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[acklame]

using latest provided data...
http://www.video-fenky.com/

"2.84 million Nintendo DS units have been sold since its launch in November 21, 2004, with 1.45 million sold in Japan. Nintendo hopes to sell six million units in the 2004 fiscal year, revised up from their previous goal of five million. Sales of the system continue to rise in both Japan and America, and as a spokesman put it, "we're at the situtation where we make as much as we can and they all sell out".

However, Nintendo DS software sales have stalled at 5.01 million units worldwide, forcing the company to reduce total software sales for the fiscal year from 15 million to 10 million units. "It appears that a lot of people play with the PictoChat installed in the DS, as well as with Game Boy Advance software," the spokesman analyzed."

tie ratio:
5.01/2.84 = 1.764 games per ds

Meanwhile, Sony has shipped 510,000 PSP systems and 1.3 million pieces of software in Japan so far.

tie ratio:
1.3/0.51 = 2.549 games per psp



PSP hasn't launched outside of Japan, of course. I wonder what i'll look like once it launches in US & Europe.

Is it correct to calculate tie ratio like this? Also, any newer data exists for these two?

 

[sonycowboy]

tie ratio:
5.01/2.84 = 1.764 games per ds
1.3/0.51 = 2.549 games per psp

Is it correct to calculate tie ratio like this? Also, any newer data exists for these two?

Yep. That's the way to calculate tie ratio, although it's better to use sales numbers vs shipped numbers as their is more likely a greater amount of software in the channel than hardware at this point.

I hadn't seen the quote regarding disappointing software sales, but I'm not surprised. I've heard the same thing from retailers here bemoaning the lack on any quality or new quantity of DS software.

Sony better be planning something special to bump up those traditional handheld attach rates. Nintendo gets away with it because a) They seem to actually make money on the hardware and b) they have an obscene market share on their own system, which Sony isn't even going to be close to approaching.

Nintendo market share is over 50% on their systems and Sony's is ~6-7%.

 

[Odnetnin]

1 major flaw


shipped vs sold

 

[sonycowboy]

1 major flaw


shipped vs sold

All numbers listed above are SHIPPED.

 

[Odnetnin]

All numbers listed above are SHIPPED.

can you read?

 

[Koshiro]

All numbers listed above are SHIPPED.

Rose-tinted glasses are doing some pretty strange things to you.

 

[Speevy]

The DS has the more popular software...am I missing something?

 

[LowTecky]

the ngage probably has a higher tie ratio than the nds at this point. it doesn't mean its more popular.

 

[nubbe]

Didn't Sony ship 800k units?

 

[SantaC]

All numbers listed above are SHIPPED.

the article says sold vs shipped.

 

[Odnetnin]

welll... all said. The DS has 1 port and not that many AAA title @ launch. They need to make titles for it. And attach rate aside; being able to play buy GBA titles would naturally skew those numbers - its not as if DS 2d visuals are that different from GBA titles. Ultimately DS backlight + GBA cart = Gamer winner + Nintendo winner

now if they'd released more good/interesting games (say JSS or Pokemon); I'd fully expect the numbers to climb. In terms of desirable 3rd party ones; I can't wait for the SE + Konami + Capcom stuff.

 

[Speevy]

There's really no need to argue about this.

Count Media Create + NPD, fill in the blanks for December, and Nintendo's numbers are spot-on.

 

[B E N K E]

There's no point in counting tie ratio on shipped stuff.

 

[Hero]

As soon as Pokemon Pearl/Diamond or Shonen Jump Super Stars gets released, you can expect the software ratio to jump.

 

[Link316]

low DS software sales + Nintendo software taking up the bulk of those sales = terrible market conditions for 3rd parties

 

[CamHostage]

The DS has the more popular software...am I missing something?

Two games. The rest are being ignored -- a typical situation with Nintendo hardware, the N games take all the sales, even if the other games are worth a look (in this case, they aren't, so you can't really say for sure ... numbers are so low that it's too early to draw conclusions anyway, but still an interesting developing situation.)

 

[jarrod]

Two games. The rest are being ignored

If that's your standard then all PSP software is also being "ignored". Hey, how about we look at actual sales...


