Support NeoGAF

[Count Chocula]

Somehow I dont think Castlevania DS is what's moving 130k systems.

It's those brain teaser games. Like Mono said pretty soon there will be a flood of these types of games with few normal games in between.

And it doesn't help that the DS is designed in a way that it's best suited for brain teasers and crossword puzzles.

 

[soundwave05]

Somehow I dont think Castlevania DS is what's moving 130k systems.

It's those brain teaser games. Like Mono said pretty soon there will be a flood of these types of games with few normal games in between.

And it doesn't help that the DS is designed in a way that it's best suited for brain teasers and crossword puzzles.

Castlevania is also a franchise that's almost 20 years old.

Sure, there'll be a flood of these types of games, but really they cost nothing to make.

According to Nintendo, Brain Training was made by a team of about 5-6 people in a few months.

It's not going to interfere with development of games like Super Mario or Zelda. It's not like Pokemon stopped Nintendo from making/funding Zelda: OoT, GoldenEye, etc.

If anything, Brian Training could spur Nintendo to finally become more bold in focusing on adult audiences ... it proves you don't need a cartoony mascot to sell a game in big numbers, but you also don't need to stoop yourself down to the lowest common denominator either for shock value.

 

[AdmiralViscen]

Somehow I dont think Castlevania DS is what's moving 130k systems.

Does it really matter whether it's selling systems? Not every game needs to be a "system seller." The fact is that the game is selling better than its GBA predecessors. That's what's important, right? That third parties are recieving good returns on the'r "real-game" investments so that they keep making them?

"System selling" titles are only important for the hardware manufacturer, and you only need one or two. Nintendo has had a ton: Several Brain Training, Mario Kart, Mario 64, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing. Two "real games," three "non-games." And two of those non-games are real games.

 

[cvxfreak]

Those 360 sales are simply depressing. Being beaten by the GameCube, too.

 

[Oblivion]

Okay, this is getting idiotic. Let me tell you why Nintendo won't stop making Marios and Zeldas just because brain training games are popular.

Brain Training games definitely sell well, but I can almost fucking guarantee that they'll never reach numbers close to what a real Mario platformer would sell. It would be idiotic to turn your back on a gigantic fanbase like that to focus on a relatively smaller demographic.

 

[Thomper]

Somehow I dont think Castlevania DS is what's moving 130k systems.

It's those brain teaser games. Like Mono said pretty soon there will be a flood of these types of games with few normal games in between.

And it doesn't help that the DS is designed in a way that it's best suited for brain teasers and crossword puzzles.

Ever heard of Mario Kart? Animal Crossing and Nintendogs are still quite a bit more 'game' if you look at your definition of brain teaser games. And Pokemon, New Super Mario Bros., and a few RPG's will probably also sell quite a few systems. It's not just brain teasers.

 

[MrSardonic]

I sort of agree with Mono. DS with it's brain teasers is like a Tomagachi phenomenon. It's not really games that are selling the thing.

People rag on the PSP sales but it's actually doing quite well. Just not compared to the DS which is being sold to non-gamers.

Don't be so ridiculous. Games are exactly what is selling the DS. Brain Training, Nintendogs etc are GAMES quite clearly. If you actually look at the sales figures then the PSP is the hardware that is selling relatively little software. People seem to be buying the PSP for largely non-gaming activities at the moment...or, once they have the system, they buy few games for it.

So far the DS has demonstrated that both traditional and new genres have sold extremely well (sure, some good games have bombed, but that always happens on any console). We've seen million sellers across several genres in Japan

Somehow I dont think Castlevania DS is what's moving 130k systems.

It's those brain teaser games.

It isn't Castlevania or Brain Training. It is the combined variety of software that is shifting machines. Each demographic is attracted by different game types and might be tempted into experimenting with other successful games. MarioKart, Mario, WarioWare, Brain Training, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing...etc

 

[soundwave05]

Yeah isn't this just Nintendo really just embracing a more Sony-like philosophy (albiet on their own terms)?

Sony always boasted that on the Playstation they didn't need or even want a "Mario" type figurehead for the platform, because they wanted a broader appeal, and different people would buy the system for different reasons.

Some people bought a Playstation almost exclusively for the sports games.

Others like Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil, etc.

Others were more wooed by titles like PaRappa The Rapper.

I think that's what Nintendo's done with the DS ... some people are buying the DS for the traditional Nintendo stuff, others are buying for the Touch Generation stuff, others still may prefer some of the rather solid third party software.

Mario Kart on the DS for instance has sold more than Mario Kart on the GBA or GCN.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Calm down, people.

1. I'm less mortified by Brain Training's success than 50 Cent, Madden, etc.'s success. And don't say Brain Training will become like Madden, either - there's no limit to what puzzles or problems that you can place in a game.

Mario Kart on the DS for instance has sold more than Mario Kart on the GBA or GCN.

No, I believe MKDD is still outselling MKDS, but it won't for long (although, MKDD sales are still high).

 

[soundwave05]

Calm down, people.

1. I'm less mortified by Brain Training's success than 50 Cent, Madden, etc.'s success. And don't say Brain Training will become like Madden, either - there's no limit to what puzzles or problems that you can place in a game.



