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NPD March 2012 Sales Results [Up3: ME3 Total, Binary Domain]

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Yay for Vita and I'm somewhat surprised Sony didn't mention it. Those numbers really aren't bad.
 

Kandrick

GAF's Ed McMahon
Why are people happy about Vita potential sales being over 200k ? It's still less than the 3DS, and it will probably drop hard next month.

Are we are this point where, not selling like shit is a success ?
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
I thought 3DS was selling better than DS at this point in time?

The 3DS's first year sold more than the DS's first year.

I don't think we've had any assessment of its post holiday sales versus the DS's post holiday sales.

That said, I also don't think a 1:1 comparison is exactly the most logical given that the size of the market has changed a lot.

I mean, we shouldn't be comparing Windows Phone 8 to the first year of the iPhone in 2012.

So far we're not really seeing any signs of the 3DS being a system that sells great outside the holidays, which I think is the important difference between the next GBA and the next DS.
 

BKK

Member
It did pretty well last month too.

Xbox 360 - 426K (-20.4%)
PlayStation 3 - 360K (-11%) (PR Math)

But yeah, MLB 12 must have had an impact this month.

Right, PS3 didn't really do anything out of the ordinary this month;

February 2012:
360: 42%
PS3: 36%
WII: 22%

March 2012:
360: 42%
PS3: 38%
WII: 20%
 

Nemo

Will Eat Your Children
My guess is that releases of Mass Effect 3 and/or MLB 12: The Show may have influenced sales.
Ah yes, didn't see numbers so I assumed it was only a few 100k, but I think it may be half a mil. That can explain some units!

Oh wow, Vita above 200k is great as well. I expected 150k at best
 

Derrick01

Banned
Why are people happy about Vita potential sales being over 200k ? It's still less than the 3DS, and it will probably drop hard next month.

It's a system that costs like $70 more than 3DS (arguably more with memory sticks) and it did at worse 25k less. That's pretty impressive for now.
 
It's not necessarily rosy for Vita though. It could be doing similar numbers to Japan now that launch is wearing off.

Consider this.

Feb NPD Vita 225 - launch week + FEB. Let's say a 200K launch week.

50% W/W drops for the next 4 week of the tracking brings it to ~13K.
100K + 50K + 25K + 13K + 13K brings us to 200K.
 

Petrae

Member
Depending on what the actual number is, Vita sales were decent. I figured that there'd be a dip after the February launch period, but maintaining a 200K+ number for a second straight month is a positive thing, IMO. 3DS obviously didn't crush it, which is another positive.

Sony had a decent month. It's too bad PR is so blasted secretive.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
200K for Vita is rather impressive actually. Great device, well deserved. Will slow significantly in the coming months, but let's hope Sony has a great software lineup prepared for the fall to keep the market engaged.

That's because they're losing. When the PS3 came out that's all they wanted to talk about, how much it was going to beat the 360.

They were losing, quite dramatically back in 06 and 07, yes, which is why they've become much more reserved in recent years with respect to sales. But going forward, and for much of the past few years, they have not been 'losing'. Yet the sting of the early PS3 era still remains, it's why you never hear them say much of a word these days regarding sales.

Microsoft is much more giddy about every single post-NPD report, and granted they have done well, but even in months where their competitors have done great their statements make it appear as if the 360 did much better relative to their competitors than they actually ended up doing...merely because of their PR statements compared to the PR statements of their competitors.
 

fernoca

Member
I feel it's really only okay relative to our vastly lowered general expectations for handhelds this generation.

It's like how we debate console sales in Japan these days.
That too.
For example:
3DS first two NPDs = ~592k "OMG Bomba, Nintendo am doomed"
Vita first two NPDs = ~435k "Hey, it's not doing that bad!".

Basically, expectations were higher for the 3DS, despite the $250 starting price.
Expectations were lower for the Vita, because of the $250 starting price.


Arguably the worst RE ever sells over 500k and Revelations barely registers. Time to ditch Nintendo w/ that series Capcom.
Well, one game across two platforms that have over 20 million each vs. one game in one platform that hasn't reached 5 million yet is not "that fair". :p
 

Diablos54

Member
So about 200k for Vita? Not half bad, but I don't think it'll keep up this pace for much longer. System sellers are needed soon as possible.

I advise you not to visit the Media Create thread.
It's in serious trouble in Japan though, and things don't seem like they're going to get any better anytime soon.
 

jman2050

Member
So about 200k for Vita? Not half bad, but I don't think it'll keep up this pace for much longer. System sellers are needed soon as possible.

This is a case where weekly sales ala Japan would be much more helpful in observing whatever trends are in place.
 

GeoramA

Member
I think Journey had some impact on PS3 sales as well. It got a lot of press, mainstream and gaming. Articles are still being written about it.
 

Skiesofwonder

Walruses, camels, bears, rabbits, tigers and badgers.
The 3DS's first year sold more than the DS's first year.

I don't think we've had any assessment of its post holiday sales versus the DS's post holiday sales.

That said, I also don't think a 1:1 comparison is exactly the most logical given that the size of the market has changed a lot.

I mean, we shouldn't be comparing Windows Phone 8 to the first year of the iPhone in 2012.

So far we're not really seeing any signs of the 3DS being a system that sells great outside the holidays, which I think is the important difference between the next GBA and the next DS.
I believe the better argument here is that the 3DS has seen a massive price drop and the DS at this time on it's life is just getting the DS Lite.

All things considered, those Vita number are actually good.
 

botty

Banned
Are the Vita numbers good because it was expected to bomb? Or are the Vita numbers good because it is selling good for a new device on the market?

I wonder if people are picking up memory sticks along with their Vitas. I bet Sony is loving that.
 
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