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[Plinko]

Not really as the only place to get good online throgh consoles is by Sony or MS. As long as Nintendo keeps dropping the ball on online, they have nothing to worry about.

Nintendo has talked up their online for Wii U for months, as have other developers.

E3 is going to be interesting. If the online sucks, that's terrible.

 

[Rebel Leader]

There is still hope for xenoblade.

How?

 

[Paches]

So SW:Kinect actually did do horrible then. Sounds about right.

 

[Ridley327]

So SW:Kinect actually did do horrible then. Sounds about right.

I wonder if they would have been better off having it come out last fall like it was supposed to. It probably would have been a worse game for it, but it was at the peak of its hype when it was a holiday title.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Nintendo has talked up their online for Wii U for months, as have other developers.

E3 is going to be interesting. If the online sucks, that's terrible.

Talk is cheap.

 

[Elios83]

So SW:Kinect actually did do horrible then. Sounds about right.

Yup such a failure for such an important (although ultimately mediocre) title probably shows that the Kinect bubble bursted even in the US at this point.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

While I would be interested in Xenoblade's numbers for curiosity's sake, I don't think they really mean anything. We got it, that was the victory. I don't think enough copies exist to send any kind of statement that would encourage a glut of gigantic quality JRPGs to be released in North America.

 

[Hero]

Horrible numbers all around, jeez.

Bring on the next generation.

 

[Paches]

Yup such a failure for such an important (although ultimately mediocre) title probably shows that the Kinect bubble bursted even in the US at this point.

My internal prediction all along was it was gonna sell a lot of hardware and a low amount of software. I wasn't real original with my thinking, but I think that is pretty much how it is going.

 

[creamsugar]

Kid is the best sold handheld game this month, and better than Vita HW.
The new 3DS horror game < 6.5k.

 

[GopherD]

Normally a market dives year on year at the end of a generation, but this drop is rather acute. I wonder whether the current gen really has lasted 1 year too many.

I really think MS and Sony may be looking to bring forward release dates of their next consoles if this YOY nosedive continues.

 

[Ridley327]

Kid is the best sold handheld game this month, and better than Vita HW.
The new 3DS horror game < 6.5k.

Welp, that does it for Fatal Frame 2R.

 

[SafeinSound]

Depressing numbers. Hopefully this month will be better. Big games coming.

 

[sixteen-bit]

Grim month saleswise.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

Kid is the best sold handheld game this month, and better than Vita HW.
The new 3DS horror game < 6.5k.

Oh shit! Was Vita HW sub 100k?


Was one of those 6.5k!

 

[Beth Cyra]

Welp, that does it for Fatal Frame 2R.

Hopefully NoJ will require it to foster a FF5 on WiiU.

To not see it come over because of Spirit Camara would be a heart breaker.

 

[Ramblin]

I wonder when the calls for the next generation will abate. Will they if sales pick up? When the WiiU launches? Or do we have to wait until Sony or MS launch?

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

So at what stage does someone, anyone, maybe admit that giving no significant support to the market leader whilst it was breaking records for three years probably wasn't the best idea?

Core gamers were never going to get on board with the Wii. Get over it.

It's way past time for price drops for the current consoles. I bought a 360 pro for $299 in 2006, christ.

 

[donny2112]

Welp, that does it for Fatal Frame 2R.

It's a full $40 for a 3 hour gimmick-game. I'm interested in the gimmick (i.e. AR-focused game), but not @ $40.

 

[Mooreberg]

Normally a market dives year on year at the end of a generation, but this drop is rather acute. I wonder whether the current gen really has lasted 1 year too many.

I really think MS and Sony may be looking to bring forward release dates of their next consoles if this YOY nosedive continues.

This generation has been an abomination in terms of hardware price drops, so they both actually have room in that regard. There isn't even a $99 system between them, just one with hundreds of dollars in contract subsidies. And they have several price points to hit before even thinking about $99.

Software is going to become depressingly predictable though. I really wonder what sort of chance a game like Dishonored has coming out around the same time as more identifiable franchises.

