-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
NPD Sales Results for August 2007
- Thread starter sonycowboy
- Start date
KeithFranklin
Banned
PkunkFury said:
Whos mystified. We all know that the only reason WiiPlay is always in the top 10 is because in reality it is just a controller. Using WiiPlay as an example of good Wii software sales is strictly fanboy games. The publishers and the analysts all know the truth.
As for 3rd party sales on the Wii its not good and it isnt just because 3rd party games are poor (Insert Mario Party 8 to show how crappy Nintendo 1st party game sells). The only 3rd party titles that have sold are launch titles (We all know launch titles get boosts) and RE4Wii and we all know what RE4 is. Why would a 3rd party publisher put in a huge investment for Wii software when that is a huge gamble? Better investment to port GCN and PS2 titles to the Wii and add waggle, this has worked for Capcom and it has worked for Nintendo.
I think the 3rd party situation for Wii is going to continue to be bad from most Western developers, however given the system's dominance in Japan, and high sales in every territory, most Japanese developers will end up using Wii as their main system for every kind of game. This is inevitable imo, especially considering the development costs. Size of installed base is always going to be king.
Japanese developers could have big successes on Wii with new games and old franchises in new directions. However, these key titles will take time, and be going into development this year so won't be released until 2009, but they will be coming.
Really though, I think this is good. A few will make good games but most non-Japanese developers are struggling with Wii, as they are with DS, so I'd rather them just quit, and devote their time making games they're more suited to. This will give Japanese developers a chance to reclaim some of their lost market share outside Japan.
Japanese developers could have big successes on Wii with new games and old franchises in new directions. However, these key titles will take time, and be going into development this year so won't be released until 2009, but they will be coming.
Really though, I think this is good. A few will make good games but most non-Japanese developers are struggling with Wii, as they are with DS, so I'd rather them just quit, and devote their time making games they're more suited to. This will give Japanese developers a chance to reclaim some of their lost market share outside Japan.
plagiarize
Banned
i think Umbrella Chronicles will be more of a litmus test. we saw how the RE4 port sold... but how much will an original project carrying a brand that's seen some success on the console do?
if UC does as well as RE4 (and i personally think it'll do better being that it hasn't already been released on two systems) then there's no 'it's just a port' argument to be had. yes it reuses assets and all that. yes it isn't a high budget game... but the amount of money it makes will help third parties budget this kind of stuff.
RE4 isn't the first upgraded port to be released on the wii... but it's the first that sold well, and it sold well because of the quality of the title. not because it's a port.
publishers are putting these kind of titles out to test the market for *new* titles. it's lower risk and you get an idea of whether or not a certain type of game will sell before launching head first into an original title.
if Umbrella Chronicles does break a million world wide, then you can bet your ass that we'll see a fully original horror game on the platform from Capcom (not saying it'll be a new brand, just saying it wont' be a port or reuse assets).
remakes and reusing assets offset the risk of trying a certain type of game on the system. once people see how to do it successfully you can bet other people jump on board.
prime 3 isn't going to be the last FPS that sells well on the Wii, and just as goldeneye and halo in the past, now that someone has come up with a control scheme that really works, you can bet that we'll start to see more such titles heading it's way.
if UC does as well as RE4 (and i personally think it'll do better being that it hasn't already been released on two systems) then there's no 'it's just a port' argument to be had. yes it reuses assets and all that. yes it isn't a high budget game... but the amount of money it makes will help third parties budget this kind of stuff.
RE4 isn't the first upgraded port to be released on the wii... but it's the first that sold well, and it sold well because of the quality of the title. not because it's a port.
publishers are putting these kind of titles out to test the market for *new* titles. it's lower risk and you get an idea of whether or not a certain type of game will sell before launching head first into an original title.
if Umbrella Chronicles does break a million world wide, then you can bet your ass that we'll see a fully original horror game on the platform from Capcom (not saying it'll be a new brand, just saying it wont' be a port or reuse assets).
remakes and reusing assets offset the risk of trying a certain type of game on the system. once people see how to do it successfully you can bet other people jump on board.
prime 3 isn't going to be the last FPS that sells well on the Wii, and just as goldeneye and halo in the past, now that someone has come up with a control scheme that really works, you can bet that we'll start to see more such titles heading it's way.
Son of Godzilla
Banned
Really? The game seems to nail the whole Nintendo adventure flavor perfectly to me. The art style is cute but not overbearing. It's pretty much exactly what I'd expect if Mario or Zelda or Banjo were to go all point and clicky.Ristamar said:
titiklabingapat
Member
followed by this quote...KeithFranklin said:
k.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
WarLox said:
Exactly. We have a whole endcap devoted to everything that is Halo 3. That is the system, toys, Mountain Dew, etc. I think the 360 has the potential to hit 450k this month. Although I will still hold back on any real predictions until I see how these perform at retail. It looks like all the stores in my area are averaging 3 or 4 of just the Halo 3 consoles. The prem and elite are in full stock, too, everywhere.
