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[Moor-Angol]

SMG is doing alright, soon to hit 500k. Its going to be a tough climb to a million though..a really tough climb.

Don't underestimate latest 2 weeks of 2007 and first of 2008, 200-250k might be possible and honestly SMG already showed some decent legs.
Not so sure about million seller, but Mario still has some chances.

And look at Mario & Sonic... after first day sales people said "OMG Mario is doomed, Japan loves non-games", after first week sales people said "uhm... well, M&S sold a lot during the weekend", now after second week people say "wow, it might have some decent legs".
The path is similar to SMG, after first week "low sales for Mario", then "what a huge drop!", then "yeah, Mario still in top10" and now "wow, Mario didn't fall so quickly as we expected".

Remember Mario Kard DS last year, 20k weekly then bumped to 100k.


And today i asked to my gf to buy for me SMG, she usually goes in Yodobashi Kawasaki, so i will contribute to "Mario for million seller long run" :lol





Another consideration i'd like to focus on :

Last time we had Layton LTD was at the end of June due to half year top100 chart, and now it appeared again, 100k sold in around 5 months, 20 weeks.
About 5k a week is an amazing score and it shows to us how much a game can sell even if it doesn't appear inside the charts for a long time.

 

[HK-47]

It's Namco, people. When was the last time they made a good financial decision?

Ah good old Namco...always good for a laugh

 

[Tiktaalik]

Good Wii Fit numbers.

I think it's still too early to say whether SMG sales have stabilized for long term legs. It easily could have been that the sales would have dropped further, but the extra bodies in the store for Wii Fit kept it up. Next week should give a better indication of what sort of long term legs the title will have.

Next week should be interesting for Wii Fit as well. I'm sure Nintendo will replenish the stock quickly so it'll be interesting to see if there is a big drop off or steady high numbers.

 

[CrisKre]

Wiifit did great for one or two days worth of sales. Kudos. As everyone already stated. SMG hanging in there is the most justice in videogame history ever. Really hope sells 1million.

PS3 is also stable at decent numbers (40k is good, but its end of the year and it has to increase more), PSP is making great numbers and DS is unstoppable. Good week all around.

 

[jarrod]

Katamari?

The first was an accident and the sequels have driven the concept into the ground. I love Namco sometimes (usually when they're giving something like Driller or Klonoa), but they've been making bonehead moves for awhile now...

 

[Phife Dawg]

Well, lets say that I'm not using a 300k barrier to differentiate between good and bad, and I hope no one does

Aren't you one of the guys who's constantly up in arms about Wii software numbers? If all those titles donny mentioned did well on a handheld with a much bigger install base...hmm.

Also the 300k barrier was later modified I think. That guy whose name shall not be mentioned said 150k or so could be good as well (depending on his preferences I guess, can't recall correctly).

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Hey Joshua, could you get a graph up of the 360 vs. Xbox? I know you've done it before, but with the recent increase in 360's weekly sales I think it would be interesting to see. The 360 seems like it could make some headway, maybe up to ~700k by the end of it's lifetime assuming it starts to decline after this Christmas.

Famitsu for the original, both Famitsu and MC for X360:
Weekly through 4 years
Cumulative through 4 years

Depends on what you consider bad. PSP titles released since CC:FFVII that charted.

I see you beat me to this, but here's the SQL query I used to get the same results, if anyone wants to play with it. It did beat out new Wii software from the same period. (For simplicity, neither of those queries include continuing sales of older software.)

 

[tanod]

Many people argue ps3 won for week 11/19-25th.

Who has said this? Link, plz?

The truth is that people didn't. Some posters asked why GAF uses MC as our official numbers. The question was answered. It was never up for debate.

The real reason that the threads are longer is because some big software is hitting in Japan and all consoles are doing some healthy numbers. Even the 360 is tracking above its average. When hardware and software is moving, that makes for interesting conversation. It's as simple as that.

 

[Jammy]

Wii software sales are pretty good. Super Mario Galaxy seems to be selling between 35,000 and 40,000 for the past few weeks now. I can see this continuing with more Wii releases coming as well as the later holiday season in Japan. Wii Fit sales are great for just two days. Nintendo really needs to get more out there. Mario and Sonic at the Olympics could also have legs, too. I think it might if the Japanese realize it's just like a Wii Sports only with two of the most iconic video game characters ever.

