Support NeoGAF

[Syphon Filter]

NBA 2K11 has legs. I hope 2K does a even better job with 2K12.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Nintendo is not going to sabotage their biggest cash cow for the sake of a new handheld. It's not about selling a ton of 3DSes out of the gate (like they actually need to do that) it's about getting the next installment of the most popular gaming franchise in the world into as many hands as possible. Thus, DS game.

So basically it's the God of War 2 situation repeated verbatim. They should have done a twilight princess style dual launch.

 

[MiamiWesker]

Also, holy shit at the legs of NBA 2K11. This consistent ability to chart is really exemplary and 2K really is in Madden territory when it comes to awareness of their product. I know EA wants to revive Live but unless it provides some exciting gameplay, its going to be fighting a continuous uphill battle. It's funny- the tables have turned and now 2K will be playing the role of the juggernaut against the tiny EA game.

A year of NBA 2K12 may make whatever EA cooks up an afterthought in the social consciousness.

Michael Jordan wins at everything.

 

[Boney]

Hehehe called it!

 

[Dlacy13g]

NBA 2K11 has legs. I hope 2K does a even better job with 2K12.

It certainly is helped that EA has shit canned NBA Live for the coming year. being the only NBA game in town makes for a bit of slam dunk don't you think? Just ask Madden.

 

[Road]

Nintendo is not going to sabotage their biggest cash cow for the sake of a new handheld. It's not about selling a ton of 3DSes out of the gate (like they actually need to do that) it's about getting the next installment of the most popular gaming franchise in the world into as many hands as possible. Thus, DS game.

Nintendo could easily have made a 3DS version with added 3D support (See: Capcom talking about an MHP3 version for the NGP).

 

[gkryhewy]

Fine hardware numbers for 3DS, but I fear April is going to be pretty miserable. Disappointing that SSFIV 3D didn't chart.

 

[Tiktaalik]

The GBA did 464,000 in Nov 2004. I'm pretty sure the GBA continued to do great sales for a number of months after the DS launch. I'm sure we'll see the same from the DS even as the 3DS gathers steam.

 

[Dr. Feel Good]

It certainly is helped that EA has shit canned NBA Live for the coming year. being the only NBA game in town makes for a bit of slam dunk don't you think? Just ask Madden.

It helps that it's a pretty damn good basketball game too.

 

[demonturkey]

So my predictions were catastrophic.

Not bad for my first try!

 

[Basileus777]

Also, holy shit at the legs of NBA 2K11. This consistent ability to chart is really exemplary and 2K really is in Madden territory when it comes to awareness of their product. I know EA wants to revive Live but unless it provides some exciting gameplay, its going to be fighting a continuous uphill battle. It's funny- the tables have turned and now 2K will be playing the role of the juggernaut against the tiny EA game.

A year of NBA 2K12 may make whatever EA cooks up an afterthought in the social consciousness.

EA has been fighting an uphill battle against NBA2k for years. Jordan and the NBA Elite fuckup just ended the war.

 

[Oldschool]

How the 3ds launch fare with the psp launch in 2005, which was in march too IIRC.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

How the 3ds launch fare with the psp launch in 2005, which was in march too IIRC.

badly.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

#NPD shows Xbox 360 sold 433K units in March + 28% YOY, that is 15 straight months of growth. Thanks everyone for the support!

Now that's momentum, Sony.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

04. Dragon Age II (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts

I felt actual, physical pain reading this.

 

[AniHawk]

How the 3ds launch fare with the psp launch in 2005, which was in march too IIRC.

psp: 620k
3ds: under 400k

only difference was the number of days. don't remember the exact number of days tracked for march 2005, but it was probably only a difference of 3-4.

 

[Future PhaZe]

NBA 2K11 has legs. I hope 2K does a even better job with 2K12.

Base gameplay is pretty damn good in the game but I hope that they start addressing the online issues that the game has.

I wonder just how big of an effect that Michael Jordan and the classic teams had with the sales of the game and how that will effect marketing in the future.