Odysseus said:
Yes, I'm sure this is something we can work with Gaf on but it would probably only be Top 5 per platform or something along those lines. Talk to sonycowboy and he and I can discuss the next time we touch base.
We cannot give away the shop but we're always willing to provide as much information to you all as possible so that you can better follow what's happening.
By the way, some of you ask why PC Games aren't incuded in these numbers. It's because PC Games are housed under PC Software and not defined as Video Games, though we do combine PC Game sales along with VG sales at times (e.g., at the end of each year, bi-annually, etc.). If there's enough demand to include PC Games, I can work with the NPD Games group to try and make that happen on a regular basis.
I'll work with sonycowboy on Monday so he can provide you all with Canada numbers.
If we're looking at genre examples, Mario Party's really top of it's class. Just because I don't like sports games, doesn't mean Madden's "crappy"...KeithFranklin said:
Now something like Wii Play, you'd have a point with, but then we all know that's simply being bought for the controller.
Funny enough, even many of the better performing launch titles (DBZ BT2, Trauma Center, Metal Slug Anthology, etc) were ports and remakes. Honestly though, it's not like we've seen much in the way of "big effort" ground up 3rd party Wii titles so far... really, post launch only DQ Swords or Sonic and the Secret Rings fit that description, and they've sold rather well in their target markets.KeithFranklin said:
If anything, it seems to be the lazy port ups (POP, Godfather, Mortal Kombat, TMNT, etc) that are tanking.... RE4's the really the exception to the rule here moreso that what you're suggesting.
Hopefully it at least outsells UGnG, so the team can continue on. The Nintendo fan hype machine somehow pushed Viewtiful Joe to 500k+, let's see what it can do for Zak & Wiki...Ristamar said:
Joust Williams said:
Madden sells well and it contains less new content from iteration to iteration than the Mario Party games do. I'd argue that says something about the quality there, especially when loads of people love the gameplay. Just because you dislike it doesn't mean that it's low quality (especially when compared to EA's shovelware/yearly updates which dominate the charts elsewhere.)
Joust Williams
Member
Loads of people like a lot of garbage. Not defending Madden--it's not good, I got rid of the 08 version of 360--but it's better than Mario Party.
It's just this whole "let's rally around this third party game for Wii and we'll show em!" mentality and then when it sells garbage, it's because "it was a crap game, it shouldn't have sold". Stop making excuses. You aren't on Nintendo's payroll, you probably don't own stock in them...just stop. Nintendo games sell on Nintendo hardware. Crap Nintendo games sell on Nintendo hardware. It has never been any different (at least in recent history).
(The proverbial 'you' of course)
And by buying these games, all that is happening is the public is reiterating that they LIKE this kind of game, so that's what you will see. This kind of game. You won't see many JRPGs on the 360 because people that buy them don't like JRPGs.
It's just this whole "let's rally around this third party game for Wii and we'll show em!" mentality and then when it sells garbage, it's because "it was a crap game, it shouldn't have sold". Stop making excuses. You aren't on Nintendo's payroll, you probably don't own stock in them...just stop. Nintendo games sell on Nintendo hardware. Crap Nintendo games sell on Nintendo hardware. It has never been any different (at least in recent history).
(The proverbial 'you' of course)
And by buying these games, all that is happening is the public is reiterating that they LIKE this kind of game, so that's what you will see. This kind of game. You won't see many JRPGs on the 360 because people that buy them don't like JRPGs.
Joust Williams said:
One more time, just because you don't like Mario Party, that does not mean it is crap. Anyway, the true measure of whether or not third party games will sell on Wii is not whether or not they all sell, but whether or not the games that are worthy sold well. What 3rd party games for Wii should have sold better than they did?
TheGreatDave
Banned
Joust Williams said:
Don't make me feel small for enjoying those games.Hmm... very interesting numbers.
Madden to me is what's most shocking the Xbox version, a version on a console that hasn't been in production for nearly two years, outsold the Wii version? I wonder how much more Madden love the original Xbox will get considering how it performed.
360 numbers sound about right. The smaller pricecut helped people break down and buy one along with Madden. BioShock has good numbers as well especially considering everyone thought it'd bomb. A demo and a ton of 10/10s sure do help.
Nintendo numbers, itprintsmoney.gif.
PS3 numbers... not looking too good. Sony really needs a $400 SKU, but even still I'm not sure if that would turn their ship around considering they have no system sellers this fall, and the cheaper consoles do. Also, what happened to GRAW 2? Madden, Warhawk, and Lair had the top three sales spots, with Lair selling a measly 46k... so that means GRAW 2 PS3 got less than that. For comparison, GRAW 2 360 sold almost 400k, and that was only for the month of March. Ubisoft put in more effort into the PS3 version so it wouldn't be gimped, and they got at most an eighth of the sales.