Professor Layton 2 also has great sales. Good for Level 5. Dragon Quest IV also pulls in a good second week.

DS seems to be separating from the pack in terms of hardware. Wii also got a nice boost. I think Wii numbers will go up even more as more games are released (No More Heroes, We Love Golf, and Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon Wii namely) and the holiday season comes.

 

[Jokeropia]

But it is a case of handhelds in general. The DS plus the PSP have expanded the handheld market far, far beyond anything like it was before, and both of the two systems have brought in new gamers that wouldn't and didn't previously play handheld games. Both are contributing to its growth, both have a very strong role to play in its continued future expansion, both offer unique experiences and software that the other can't, and both are contributing to the dominance of portables over consoles.

PSP it´s a handheld, DS is too. And I didn´t speak of handhelds, I´m speaking of portable gaming, which includes mobile.

I was talking in general, portable gaming is getting more important in detriment to home gaming. That is my point, if you want to debunk it try to do it in general and not focusing on PSP alone.

Again, I'm seeing DS doing virtually all the work here (especially on the software side of things where PSP has about the same marketshare as GC had vs. PS2) by reaching heights far beyond what any system has achieved before, and in some way this blinds people to the fact that there's also a console out there that's tracking better than all consoles before it. DS dominating everything else is a more accurate depiction than portables dominating consoles, IMO.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

This is the reverse of the tack I've usually taken the last few weeks, but SMG's hanging around 30-40K for a few weeks isn't exactly a sign of improvement in the comparison to its predecessor. Here are SMS's Famitsu numbers through week 5, which is what these new rough numbers are for.

280,610
102,576
59,975
39,562
43,921

Still behind. SMS actually went up from week 4 to week 5. HOWEVER, in a historical comparison SMS is just about to take a dive, which the holidays should prevent SMG from doing. Here's from week 6 until it drops out of the Top 30:

22,794
18,588
13,739
9,891
8,929
8,820
6,827
5,927
6,146
5,194
5,112
4,366

Again, I'm seeing DS doing virtually all the work here (especially on the software side of things where PSP has about the same marketshare as GC had vs. PS2) by reaching heights far beyond what any system has achieved before, and in some way this blinds people to the fact that there's also a console out there that's tracking better than all consoles before it. DS dominating everything else is a more accurate depiction than portables dominating consoles, IMO.

Anything defined as paired with DS will seem to be a pretty major force. DS+DC: Systems starting in D rule the market. DS+game.com: Systems with touch screens rule the market. DS+PSP: Systems with sub-SD resolution rule the market.

 

[ethelred]

Again, I'm seeing DS doing virtually all the work here (especially on the software side of things where PSP has about the same marketshare as GC had vs. PS2) by reaching heights far beyond what any system has achieved before, and in some way this blinds people to the fact that there's also a console out there that's tracking better than all consoles before it. DS dominating everything else is a more accurate depiction than portables dominating consoles, IMO.

And again, this isn't true. It is portables -- not just the DS. Look, no one is impugning its success. Everyone recognizes that its performance is unprecedented and it will end up as one of the most successful gaming machines in Japanese history. At the same time, you really need to acknowledge what the PSP is doing here, too, as it's breaking some records itself. It'll end its life eventually having bested the Cube, the Saturn, the N64, the Genesis, the PC Engine (not to mention the mediocre competition offered up by the NeoGeo Pocket, the WonderSwan, and so on). Best selling console in history? That's great, but best selling secondary console isn't bad, either; it isn't some sort of also-ran as you keep implying, but rather a very successful system in its own right that has shown fantastic hardware sales and the ability to be very hospitable to third parties when they deliver blockbuster software. Why this is so hard for some to recognize (or admit) I simply don't know.

What the DS has done is phenomenal. That it has done this alongside a system that didn't wither up and die but instead carved out its own successful niche and continues to be a very popular device, week after week seeing hardware sales above the home consoles and week after week seeing new game announcements supports all of this. When you compare this handheld generation to the GBA era, it isn't simply the DS that has made these devices so much more successful than they were in the past. Both of these systems genuinely have expanded the market in bringing in new consumers and new software.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

And again, this isn't true. It is portables -- not just the DS. Look, no one is impugning its success. Everyone recognizes that its performance is unprecedented and it will end up as one of the most successful gaming machines in Japanese history. At the same time, you really need to acknowledge what the PSP is doing here, too, as it's breaking some records itself. It'll end its life eventually having bested the Cube, the Saturn, the N64, the Genesis, the PC Engine (not to mention the mediocre competition offered up by the NeoGeo Pocket, the WonderSwan, and so on). Best selling console in history? That's great, but best selling secondary console isn't bad, either; it isn't some sort of also-ran as you keep implying, but rather a very successful system in its own right that has shown fantastic hardware sales and the ability to be very hospitable to third parties when they deliver blockbuster software. Why this is so hard for some to recognize (or admit) I simply don't know.