Famitsu (as of Jan 16, 2005)

DS Top 10
01 WarioWare Touched! (577,926) Nintendo
02 Super Mario 64 DS (560,175) Nintendo
03 Pokemon Dash (265,522) The Pokemon Company
04 Jam With The Band (113,375) Nintendo
05 Feel the Magic: XY/XX (82,588) Sega
06 Polarium (73,857) Nintendo
07 Kenshuui Tendo Dokuta (59,548) Spike
08 Puyo Pop Fever (44,417) Sega
09 Mr.Driller: Drill Spirits (26,529) Namco
10 Tennis no Oujisama 2005 Crystal Drive (24,550) Konami

PSP Top 10
01 Hot Shot Golf Portable (227,782) SCEI
02 Ridge Racers (185,976) Namco
03 Dynasty Warriors (180,423) Koei
04 Metal Gear Ac!d (75,909) Konami
05 Eiyuu Densetsu Gagharv Trilogy: Shiroki Majo (60,377) Bandai
06 Dokodemo Issyo (56,649) SCEI
07 Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Daijiten (54,992) Namco
08 Ape Escape Academy (51,823) SCEI
09 Armored Core: Formula Front (11,210) From Software
10 DarkStalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (9,695) Capcom


NPD DS Top 10 (as of December 2004)
01 Super Mario 64 DS (651,748) Nintendo
02 Spider-Man: The Movie 2 (242,228) Activision
03 Madden NFL 2005 (122,504) Electronic Arts
04 Asphalt Urban GT (110,750) UbiSoft
05 Urbz: The Sims in the City (103,573) Electronic Arts
06 Ridge Racer DS (54,728) Namco
07 Feel the Magic: XY/XX (41,778) Sega
08 Mr.Driller: Drill Spirits (30,823) Namco
09 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (28,829) Electronic Arts
10 Ping Pals (23,325) THQ

 

[mrklaw]

If that's your standard then all PSP software is also being "ignored". Hey, how about we look at actual sales...

How about you compare like with like and look at software as a % of hardware sales? The DS and PSP right now have very different userbases which skews the numbers.

DS has two titles selling to about 30% of the installed base in Japan. In the US one game does that.

PSP has three titles selling to about 30% of the installed base in Japan.

 

[Speevy]

After the US Xbox launch, everone wanted Halo, a first party game. Isn't a little to early to be making these generalizations?

 

[jarrod]

How about you compare like with like and look at software as a % of hardware sales? The DS and PSP right now have very different userbases which skews the numbers.

What a novel idea... how about applying the same logic to every PS2/GC/Xbox sales comparison?

In the end it all comes down to how many units a company can move, regardless of how well a game sold proportinately. Using the proportion argument always helps the little guy, regardless of the circumstances. That said, it really is too early to be making these sorts arguments on PSP & DS, as both machines are practically brand new and not close to being out of their launch period honeymoon yet. But the idea that only 2 DS games are moving notable numbers is a bit off the mark, it has quite a few smaller games putting up decent numbers as well.

 

[Speevy]

I think Sony should space out all those damn racing games headed for the US launch.

-NFSU
-Ridge Racer
-Wipeout Pure
-Midnight Club



I like the variety, but I have a feeling that one of these is going to crush the other three.

 

[Hero]

How about you compare like with like and look at software as a % of hardware sales? The DS and PSP right now have very different userbases which skews the numbers.

DS has two titles selling to about 30% of the installed base in Japan. In the US one game does that.

PSP has three titles selling to about 30% of the installed base in Japan.

The PSP titles are all strong PS2 franchises which are expected to sell truckloads. Dynasty Warriors, Hot Shots Golf, Metal Gear, and Ridge Racer are a strong launch line up.

Comparing any of those to the third party games that were released on the NDS is a bit unfair.

 

[CamHostage]

After the US Xbox launch, everone wanted Halo, a first party game. Isn't a little to early to be making these generalizations?

Somewhat. But it's always been the case with the Game Boy line -- even when a good game hits the market, it has a hard time getting noticed when the latest Zelda or Mario is sucking up all the sales. Handhelds have such a low tie ratio, the gamers only buy one game ever once in a while. Even great games (unless they have a license with FoxBox exposure) tend to fail -- I don't know numbers off the top of my head, but I don't remember the GBA Castlevanias being on top 10 sales charts, for instance.

Yeah, it's too early to say by these numbers. I personally don't have the feeling that it will change, but we'll see.

 

[mashoutposse]

Mrklaw is on point.

 

[Link316]

How about you compare like with like and look at software as a % of hardware sales? The DS and PSP right now have very different userbases which skews the numbers.

PSP game sales are still great despite the difference in the userbase sizes, look at MGA for example, its sold almost as much as best selling 3rd party DS game in Japan on a userbase that is less than half the size, software sales on the DS seem to be following the same trend that all recent Nintendo systems have so its just a matter of time before 3rd parties start giving primary support to the PSP

 

[Speevy]

Metal Gear Acid is a marketing disaster, and Konami knows it.

