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April 2013 NPD Sales Results [Up3: Xbox 360 Top Platform, NSMBU LTD, Lego 3DS, Luigi]

Calamari41

41 > 38
Man, The Lego City games have been complete failures.

sub 100k is NOT good, especially when NEW IPs on 360 and PS3 can sell 1 million+ within the first month.

Nintendo needs to learn how to sell new IPs, but Sony and MS run circles around them in this department. Lego City is a bust and wasted time on Nintendo's part.

I would characterize Lego City 3DS as a bust, but it's more complicated for the Wii U version. According to creamsugar last month, it sold between 110k and 130k retail, plus who knows how much digital. This clearly isn't very much, but then again looking at the install base and market mindshare of the Wii U, it's not a disaster. Kind of like how NSMBU has sold less than a million, but compared to the install base it is doing amazingly. Long story short: it has a lot more to do with the number of Wii U's out there. I do think that Nintendo should have bundled this with the Wii U instead of ZombiU and actually advertised it, though.
 

matmanx1

Member
I'd be really curious to see where Soul Sacrifice is sitting right now in terms of retail + DD sales. It came out on the 30th of April but the number of folks on my friends list who have picked the game up has continued to increase in the last week or 2. Too bad Sony rarely gives out sales numbers for specific games.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Since we are on the subject, I have a really bad feeling about this generation coming up, gaming-quality-wise and industry-wise. These numbers don't do anything to help.

Well you see we just reduce the number of retail games until we're actually down to the top 20 titles each year.
 

Slayven

Member
They won't. Third parties will make then succesful by sheer numbers of games. Not to mention that MS and Sony actually can handle the development of HD games so you should not have that long first party droughts either.
Sony and Microsoft actually know about marketing.
 

UberTag

Member
What if all next gen consoles do as badly as the Wii U?
I don't think they will simply because third parties will be backing them a lot more.
Yes, they will. With titles you can also play on your Xbox 360 & PS3.
And that's it.
Although perhaps the PS4/Durango version will get some exclusive maps, costumes or horse armor to make them "superior versions" along with all of that shinier eye candy.
Superior versions are worth paying $500 to play, right?
 

Slayven

Member
Someone made a mistake.



What? I would put Nintendo and Sony equally in terms of marketing. They're both terrible at it.
People know what the vital is, they just not buying it. People are still confused about the wii u AND not buying it. I say Sony is ahead in that regard.
 

Calamari41

41 > 38
Everytime I see this number, I shudder comprehending it. This generation started when my younger twin bro and sis were in 4th grade and they're leaving high school now.

If this were a normal generation, we would be anticipating hints at PS4/Durango's successors at this year's E3.

Here is a list games that sold over 1 million within the first month

http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/NPD_Fastest_selling_video_games

Gears of Wars and Assassin's Creed are the only new IPs that sold over 1 million within the first month.

Note that PS3 and 360 dominate the list, Nintendo clearly needs to learn a thing or two from it's competition on how to sell games. What they are currently doing is not working.

What are some 3rd party new IPs that have been released on Nintendo consoles that are the same quality or get the same push as Gears of War and Assassin's Creed did? Edit: Assassin's Creed only sold a million when you add the two versions together. You're comparing that to exclusive games on Nintendo's systems.
 
Yes, they will. With titles you can also play on your Xbox 360 & PS3.
And that's it.
Although perhaps the PS4/Durango version will get some exclusive maps, costumes or horse armor to make them "superior versions" along with all of that shinier eye candy.
Superior versions are worth paying $500 to play, right?

That's what I see being said by lots of PC gamers.
 
By describing a cavalcade of games, all I can imagine is an empty circus tent and some sad clowns performing to an audience of about 6 people and the boardwalk barker still has to sound enthusiastic.
 

Soriku

Junior Member
Yes, they will. With titles you can also play on your Xbox 360 & PS3.
And that's it.
Although perhaps the PS4/Durango version will get some exclusive maps, costumes or horse armor to make them "superior versions" along with all of that shinier eye candy.
Superior versions are worth paying $500 to play, right?

In the beginning, they might not be off to a strong start but they'll do better than the Wii U is now in the same timeframe.
 

liger05

Member
Here is a list games that sold over 1 million within the first month

http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/NPD_Fastest_selling_video_games

Gears of Wars and Assassin's Creed are the only new IPs that sold over 1 million within the first month.

Note that PS3 and 360 dominate the list, Nintendo clearly needs to learn a thing or two from it's competition on how to sell games. What they are currently doing is not working.

So not every new IP sells 1 mil in is first month then. Glad we got that clarified.
 
What? I would put Nintendo and Sony equally in terms of marketing. They're both terrible at it.

They (Sony) seem to be hitting all the right notes with the upcoming PS4.

