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NPD Sales Results for January 2014 [Up3: PS4/XB1 #1/#2 best selling; Poke/SM3DW/ALBW]

Holy fucking shit those Wii U sales.
They're awful but pretty much in line with last year. In fact, I think that's about the same or a little bit more in weekly sales.

I'm not seeing a way up for those numbers though with the release schedule they announced today. Even something as insignificant as a Bayo 1 port to fill the space between DK and MK could have helped a lot.
 

McHuj

Member
They really shit the bed. It was more MS blowing it than anything Sony did. All Microsoft had to do was release a console as powerful as PS4, without Kinect, $399, and none of the DRM drama and they would have won this gen. This epic blunder should be discussed in business classes down the line, it's that bad.

I think the Xbone as is, without Kinect, but at $249-299 would have been enough to dominate.
 

MercuryLS

Banned
Holy fucking shit those Wii U sales.

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quest

Not Banned from OT
They really shit the bed. It was more MS blowing it than anything Sony did. All Microsoft had to do was release a console as powerful as PS4, without Kinect, $399, and none of the DRM drama and they would have won this gen. This epic blunder should be discussed in business classes down the line, it's that bad.

They got a taste of the Wii Casual money and became addicted to chasing it. They spent the last 3 years of the 360 chasing that money and now chasing it with the Xbone. Problem those gamers are not coming back.

It would be competitive in NA but they still lose world wide. Sony first party's are just to strong as the end of this generation showed.
 

J-Rzez

Member
People saying MS should just "recall" the XB1 or flat out release a new machine asap don't realize that if MS did this that it would mean the end of "Xbox" period?

1. Consumer trust will plummet to 0% of the brand.
2. Investors will be at Redmond with pitchforks in hand at the monumental losses that MS would incur from this, and it would be sold off.

MS has to ride the storm out. Only option they have is to throw whatever money they are allowed to at grabbing up 3rd party exclusives. Price cut this soon would be devastating as well to consumer trust, burning those who bought it just months ago.
 
Sony needs to be far more of a domineering force in the industry if they want to keep the lead they have. They need to keep matching Microsoft blow for blow.
Matching? It's Russian dude vs. Apollo Creed levels of bloodbath right now lol. If anything these numbers need to make MS step up and do something drastic to get back on competitive ground.

Something tells me they'll do it; question is: will it be too little, too late?
 

ascii42

Member
People saying MS should just "recall" the XB1 or flat out release a new machine asap don't realize that if MS did this that it would mean the end of "Xbox" period?

1. Consumer trust will plummet to 0% of the brand.
2. Investors will be at Redmond with pitchforks in hand at the monumental losses that MS would incur from this, and it would be sold off.
People are saying this?
 

B.O.O.M

Member
By the way so the PS4 LTD in US > WiiU right?

and also these wii fit U sales show, imo, how stupid the whole health/life console w/e Nintendo is planning on. Unless it has some amazing new hook to tempt buyers it's good as dead
 
So PS4 sold 130k more than XB1 in Jan. Not insignificant, but not really screaming XB1 doooooomed.

Well I think it's the fact that PS4 is supply constrained because it has a market outside of NA(gearing up for Japan) and X1 is widely available and doesn't have much of a market outside NA.

We don't know how much PS4 could have sold more if it had more supply while the X1 number would still stay the same regardless
 
Matching? It's Russian dude vs. Apollo Creed levels of bloodbath right now lol. If anything these numbers need to make MS step up and do something drastic to get back on competitive ground.

So your saying the devs of the xbox need to go train in the Siberian winter and take a level in badass?
 

RedAssedApe

Banned
People saying MS should just "recall" the XB1 or flat out release a new machine asap don't realize that if MS did this that it would mean the end of "Xbox" period?

1. Consumer trust will plummet to 0% of the brand.
2. Investors will be at Redmond with pitchforks in hand at the monumental losses that MS would incur from this, and it would be sold off.

Considering how much they claim to have spent on making the (arguably inferior controller in some respects) just the controller...anyone have figured on how much they spent on R&D for the overall product? IIRC they spent quite a bit just on Kinect alone as well?
 
I think at some point we have to give up the pretense of politely pretending to be surprised at completely abysmal Wii-U sales numbers. The novelty's sort of worn off that whole bit.
 

AniHawk

Member
Thanks, Aquamarine!Hmm, distinct possibility. Especially for those after a really good mix of indie/AAA and what remains of mid-tier. I wonder if NPD will include Steam machines at some point.

i hope so. it might be hard considering they won't be available at retailers and might be considered gaming pcs or something.
 

Mikey Jr.

Member
Nintendo: Not really surprised at the abysmal numbers again. Thats what happens when you chase the casual crowd. If you hit it with them, you hit BIG. If you fuck up, they'll drop you like hot shit and move onto the next thing.