 

[coldfoot]

I wonder how the numbers look in Europe and other regions. Are they following the US in this downward trend or is the US market slowly losing its importance?

 

[Ridley327]

Depressing numbers. Hopefully this month will be better. Big games coming.

May should perform quite well, but I really worry about the rest of the summer. There's a lot of interesting titles coming out in June, but nothing that's going to set charts on fire. July has nothing outside of NCAA, and while August has NSMB2 for the 3DS, there's really not much that will be in the reporting period besides Sleeping Dogs, which I don't think is going to be particularly big.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

This generation has been an abomination in terms of hardware price drops, so they both actually have room in that regard. There isn't even a $99 system between them, just one with hundreds of dollars in contract subsidies. And they have several price points to hit before even thinking about $99.

It took the PS2 nine years to hit $99. Nine years and was a normal hardware cycle. The PS3 was out for 3 years before they hit $99 for the PS2.

 

[jvm]

I wonder how the numbers look in Europe and other regions. Are they following the US in this downward trend or is the US market slowly losing its importance?

At the end of April, UK was down 31% YTD in British pounds and down 32% YTD in units. (Edit: Fixed a number.)

 

[donny2112]

Core gamers were never going to get on board with the Wii. Get over it.

It's probably more about fostering the ones that were already there, so they didn't have to abandon the console to get the games they wanted. *shrugs* Nintendo could've gone high-level hardware that would work for ports, but they didn't want to risk it if it didn't take off. Publishers were all setup for "HD" gaming, so Wii's success was unable to be capitalized on with easy ports. It just didn't work out for either one.

That's why Wii U being able to run next-gen engines is such an interesting question. If the Wii U tanks, it won't make much difference. If the Wii U soars, then being portable from the PS480 is a must for continued support. Don't want a repeat of Wii industry support. :/

 

[coldfoot]

At the end of April, UK was down 31% YTD in British pounds and down 32% YTD in units. (Edit: Fixed a number.)

Thanks for the information. Although UK is just a US wannabe when it comes to consoles
Need info on other countries.

 

[antonz]

It took the PS2 nine years to hit $99. Nine years and was a normal hardware cycle. The PS3 was out for 3 years before they hit $99 for the PS2.

PS3 being priced obscenely helped keep the PS2 more expensive. That and it was something Sony wouldnt want to cut because it was a little extra cash against the massive PS3 losses.

It is interesting though because I think they are setting themselves up for an interesting transition. Both PS3 and 360 will be expensive still so they either price new consoles high again or they start killing

 

[Dysun]

April was about as weak a month for gaming releases as I've seen in a long time. No surprise

 

[Terrell]

Not really as the only place to get good online throgh consoles is by Sony or MS. As long as Nintendo keeps dropping the ball on online, they have nothing to worry about.

Cuz nothing can ever possibly change EVER, amirite?

Talk is cheap.

Indeed it is.

 

[Averon]

I think price drops will be even worse next gen. Die shrinks aren't as easy and timely as they once were.

 

[Conrad Link]

Oh well, whatever.

Xenoblade was still the best selling game in our hearts.

 

[jvm]

April was about as weak a month for gaming releases as I've seen in a long time. No surprise

How far back are we going? July and August 2011 and January 2012 were dreadful. Seriously: name a single important console release in January 2012.

 

[MasterShotgun]

I knew this was going to be a slow month, but not this slow. It's going to be slow overall until next gen is fully in motion.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

It took the PS2 nine years to hit $99. Nine years and was a normal hardware cycle. The PS3 was out for 3 years before they hit $99 for the PS2.

Sure, but it hit $199 in under two years. $179 under 3. $149 under 4.
Xbox? 1 year younger, hit those price points at the same date and therefore 1 year quicker.
GameCube was $149 after a few months.

Meanwhile, back in this generation... they're doing all they can to maintain higher selling points. I always saw it as trying to replicate the iPod selling model. Bump the disk capacity, keep the price. Who's to say that hasn't worked out pretty well for them.

