wanted to ask how "legs" are defined when it comes to hardware sales.

I would say that the term 'legs' when it comes to hardware, is a little bit pointless. It could be used to refer to how long an increase over baseline lasts, but at some point the 'legs' would become the new baseline. For software, the definition of legs is achieving any kind of measurable 'baseline', either enough sales to appear in the charts or show up in a top 500 list.

 

[Somnid]

PSP GO is that painful first step to make digital distribution of full retail games a norm. It does offer a lot of good points, but it stumbles in some key areas. Future consoles and handhelds will look at it and learn something from it, and I also feel that like all systems it will get much better over time as Sony learns how to take advantage of it.

Even Steam was a piece of shit when it started. Now PC gamers won't buy games from anywhere else.

 

[Chris1964]

Does "legs" only mean when something is selling relatively stable numbers and has a low percentage drop from week to week? Honest question, i am wondering about it. I thought that "legs" was mostly used when something has some "staying power" (or what i shall say), regardless on how big or small the percentage drops are. Or are "legs" defined differently when it comes to hardware sales compared to software sales?

All consoles have staying power in the way that they usually sell every week for several of years in a row though, but i am thinking more about for example that the PS3 sale is higher than several of people expected, and the PS3 sales are better than what it used to do (like 10k-15k a week), so it have had staying power so far in this way.

I know what you mean though, the Wii have had less percentage drop in those 4 weeks compared to the PS3, so in this way the Wii has more stable sales/better legs indeed, that is true But i just wanted to ask how "legs" are defined when it comes to hardware sales.

From page 6:

Anyway, this argument is silly since we are talking about hardware legs.

 

[Pureauthor]

PSP GO is that painful first step to make digital distribution of full retail games a norm. It does offer a lot of good points, but it stumbles in some key areas. Future consoles and handhelds will look at it and learn something from it, and I also feel that like all systems it will get much better over time as Sony learns how to take advantage of it.

Even Steam was a piece of shit when it started. Now PC gamers won't buy games from anywhere else.

Really? I kinda view it as a step backwards. When the first DD-only system on the market bombs so spectacularly I think people would just tend to become more wary of it.

 

[poppabk]

PSP GO is that painful first step to make digital distribution of full retail games a norm. It does offer a lot of good points, but it stumbles in some key areas. Future consoles and handhelds will look at it and learn something from it, and I also feel that like all systems it will get much better over time as Sony learns how to take advantage of it.

Even Steam was a piece of shit when it started. Now PC gamers won't buy games from anywhere else.

Steam is an interesting anomaly though - people will pay more to get the same game on steam rather than on another download service - the fact that it is a download service is only part its appeal, the community and centralized patch/cheat protection (important for PC gamers) is also a big draw.

 

[Road]

I've talked to my crystal ball and:

[NDS] Summon Night X: Tears Crown (Namco Bandai) - 55k
[NDS] Tamagotchi no Narikiri Channel (Namco Bandai) - 22k
[WII] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Nintendo) - 66k
[PS3] World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (Konami) - 199k
[PS3] 3D Dot Game Heroes (From Software) - 33k

Absolutely no idea on Tamagotchi and 3D Dot.

 

[Somnid]

Really? I kinda view it as a step backwards. When the first DD-only system on the market bombs so spectacularly I think people would just tend to become more wary of it.

People hate on all new systems because they feel something is wrong with it or are nevous about it's prospects (ie they fear change). Over time consoles develop an identity, become more appealing and peole come to like them more and forget their initial irrationality and fear. Some people of course never do but they're usually idiots.

GBA - No backlight, people hated it
GBM - Too expensive, same thing only smaller, people hated it
DS - Not PSP level-graphics, no analog stick, people hated it
DSi - No GBA slot, people hated it.
DSi LL - Screwing early adopters, pixels too big, people hate it
PSP - Battery life too short, load times too long, people hated it.
PSP3000 - No CFW, people hated it
Wii - No HD, Waggle, people hated it
360 - only had a bunch of rushed and shitty looking ports, people hated it
PS3 - 600 US Dollars, people hated it

Right now PSP Go is combating library and cost, 2 things that will obviously subside quite a bit given time.