 

[mashoutposse]

Looking at the numbers above, it appears that PSP may be more deserving of the Developer's System moniker. I expect it to become the number one priority of third parties in short order.

 

[Monk]

Looking at the numbers above, there are only two games worth a damn on the DS, and 3 on the PSP. And each of those games have been selling at the same ratio as the others comparitively vs the hardware sold.

 

[Fuzzy]

There's pretty much nothing worth owning on the DS so far, most people are using it to play their GBA games.

 

[Speevy]

Looking at the numbers above, it appears that PSP may be more deserving of the Developer's System moniker. I expect it to become the number one priority of third parties in short order.

Exactly. I'd even go so far as to call the PSP the most developer-friendly technology in the history of mankind.

 

[jarrod]

Mrklaw is on point.

Is he? We should start looking at base penetration over raw numbers? Well then, let's take a look at Namco's Japanese Tales sales to see where they've had the most success and should bring Melfes...

Tales of Symphonia (GC) 8.3%
Tales of Destiny II (PS2) 3.9%
Tales of Rebirth (PS2) 2.7%
Tales of Symponia (PS2) 2.0%

...or hell, let's just look at the 3 best selling Japanese 3rd party titles on Xbox vs PSP vs PS2...

01 Dead or Alive 3 (Tecmo) 43.4%
02 Dead or Alive Xtreme (Tecmo) 25.5%
03 Dead or Alive Ultimate (Tecmo) 12.4%

01 Ridge Racers (Namco) 36.5%
02 Dynasty Warriors (Koei) 35.4%
03 Metal Gear Ac!d (Konami) 14.9%

01 Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix) 17.5%
02 Final Fantasy X (Square Enix) 11.9%
03 Final Fantasy X-2 (Square Enix) 10.2%

...this line of thinking is "on point"? XBox and PSP are comparable, better potential platforms than PS2 thanks to higher penetration? As I said, using the penetration argument almost always favors smaller bases, regardless of circumstance. Using that same argument, Xbox is a stronger platform for 3rd party JP games than PS2. This is why the argument usually gets laughed at in sales threads, it's entirely irrelevant to actual sales potential.

PSP game sales are still great despite the difference in the userbase sizes, look at MGA for example, its sold almost as much as best selling 3rd party DS game in Japan on a userbase that is less than half the size, software sales on the DS seem to be following the same trend that all recent Nintendo systems have so its just a matter of time before 3rd parties start giving primary support to the PSP

Well, if we really are comparing "like versus like" then why bring up Metal Gear and Kimishine? There's a gigantic disparity in brand appeal there, it's like comparing MGS2 to Rez... the only fair comparison for 3rd party potential would the same game released across both platforms at the same time. So far the only example of that is...

Puyo Puyo Fever
-DS (44,417) 3.0%
-PSP (didn't rank, under 9,393) under 1.8%

...the only real reason that PSP might seem a stronger platform for 3rd party sales is simply because it's gotten the stronger 3rd party games so far. How well do you think Kimishine, Tendo Dockuta or Zoo Keeper would've sold on a userbase a third the size? How well would AC!D, Ridge Racers and Shinsangoku Musou have sold on a userbase three times the size? Will Rockman.EXE and Final Fantasy III only put up comparable numbers to Kimishine? Are people really this dense?

 

[mrklaw]

I'm not suddenly advocating a completely different way of measuring sales across all formats. I'm just pointing out that these two specific examples have been on sale for a relatively short space of time, and the difference between launch countries and times of launches mean that any raw numbers are naturally skewed in favour of DS.

 

[jarrod]

I'm not suddenly advocating a completely different way of measuring sales across all formats. I'm just pointing out that these two specific examples have been on sale for a relatively short space of time, and the difference between launch countries and times of launches mean that any raw numbers are naturally skewed in favour of DS.

Sure, which is why I said it's *really* too early to be making any conslusions off these numbers. Except that neither handheld really seems to be breaking out of the traditional Game Boy software mold as hoped. :/

 

[mrklaw]

OK, you mentioned too early after yours and mine intial comments. I agree with you, but would also say its too early to state that "neither handheld really seems to be breaking out of the traditional Game Boy software mold as hoped. :/"

 

[mashoutposse]

Is he? We should start looking at base penetration over raw numbers? Well then, let's take a look at Namco's Japanese Tales sales to see where they've had the most success and should bring Melfes...