What the DS has done is phenomenal. That it has done this alongside a system that didn't wither up and die but instead carved out its own successful niche and continues to be a very popular device, week after week seeing hardware sales above the home consoles and week after week seeing new game announcements supports all of this. When you compare this handheld generation to the GBA era, it isn't simply the DS that has made these devices so much more successful than they were in the past. Both of these systems genuinely have expanded the market in bringing in new consumers and new software.

I think the point he's trying to make is that while the PSP is successful, its overall success does not lie in it being a games console, as the software sales suggest.

If the PSP was just a games player instead of a media device, it wouldn't have anywhere near the sale rate that it does.

 

[Stumpokapow]

If the PSP was just a games player instead of a media device, it wouldn't have anywhere near the sale rate that it does.

When I said this a few weeks ago, people told me I was dumb and it must be piracy that's driving PSP sales.

 

[Rock_Man]

PSP Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 2 30168 45400

I don't have my numbers on this computer but the latest number for Yu-Gi-Oh 2 is around 55k-60k (and selling) which is significantly better than last year's edition of Yu-Gi-Oh on PSP which was at ~45k at the end of 2006 I think. Remember that sequels in most cases sell worse than the original. Looking at similar games released at different dates show that a game released on PSP today probably sells better than if the same game hypothetically was released on PSP one year ago. In that respect you could say that the increased popularity of PSP has resulted in increased software sales. It's enough to say that overall PSP software sales in 2007 are larger than those of 2006 though...

I can't wait to see the holiday sales of 2008.

 

[Kyoufu]

If the PSP was just a games player instead of a media device, it wouldn't have anywhere near the sale rate that it does.

But then software sales would increase since people are only buying the device for games, amirite?

Of course there is piracy to consider...

 

[charlequin]

What the DS has done is phenomenal. That it has done this alongside a system that didn't wither up and die but instead carved out its own successful niche and continues to be a very popular device, week after week seeing hardware sales above the home consoles and week after week seeing new game announcements supports all of this. When you compare this handheld generation to the GBA era, it isn't simply the DS that has made these devices so much more successful than they were in the past. Both of these systems genuinely have expanded the market in bringing in new consumers and new software.

Yup, pretty much. The fact that the PSP can carve out this huge a niche when the DS is already operating at a ludicrously large level shows just how much the handheld market has expanded.

It's also worth noting that if the PSP piracy problem really is as bad as it's made out to be, those sales lost to piracy are still out there "competing" for play time (and therefore, in some sense, hardware sales) with consoles. In terms of what people are actually out there playing, the PSP's software sales potentially present an unusually low estimate. (Is there any other system in recent memory that was as brutally and consistently pirated as the PSP?)

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

When I said this a few weeks ago, people told me I was dumb and it must be piracy that's driving PSP sales.

Don't get me wrong, the PSP is still the most successful non-Nintendo handheld out there, but it's pretty disingenuous to look at the PSPs hardware LTD and say "It reached that goal because of its games software" while looking at the same abysmal software that we all are.

The game sales point to the PSP being a portable GameCube, and the console is clearly not selling like that.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

But then software sales would increase since people are only buying the device for games, amirite?

Of course there is piracy to consider...

In the face of the DS? I don't think so. Didn't help the NGPC, Wonderswan, etc.

I think what we were once criticizing Sony for as a failing of the console is the reason for these sales: convergence. PSP is a tiny media center that fits into your pocket and happens to play games. Yeah piracy is a help, but I certainly wouldn't attribute it alone for the monstrous hardware sales.

 

[noonche]

(Is there any other system in recent memory that was as brutally and consistently pirated as the PSP?)

Dreamcast.

