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NPD April 2011 Sales Results [Update 6: Nintendo DS Hardware, Pokemon LTD]

Curufinwe

Member
mujun said:
However, when it's 15 million vs 10 million then there is next to no difference. Either install base could support 1 million sales of a game individually or split in any percentage.

Well it's currently 27 million versus 16.7 million and almost every multiplatform game sells better on the 360. The two facts are not unrelated.

BroHuffman said:
I'm just saying we probably wont ever know, and because of the gametype and exclusive content, if there was a game to sell better on the PS3 it would be this one.

The game to sell better on the PS3 was FF XIII, and it did.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Nintendo were too damn impatient on releasing their handheld console that was obviously not ready. Not only are there barely any games worth it, the 3DS will only get its online stuff in June.

If i were Nintendo, i would have released the 3DS in june, at the same time as Zelda. At least the online would have been ready by then.

The 3DS sales will obviously pick up once more games are released and once developpers slowly stop making DS games, but how long will that take?

I really hope the situation won't repeat itself with the Cafe, hopefully Nintendo learned their lesson with the 3DS.
 

JWong

Banned
I NEED SCISSORS said:
I guess I can't shy away from the fact much longer - 3DS is bombing, and it's going to take a price cut and more games to fix it.
3DS lite announcement at E3 confirmed.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
A Human Becoming said:
Dunno when we'll ever get DS or PSP numbers, so I'll just post these now.

YTD

360: 1,646,214
PS3: 1,238,948
Wii: 1,235,870
3DS: 592,000

LTD

360: 27,041,373
PS3: 16,700,921
Wii: 35,385,494
3DS: 592,000

We do know DS sold >200k and PSP >~188k. I'll re-post with DS and PSP numbers when they become available.

I wish I knew how to use excel. There have been graphs I've been wanting to make.

PS3 above Wii YTD o_O just barely.
 

Haint

Member
Bisnic said:
Nintendo were too damn impatient on releasing their handheld console that was obviously not ready. Not only are there barely any games worth it, the 3DS will only get its online stuff in June.

If i were Nintendo, i would have released the 3DS in june, at the same time as Zelda. At least the online would have been ready by then.

The 3DS sales will obviously pick up once more games are once developpers slowly stop making DS games, but how long will that take?

I'm not convinced people even know it's a whole new system. The overall design is so damn similar to the DS/DSL/DSi/DSiXL and they oversaturated that revisions market so badly, I think it may very well be that people are either confused or just fed up with the re-re-re-release bullshit.
 
Bisnic said:
Nintendo were too damn impatient on releasing their handheld console that was obviously not ready. Not only are there barely any games worth it, the 3DS will only get its online stuff in June.

If i were Nintendo, i would have released the 3DS in june, at the same time as Zelda. At least the online would have been ready by then.

The 3DS sales will obviously pick up once more games are released once developpers slowly stop making DS games, but how long will that take?

I really hope the situation won't repeat itself with the Cafe, hopefully Nintendo learned their lesson with the 3DS.

The early launch made Capcom happy by giving them breathing room and allowing them to ship another million copies of SSFIV, I'm sure they're happy as hell with the 3DS launch.

Being one of the most important companies for the 3DS' potential success in Japan, it's a pretty good precedent for the system.
 

Grimmy

Banned
Blimblim said:
First gen GBA was an horrible console though, thanks to the non-backlight screen. Terrible terrible screen, to this day I refuse to buy a Nintendo handheld because of that piece of trash (not that I plan on buying a handheld console from anyone else mind you).

I am with you on this. I had a GB, a GBC, and bought the GBA at launch. Worst decision ever, and the crappiest piece of hardware I ever bought. Plus the amount of SNES shovelware was nauseating.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Reallink said:
I'm not convinced people even know it's a whole new system. The overall design is so damn similar to the DS/DSL/DSi/DSiXL and they oversaturated that revisions market so badly, I think it may very well be that people are either confused or just fed up with the re-re-re-release bullshit.

Yeah, and let's make it even more confusing by releasing boxarts that are exactly the same, except they added "3"
 

Mrbob

Member
Nintendo has run a ton of promos for the 3DS already. It is almost unheard of for a new platform to have 25 dollar gift card offer (well before launch) and a ton of software sales right away. Not sure how dropping the price to 199 would impact sales at this point much higher.