Tales of Symphonia (GC) 8.3%
Tales of Destiny II (PS2) 3.9%
Tales of Rebirth (PS2) 2.7%
Tales of Symponia (PS2) 2.0%

...or hell, let's just look at the 3 best selling Japanese 3rd party titles on Xbox vs PSP vs PS2...

01 Dead or Alive 3 (Tecmo) 43.4%
02 Dead or Alive Xtreme (Tecmo) 25.5%
03 Dead or Alive Ultimate (Tecmo) 12.4%

01 Ridge Racers (Namco) 36.5%
02 Dynasty Warriors (Koei) 35.4%
03 Metal Gear Ac!d (Konami) 14.9%

01 Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix) 17.5%
02 Final Fantasy X (Square Enix) 11.9%
03 Final Fantasy X-2 (Square Enix) 10.2%

...this line of thinking is "on point"? XBox and PSP are comparable, better potential platforms than PS2 thanks to higher penetration? As I said, using the penetration argument almost always favors smaller bases, regardless of circumstance. Using that same argument, Xbox is a stronger platform for 3rd party JP games than PS2. This is why the argument usually gets laughed at in sales threads, it's entirely irrelevant to actual sales potential.

Penetration numbers cease to matter when the total userbase number has exceeded the size of the individual game series fanbase by a meaningful amount (which is why PS2 software penetration rates are incomparable with other systems). The userbases of DS and PSP are far from reaching that point. In addition, Mrklaw's line of thinking holds water because the percentages of the DS and PSP userbases that are actively purchasing games are similar due to the close proximity of the launch dates.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Penetration numbers cease to matter a lot sooner than that. They cease to matter when a certain percetange of the userbase falls into occasionally-buying mode. I'm sure that new system buyers (say, less than one year) buy a disproportional chunk of the software. However, with both systems new, it's fair to say all the owners are active likely buyers.

 

[mashoutposse]

Penetration numbers cease to matter a lot sooner than that. They cease to matter when a certain percetange of the userbase falls into occasionally-buying mode. I'm sure that new system buyers (say, less than one year) buy a disproportional chunk of the software. However, with both systems new, it's fair to say all the owners are active likely buyers.

Also a good point...

 

[jarrod]

OK, you mentioned too early after yours and mine intial comments. I agree with you, but would also say its too early to state that "neither handheld really seems to be breaking out of the traditional Game Boy software mold as hoped. :/"

Not really, software on both DS and PSP is doing about as well as launch GBA did proportionately. 3-5 notable sellers (usually from big established brands), most everything else tanks. Unless you figure the proportion argument really is garbage?

Penetration numbers cease to matter when the total userbase number has exceeded the size of the individual game series fanbase by a meaningful amount. The userbases of DS and PSP are far from reaching that point. In addition, Mrklaw's line of thinking holds water because the percentages of the DS and PSP userbases that are actively purchasing games are similar due to the close proximity of the launch dates.

Keep clinging to a baseless argument, penetration is almost never a sound basis for declaring anything except bragging rights for the smaller base which it almost inevitably favors. Would you prefer we look at 1st week 3rd party numbers for Xbox, PSP, DS & PS2 then?

Ridge Racer V (233,391) 23%
Ridge Racers (60,163) 38%
Dead or Alive 3 (84,471) 68%
Kimishine (27,062) 6%

...there the total userbase number had yet to exceed the size of the individual game series fanbase by a meaningful amount.... and we see the best selling Xbox 3rd party game outdoing both PS2 & PSP even by a wide margin. So how "on point" is this argument really, did the Japanese publishing community miss a golden opportunity with Xbox? Is this something you agree with since you seem to support launch period proportion arguments?

 

[mashoutposse]

Keep clinging to a baseless argument, penetration is almost never a sound basis for declaring anything except bragging rights for the smaller base which it almost inevitably favors. Would you prefer we look at 1st week 3rd party numbers for Xbox, PSP, DS & PS2 then?

Ridge Racer V (233,391) 23%
Ridge Racers (60,163) 38%
Dead or Alive 3 (84,471) 68%
Kimishine (27,062) 6%

...there the total userbase number had yet to exceed the size of the individual game series fanbase by a meaningful amount.... and we see the best selling Xbox 3rd party game outdoing both PS2 & PSP even by a wide margin. So how "on point" is this argument really, did the Japanese publishing community miss a golden opportunity with Xbox? Is this something you agree with since you seem to support launch period proportion arguments?