 

[Jokeropia]

And again, this isn't true. It is portables -- not just the DS. Look, no one is impugning its success. Everyone recognizes that its performance is unprecedented and it will end up as one of the most successful gaming machines in Japanese history. At the same time, you really need to acknowledge what the PSP is doing here, too, as it's breaking some records itself. It'll end its life eventually having bested the Cube, the Saturn, the N64, the Genesis, the PC Engine (not to mention the mediocre competition offered up by the NeoGeo Pocket, the WonderSwan, and so on). Best selling console in history? That's great, but best selling secondary console isn't bad, either; it isn't some sort of also-ran as you keep implying, but rather a very successful system in its own right that has shown fantastic hardware sales and the ability to be very hospitable to third parties when they deliver blockbuster software. Why this is so hard for some to recognize (or admit) I simply don't know.

I'll give PSP the recognition I feel it deserve, namely that it has really good hardware sales for a runner-up system in Japan. It's just that this IMO is not enough to include it in a general statement about how portables rule over consoles. (See Joshua's post about how anything paired with the DS could be included in a similar statement.) I mean, remove PSP from the equation and the portable market would still dominate the console market. Remove DS from the equation and the portable market would've taken a massive hit from last generation and be dominated by the console market.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Dude, not all of course. Anyway, better stop with this discussion, because it could not end well.

Oi, run if you like, but the PSP is hardly hurting for good software, and it's not some wunderkind system for moving good software either. I love my PSP and that's what makes it all the easier to say that software sales on the whole are pretty disappointing given the quality of the library.

 

[pgtl_10]

What is Layton 2?

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

What is Layton 2?

The sequel to Layton.

 

[thestopsign]

What is Layton 2?

Professor Layton is an original game series that is self published by Level 5. Basically revolves around logic puzzles and mystery from my understanding, though I could be wrong. The original Layton is coming to the US in February and being published by Nintendo.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

What is Layton 2?

A sequel to Layton 1. What else? :lol

 

[Arde5643]

What is Layton 2?

What is a man?




Game breaking spoiler:

Spoiler

a miserable little pile of secrets

 

[donny2112]

At the same time, you really need to acknowledge what the PSP is doing here, too, as it's breaking some records itself.

All of the significant ones relating to hardware, as shown by your next statement.

It'll end its life eventually having bested the Cube, the Saturn, the N64, the Genesis, the PC Engine (not to mention the mediocre competition offered up by the NeoGeo Pocket, the WonderSwan, and so on). Best selling console in history? That's great, but best selling secondary console isn't bad, either;

the ability to be very hospitable to third parties when they deliver blockbuster software.

If it takes "blockbuster software" for sales to be considered "hospitable" on a system, then I would say that the software sales potential on that system isn't really that hospitable. I think comparing the PSP to a portable GameCube in Japan isn't too bad of an analogy, when it comes to software. Just replace the GameCube's better selling first-party software with specific PSP third-party games. That doesn't mean the PSP is a bad system, just that it's not an unqualified success.

 

[Pachael]

In the face of the DS? I don't think so. Didn't help the NGPC, Wonderswan, etc.

I think what we were once criticizing Sony for as a failing of the console is the reason for these sales: convergence. PSP is a tiny media center that fits into your pocket and happens to play games. Yeah piracy is a help, but I certainly wouldn't attribute it alone for the monstrous hardware sales.

That's my line as well. Remember initial advertising of the PSP by Sony that touted it as an all-in-one media center? It could do music, movies, games, and web browse (albeit badly). Of course, although the UMD format went nowhere it's still used for games, which makes it not-so-much-a-loss. With other accessories coming out these days like the 1seg TV Tuner in Japan for the Slim, I think a lot of people these days aren't using the PSP for just gaming. I use it as a allinone machine anyway.

 

[tanod]

That's my line as well. Remember initial advertising of the PSP by Sony that touted it as an all-in-one media center? It could do music, movies, games, and web browse (albeit badly). Of course, although the UMD format went nowhere it's still used for games, which makes it not-so-much-a-loss. With other accessories coming out these days like the 1seg TV Tuner in Japan for the Slim, I think a lot of people these days aren't using the PSP for just gaming. I use it as a allinone machine anyway.

I don't live in Japan but I mostly use my PSP for podcasts, remote play and music. I do have a pretty decent library of games but I only play them when I go to visit family or my wife is monopolizing the TV and I can't get it away from her.

 

[marvelharvey]

The original Layton is coming to the US in February and being published by Nintendo.