They chased the casuals and lost the hardcore. Now they have neither to fall back on.
 
Considering how much they claim to have spent on making the (arguably inferior controller in some respects) just the controller...anyone have figured on how much they spent on R&D for the overall product? IIRC they spent quite a bit just on Kinect alone as well?

they spent 400 million on that nfl deal. Think how many games worth of money that is.
 

mrpeabody

Member
People are not asking the real question: What is Nintendo going to do with Wii U?

They are the ones who are struggling and really need to come up with a viable answer.

Nintendo answered this question when they laid out their 2014 plan in their investor call and the most recent Direct. They're not going to do anything to save the Wii U. They're going to let it die.
 
They really shit the bed. It was more MS blowing it than anything Sony did. All Microsoft had to do was release a console as powerful as PS4, without Kinect, $399, and none of the DRM drama and they would have won this gen. This epic blunder should be discussed in business classes down the line, it's that bad.

The same thing could have been said about Sony last gen but Sony came off PS1 and PS2 so in way you can see why they were so arrogant .
With MS it's even more puzzling as to why they thought they could get away with it when they were not as dominant .
 

beast786

Member
So does MS xbox division have enough trust to spent money on exclusive and create momentum or take a loss and price cut?

They need US. The damn design and ideology was all based on NFL. There is no way MS is going to let this continue in US
 

Griss

Member
If you guys are freaking out right now about game console numbers - wait till you see how freaked out Apple and Samsung are regarding the future growth of smartphones and peoples' willingness to replace them in developed markets over the next 60 months.

By some accounts we are very close to sustained secular decline for the rate of growth in smartphone sales in the United States.

This is because of the rise of "Bring your own Device" plans that unpair your service from your smart phone. When people have to pay hundreds of dollars for marginal upgrades to their phone, they think twice especially if they can just pocket the difference of that monthly fee.

If there isn't a killer app developed for next-gen smartphones that motivates people to get excited about upgrading their phones at full prices then the growth prospects of that industry aren't too hot either beyond natural replacement rates. That might in turn have some positive effect on new consoles, but consoles are also looking for a hit game and nothing on the horizon seems to have that promise for now.

Anyways, the overall decline of video game sales has a silver lining. The industry can shrink and focus again on good design rather than modeling serial numbers and dog teeth to please a tiny audience of users.

I am ridiculously excited about indie developers and believe they will push new types of game play. I also believe if consoles are going to match last gen's userbase, it is going to be because of something amazing an indie or small studio produces. I see less probability in the "AAA" stuff driving demand going forward because those experiences aren't novel anymore.

What's more exciting: if these behemoth "AAA" studios slim down and a bunch just die out, we could experience another golden age of gaming where we get late 80s through mid 90s level awesomeness with teams of 5-30 people coming together to make well-designed games targeting a variety of users and needs. You will be able to play those games anywhere... on the iPad or your phone or maybe even on your new smart watch... with a variety of different input methods (from pedometer to camera to touch to traditional controls) and features...

Oh, and before someone mentions it... obligatory "These results came right after Pachter said 'This generation will be the biggest yet!'"

I've made that smartphone argument in many 3DS threads, but I never make it half as eloquently as you have here, so it tends to get ignored.

The smartphone explosion is about to hit its natural ceiling. At 77% market penetration in the UK (often considered one of the bellweather nations regarding phone/tablet trends) we're at the stage where almost everyone who wants one has one, and where each new revision adds less and less. Add market saturation to the end of innovation and you get growth smashing into a brick wall.

This is why I've said that if the 3DS could eke out an existence while the smartphone growth hurricane was raging at its worst then there would always be some kind of small dedicated market for Nintendo's handhelds at the very least. Assuming they aren't total disasters, of course.

I agree with all of your points there, I'm just not quite as enthused with indies as you are. I want spectacle allied to innovation. That's how the industry was when we transitioned from 2D to 3D, but I have accepted that that was a magical once-off due to changing tech that is unlikely to ever be repeated. Unless Oculus does the trick.

Great post though.
 
Sure ps4 is in the lead now, but who knows in 10-15 years. We also have to wait for the ps5 to come out so we can see if this lead has ruined the Sony brand. It's a marathon not a Sprint.
 

Loudninja

Member
Ok updated numbers:

US:
PS4: 2,273,000
Xbox One:1,960,000

UK:
PS4: 530,000
Xbox One: 364,000

Spain:
PS4:157,000
Xbox One:35,000

France:
PS4: 240k
Xbox One:126k

AU:
PS4: Outsold the Xbox One
Xbox One:65,917*first 3 days*

Germany:
PS4 250K
Xbox One 100K

Portugual:
PS4:21k
 
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