 

[snackman]

No the PSP launch had Tony Hawk, Wipeout Pure, Twisted Metal, RR,Ape Escape Lumines and EVEN a Metal Gear tho not proper. Also standards in 2005 where not like today tho

 

[DrForester]

Update
Pokemon White more than 1.3m
Pokemon Black more than 1.1

I'm surprised it was that close. Seemed there was a white bandwagon.

 

[Ken Masters]

I'm glad people aren't jumping on the 3ds bandwagon, $100 too expensive, shit battery, Nintendo wasn't even trying with this launch, just look at the selection of games

 

[Phonomezer]

Xbox 360 continues to surprise me.

 

[overcast]

360 is being dominant lately. Slightly disappointing 3ds numbers.

 

[bathala]

360 continues to sell even with little to non exclusive games.
Reminds me of that console last gen

 

[WonkyPanda]

You're trying to compare a launch in 2005 with a launch in 2011 in an arguably far more competitive handheld market? Yup, makes tons of sense to me. /s

 

[DMeisterJ]

psp: 620k
3ds: under 400k

only difference was the number of days. don't remember the exact number of days tracked for march 2005, but it was probably only a difference of 3-4.

10 for PSP, 7 for 3DS

 

[Huevos de Oro]

Great 360 numbers, as it has become usual for the past months. I believe we're going to see the DS refusing to die in many months to come, just as the PS2 kept coming back from its grave well into the PS3 cycle. Systems that dominant don't go away in a couple months just like that.

 

[speculawyer]

360 continues to sell even with little to non exclusive games.
Reminds me of that console last gen

I'm guessing it is a combo of Kinnect and the network-effect of people getting a 360 so they can play (CODBLOPS) online with their friends.

BTW, the Kinnect stuff is pretty exclusive.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Fine hardware numbers for 3DS, but I fear April is going to be pretty miserable. Disappointing that SSFIV 3D didn't chart.

Great for hardware I think, since it still seems to be higher than ever, software, though probably worst month this year, since May seems to have bigger and more numerous releases, and April, has no big releases.

 

[Jive Turkey]

I'm finding the 360 success lately to be quite impressive and a bit surprising.

 

[Graphics Horse]

You're trying to compare a launch in 2005 with a launch in 2011 in an arguably far more competitive handheld market? Yup, makes tons of sense to me. /s

At least people are coming round to the idea that the market is more competitive now.

 

[1-D_FTW]

You're trying to compare a launch in 2005 with a launch in 2011 in an arguably far more competitive handheld market? Yup, makes tons of sense to me. /s

And? It's not Sony's fault they had software that was appropriately priced compared to the competition in 2005. Nintendo completely ignoring new competition and covering their ears and singing "la-la-la-la-la" isn't a valid excuse.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Well if the pricing of the 3DS really does turn into 'poor' sales, where on earth does that leave the NGP?

 

[kinggroin]

no there wasn't. there really wasn't. there was yoshi touch & go and wario ware touched, and that was basically the lineup from november through may.

i'd prefer something new to star fox and ocarina too (as long as it wasn't another fucking wario ware), but the launch was worlds better than the ds's.

e3's less than two months away. if the rest of the year looks like shit, then i'll agree the system is in trouble. it wasn't until august that we started seeing stuff like sonic rush, castlevania, and phoenix wright (which was still a port, but it was new to us).

eh, maybe for you and others. I can only speak for myself Ani. Outside of Super Street Fighter IV, there won't be anything of interest to play until the end of the year (when the NGP comes out anyway). Between Mario 64, Rub Rabbits, Wario Ware, and yes, Yoshi's Touch n Go, I will have played the DS more in the same span of time than I will with the 3DS.

I'll concede that the software itself is miles ahead of what we got with the DS in quality overall (I mean, looking back, only one of those games in that DS list was actually quality stuff), but it's quality shit I've played a billion times before. May as well not exist for me. Maybe in 2004, I'd be happy with some remade ports for launch. Not in 2011 though homey.

