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[GhaleonEB]

As was top 10 per platform. http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/01/top-10-games-of.html#more

I'm surprised that CoD was the only PS3 in the top 20. Nine Wii, five 360, one PS3. Pretty big gap at the top.

 

[HK-47]

Huh?

He doesnt know what the fuck he is talking about is all

 

[soldat7]

It is kind of ironic how wii trolls can simultaneously comment on how third party games dont sell on wii and in the same breath utter there is no significant amount of games that interests them on wii from third parties.

One leads to another. Third party companies are taking a LONG time to release games with even decent level of effort put into them content wise and marketing wise. And titles in the system ARE selling IN SPITE of this fact. It doesnt seem far fetched to assume that once those titles with more support and resources put behind them do emerge they will sell.

2009 seems like a change of the tides in that direction.

This seems more hopeful than realistic. Most publishers will continue bringing out their heavy hitters on the 360/PS3 and leave the Wii for either watered down ports or variants of some kind. Games like Gears of War would never do 4 million on the Wii; that's not how the market is currently partitioned and publishers know this.

 

[onipex]

It sort of has, but not in the way you may be thinking. Instead, it's caused publishers to take the casual genre as a whole much more seriously, even if all their games are not directly on the Wii. For example, EA has historically had one of the weaker line-ups for casual gamers this generation, only having the Hasbro titles and Maxis games to really support them this year. However, let's check out their casual line-up for 2009.

EA's Casual 2009 Line-up:
The Sims 3
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Beatles Game
EA Fitness w/ Oprah's Personal Trainer
EA Tennis
The Littlest Pet Shop
XBLA Hasbro Games
Wii/DS Hasbro Games
Spore Expansions
The Sims Expansions
Andrew Lloyd-Webber Game (Rumor)

And they also have their full array of sports titles which are genuinely seeing significant increases in quality. Even without a single core title they arguably have one of the strongest and potentially best selling line-ups in the industry. Of course they have far from abandoned making core titles as they have announced one of the strongest line-ups there as well, and likely will announce more games throughout the year. However, this much more balanced approach will cause them to not have to bleed money and employees if a few of their core titles bomb like it did this year, and it also shows what I would consider to be a very serious dedication to the audience of the Wii, albeit not with the core title support many here would have hoped for.

Kids games are not casual games.Kids are part of the core game market not the casual or expanded market. The games in bold are the casual games on that list.

Also all publishers are really doing is making a few new type of games like Oprah's Personal Trainer and grouping those with their kids games under the casual games umbrella.

EA already has some of the biggest casual games in their sports titles and Sims.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Spray (the horrible Konami game) on Wii sold 120 copies, IGN Gamescoop be saying.

NFL 2k1 sold 1 copy on DC.

120 copies?... LOL

I might buy it, could turn out rare one day.

This seems more hopeful than realistic. Most publishers will continue bringing out their heavy hitters on the 360/PS3 and leave the Wii for either watered down ports or variants of some kind. Games like Gears of War would never do 4 million on the Wii; that's not how the market is currently partitioned and publishers know this.

Maybe in the West, I don't think that will be the case in Japan.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Double-post.

 

[Rolf NB]

Madden's no casual game. It's basically unplayable for the uninitiated. It's also absolutely no fun unless you're predisposed to watching typical football scenes on your TV. It's more of a resemblance to something popular in a different medium than it is a game.

 

[TJ Spyke]

Frankly LBP just isn't a very fun game. It's repetitive and the controls suck.

I have to agree. The creation tools are pretty good, but the actual gameplay is not.

 

[GameGamer]

:lol

SONY has nothing to do with LBP not gaining traction. LBP has everything to do with LBP not gaining traction. LBP may be a game you enjoy, but it is not what most consumers have any interest in playing.

I had interest in it.

But the game itself was a bore to me.

Perhaps word of mouth killed it?

 

[Blame!]

I have to agree. The creation tools are pretty good, but the actual gameplay is not.

maybe you just suck at it? dwell on that for a sec.

 

[TJ Spyke]

No, I can play the game just fine. The gameplay is just boring and not fun.

 

[Nirolak]

Kids games are not casual games.Kids are part of the core game market not the casual or expanded market. The games in bold are the casual games on that list.

Also all publishers are really doing is making a few new type of games like Oprah's Personal Trainer and grouping those with their kids games under the casual games umbrella.

EA already has some of the biggest casual games in their sports titles and Sims.