Steam is an interesting anomaly though - people will pay more to get the same game on steam rather than on another download service - the fact that it is a download service is only part its appeal, the community and centralized patch/cheat protection (important for PC gamers) is also a big draw.

Sony DD games are attached to an account seemingly forever. PSP2 may not have a UMD slot and only DD owners can transfer games to the new system. That may certainly be a big draw. What Steam does is offer standardization. People love it, what they don't want is a collection half DD and half UMD. That's the real problem.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

People hate on all new systems because they feel something is wrong with it or are nevous about it's prospects (ie they fear change). Over time consoles develop an identity, become more appealing and peole come to like them more and forget their initial irrationality and fear. Some people of course never do but they're usually idiots.

GBA - No backlight, people hated it
GBM - Too expensive, same thing only smaller, people hated it
DS - Not PSP level-graphics, no analog stick, people hated it
DSi - No GBA slot, people hated it.
DSi LL - Screwing early adopters, pixels too big, people hate it
PSP - Battery life too short, load times too long, people hated it.
PSP3000 - No CFW, people hated it
Wii - No HD, Waggle, people hated it
360 - only had a bunch of rushed and shitty looking ports, people hated it
PS3 - 600 US Dollars, people hated it

GBA - People most certainly did not hate it, it was a massive success right out of the gates.
GBM - Proved to be a failure, no one has aimed at this market since.
DS - Modest success even initially, within five months picked up steam and never let up.
DSi - Again, successful immediately out of the gate.
DSi LL - We have no idea how this is going to perform at all at this point, so I'm not sure why you're including it.
PSP - Again, highly successful right out of the gate, flagging sales were revitalized when the things people were complaining about started to be addressed.
PSP3000 - Immediately successful.
Wii - Immediately successful.
360 - Immediately successful in NA, massive failure at launch in Japan, remains that way today.
PS3 - $4.7 billion loss.

If a product is successful right out of the gates, it is incomparable to the PSP Go's position. Based on NA and now Japanese data for the first couple days, the system is selling about what the Ngage did.

If a system fails and the things people complained about are not used again, it's incomparable to the scenario you are predicting for the PSP Go.

You're trying to draw a parallel here to the DSi. This is not a similar situation. A system that launches with 28k sales on its first day is never, EVER going to be a success.

The comparisons you should be drawing are to the GBM, NGage, NGage QD, Wonderswan, Neo Geo Pocket Color, and the Tiger Games.com.

 

[Burai]

Steam is an interesting anomaly though - people will pay more to get the same game on steam rather than on another download service - the fact that it is a download service is only part its appeal, the community and centralized patch/cheat protection (important for PC gamers) is also a big draw.

I think the fact that most people got Steam installed as a byproduct of buying Half-Life 2 or The Orange Box has helped massively in that regard. It's like a trojan horse in much the same way that mandating iPod owners use iTunes helps the iTunes store cement itself as number 1.

Sony just can't smuggle the PlayStation Store into people's homes like that.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

So now we're getting so desperate that we're dragging US PC gaming into the equation as well? I'm sure that's a comparison that'll hold up against console gaming much better than the iPhone one... I'm sure. So sure.

"Desperate"? Please. I'm just showing a contradiction with your notion that the US market is only interested in cheap downloadable. Maybe you should observe or even ask what the person is talking about instead of acting like a dick?

You mean the platform whose hard numbers are so compelling that PR stats are always in percentages?

Unless I'm mistaken, we have no hard numbers to back up any claims regarding steam.

But are you going to argue that the system isn't a viable platform for distribution? That's all I'm not arguing that it's proof that digital distribution will soon take over, but more so that there's already a successful market for digital distribution in the States.

 

[Burai]

Sony DD games are attached to an account seemingly forever. PSP2 may not have a UMD slot and only DD owners can transfer games to the new system. That may certainly be a big draw. What Steam does is offer standardization. People love it, what they don't want is a collection half DD and half UMD. That's the real problem.