Madden to me is what's most shocking the Xbox version, a version on a console that hasn't been in production for nearly two years, outsold the Wii version? I wonder how much more Madden love the original Xbox will get considering how it performed.
360 numbers sound about right. The smaller pricecut helped people break down and buy one along with Madden. BioShock has good numbers as well especially considering everyone thought it'd bomb. A demo and a ton of 10/10s sure do help.
Nintendo numbers, itprintsmoney.gif.
PS3 numbers... not looking too good. Sony really needs a $400 SKU, but even still I'm not sure if that would turn their ship around considering they have no system sellers this fall, and the cheaper consoles do. Also, what happened to GRAW 2? Madden, Warhawk, and Lair had the top three sales spots, with Lair selling a measly 46k... so that means GRAW 2 PS3 got less than that. For comparison, GRAW 2 360 sold almost 400k, and that was only for the month of March. Ubisoft put in more effort into the PS3 version so it wouldn't be gimped, and they got at most an eighth of the sales.
Several good third party games have sold well on Wii (and even more on DS). Even some of questionable quality have been really successful (Red Steel).Joust Williams said:
And why is PS3 always getting a free pass in these discussions? There's a system with several genuine third party bombs and really crummy overall performance.
Count Dookkake
Member
So what game are we supposed to wait for (this time) before declaring the PS3 a failure?
Opus Angelorum
Member
Count Dookkake said:
Not sure, if it's a new IP I'm guessing Uncharted (though I don't rate it as a system seller). The obvious existing IP is either GT5 : Prologue or MGS4.
Wulfer
Member
UncleGuito said:
This man speaks the truth and 360 will be riding on incredible momentum off of Halo 3/BioShock hype sales. 360s hardware numbers are about to take off (I give 360 5-6 months bonus hardware sales on top of the 4th quarter push atleast). Remember GTA 3 for the PS2 well Déjà vu guys.
Joust Williams
Member
I'm not giving the PS3 a pass at all. I just don't see a lot of "well, that game doesn't deserve to sell anyway" there.
Joust Williams
Member
All of them that don't sell well. A lot of "Madden 08 Wii will be close to 360 sales; 07 Wii was the best version" went on about a month ago. When SSX Blur didn't sell, it was because it was "marketed poorly". It's pretty much across the board, really.
Omar Ismail
Banned
Jirotrom said:
No 3rd party is going to make that expensive gamble when tons of history and evidence are against them. I mean Madden is a HUGE game, and it couldn't do well. Therefore, Nintendo needs to lay down the money hats and get a 3rd party to step up to the plate, similar to what Sony did with the PSOne and FF7. Reduce the risk for the 3rd party, and if it succeeds then that'll pave the way for more. No publisher is going to be the FIRST.
Or it'll take a while as publishers ease their way from mini-game fests, to serious games though that is a loser strategy that'll most likely get them nowhere.
Essentially, if Nintendo doesn't lay down the money, then the 3rd party situation isn't going to change. And considering Nintendo's history and disdain for 3rd parties... the likelihood of that happening is remote.
Joust Williams
Member
What cash-in Nintendo games sell as badly as they should? The onus is on the fans screaming the tired mantra.
Joust Williams said:
YOUR TASTES DO NOT DICTATE WHETHER OR NOT A GAME IS CRAP. We all understand that you don't like Mario Party. Lots of people do. Get over it.
The quality third party games that have been released for Wii have sold well. The crappy ones have not. Most third party games for PS3 haven't sold well, and the PS3 fanboys are full of it too, they just try and defend the crappy games.
jarrod said:
VJ had good early buzz as a Nintendo title if only because it was one of the "exclusive" Capcom 5 (the fact that it kicked ass and breathed some new life into the genre also didn't hurt either). I think the IGN guys' push will spur Zak & Wiki sales amongst the more "Nintendo faithful" but I dont see how it'll ever even show up on the casuals' radar.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Ah, Joust is here.
Dragona will be happy.
Dragona will be happy.
Joust Williams
Member
stuff said:
So basically you're saying if a game is good, it sells, and if it doesn't sell, it's not good. How are you determining quality? Sales, right? I mean, not reviews, because Mario Party has ass reviews.
If you're basing quality on sales, then no game can underperform based on quality because performance = quality. To you.
FitzOfRage
Member
Joust Williams said:
Joust Williams
Member
Care to point out WHY? All I see is a very circular argument.
Why do third parties need to step it up when Nintendo doesn't have to? That's what my argument boils down to.
Why do third parties need to step it up when Nintendo doesn't have to? That's what my argument boils down to.