 

[Ridley327]

How far back are we going? July and August 2011 and January 2012 were dreadful. Seriously: name a single important console release in January 2012.

Final Fantasy and Soul Calibur fans are probably going to have your hide for that, but I agree with you.

 

[schuelma]

Kid is the best sold handheld game this month, and better than Vita HW.

Umm..unless Kid showed insane legs doesn't this mean a terrible Vita number?

 

[Karma]

According to the April NPD, the PlayStation ecosystem continues to grow with exclusive titles such as MLB12: The Show landing in the top 5 SKUs. Digital-only software titles, including Journey for PS3 and Escape Plan for PS Vita, helped to further bolster growth. PS Vita is gaining momentum as major new software titles like Mortal Kombat and social applications, such as Skype, saw strong demand with consumers. With E3 around the corner, PlayStation remains laser focused on continuing to deliver the industry's best gaming experiences.
-- Dan Race, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications at SCEA

Good for Sony to say there is strong demand for a Microsoft product in their PR.

 

[antonz]

Umm..unless Kid showed insane legs doesn't this mean a terrible Vita number?

Yep because KI in first month did like 140K. so That makes it pretty clear unless KI grew or stayed the same that Vita is likely under 100k

 

[MasterSheen]

Kid is the best sold handheld game this month, and better than Vita HW.
The new 3DS horror game < 6.5k.

Kid Icarus was 135k last month right? Vita might still be above 100k, just depends on how big the gap is and what KIU sold.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Cuz nothing can ever possibly change EVER, amirite?

Indeed it is.

They need to SHOW they can match the features of even the Xbox 1 online.

3DS still uses friend codes. Also if you buy digital games on the 3DS and lose the system you lose all those purchases. They still don't have a basic universal account system.

 

[Mooreberg]

It took the PS2 nine years to hit $99. Nine years and was a normal hardware cycle. The PS3 was out for 3 years before they hit $99 for the PS2.

I know, but neither 360 or PS3 were selling numbers out of the gate that would have made the glacial pace of price drops predictable. I think Microsoft made a calculated bet to more or less ignore the success Wii has having, and it worked in the long run. SCE seemed to be shackled by decisions made higher up in the company. It honestly seemed like the record breaking sales pace of the Wii exerted no pressure whatsoever on the rest of the market.

 

[Ridley327]

Umm..unless Kid showed insane legs doesn't this mean a terrible Vita number?

Were we expecting great Vita numbers on the backs of ports for Supremacy MMA and Disgaea 3 being the only retail releases for the month?

 

[GuardianE]

Anyone know if there's any conceivable way for us to find out how well the DMC HD Collection sold?

 

[schuelma]

Were we expecting great Vita numbers on the backs of ports for Supremacy MMA and Disgaea 3 being the only retail releases for the month?

No, but I am very interested in the number given that it did decent last month.

 

[jvm]

Final Fantasy and Soul Calibur fans are probably going to have your hide for that, but I agree with you.

January 2012 NPD period.

 

[bigtroyjon]

Kid Icarus was 135k last month right? Vita might still be above 100k, just depends on how big the gap is and what KIU sold.

last month was 5 weeks.

 

[Pranay]

I think a poor month like this was expected imo.

Didnt ORC sell 500k ? last month and me3 sell well ?


if this month the sales are bad [ie may]. then yeah i would agree with all the gloom and doom stuff

 

[Kyou]

I was rooting for you Xenoblade

 

[Ridley327]

January 2012 NPD period.

Well, in that case, you're even more right!

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Sure, but it hit $199 in under two years. $179 under 3. $149 under 4.
Xbox? 1 year younger, hit those price points at the same date and therefore 1 year quicker.
GameCube was $149 after a few months.

Meanwhile, back in this generation... they're doing all they can to maintain higher selling points. I always saw it as trying to replicate the iPod selling model. Bump the disk capacity, keep the price. Who's to say that hasn't worked out pretty well for them.

Read the price point of the person I quoted. It is like no one pays attention to previous gens or see them through rose colored glasses.