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[Conflict NZ]

All Next-Gen consoles should have been released this year. Microsoft and Sony are playing a dangerous game and tempting an industry crash by extending it out this long. At this point they are pretty much mirroring what Atari did by believing they don't need new consoles and pumping out crap games that are pretty much just pallet swaps of every other game. It's possible that the top selling individual SKU sold less than 160,000 this month, when is the last time that happened?

This situation reminds me of this article, the writer could see the future.
http://www.cracked.com/article_15732_life-after-video-game-crash.html

 

[Femmeworth]

What a depressing month. Lovely, now SE has even more of an incentive to cheapen out on their handheld localizations.

 

[RagnarokX]

On a handheld where you lose your software if you lose your device, probably not much.

NOA did offer an incentive, and that problem will only be a problem for a few more months. Just be careful with your electronics like anything else you own.

 

[Plinko]

Curious to see real reasons behind this. If the economy being shit for so long has finally caught up to everyone or if its just late console life and people dont have a desire for new games.

The economy is bad right now for lower and middle-income families. Purchasing power has plummeted thanks to skyrocketing costs elsewhere.

 

[MasterSheen]

Kingdom Hearts 3D: 31th July

So, the first day is included on this report?

Yes.

 

[Miles X]

It was supply constrained then too <_<

That may be but I still don't see how they're gonna have enough stock to be doing 1.5m~ Nov and Dec when they couldn't even get that sorted for Wii's second holiday.

 

[dimb]

What a depressing month.

I dunno, I sort of feel like it would've been more of a downer if any of these games actually preformed well.

 

[NBtoaster]

How many of the top 10 titles are available DD on all platforms?

 

[Plinko]

Not a chance, even Wii sales in its second holiday were nothing amazing (1m Nov, 1.3m Dec)

First holiday was around 1m Nov + Dec.

I don't know if I'd go that far quite yet. Depends on the price point. I think if they drop for $249 and it's not supply-constrained it has a chance.

 

[BassForever]

All Next-Gen consoles should have been released this year. Microsoft and Sony are playing a dangerous game and tempting an industry crash by extending it out this long. At this point they are pretty much mirroring what Atari did by believing they don't need new consoles and pumping out crap games that are pretty much just pallet swaps of every other game. It's possible that the top selling individual SKU sold less than 160,000 this month, when is the last time that happened?

It could also be horrible economy being horrible, seriously who has money to buy games when gas is 4 dollars a gallon?

 

[speculawyer]

Congrats to THQ for Darksiders. They need that revenue badly.

Take-Two got shut out. Ouch.

Nice to see Sleeping Dogs didn't totally bomb.

LOL, MW3.

 

[Takao]

Kingdom Hearts 3D: 31th July

So, the first day is included on this report?

Yes. August 2012 for NPD was July 29-August 25. September 2010 (Birth By Sleep's release month) for the NPD was August 29-October 2.

 

[test_account]

New Super Mario Bros was out for 14 days during the May 2006 NPD. So double the days of NSMB2.

Thanks for the info. Was the DS Lite launched in the same month too?

EDIT: Found out that it wasnt, it was released next month.

 

[Razdek]

Console makers need to drop the price on consoles. XBOX 360s should be $129 for the 4 GB and $199 or less for the 250 GB and the PS3 should be $199. These prices have held too high for too long.

 

[Baconsammy]

NOA did offer an incentive, and that problem will only be a problem for a few more months. Just be careful with your electronics like anything else you own.

Uh huh, when bad shit happens to my other electronics, all my purchases don't die with it. Still being the only one that ties purchases to hardware paints them as clueless and out-of-touch as they actually are. Can't blame anyone for ignoring their e-shop.

 

[Kazerei]

The NPD Group has sent its August retail sales report for the US market, and once again it was not a pretty sight, as total industry sales dropped 20 percent to $515.6 million. Total software sales (including PC retail software) dropped 11 percent to $252.8 million while hardware sales declined a sizable 39 percent to $150.6 million. Accessories were also down seven percent to $127.3 million.

Ouch.

THQ's Darksiders II led software sales with 247,000 units sold. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron from Activision placed 7th and sold 105,000 units.

More ouch.

 

[specialguy]

Indeed, despite overall sales being down for both Wii and 360, 360 is still making the same gains over Wii as it was this time last year. In fact if you look at Jan - Aug 2011 vs Jan - Aug 2012, 360's outsold Wii by 280k more than 2011.