I'll agree with you on The Littlest Pet Shop and Harry Potter, but you can't convince me The Beatles and games like Scrabble and Monopoly are only played or liked by little children. Of course, not all of the Hasbro games are multi-age group but I'd say at least a good half of them are.

Madden's no casual game. It's basically unplayable for the uninitiated. It's also absolutely no fun unless you're predisposed to watching typical football scenes on your TV. It's more of a resemblance to something popular in a different medium than it is a game.

That was a phrasing error on my behalf. I meant that the combination of their casual and sports line-up alone was very strong. It was supposed to be connected to the following sentence but I can see how that would read like I said they were casual titles.

 

[Eteric Rice]

maybe you just suck at it? dwell on that for a sec.

Nah, I agree with the guy. It's kind of slow and floaty, and switching between the three layers is annoying.

Should have given us control over the game's gravity. That would have been nice.

 

[CrazzyMan]

So... when PS3 reach 199-299$(2009-2011) entry price, LBP(casual friendly game) is not going to get BOOST in sales because???

LBP will be outdated in 1-2 years, because of those millions user created levels?

I just want to understand, if Mario Kart DS can reenter charts so much time later, why LBP won`t be? What LBP don`t have, what some BIG selling Nintendo games have?

Today, i understand, PS3 Price is a problem + maybe HD TV adoption. But later, with time? What will stop?

Thank you.

 

[Eteric Rice]

So... when PS3 reach 199-299$(2009-2011) entry price, LBP(casual friendly game) is not going to get BOOST in sales because???

LBP will be outdated in 1-2 years, because of those millions user created levels?

I just want to understand, if Mario Kart DS can reenter charts so much time later, why LBP won`t be? What LBP don`t have, what some BIG selling Nintendo games have?

Today, i understand, PS3 Price is a problem + maybe HD TV adoption. But later, with time? What will stop?

Thank you.

98% of the player made levels in LBP suck.

LBP is not a game that appeals to both casul, core, and new gamers. It appeals to people who like to make stuff (which takes a lot of patience that most people don't have).

And by the time the PS3 is $199, the console war will be long over and LBP will likely be in the bargain bins. Sony doesn't keep their games at their original price, while Nintendo usually does no matter what.

 

[jman2050]

I just want to understand, if Mario Kart DS can reenter charts so much time later, why LBP won`t be? What LBP don`t have, what some BIG selling Nintendo games have?

Popularity.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Popularity.

That too. :lol

 

[Team Klimt]

wow

nom nom nom

 

[TheFatOne]

98% of the player made levels in LBP suck.

LBP is not a game that appeals to both casul, core, and new gamers. It appeals to people who like to make stuff (which takes a lot of patience that most people don't have).

And by the time the PS3 is $199, the console war will be long over and LBP will likely be in the bargain bins. Sony doesn't keep their games at their original price, while Nintendo usually does no matter what.

I haven't made a thing in LBP so why do I like the game?

 

[onipex]

I'll agree with you on The Littlest Pet Shop and Harry Potter, but you can't convince me The Beatles and games like Scrabble and Monopoly are only played or liked by little children. Of course, not all of the Hasbro games are multi-age group but I'd say at least a good half of them are.

I didn't know what the Beatles games was until just now, but I agree that it and the Hasbro games are casual games. The Hasbro games have always been on consoles though, so it is still an existing series that is being put under the casual umbrella.

I think Wii Fit is the only true casual game on the Wii. Everything else has been done before and is now being called casual. Music games, mini games, kids games, puzzle games, board games, and arcade games have all been done long before the casual label was put on console games.

 

[Blame!]

Nah, I agree with the guy. It's kind of slow and floaty, and switching between the three layers is annoying.

Should have given us control over the game's gravity. That would have been nice.

it's a fine game. like any game, the controls take time to get used to but become second nature later on. i mean thats like saying mgs4 is lame because its slow and floaty and switching between the different viewpoints is annoying. it's just a set of controls and it works.

 

[Private Hoffman]

Frankly LBP just isn't a very fun game. It's repetitive and the controls suck.

Not sure why this minority opinion is in a sales thread. It's not like the reason LBP isn't selling 10 million units is because people agree with what you're suggesting. It's one of the highest rated games this year.

Quality and sales aren't necessarily strongly related in all instances.

 

[Mrbob]

So halfway serious question about Fable 2.