The DS only got away with it because:

A)It was my first handheld
B)The features at the time were incredibly innovative. Like the Wii and motion controls, I really just wanted to play anything that made use of the touch screen and dual display setup; quality be damned.


edit: to add; I'm not giving up on the thing. I invested my hard earned monies and will see it through to it's end. Just a bit bummed is all, maybe a smidge of buyers remorse. Hopefully the May update brings the enhanced VC with it. Thought it's still old games I played a bajillion times.... at least it's taking advantage of the kewl 3Dness.

 

[AniHawk]

And? It's not Sony's fault they had software that was appropriately priced compared to the competition in 2005. Nintendo completely ignoring new competition and covering their ears and singing "la-la-la-la-la" isn't a valid excuse.

psp software wasn't appropriately priced. i'm fairly sure it was $40-$50 a game at launch too. and that stopped in 2006 or something.

 

[GavinGT]

Eh, 3DS will be selling 500k+/month soon enough.

 

[AniHawk]

eh, maybe for you and others. I can only speak for myself Ani. Outside of Super Street Fighter IV, there won't be anything of interest to play until the end of the year (when the NGP comes out anyway). Between Mario 64, Rub Rabbits, Wario Ware, and yes, Yoshi's Touch n Go, I will have played the DS more in the same span of time than I will with the 3DS.

I'll concede that the software itself is miles ahead of what we got with the DS in quality overall (I mean, looking back, only one of those games in that DS list was actually quality stuff), but it's quality shit I've played a billion times before. May as well not exist for me. Maybe in 2004, I'd be happy with some remade ports for launch. Not in 2011 though homey.

The DS only got away with it because:

A)It was my first handheld
B)The features at the time were incredibly innovative. Like the Wii and motion controls, I really just wanted to play anything that made use of the touch screen and dual display setup; quality be damned.


edit: to add; I'm not giving up on the thing. I invested my hard earned monies and will see it through to it's end. Just a bit bummed is all, maybe a smidge of buyers remorse. Hopefully the May update brings the enhanced VC with it. Thought it's still old games I played a bajillion times.... at least it's taking advantage of the kewl 3Dness.

so basically you're saying that yeah the ds at the time was worse but you were willing to overlook it because you liked the new stuff it did. what i'm saying is that the ds at the time was worse.

 

[kswiston]

psp software wasn't appropriately priced. i'm fairly sure it was $40-$50 a game at launch too. and that stopped in 2006 or something.

Never stopped for Square Enix. At least in Canada.

 

[WonkyPanda]

And? It's not Sony's fault they had software that was appropriately priced compared to the competition in 2005. Nintendo completely ignoring new competition and covering their ears and singing "la-la-la-la-la" isn't a valid excuse.

It's not an excuse, but you need to compare the market to the current market and not look back 6 years ago to somehow gauge the success and/or failures of the 3DS launch.

it's unknown to us what we should expect from a new generation portable launch since this is the first one of its kind. The DS sold around 500K units in the 7 day timeframe with arguably NO competition. Was that a failure of a launch? Comparatively, the GBA sold ~550K units in 2001 with also light competition.

From this data looking back, the PSP is an AMAZING launch and should not be used as some benchmark for a console to hit in its initial launch. We need to break the data down as best as we can to understand and from what we can take away:

1) The DS did sell better, but was launched around Holidays with little to no competition and a cheaper price
2) The PSP bested the DS and GBA in their initial launches and doesn't in anyway signify a failure of a launch if its numbers are not somehow met. Even more so, it shows that initial launch sales cannot give us a good estimation of LTD sales.
3) The 3DS is launching in a weaker economy, at a higher price point, and a more competitive market.

Looking at it, the launch is extremely solid and Nintendo should be very enthused with the launch thus far

 

[AniHawk]

Never stopped for Square Enix. At least in Canada.

didn't stop them on the ds either, even with games that could have used a cheaper price point (twewy) or games that were 15 year-old ports (chrono trigger).

wasn't the first time there were $40 handheld games either. happened quite often in 2001 until the price of gba carts came down. i remember bitching that sega was selling sonic advance for $39.99.