Oh I disagree, 360 may be making the same gains as 2011 but I had expected more. I did not expect sales to slow so drastically. I was targeting more like a minimum 200k/month gain for 360 than average 130k.

All that said it's still pretty obvious what will happen. In a couple months Wii U will launch and Wii sales with decline even more drastically. 360 should be able to gain almost whatever they can sell in Nov-Dec which should be some serious gains in the millions (though, it would be helped if they actually ever do a price cut again which I'm beginning to wonder).

 

[AndrewDean84xX]

PSP was dead when BBS came out.

People still had their PSP's though. I'd like to see the ratios though.

 

[Averon]

247k for Darksiders II doesn't look good at all. I'm sure THQ wanted much higher sales than that. With Borderlands II coming in the next few weeks, it'll suck all the air out of the room from Darksiders II

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron's sales are atrocious. Given Kotick's habit of axing studios that release games with low sales, I fear for High Moon Studio's future.

 

[spons]

LOL, MW3.

Yeah, it's good to see that yearly shat out rehashes aren't taken for granted anymore.

 

[Pranay]

npd doesnt track digital orders for hd consoles ?

 

[Takao]

npd doesnt track digital orders for hd consoles ?

No. I don't believe any of the trusted sales trackers do digital.

 

[Zoramon089]

Uh huh, when bad shit happens to my other electronics, all my purchases don't die with it. Still being the only one that ties purchases to hardware paints them as clueless and out-of-touch as they actually are. Can't blame anyone for ignoring their e-shop.

If losing your electronics is such a big problem for you I'd say Nintendo's lack of an account system (which we know is coming soon) is the least of your problems...

 

[Lagspike_exe]

Judging by these sales, if either Sony or MS delay next gen to 2014 they are dead. And I really want to see what sort of a miracle will Sony pull out for the Vita. I don't even want to guess this month's Vita sales.

 

[d1rtn4p]

Not fretting over this, I'm sure Sleeping Dogs sold another 900k on Steam...

 

[Megadragon15]

Terrible month. Bring on the next generation.

 

[BassForever]

Judging by these sales, if either Sony or MS delay next gen to 2014 they are dead. And I really want to see what sort of a miracle will Sony pull out for the Vita. I don't even want to guess this month's Vita sales.

Honestly if it's 50k< that's a celebration for Sony all things considered

 

[Femmeworth]

I dunno, I sort of feel like it would've been more of a downer if any of these games actually preformed well.

Were they all that bad?

 

[CosmicQueso]

As far as software is concerned, August 2012's performance was down nine percent - $237.7 million as compared to $261.8 million during the same period last year. When only looking at software for "high definition platforms," however, the year-over-year difference is only one percent. This signifies market stabilization, says Frazier, but August's sales were worse than they could have been had the months prior not been so devoid of new releases.

Joystiq's article.

The number of titles released this year mirrors the year on year software decline. We're seeing both normal late cycle dynamics and far fewer titles enter the market. This is combining for the softness.

If the industry is not panicking (which they're not) about the NPDs, neither should you be.

When you add digital spending, overall consumer spend on gaming continues to grow and will for the foreseeable future.

 

[Miles X]

Oh I disagree, 360 may be making the same gains as 2011 but I had expected more. I did not expect sales to slow so drastically. I was targeting more like a minimum 200k/month gain for 360 than average 130k.

All that said it's still pretty obvious what will happen. In a couple months Wii U will launch and Wii sales with decline even more drastically. 360 should be able to gain almost whatever they can sell in Nov-Dec which should be some serious gains in the millions (though, it would be helped if they actually ever do a price cut again which I'm beginning to wonder).

I agree I expected more, but despite the dip I still think it's impressive 360 is closing the gap faster than last year. If whatever strategy MS uses this holiday pays off (and it should do, they've done well the last couple of years) they shouldn't be too far from last years numbers. Wii however will be substantially lower. They have a chance to lower it to 2m by the end of the year.

 

[Lagspike_exe]

Honestly if it's 50k< that's a celebration for Sony all things considered

I know. And that's not something you would call a viable platform.

 

[Peff]

People still had their PSP's though. I'd like to see the ratios though.

Peace Walker bombed with ~50K units. The God of War sequel sold unbelievably badly. No PSP games had charted since Dissidia the previous year. BbS did what it did because of the strength of the franchise alone, and DDD should have done better than it.