I know the games sales due to the first month make it a success but...is it what MS had hoped? I remember Shane Kim mentioning how releasing the first Fable in Sept helped it get a nice xmas bump. This was the reasoning behind getting Fable 2 out before the holiday season. However Fable 2 didn't get the same holiday bump the original Fable did...but I think it had a much, much better first month. So how big of a sales success is it for MS?

 

[Private Hoffman]

So halfway serious question about Fable 2.

I know the games sales due to the first month make it a success but...is it what MS had hoped? I remember Shane Kim mentioning how releasing the first Fable in Sept helped it get a nice xmas bump. This was the reasoning behind getting Fable 2 out before the holiday season. However Fable 2 didn't get the same holiday bump the original Fable did...but I think it had a much, much better first month. So how big of a sales success is it for MS?

It obviously sold very well.

Once games get more established and there's a sequel released, they tend to have less legs and more upfront sales.

Similar situation with Gears 2. Sold more than the first did in November, but less than the first did in December.

 

[HK-47]

So halfway serious question about Fable 2.

I know the games sales due to the first month make it a success but...is it what MS had hoped? I remember Shane Kim mentioning how releasing the first Fable in Sept helped it get a nice xmas bump. This was the reasoning behind getting Fable 2 out before the holiday season. However Fable 2 didn't get the same holiday bump the original Fable did...but I think it had a much, much better first month. So how big of a sales success is it for MS?

Big. Its sales are high for an RPG or Zeldaesque game, depending on how you classify it. The talk of bugs probably hurt the game though, especially since some were the game eniding kind

 

[fernoca]

Also, Microsoft has been pimping the fact that Fable II ha sold over a million copies in the US..so they seem quite happy.

 

[Rlan]

Fascinating that Club Penguin continues to sell incredibly well to the Nintendo DS market. Outside of John Davidson it's not been discussed by anyone. Even IGN, who tend to review everything and anything, did not review it.

Also: Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe actually selling quite well all things considered.

 

[Fredescu]

Fable 2 should have longer legs than your average 360 game too given it's casual focus and lack of competition within that genre on that platform. MS said 1.5 Million worldwide after the October NPD, and it's done about 400k in the US alone since then. I wouldn't be suprised to see it break 3 million when all is said and done.

 

[Andronicus]

Are there any Dec NPD numbers for canada out?

 

[Barrett2]

Does Resistance 2 at #6 on PS3 seem pretty anemic? I can't imagine Insomniac is entirely happy with the sales of this game.

 

[HK-47]

Fascinating that Club Penguin continues to sell incredibly well to the Nintendo DS market. Outside of John Davidson it's not been discussed by anyone. Even IGN, who tend to review everything and anything, did not review it.

Also: Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe actually selling quite well all things considered.

What is the game?

 

[titiklabingapat]

So... when PS3 reach 199-299$(2009-2011) entry price, LBP(casual friendly game) is not going to get BOOST in sales because???

LBP will be outdated in 1-2 years, because of those millions user created levels?

I just want to understand, if Mario Kart DS can reenter charts so much time later, why LBP won`t be? What LBP don`t have, what some BIG selling Nintendo games have?

Today, i understand, PS3 Price is a problem + maybe HD TV adoption. But later, with time? What will stop?

Thank you.

True killer apps/system sellers make an item desirable to the general population no matter what(well, so long as it doesn't cost a million dollars...).

 

[RBH]

Does Resistance 2 at #6 on PS3 seem pretty anemic? I can't imagine Insomniac is entirely happy with the sales of this game.

Yeah, it's definitely lower than I thought it would be at.

 

[Version 3.0]

I don't understand why more people aren't supremely annoyed with Sony for sacrificing the sales of great games to win a stupid format war. Maybe they are and I haven't been paying attention. Being "unsure" that it has even reached 500k is heartbreaking. The game deserves to have done at least a million by now, and the blame lies entirely on Sony that it hasn't.

I can't speak for "more people", but I'm certainly annoyed at Sony. Not just for the Blu-Ray format war thing, but for prioritizing movies over games in general. For example: why can my PSP play full-screen movies on a TV, but not full-screen games? Why can my PS3 run any movie in 1080i (the only HD res my former TV supports), but not any game? Why does the PS3 use a disc format that's so damn slow it requires installs of several gigs just to have comparable load times with a DVD-based console?

 

[Wolves Evolve]

LBP is surely done. It was a beautiful ball fired by a glass cannon. Its over.