Marketing-wise, the PS4 has way more hype amongst the core than the Wii U ever had, and the damn console itself has even been shown yet to the public. At least the public knows that the PS4 is coming. Can't say the same thing about the overall public ignorance about the Wii U, close to 6 months after launch and public awareness is still at an all time low.

I'd say Sony's going all out this time around to make amends for their crappy marketing during the PS3 era.
 

DaBoss

Member
Sony has been good this year in genreal with ps4 and gow : a

and xperia z

They aren't marketing the PS4 yet in the same sense. :p

And GOW:A is just one game compared to the many others they've released and bombed.

Talking about the video game market, though they are doing well with the Xperia Z.

People know what the vital is, they just not buying it. People are still confused about the wii u AND not buying it. I say Sony is ahead in that regard.

See, the Vita barely has any marketing, they probably don't even know it exists, that goes along with the many other games they've released the last fiscal year and bombed. PSABR is the biggest offender. Their marketing was terrible for it, didn't even show it was a fighter, and it was barely marketed.

Not saying Nintendo is good at marketing anything relating the Wii U, but with the 3DS, they've been doing well.

They (Sony) seem to be hitting all the right notes with the upcoming PS4.

Marketing-wise the PS4 has way more hype amongst the core than the Wii U ever has, and the damn console itself has even been shown yet. I'd say Sony's going all out this time around to make amends for their crappy marketing during the PS3 era.

That isn't the kind of marketing I'm talking about. They have been doing a good job with the PS4 though.
 

jvm

Gamasutra.
I don't think the full NPD commentary has been posted, but excerpts have.
NPd PR said:
Overall:
“These sales figures represent new physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories, which account for roughly 50 percent of the total consumer spend on games. When taking into account our preliminary estimate for other physical format sales in April such as used and rentals at $76 million, and our estimate for digital format sales including full game and add-on content downloads including microtransactions, subscriptions, mobile apps and the consumer spend on social network games at $267 million, the total consumer spend in April is $802 million.”
- NPDs final assessment of the consumer spend in these areas outside of new physical retail sales will be reported in August in its Q2 2013 Games Market Dynamics: U.S. report.


“Easter typically accounts for a 10% boost in the month in which it occurs. Since Easter occurred in April last year vs. in March this year, it’s difficult to provide a comparison this year to last.”

Hardware:
“The Xbox 360 was the top selling hardware platform, based on unit sales, for 21 months in a row.”

“When looking at month-to-month hardware trends with weeks normalized for the 5 week March period compared to the 4 week April period, we have seen declines hover around 30% over the past few years, while March 2013 to April 2013 declines were slightly higher at 38%.”

Software:
“Despite overall declines, April title launches in 2013 fared better than games that launched in April 2012, up 118% in unit sales and 130% in dollar sales. This increase was driven by games like Injustice: Gods Among Us, Dead Island: Riptide, and Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins.”

“Overall declines are stemming from the performance of games launched prior to April; for example, the decrease in sales performance of March launches. Specifically, when looking at video games launching in March 2012, month 2 sales represented 25% of the total first two months of sales, which contracted to 17% for March 2013 launches. One reason for this might be the decrease in the number of new titles, which can cause sales of a title to be ‘front loaded’ with a greater amount of sales happening in the first month of its release.”

“The top selling game for the month of April was Injustice: Gods Among Us, which is the first time since April 2011 with Mortal Kombat that a fighting game ranked in the top spot.”

Accessories
“Though every accessory type experienced year-over-year declines in April 2013, year-to-date trending increased by over 20% for the combined sales of point cards, headsets/headphones, and All Other Accessories (which includes Skylanders).”
 
By describing a cavalcade of games, all I can imagine is an empty circus tent and some sad clowns performing to an audience of about 6 people and the boardwalk barker still has to sound enthusiastic.

The ballet sounds more fun

tumblr_me3tv2jy3b1qmyke3o1_400.gif
 

UberTag

Member
That's what I see being said by lots of PC gamers.
And yet those PC gamers come in at the bottom of the individual SKU lists each month. Because those folks are sensible enough to wait for Steam sales.
The industry makes no money off of them. (Well, aside from Valve that is.)

In the beginning, they might not be off to a strong start but they'll do better than the Wii U is now in the same timeframe.
Oh there's no question about that. Being better than the Wii U doesn't necessarily mean you're not hemmorhaging money or growing a healthy install base, either.
 
Everytime I see this number, I shudder comprehending it. This generation started when my younger twin bro and sis were in 4th grade and they're leaving high school now.

Goddamn. The SNES was a current gen console when I was in 4th grade. I graduated high school the year the 360 came out.
 

Spiegel

Member
Hardware:
“The Xbox 360 was the top selling hardware platform, based on unit sales, for 21 months in a row.”

Well...
 
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