No, I believe MKDD is still outselling MKDS, but it won't for long (although, MKDD sales are still high).

I could be wrong, but I don't think MK: DD ever hit 1 million in Japan. MK: DS already has and is still going.

 

[ChibiKuririn]

hay guys the DS only has non-games rite? rite???

Just go back to GameFAQs, maybe you might get banned there again.

 

[A Link to the Past]

I could be wrong, but I don't think MK: DD ever hit 1 million in Japan. MK: DS already has and is still going.

Worldwide, MKDD is > MKDS.

 

[soundwave05]

Worldwide, MKDD is > MKDS.

Well yeah, MK: DS will continue to sell for a long time though ... MK: DD is basically at the end of its run.

In the end MK: DS should comfortably outsell DD.

We're talking more specifically about Japan, with some people saying that non-games are interfering with sales of regular games.

Well Mario Kart kind puts a hole in that theory ... as Mario Kart on the DS has outsold the GCN and GBA versions already over there.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Well yeah, MK: DS will continue to sell for a long time though ... MK: DD is basically at the end of its run.

In the end MK: DS should comfortably outsell DD.

We're talking more specifically about Japan, with some people saying that non-games are interfering with sales of regular games.

Well Mario Kart kind puts a hole in that theory ... as Mario Kart on the DS has outsold the GCN and GBA versions already over there.

And I believe that M&L2 is about to outsell M&L.

 

[Moor-Angol]

And I believe that M&L2 is about to outsell M&L.

M&L GBA : 438.781
M&L DS : 298.248

 

[Rur0ni]

Monorojo, I play CS:S and DoD:S in CAL. I'm a competitive gamer. Yet I wont buy a PSP, because its uninteresting. I will buy a DS (lite) because its wide selection of games(and nongames, which frankly have pushed me to the decision of buying a DS) that interest me.

If Nintendo pulls this off with Revolution, they get my money.

 

[polg]

sorry for the delay, I was sleeping when the numbers were release. In a positive side, i'm sober and no hang over.

 

[jj984jj]

YTD/LTD
NDS - 316,259/5,963,211
PSP - 259,371/2,942,333
NDS Lead - 56,888/3,020,878

Is that Dirge of Cerberus game any good?

Yep.

You need demi's tag.

 

[GDGF]

Version 2.0:

:lol Thanks! Nice job!

 

[GDGF]

:lol Sorry didn't see this first. Excellent!

 

[Frankfurter]

YTD/LTD
NDS - 316,259/5,963,211
PSP - 259,371/2,942,333
NDS Lead - 56,888/3,020,878

You need demi's tag.

Hmm, I have these numbers:
YTD/LTD

DS - 316,178 / 5,963,130
PSP - 258,714 / 2,941,676

 

[Yoshi]

I have another set of numbers for you:
Nintendo DS 316.258
PlayStation Portable 259.371
(YTD)

I think either jj984jj's or mine numbers are correct ^^. As I just add the numbers up by using a calculator, mine may be slightly wrong.

 

[Leonsito]

I have this:

YTD 2006: 259.371/316.259
Dif: 56.888

 

[soundwave05]

It will be interesting to see whether or not DS sales can continue to sell at such a rapid pace, given the DS Lite announcement.

Nintendo really just kinda has to make due for the next month, and then DS Lite should trigger a monsterous explosion in DS sales.

What do you guys estimate for the first week of DS Lite? Could we be looking at another 500,000 or 600,000 week (assuming Nintendo can even supply that many)?

 

[A Link to the Past]

M&L GBA : 438.781
M&L DS : 298.248

Hey, that's pretty close. I'd say that it would drift well past that number.

 

[DefectiveReject]

What do you guys estimate for the first week of DS Lite? Could we be looking at another 500,000 or 600,000 week (assuming Nintendo can even supply that many)?

1million+

 

[A Link to the Past]

It will be interesting to see whether or not DS sales can continue to sell at such a rapid pace, given the DS Lite announcement.

What do you guys estimate for the first week of DS Lite? Could we be looking at another 500,000 or 600,000 week (assuming Nintendo can even supply that many)?

Everyone expected this week's sales to be "la bomba", yet they were incredible.

Also, I'm expecting huge sales. I wouldn't be surprised with 1 million, especially when Childen of Mana is coming out on the same day.

Another question, will the DS Lite launch make a million seller out of Children of Mana?

 

[jamesinclair]

Ill guess....


54,000 fat DS
225,000 New DS

 

[CoolTrick]

I wouldn't be surprised with 1 million

:lol

 

[Rur0ni]

As many units they can have ready.

 

[Oblivion]

You need demi's tag.

I was kidding, you know...

 

[donny2112]

PSP '06 vs. '05: -8,231
GBA '06 vs. '05: -48,735

 

[soundwave05]

Yeah honestly 1 million may not be out of the question ... the bigger question is can they possibly make that many? I guess they have the next month to just stock the hell outta the new DS model.

 

[Count Chocula]

Those 360 sales are simply depressing. Being beaten by the GameCube, too.