Sho_Nuff82 said:
The early launch made Capcom happy by giving them breathing room and allowing them to ship another million copies of SSFIV, I'm sure they're happy as hell with the 3DS launch.

Being one of the most important companies for the 3DS' potential success in Japan, it's a pretty good precedent for the system.

I think the problem is there is a lot of unsold stock flooding the market, for both software and hardware. SSF4 sold what, 100k first month plus whatever in April (easily at least 50 percent drop)? Add up Japan and Europe and you might break around 250 to 300K? Selling through 3/10 of your initial shipment worldwide isn't exactly stellar. Capcom might have to deal with some price protection issues with retailers for all that extra stock.
 
Mrbob said:
I think the problem is there is a lot of unsold stock flooding the market, for both software and hardware. SSF4 sold what, 100k first month plus whatever in April (easily at least 50 percent drop)? Add up Japan and Europe and you might break around 250 to 300K? Selling through 3/10 of your initial shipment worldwide isn't exactly stellar. Capcom might have to deal with some price protection issues with retailers for all that extra stock.

3DS owners have literally nothing else to buy. It's probably still selling 1:4 with the hardware, so it will creep up steadily in the coming months, and will probably get a bump if Zelda bumps hardware.

Curufinwe said:
You're assuming that Portal 2 sold more than half a million copies on Steam in NA, but we have no idea what it sold on Steam.

Pretty much. We're never going to get Steam numbers, and we're never going to get region-specific Steam numbers at that, so it is kind of pointless to speculate on how great Portal 2 could have sold. When the game clears some arbitrary sales benchmarks (say, 2 million or so), Valve will probably let us know.
 

M.D

Member
A Human Becoming said:
Dunno when we'll ever get DS or PSP numbers, so I'll just post these now.

YTD

360: 1,646,214
PS3: 1,238,948
Wii: 1,235,870
3DS: 592,000

LTD

360: 27,041,373
PS3: 16,700,921
Wii: 35,385,494
3DS: 592,000

We do know DS sold >200k and PSP >~188k. I'll re-post with DS and PSP numbers when they become available.

I wish I knew how to use excel. There have been graphs I've been wanting to make.

Wait a minute... PSP sold 188K this month?
 

LM4sure

Banned
Although with all the marketing Portal 2 got I'm surprised it didn't do better on the PS3 and 360. Hmm...interesting. MK is a great game though, and it definitely deserves its sales.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
The potential good news for consumers with the 3DS's low sales is that...

1. We should get a price cut sooner rather than later

2. Same with a new SKU

3. Sony takes note and is 'sensible' with the NGP's launch price

Let's all hope anyway!
 
M_Night said:
The potential good news for consumers with the 3DS's low sales is that...

1. We should get a price cut sooner rather than later

2. Same with a new SKU

3. Sony takes note and is 'sensible' with the NGP's launch price

Let's all hope anyway!


LOL. I hope that is the case but I really doubt it.
 

mujun

Member
jvm? Could you shed some light on the relationship between install base ratio vs the software ratio and the volume of install bases.
 
Mrbob said:
Nintendo has run a ton of promos for the 3DS already. It is almost unheard of for a new platform to have 25 dollar gift card offer (well before launch) and a ton of software sales right away. Not sure how dropping the price to 199 would impact sales at this point much higher.
Price drop alone wouldn't do it, but in concert with good software releases a drop would definitely help. That's what DS did in August 2005 by going from $149 to $129 and Nintendo releasing games people actually wanted (Nintendogs, Advance Wars, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, etc). That's when the turn around really started in the US.
 
Has any "Wait Til (Insert Game)" ever rang true?

Doubt it's gonna magically become relevant for the 3DS. Marketing and appeal sell systems. 3DS right this second is lacking on both ends
 

Dirtsaw

Member
Homefront ???
March 24 THQI announces "more than 1 million sold"
May 3 THQI says "we have crossed the 2 million profitablity threshold", "trend well in excsess of 3 million"
May 12 NPD list implies very little sold , less than 150k in April
New math??
 
Dirtsaw said:
Homefront ???
March 24 THQI announces "more than 1 million sold"
May 3 THQI says "we have crossed the 2 million profitablity threshold", "trend well in excsess of 3 million"
May 12 NPD list implies very little sold , less than 150k in April
New math??