 

[Dipswitch]

Price drops are needed ASAP. I've been waiting to replace my busted 360 since May to see if a cheaper 360 would launch. I'm gonna give it another month and then just have my current model repaired. At this stage in the game, I'm highly reticent to spend a penny above and beyond what I need to in order to ride this generation out.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

What was the PSP fanbase when BBS was released? It was a mid/late gen PSP game

At the time BBS launched, the PSP was so dead, mainline MGSW could barely hit 50k in its first month NPD.

 

[Pranay]

No. I don't believe any of the trusted sales trackers do digital.

What i meant was since i order a game of Darksiders 2 from amazon website for ps3 , will that be tracked ?

i dont stay in us so i dont how it works so do tell

 

[Baconsammy]

If losing your electronics is such a big problem for you I'd say Nintendo's lack of an account system (which we know is coming soon) is the least of your problems...

If my Apple devices tied all my purchases to hardware I'd never buy anything from them either. Just knowing that it's all gone is reason enough to never waste a cent on their digital shop. Dont have to have a history of losing, breaking, etc hardware to know it's shit design.

 

[Kusagari]

It's extremely likely Minecraft would be #1 if digital counted.

 

[Pranay]

It's extremely likely Minecraft would be #1 if digital counted.

CS Go for August if you combine the platforms

 

[Curufinwe]

I wonder how Persona 4 Arena did.

 

[CosmicQueso]

What i meant was since i order a game of Darksiders 2 from amazon website for ps3 , will that be tracked ?

i dont stay in us so i dont how it works so do tell

Yes, that is tracked if purchased in the US. Anything packaged is tracked or estimated by NPD. If you buy Darksiders 2 through Steam or Xbox Live or PSN then no, NPD does not track or estimate for this here. They do so in their quarterly digital reports.

 

[BassForever]

Peace Walker bombed with ~50K units. The God of War sequel sold unbelievably badly. No PSP games had charted since Dissidia the previous year. BbS did what it did because of the strength of the franchise alone, and DDD should have done better than it.

The difference is DDD is coming out early in the life span of the 3DS and will probably continue to sell even if not on the charts as more people buy 3DS. By the time BbS came out way late in the life of the PSP the console itself was already dead in NA.

 

[Baconsammy]

I'll echo what some others have said, I've bought far more games on XBL this year than I have at retail. Someone is still making money. Time for new consoles.

 

[Pranay]

Yes, that is tracked. Anything packaged is tracked or estimated by NPD. If you buy Darksiders 2 through Steam or Xbox Live or PSN then no, NPD does not track or estimate for this here. They do so in their quarterly digital reports.

I see. Thanks

 

[jkanownik]

It's extremely likely Minecraft would be #1 if digital counted.

The reported Minecraft numbers are global, so they aren't apples to apples. It would likely be in the top 5, but not #1.

 

[MechaX]

Man, it is somewhat of a shame to see KH 3DS do... not so well in the grand scheme of things. I'm not so much concerned on the fact that it happened, but I am curious on why it might have happened.

I mean, the PSP was pretty dead by the time Birth by Sleep came out (hell, it was on life support when Dissidia came out a full year prior to that). But the 3DS is newer, lower install bases, what-not, I dunno. The only things that seem clear to me was that doing 358/2 and Re:Coded probably did not really help the brand that much (especially on the DS side of the fence), let alone splitting the series between different platforms.

 

[Kusagari]

CS Go for August if you combine the platforms

With Steam? Yeah. PS3/360? I'm not so sure.

 

[RurouniZel]

Peace Walker bombed with ~50K units. The God of War sequel sold unbelievably badly. No PSP games had charted since Dissidia the previous year. BbS did what it did because of the strength of the franchise alone, and DDD should have done better than it.

Frankly I'm attributing DDD's poor sales not to franchise fatigue, but rather portable-spinoff-fatigue. KH fans just want KH3, they want it on consoles, and they're tired of waiting.

However, they're going to keep waiting if it's still true that KH3 won't happen until Versus is done...

 

[Frillen]

Honestly if it's 50k< that's a celebration for Sony all things considered

Not really. If it sold 55k, then that's still a horrible number. It's just a psychological barrier, just like the 10k barrier in the Japanese weekly sales.

 

[jbug617]

I expect Borderland 2 numbers to be a little disappointing but it will be due to many people who bought console versions of the first one moved on to PC gaming.

 

[Plinko]

Frankly I'm attributing DDD's poor sales not to franchise fatigue, but rather portable-spinoff-fatigue. KH fans just want KH3, they want it on consoles, and they're tired of waiting.

However, they're going to keep waiting if it's still true that KH3 won't happen until Versus is done...

Agreed. It's a shame, too, because DDD is excellent.