Whoever's running the Xbox 360 division in Japan needs to be fired. That's just a disgrace.

 

[thestopsign]

I think that Children of Mana will sell pretty simular to Jump Superstars end up around 500-600k. Should have 250k-275k in the first week.

 

[soundwave05]

I think that Children of Mana will sell pretty simular to Jump Superstars end up around 500-600k. Should have 250k-275k in the first week.

Square-Enix would gladly take those kinds of numbers I'm sure.

With Mario Basketball, Final Fantasy III, and possibly FF: CC among others in 2006, S-E is going to make a fortune off the DS.

Square-Enix is one of the third parties I think that will really benefit from the rapid DS userbase explosion.

 

[Fuzzy]

No, no, once upon a time, there was no ds. We had ps2 and gba bieng the juggernaught of japan, the gamecue barely limping along and the xbox flatlining. These days, the threads are"DS,DS, Nintendogs, DS, DS, Braintraining,DS DS"


What was it like before in terms of conversation?

People talked about games and how well/badly they were selling, not hardware sales.

Extremely stupid post. How many people do you think are working on these brain training games? 1,000? Fuck that. Nintendo is making bank by only having probably 50 (at the most?) people working on this game. That's incredible. If other companies could do that they would, but they can't. They still got tons of other teams making great games...

I think it was less than 10 actually, I vaguely remember hearing that somewhere.

It was Iwata who said it was 10 people at its peak of development during his TGS keynote.

Those 360 sales are simply depressing. Being beaten by the GameCube, too.

Just like in the US. :lol

YTD/LTD
NDS - 316,259/5,963,211
PSP - 259,371/2,942,333
NDS Lead - 56,888/3,020,878

To the people whose numbers don't match jj984jj's totals: you're all wrong.

 

[meltpotato]

id think Children of Mana will sell a bit better than that.

if i remember correctly, there isnt that much stuff coming out other than that between now and tetris ds. wouldnt it be interesting to see tetris ds and children of mana topping the charts, even for just one week? heh. okay maybe im dreaming

 

[jj984jj]

I was kidding, you know...

...

How was I? You did nothing to make the sarcasm apparent.

 

[Oblivion]

...

How was I? You did nothing to make the sarcasm apparent.

Well, my casual one word response should have sufficed. I'll work on that next time, then

 

[Lindsay]

Brain Training games definitely sell well, but I can almost fucking guarantee that they'll never reach numbers close to what a real Mario platformer would sell.

So SMB DS will outsell the top brain training game in Japan? I doubt it!

Another question, will the DS Lite launch make a million seller out of Children of Mana?

Not even close!

 

[soundwave05]

Really just thinking about this year ... Nintendo is going to sell an unbelievable amount of software/hardware ...

DS Lite and DS likely going to $99 in NA.

Revolution launch.

New Super Mario Bros.
Tetris DS
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Brain Training 3 (?)

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Super Smash Bros. Revolution

Every single one of those titles I've listed could be a potential 3+ million worldwide, some of them are looking at more in the 5-8 million range possibly.

 

[fly high ~ayunite~]

20M Nintendo DS hardware sales by the end of 2006?

 

[soundwave05]

20M Nintendo DS hardware sales by the end of 2006?

Hasn't Nintendo shipped close to 15 million already ... unless you mean an additional 20 million on top of that.

 

[Taker666]

20M Nintendo DS hardware sales by the end of 2006?

I'd say closer to 25 million.

 

[fly high ~ayunite~]

Hasn't Nintendo shipped close to 15 million already ... unless you mean an additional 20 million on top of that.

:lol No!! I guess that the final hardware number at the end of 2006 will be around that. I thought it was 13? I wouldn't be shocked if it became 25M worldwide sales this time next year.

 

[soundwave05]

I think DS userbase will be 30-35 million potentially by end of March 2007 (end of the fiscal year).

$99 price point + sexier redesign + Pokemon Diamond/Pearl basically will swing all the current GBA buyers in North America and should also do something similar in Europe, regardless of whether or not Brain Training catches on outside of Japan. 2006 will be the year the DS phases out the GBA line in North America, as it has already pretty much done in Japan.

The demand for the DS in Japan, just seems monsterous. We likely could be looking at sales higher than the GBA or PS2 ever got in one year.

 

[fly high ~ayunite~]

Oh my! Imagine if Nintendo packaged a limited edition Nintendo DS with the Revolution at launch. Crazy sales! :lol The japanese can't get enough of that limied edition stuff. SOLD OUT!! :lol

 

[MrSardonic]

What do you guys estimate for the first week of DS Lite?

I'm going to guess 300k max. If Nintendo have that many consoles ready, a mass of consumers wait for DS Lite launch, and a new AAA game is released with the new hardware...I guess it is possible given the time of year.

I'm looking forward to the madness. It will also be extremely interesting to see how the new SMB sells.

I'd say closer to 25 million.

Japan only

Nintendo need to make a "David Beckham" special edition DS to link with the Football World Cup and the entire Japanese nation will revert to civil war in the quest to track down DSes.

 

[A Link to the Past]

:lol

I said that I wouldn't be surprised, not that I entirely expected it.