Publisher's "sold" = shipped to retailers
NPD = sold to consumers
 

Jeels

Member
It's amazing how shunned the PS3 in the US is.

- exclusive character: doesn't matter [MK]
- exclusive stage: doesn't matter [MK]
- free PC game with PS3 version: doesn't fucking matter [Portal 2]

All that superfluos crap added to PS3 versions of multiplatform games doesn't make a bit of difference in the US. People still buy 360 versions!

Sony is done for this gen. Maybe they will have better luck with PS4.
Did someone spike the Kool-Aid again?
 

Grecco

Member
Dirtsaw said:
Homefront ???
March 24 THQI announces "more than 1 million sold"
May 3 THQI says "we have crossed the 2 million profitablity threshold", "trend well in excsess of 3 million"
May 12 NPD list implies very little sold , less than 150k in April
New math??


Shipped vs Sold is getting blurrier each time.
 

U2NUMB

Member
Dirtsaw said:
Homefront ???
March 24 THQI announces "more than 1 million sold"
May 3 THQI says "we have crossed the 2 million profitablity threshold", "trend well in excsess of 3 million"
May 12 NPD list implies very little sold , less than 150k in April
New math??


They could be saying sold to retailers and also world wide with their numbers. I can see that happening. My local best buy has 50 copies sitting on the shelves.
 
Typical gaf hyperbole when the mention of 'the death of the 3DS' is littered across my screen. Yes, the 3DS isn't selling a gajillion units like some would somehow expect to be. Truth be told, it doesn't take long to see how long it took the DS to get rolling (~9months) before it became the powerhouse that it did.

Considering that this time of year is one of the slowest times for gaming, the 3DS isn't "bombing" by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, when considering the titles out there, the system is selling fairly well; even more so when considering a pretty hefty price tag for a handheld in a not-so-great economy.

It's easy to look at the DS sales and go 'lol, wut' at the 3DS sales; however, when everything is put into perspective you see a brand-new system that is doing decent, not terrible or phenomenal. It's FAR too early to even gauge the future success or failure of this handheld, so you guys need to just tone it down a notch. It's pretty annoying seeing all this sensationalism when the system hasn't even gone through a full year yet. When big AAA titles come and the system still doesn't move units, then we can have a gaf circle-jerk for the demise of the 3DS.

carry on, gents.
 
Again, I have to say that the doom and gloom for 3DS is way premature.
We're heading into summer, and there is basically no software for it yet, beyond SSFIV.

If we're seeing these kinds of sales in November, when heavy-hitter software is out there, then I could see it being time to worry.

I do think they need to do more to differentiate the 3DS from the previous platforms, though having many months to do that (heading into the holiday) should give them time to accomplish that.
 

SSJ1Goku

Banned
Warm Machine said:
I really don't get why they even bothered releasing the 3DS when they did. It wasn't like the DS market was in trouble.
I honestly believe Ninendo got scared of the NGP and pulled a Saturn early release.
 

StevieP

Banned
SSJ1Goku said:
I honestly believe Nitendo got scared of the NGP and pulled a Saturn early release.

No, they needed to release it before the end of the fiscal year or they'd get roasted by investors.
 
The Abominable Snowman said:
Has any "Wait Til (Insert Game)" ever rang true?

Doubt it's gonna magically become relevant for the 3DS. Marketing and appeal sell systems. 3DS right this second is lacking on both ends
It happened on DS (Nintendogs). Like I just mentioned.
 

FoneBone

Member
StevieP said:
No, they needed to release it before the end of the fiscal year or they'd get roasted by investors.
Yeah. I can't see NGP as having any direct effect on Nintendo's plans as of yet.
 
timetokill said:
Again, I have to say that the doom and gloom for 3DS is way premature.
We're heading into summer, and there is basically no software for it yet, beyond SSFIV.

If we're seeing these kinds of sales in November, when heavy-hitter software is out there, then I could see it being time to worry.

I do think they need to do more to differentiate the 3DS from the previous platforms, though having many months to do that (heading into the holiday) should give them time to accomplish that.

Agreed. They acknowledged the difficulty in selling the 3DS right from the reveal, but it's not like they've been going out of their way to do so.
 
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