Actually, you've assumed far too much.

a) There's no guarantee the PSP2 will even play PSP games whatsoever regardless of delivery method.

b) You think most people are thinking that far ahead? "Well, I'd better not save $15 now and buy it on UMD... It might not work on the PSP2 I buy five years from now!" The only people doing that are PSPgo apologists trying to justify to themselves why getting raped up the ass is a great thing.

 

[test_account]

maybe a better word would have been impact instead of legs to apparently prevent panties from becoming bunched. He's just arguing semantics now because you're point was clear days ago when you originally posted your response.

Ye, maybe impact would have been a better word as you say.

Are you sure that you arent mixing me up with someone else by the way? Because my previous post here was the first post that i made in this Media Create thread (i think that it was my first post in this thread at least).

I would say that the term 'legs' when it comes to hardware, is a little bit pointless. It could be used to refer to how long an increase over baseline lasts, but at some point the 'legs' would become the new baseline. For software, the definition of legs is achieving any kind of measurable 'baseline', either enough sales to appear in the charts or show up in a top 500 list.

That's true, the hardware sales will at some time become the new baseline as you say So i guess there is a small difference between hardware and software sales when it comes to how legs are defined.

From page 6:

Ok, i see Sorry, i didnt mean to discuss too much about this. I just saw the post and i wondered how "legs" was defined when it comes to hardware sales because i havnt really thought about that before, so i just wanted to ask a honest question about it


Thanks for the answer to all of you!

 

[Somnid]

Stuff

It's not a sales analysis or and analysis on whether or not it will be successful. GBM is widely considered by fans to be the best Gameboy Advance iteration, but it often takes a while for people to really grasp what makes a system what it is. GBM did not popularize until it hit $50, but by then it was already discontinued to make way for the DS. It was not considered a success. A second attempt could easily turn out different because of the more modern desire for smaller portable systems. Some systems are what we might call "ahead of their time." In fact neither the DS or PSP hit their strides until a second system hit, same for PS3 it would seem. The Go is a necessary step in making a parallel DD world a reality, and it's successes and failures will be evaluated when thinking about the future.

Actually, you've assumed far too much.

a) There's no guarantee the PSP2 will even play PSP games whatsoever regardless of delivery method.

b) You think most people are thinking that far ahead? "Well, I'd better not save $15 now and buy it on UMD... It might not work on the PSP2 I buy five years from now!" The only people doing that are PSPgo apologists trying to justify to themselves why getting raped up the ass is a great thing.

I didn't say it would or would not happen or at least that was not my intent. However, it is a possibility. I do agree nobody outside some Gaffer makes purchases like this, but if it does happen what then? It becomes a factor. I'm not talking about the present, because as a just launched system I'm trying to get away from the whining that I've described that surrounds all hardware launches.

 

[velvet_nitemare]

Demon's Souls has made me a huge fan of Fromsoftware, so i hope 3D Dot Game heroes does good numbers.

 

[cvxfreak]

Even the Game Boy micro at least managed to outsell the GBASP at launch. :lol :lol :lol

 

[Durante]

I wonder if PSP go will still be profitable overall. There can't have been too much R&D investment (it's basically a PSP), and the profit margin on the hardware should be almost Nintendoesque at the current price point.

 

[Minsc]

You mean the platform whose hard numbers are so compelling that PR stats are always in percentages?

Unless I'm mistaken, we have no hard numbers to back up any claims regarding steam.

Steam has already stated why they can't release sales numbers, it is not Steam who doesn't want the numbers released, so you're wrong about your little attack on Steam.

It is the publishers signing their games on to the Steam service that do not want sales numbers released.

And it's not just budget releases that chart on steam. Full price, $65 games have no problem charting.

 

[A Twisty Fluken]

Steam has already stated why they can't release sales numbers, it is not Steam who doesn't want the numbers released, so you're wrong about your little attack on Steam.

It is the publishers signing their games on to the Steam service that do not want sales numbers released.

And it's not just budget releases that chart on steam. Full price, $65 games have no problem charting.