I'm still shocked that the sequel is out in Japan before the original was translated for the US... at this rate, Europe will get it in 2009.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

So I made a few tiny modifications to the game line comparison image thing. Now it can be told to grab the weekly numbers rather than the lifetime numbers. I'll need to further change it so if a game drops out of the charts and then returns it doesn't make a straight line over the gap, but that'll be a bit less trivial. Anyway,

SMS and SMG through 100 days, cumulative
SMS and SMG through 100 days, weekly
Of course, there's the regular problem that the official Famitsu numbers are far behind this rough stuff, so it only currently shows SMG through the third week.

It'll end its life eventually having bested the Cube, the Saturn, the N64, the Genesis, the PC Engine (not to mention the mediocre competition offered up by the NeoGeo Pocket, the WonderSwan, and so on). Best selling console in history? That's great, but best selling secondary console isn't bad, either; it isn't some sort of also-ran as you keep implying, but rather a very successful system in its own right that has shown fantastic hardware sales and the ability to be very hospitable to third parties when they deliver blockbuster software.

Best-selling secondary in hardware? Yes. Best-selling secondary in software? I'm not sure. Here's PSP and GCN software through the same number of weeks. Of course the data isn't exhaustive in either case, but things sum up to 14.2 million units for PSP and 13.1 million units for GCN. Considering at least N64 and Saturn were more successful secondary/tertiary systems than GCN, I'd be surprised if their software wasn't higher than both GCN and PSP.


EDIT: For more context from the primary systems, I checked PS2, GBA, and DS software for the same number of weeks. They summed up to 48.4 million, 31.6 million, and 75.1 million, respectively.

 

[donny2112]

Best-selling secondary in hardware? Yes. Best-selling secondary in software? I'm not sure. Here's PSP and GCN software through the same number of weeks. Of course the data isn't exhaustive in either case, but things sum up to 14.2 million units for PSP and 13.1 million units for GCN.

There's also the fact that we have a Top 500 for 2005/6 but only a Top 100 for 2001-2004, meaning that we have access to more complete PSP software data than we do for GCN.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

i dunno guys, i think the psp is pretty awesome.

 

[Hereafter]

i dunno guys, i think the psp is pretty awesome.

Isn't that only because you hacked the firmware? I really didn't think the PSP was that great until I discovered 0 loading time.

 

[donny2112]

i dunno guys, i think the psp is pretty awesome.

The GameCube was awesome, too. I'm not dissing the quality of the games on the PSP. I'm saying that, software sales-wise, it isn't a major player in the Japanese handheld revolution and is performing more like the GameCube in Japan (with some third-party games replacing the bigger selling first-party games in the GameCube's lineup).

Edit:
I guess I should specify that it's not a major player in software on the charts. Piracy throws a wrench in just saying that it isn't a major player in software, at all.

 

[Dragona Akehi]

Isn't that only because you hacked the firmware? I really didn't think the PSP was that great until I discovered 0 loading time.

that's really not the psp's fault. that's sony's draconian firmware.

 

[Crusade]

In the face of the DS? I don't think so. Didn't help the NGPC, Wonderswan, etc.

I think what we were once criticizing Sony for as a failing of the console is the reason for these sales: convergence. PSP is a tiny media center that fits into your pocket and happens to play games. Yeah piracy is a help, but I certainly wouldn't attribute it alone for the monstrous hardware sales.

DS didn't start off huge, they started on an equal footing. If they came out as essentially different systems, it wouldn't be the same. PSP could have done worse, but it could've done even better.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

that's really not the psp's fault. that's sony's draconian firmware.

I thought splitting hairs were a bad thing. Or was that split ends?

 

[gimz]

new number soon?

 

[donny2112]

New Games
11.Assassins Creed　34000
16.Natuto2 Wii　20000
17.Disgaea PSP　17000
25.Precure5 DS　12000
外.BASARA2 Heroes Wii　8600
外.Izuna2　6500
外.Super Swing Golf Season 2　6500
外.GUILTY GEAR 2 -OVERTURE-　5300
外.Another Century's Episode 2 Special Vocal Version　4900
外.Kabutore Next　3400
外.Tony Hawk's Project 8 PS3　1800
外.Tony Hawk's Project 8 360　1100

Just wondering, but is there a reason why you skipped these four?

外.ゼロ魔　7800
外.IQサプリ２　6100
外.密室　5200
外.パズルクエスト　2000