The Japanese publishing community didn't miss anything since the XBOX userbase is still microscopic.

Anyway, regardless of what some people choose to believe, people buy these systems for the games. From the numbers, we see that DS owners bought their handhelds for Nintendo games and not much else, while PSP owners bought one for popular PS franchises (and, again, not much else). One of these groups of people are more friendly to third party titles than the other... not rocket science.

 

[jarrod]

The Japanese publishing community didn't miss anything since the XBOX userbase is still microscopic.

So in hindsight... you're admitting launch period base penetration really doesn't indicate much of anything?

Anyway, regardless of what some people choose to believe, people buy these systems for the games. From the numbers, we see that DS owners bought their handhelds for Nintendo games and not much else, while PSP owners bought one for popular PS franchises (and, again, not much else). One of these groups of people are more friendly to third party titles than the other... not rocket science.

Well, so far they seem slighty friendlier to DS actually going by Puyo Fever sales (both in raw numbers and base proportion). Again, you seem to be a proponent of comparing "like with like", no?

And I'd argue, DS owners bought their handhelds for popular GB franchises mainly (Wario Ware, Pokemon, etc). Nintendo handheld userbases tend to be pretty friendly to 3rd party stuff (Rockman.EXE, Namco Museum, Yu-Gi-OH!, Sonic, Dragon Quest Monsters, etc), they're hardly "Nintendo only" software buyers. When we start getting releases like Castlevania and Final Fantasy, I doubt you'll see any dropoff from GBA. Would you disagree?

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I just took the time to review the thread. While I stand be this:

Penetration numbers cease to matter a lot sooner than that. They cease to matter when a certain percetange of the userbase falls into occasionally-buying mode. I'm sure that new system buyers (say, less than one year) buy a disproportional chunk of the software. However, with both systems new, it's fair to say all the owners are active likely buyers.

...and what it implies, it is way, way way too early to be assuming trends for anything (based on PSP's situation in particular). It's still in demand-driven launch shortage, for cripes sake. If you looked at the N64 during it's first few months and compared with the older PSX< you'd probably see somethign similar-- but I believe the PSX ended up with an insane tie ration and the N64 did not.

People are too hungry to make assertions or predict the way the market is going to go. Pfah.

 

[mashoutposse]

So in hindsight... you're admitting launch period base penetration really doesn't indicate much of anything?

???

My point is that the XBOX userbase remained small; therefore, studying its launch period base penetration to predict future performance is a worthless exercise.

Well, so far they seem slighty friendlier to DS actually going by Puyo Fever sales (both in raw numbers and base proportion). Again, you seem to be a proponent of comparing "like with like", no?

That would be akin to saying GC is a more 3rd party friendly platform because SC2 GC outsold SC2 PS2, while ignoring all of the blockbuster 3rd party PS2 titles that outsold both versions combined many times over.

And I'd argue, DS owners bought their handhelds for popular GB franchises mainly (Wario Ware, Pokemon, etc). Nintendo handheld userbases tend to be pretty friendly to 3rd party stuff (Rockman.EXE, Namco Museum, Yu-Gi-OH!, Sonic, Dragon Quest Monsters, etc), they're hardly "Nintendo only" software buyers. When we start getting releases like Castlevania and Final Fantasy, I doubt you'll see any dropoff from GBA. Would you disagree?

I believe that DS owners will support the same 3rd party franchises that GBA users did. Of course, GBA has always been considered a 3rd party unfriendly console sales-wise, so more of the same isn't going to cut it.

 

[Meier]

DS software will likely always have a slightly lower tie ratio than it would otherwise since it plays GBA titles which obviously wouldn't go towards its tie ratio even if the user only can play the game on their DS.

 

[Miburou]

I think the fact that more popular 3rd party have been released on the PSP than the DS is more interesting that what these games have sold (since it's a natural consequence of their popularity).

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I don't think I agree that GBA has been a 3rd-party-unfriendly console. If that were true, why is there so much software for it?

I di think there's a perception that the market isn't very discriminating, and so titles are budgeted low and are mostly shovelware, but I don't think that's a factor of sales.

 

[soundwave05]

Namco, Capcom, Konami, and Square-Enix have cleaned up on GBA sales.

I mean Square-Enix for instance, Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy I + II racked up huge sales for them this past year.

Its the Western devs that have more trouble on the GBA, but they're the ones generally pushing out shovelware. But even then, some of that licensed stuff (Harry Potter, Spider-Man, etc.) ends up selling.

 

[jarrod]

???