I'm actually referring to PR regarding sales of Valve's own titles (TF2/L4D/etc.). Unless they've released Valve game steam sales data and I happened to miss it?

 

[Firewire]

Just came across this from some place called "Playstation Insider" I've never heard of them before.

http://psinsider.e-mpire.com/index.php?categoryid=17&m_articles_articleid=1420

In a surprising turn around vs. last year, PS3's sales in Japan for 2009 have surged, and are now sitting very close to those of the Wii. The numbers break down as follows:

The Hardware sold in Japan From 04th Jan 2009 to 24th Oct 2009 :

Wii : 1,012,924

PS3 :1,006,810

360 :284,943

Estimates for next week's sales put PS3 over the Wii in Japan as follows:

The Hardware sold in Japan From 04th Jan 2009 to 01st Nov 2009 :

PS3 :1,044,310

Wii : 1,038,924

360 :294,943

I don't know where they got there numbers from or how they estimate next weeks numbers but is this anywhere near accurate?

 

[Chris1964]

The YTD numbers are off (at least according to m-create), let alone they start counting weeks from Sunday.

 

[Road]

Those are from the banned place.

 

[Liabe Brave]

That's true, the hardware sales will at some time become the new baseline as you say So i guess there is a small difference between hardware and software sales when it comes to how legs are defined.

I don't want to drag this out too far, but back when this was being discussed I pointed out that "retention of first week sales" can be used to measure legs for both software and hardware. It's consistent and it doesn't have a problem with a change in baseline; in fact, it measures the change in baseline.

 

[Zoe]

edit: nvm, reading ftw >_<

 

[Stinkles]

Quick: Anyone have the pic of the guy in the dunce hat drawing NPD charts?

 

[faridmon]

Absolutely. And yes, the numbers for the PSP Go's first couple days in the US were awful, as well. Clearly DD can work as a platform, it's a matter of doing it correctly. Japan's going to be an especially difficult nut to crack, though. They aren't real keen on the concept, which isn't surprising considering how rigorously devoted to cash this country is.

what? they released the first day sales of Go in US? where?

 

[Minsc]

I'm actually referring to PR regarding sales of Valve's own titles (TF2/L4D/etc.). Unless they've released Valve game steam sales data and I happened to miss it?

My apologies then, I agree, it is frustrating to see them hiding behind such secrecy with their own IP. Maybe they're worried people could start extrapolating other title's sales if they are given a handful of Valve's titles. There's 20+ million Steam accounts, but who knows how many active accounts that is, and what percentage of them correspond to each weeks #1 title.

 

[Road]

Firewire
Banned
(Today, 04:14 PM)
Reply | Quote



Oh, boy... I hope it wasn't because of the numbers.

Next time I'll just stay quiet. =\

 

[LiquidMetal14]

I think Fire was implying whether or not the numbers were legit. Don't think he knew they were from the bad place.

Should have researched it a little more before posting.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Oh, boy... I hope it wasn't because of the numbers.

Next time I'll just stay quiet. =\

Looking back through his posts, I wonder if it was perhaps more to do with comments in other threads...?

 

[HK-47]

PSP GO is that painful first step to make digital distribution of full retail games a norm. It does offer a lot of good points, but it stumbles in some key areas. Future consoles and handhelds will look at it and learn something from it, and I also feel that like all systems it will get much better over time as Sony learns how to take advantage of it.

Even Steam was a piece of shit when it started. Now PC gamers won't buy games from anywhere else.

Oh but I can buy from elsewhere. Steam doesnt have a monopoly of DD services on the PC.

 

[Parl]

Absolutely. And yes, the numbers for the PSP Go's first couple days in the US were awful, as well. Clearly DD can work as a platform, it's a matter of doing it correctly. Japan's going to be an especially difficult nut to crack, though. They aren't real keen on the concept, which isn't surprising considering how rigorously devoted to cash this country is.

I don't think it's clear that DD can work as a platform. Retail still dominates overwhelmingly, and DD is still niche in this market.

The DD push needs to give cost savings to customers, and more may choose it over physical product, but it's clear that physical product in retail stores and online maintain the overwhelming competitive advantage.