 

[kinggroin]

so basically you're saying that yeah the ds at the time was worse but you were willing to overlook it because you liked the new stuff it did. what i'm saying is that the ds at the time was worse.

Like I said, "eh, maybe for you and others"

Hell, I can admit the software was definitely leagues below what we're getting now in terms of quality effort. So maybe I'm an oddball.

 

[Basileus777]

Looking at it, the launch is extremely solid and Nintendo should be very enthused with the launch thus far

I don't see why they should be enthused about failing to meet their own projected sales numbers. They'll be fine in the long-run, but this hasn't been a great launch for them.

 

[duk]

360 is being dominant lately. Slightly disappointing 3ds numbers.

lately?

 

[Tashi]

NBA 2K11 has legs. I hope 2K does a even better job with 2K12.

For real. I feel like I'm the only douche bag who doesn't have this game :/

 

[WonkyPanda]

I don't see why they should be enthused about failing to meet their own projected sales numbers. They'll be fine in the long-run, but this hasn't been a great launch for them.

Simply because you don't meet expectations from months ago, doesn't necessitate that you should be disappointed in a launch. Consider the circumstances at hand and the launch isn't a failure. True, it wasn't the runaway hit that Nintendo imagined months ago; however, looking at the current market and the numbers, you can be impressed. Especially when considering how few 3DS software was moved.

 

[stupei]

Yeah, it's coming from both sides.

Lots of people seem to be buying the console and finding out that it's not as good as they had hoped for (in terms of software and/or design/build)

Huh? Which people? Where? Can you point some of them out, because I haven't seen many of these supposedly disappointed 3DS owners posting in the official threads on GAF.

 

[WaltJay]

NBA 2K11 has some crazy legs. I wonder who they'll put on the cover for 2K12? I wonder if they'll put a new HOFer on the cover each year, along with a corresponding "Moments" mode. Clearly putting Jordan on the cover has been a huge boost.

 

[1-D_FTW]

psp software wasn't appropriately priced. i'm fairly sure it was $40-$50 a game at launch too. and that stopped in 2006 or something.

Well, it was at least comparable to what the Wii was charging 50 dollars for. And although there was a premium over DS, it also was a generation ahead in terms of graphics. It made it more palatable.

3DS, awesome 3D gimmick aside, isn't surpassing the latest Apple offerings graphically. And the prices for games are many times more expensive (despite nothing being remotely high budget in the launch lineup).

In that sense, the prices Sony was charging back then were easier to swallow and justify with purchases.

 

[Ridley327]

so basically you're saying that yeah the ds at the time was worse but you were willing to overlook it because you liked the new stuff it did. what i'm saying is that the ds at the time was worse.

Damn the lack of smileys!

But yeah, the lead-up to Kirby Canvas Curse and Meteos was toxic, to say the least.

 

[kswiston]

Simply because you don't meet expectations from months ago, doesn't necessitate that you should be disappointed in a launch. Consider the circumstances at hand and the launch isn't a failure. True, it wasn't the runaway hit that Nintendo imagined months ago; however, looking at the current market and the numbers, you can be impressed. Especially when considering how few 3DS software was moved.

What circumstances? It's not like the system was supply constrained. I am not one of those people who hit every store in the city, checking up on console sales, but the 3DS was in stock everywhere I went (5+ stores) the week after launch. Took me months to see a Wii in stock after it launched.

 

[Draft]

I love it.

Wii disappoints, 3DS disappoints, DA2 disappoints. It's a hater's ball.

And Crysis 2 with the AAA bomba. How'd that console transition work out for you, boys? Think you spent enough on ads? Probably not, what with not being in the top 5 with all 3 SKUs, getting outsold by Homefront, and now disappearing from the sales charts to never be seen again. But hey, maybe someone will license your engine :rollin