My point is that the XBOX userbase remained small; therefore, studying its launch period base penetration to predict future performance is a worthless exercise.

So back in Feb 2002, would you have supported the same "proportion" argument as evidence that Xbox had the potential to be a lucrative 3rd party platform? Or does this argument only work when it supports Sony machines exclusively?

That would be akin to saying GC is a more 3rd party friendly platform because SC2 GC outsold SC2 PS2, while ignoring all of the blockbuster 3rd party PS2 titles that outsold both versions combined many times over.

But Puyo Fever is the only game we can make a direct comparison with for 3rd party potential. It's also lacking in Nintendo centric content (unlike Soul Calibur 2), making it more comparable to other multiplatform GC/PS2 games like Gundam Vs Z-Gundam, Tengai Makyo II or indeed Puyo Puyo Fever, all of which overwhelmingly sold better on PS2 (though sometimes not "proportionately"). Your Soul Calibur 2 comparison doesn't hold water, there's far too much evidence to the contrary using better examples concerning direct GC vs PS2 sales.

I believe that DS owners will support the same 3rd party franchises that GBA users did. Of course, GBA has always been considered a 3rd party unfriendly console sales-wise, so more of the same isn't going to cut it.

That's a western stigma though, these are Japanese sales. In Japan GBA is a pretty sucessful 3rd party machine (relative to the overall market) thanks to better distribution channels mainly, and it's software tends to "burn slow" rather than selling almost entirely upfront like PS2. Here's some of the better selling efforts for examples...

Title (1st week) total
Megaman Battle Network 4 (223,828) 930,850
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart (210,427) 593,812
Mega Man Battle Network 3 White (91,351) 500,001
Mega Man Battle Network 2 (39,385) 446,938
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (225,120) 441,926
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 5 (221,654) 410,534
Slime Morimori Dragon Quest (67,797) 346,299
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (173,828) 298,903
Mega Man Battle Network 5 Team of Blues (66,558) 296,926
Super Robot Taisen R (158,993) 285,314
Super Robot Taisen A (161,272) 277,032
Final Fantasy 1&2 Advance (136,634) 270,789
Power Pro Kun Pocket 6 (55,429) 265,183
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 6 (139,947) 264,056
Power Pro Kun Pocket 3 (74,549) 256,717
Power Pro Kun Pocket 4 (87,541) 255,010
Power Pro Kun Pocket 5 (69,531) 239,979
Konjiki no Gush Bell!!: Unare! Yujo no Zakeru (54,259) 239,606
Yu-Gi-Oh! Sacred Card (128,343) 238,112
Tennis no Oji-Sama: Genius Boys Academy (101,925) 231,947
Mega Man Zero (66,990) 231,166
Mega Man Battle Network (43,048) 207,288
Sonic Advance (38,454) 204,542
Naruto: Ninjutsu Zenkai! Saikyo Ninja Daikessyu 2 (70,027) 199,686


...the market obviously isn't as big as PS2, but then the resource investment is a fraction of it as well. GBA's actually pretty attractive and low risk for Japanese publishers, which is why it gets such excellent JP support (as oppossed to the west, where it's seen as kids shovelware territory and cart inventories incur much more supply risk).

 

[sonycowboy]

I don't think I agree that GBA has been a 3rd-party-unfriendly console. If that were true, why is there so much software for it?

I di think there's a perception that the market isn't very discriminating, and so titles are budgeted low and are mostly shovelware, but I don't think that's a factor of sales.

GBA has a ridiculously low tie ratio (3.6 in the US). It also has a ~40%+ market share for Nintendo. Those numbers together mean that on average a GBA buyer buys ~2 third party games over the course of it's lifetime.

Not exactly developer friendly from a sales perspective. However, it has sold A TON of hardware, so despite the low tie ratio, it's still sold more software worldwide than both the Xbox and GC.

That is the challenge Sony will have.

1) Tie Ratios for handhelds have ALWAYS been low (granted, it's always been Nintendo)
2) The system does alot more than play games, which could hurt it's game sales somewhat

 

[jarrod]

I think the fact that more popular 3rd party have been released on the PSP than the DS is more interesting that what these games have said (since it's a natural consequence of their popularity).

I'd agree with that. Worldwide actually, it seems like publishers are thinking of PSP as a target for "PS2 market" games while DS seems to be the target for "GBA market" games.

 

[Speevy]

Well, if you just bought the PSP because it kicks ass and not because you want to play games on the go, you might find it hard to justify that copy of Need for Speed Underground Rivals when the PS2/Xbox version is already in your collection.