I have been scouring sales threads for some information; what sort of games on the HD consoles 'have legs' at all? Its clear that Nintendo have completely busted the seasonal ebb and flow system of sales and can continue to have their major games on the shelf all year round - so what games continue to peg up on the other consoles?

I'm guessing the 360 has Halo, Gears, Guitar Hero.. but what about the PS3... what have been the leggiest games?

I think the GAF consensus is that trophy/achievement systems have the effect of sometimes getting people to pick up more games, but overall the trend seems to be towards big launches and shorter tails, so maybe we're just plain wrong?

 

[Whipped Spartan]

I can't speak for "more people", but I'm certainly annoyed at Sony. Not just for the Blu-Ray format war thing, but for prioritizing movies over games in general. For example: why can my PSP play full-screen movies on a TV, but not full-screen games? Why can my PS3 run any movie in 1080i (the only HD res my former TV supports), but not any game? Why does the PS3 use a disc format that's so damn slow it requires installs of several gigs just to have comparable load times with a DVD-based console?

Everything I've been thinking today. How can we not assume Blu Ray is killing PS3. One game in the top twenty?!?! That means one game sold over 200 000 units for December?!?!

7 million people own it, so we are left to assume it as a movies player. Sony sold out PS brand to help out BR. They should have just sold the players seperate.

 

[RSTEIN]

By the way, whatever happened to Sonycowboy?

 

[TheFatOne]

LBP is surely done. It was a beautiful ball fired by a glass cannon. Its over.

I have been scouring sales threads for some information; what sort of games on the HD consoles 'have legs' at all? Its clear that Nintendo have completely busted the seasonal ebb and flow system of sales and can continue to have their major games on the shelf all year round - so what games continue to peg up on the other consoles?

I'm guessing the 360 has Halo, Gears, Guitar Hero.. but what about the PS3... what have been the leggiest games?

I think the GAF consensus is that trophy/achievement systems have the effect of sometimes getting people to pick up more games, but overall the trend seems to be towards big launches and shorter tails, so maybe we're just plain wrong?

Hmm I can think of one I think which is Uncharted, but you would have to check the numbers on it because I can't remember them.

 

[lowlylowlycook]

LBP is surely done. It was a beautiful ball fired by a glass cannon. Its over.

I have been scouring sales threads for some information; what sort of games on the HD consoles 'have legs' at all? Its clear that Nintendo have completely busted the seasonal ebb and flow system of sales and can continue to have their major games on the shelf all year round - so what games continue to peg up on the other consoles?

I'm guessing the 360 has Halo, Gears, Guitar Hero.. but what about the PS3... what have been the leggiest games?

I think the GAF consensus is that trophy/achievement systems have the effect of sometimes getting people to pick up more games, but overall the trend seems to be towards big launches and shorter tails, so maybe we're just plain wrong?

Wasn't CoD4 a big one on both HD systems?

 

[Barrett2]

Everything I've been thinking today. How can we not assume Blu Ray is killing PS3. One game in the top twenty?!?! That means one game sold over 200 000 units for December?!?!

7 million people own it, so we are left to assume it as a movies player. Sony sold out PS brand to help out BR. They should have just sold the players seperate.

Sony's software situation really is bizarre. R2, LBP, and Motorstorm 2 all seem to have underperformed. Only one game in the top 20, and a multi-plat at that, is really just pathetic.

I mean, MK vs. DC is really the #2 selling game of December for PS3? WTF? What does that say about the PS3 audience? Who in the hell is buying PS3s? I think I am starting to come around to the idea that a lot of PS3 owners really are just in it for the Blu-Ray functionality.

 

[lowlylowlycook]

Sony's software situation really is bizarre. R2, LBP, and Motorstorm 2 all seem to have underperformed. Only one game in the top 20, and a multi-plat at that, is really just pathetic.

MGSIV is the exception that proves the rule that most PS3 purchasers buy them so they can play games that are also on the cheaper 360.

I wonder how much of that is brand momentum (aka "I bought this PS3 so I can play all the JRPGS") and how much is Blu-Ray.

 

[RSTEIN]

Sony's software situation really is bizarre. R2, LBP, and Motorstorm 2 all seem to have underperformed. Only one game in the top 20, and a multi-plat at that, is really just pathetic.

I mean, MK vs. DC is really the #2 selling game of December for PS3? WTF? What does that say about the PS3 audience? Who in the hell is buying PS3s? I think I am starting to come around to the idea that a lot of PS3 owners really are just in it for the Blu-Ray functionality.

Bizarre really is the right word. I wonder what the situation is in the rest of the world. Maybe this is just an American phenomenon. For example, how many PS3 games would there be in a Euro top 20 list?

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

What is the game?

"Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force introduces kids to all new adventures in the Club Penguin world, giving players a chance to complete secret agent missions, solve mysteries and connect with friends in new ways via DGamer, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and ad hoc play. The game allows players to take on the role of a covert agent in the top secret Elite Penguin Force. Players embark on missions utilizing familiar and all-new gadgets, accessories, vehicles and locations to investigate mysterious events in the Club Penguin world. Players can wirelessly connect with the virtual Club Penguin world using the Nintendo DS to unlock special features and upload coins to their online penguin account. [Disney Interactive]"

It's like a point and click adventure game.

 

[schuelma]

Bizarre really is the right word. I wonder what the situation is in the rest of the world. Maybe this is just an American phenomenon. For example, how many PS3 games would there be in a Euro top 20 list?

Well, PS3 software is arguably worse in Japan.

 

[CrazzyMan]

True killer apps/system sellers make an item desirable to the general population no matter what(well, so long as it doesn't cost a million dollars...).

So.. 460$ is casual friendly entry price?
I just read a lot of responses, how people enjoyed LBP, and would definitely buy it, if a system would be cheaper.
Maybe not all people understand, why they have to pay 460$, when they can get another console with a game at 250$.
I mean, those people which are not in gaming.

Anyway, time will show, i still have faith in LBP.

 

[AniHawk]

Average ownership is meant to be considered along with other numbers we often see consoles described with, like their LTD hardware sales and tie ratios. I assume the average system in each month was bought in the middle, so each December system counts for half a month (2.5 weeks this month). Each November system counts for 1.5 months (7 weeks this month) and so on. From this we can get a sum of total ownership. Then divide by the current userbase, and we can see about how long the average user of each console has had theirs.

This helps to clear up some of the differences in things like software sales. After May 2008, Wii and X360 had approximately the same userbase in the US. It probably instinctually makes sense that since X360 had been out much longer it would have higher software sales even if buying patterns on the two systems were identical. What I try to do is quantify that difference.

For what it's worth, here's what my spreadsheet has as the current total ownership for each of the three current consoles:
X360: 986 million weeks
Wii: 764 million weeks
PS3: 336 million weeks

Ah, there it is. Thanks.

 

[lowlylowlycook]

Well, PS3 software is arguably worse in Japan.

It would be an interesting project to "NPDize" the MC numbers, just to get a grip on how distorted our view of the US market is. By NPDize, I mean aggregate by month, and cut out non-top 10 numbers.

For instance, I think it is hard to mentally adjust for the fact that it is easier for a game to debut in the top 10 in weekly sales than in monthly ones.

 

[Dunlop]

I wonder how much of that is brand momentum (aka "I bought this PS3 so I can play all the JRPGS") and how much is Blu-Ray.

Ditto, BluRay has to be one of the biggest fuckups in Sony's history (yes bigger than BetaMax). I know they could not predict the world economy going down the crapper, bu they are in a horrible bind now

Now if only the BluRays would be less than $35, I might help them out one day (In Canada)

 

[TJ Spyke]

Bizarre really is the right word. I wonder what the situation is in the rest of the world. Maybe this is just an American phenomenon. For example, how many PS3 games would there be in a Euro top 20 list?

Not quite the European top 20, but here was the UK top 10 for 2008:

Mario Kart Wii (Wii) -- Nintendo
Wii Fit (Wii) -- Nintendo
Wii Play (Wii) -- Nintendo
Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? (DS) -- Nintendo
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) -- Sega
Grand Theft Auto IV (360) -- Rockstar
Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) -- Rockstar
Call of Duty: World at War (360) -- Activision
Carnival: Funfair Games (Wii) -- 2K
FIFA 09 (360) -- EA

 

[lowlylowlycook]

So.. 460$ is casual friendly entry price?
I just read a lot of responses, how people enjoyed LBP, and would definitely buy it, if a system would be cheaper.
Maybe not all people understand, why they have to pay 460$, when they can get another console with a game at 250$.
I mean, those people which are not in gaming.

Anyway, time will show, i still have faith in LBP.

Keep in mind that casuals are unlikely to buy 2 consoles in a generation. So every month that the PS3 keeps it's high price is a month where the 360 and Wii just steal that market away from the PS3 forever.