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[gregor7777]

L4D was an absolute masterpiece in how commercial a shooter it is.

There are very little cinematic sequences that get in the way of repeated playthroughs. You don't have to deal with Micheal Bay-style cinematic sequences with bad voice-acting every time you start a new game. The zombie movie cliches are a blessing in disguise in that players can understand a great deal of exposition without it being forced fed. The story-telling is done through character chatter, the environment, and the player's interaction with the AI director. People will sooner talk about "that moment when that tank came out of no where" rather than some canned B-movie cutscene since they are playing an important part in dictating the story and the action. The game also concentrates on social interaction. Graphics and cinematics will age but interacting with other players at such an intimate level will never get old.

All of this leads, to an easy to digest game that get more, rather than less, valuable the more it is played. This leads to very strong word of mouth in my experience with the game.

Awesome post.

*yawn* So KZ2 is a flop, because it will sell over a million in the USA?
Wow, I love these flops

And the umad post of the day. We eagerly await your demise.

 

[Stoney Mason]

I'm just leaving these here. I'm sure there's more.

If I wasn't lazy I would go through and find more humorous prediction posts from old threads.

Private Hoffman said to me in a previous thread about KZ2 that if it did less than 750,000 in Feb and March NPD that he could consider that disappointing figure sales for KZ2.

Even Private Hoffman think the game did badly and didnt live up to the expectations of every KZ2 fan who were running amok on the boards with their avatars like it was the second coming of christ.

Which is why the craziest of the PS3 fans eventually get themselves banned.

 

[Tiktaalik]

That is exactly what was lacking...

While there was not Haloish, near comical, summer blockbuster levels of marketing, there was at least more than Resident Evil 5 levels of marketing. There was marketing for this title!

The commercial was terribly boring though so there you go.

 

[Provider]

Was this posted?

April 16, 2009

Nintendo's Wii™ home console and the Nintendo DS™ portable video game system comfortably led U.S. sales in March, according to data from the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. Pokémon™ Platinum Version for Nintendo DS emerged as the No. 2 video game of the month, with nearly 805,000 units sold.

Wii tallied sales of nearly 601,000 in March, while Nintendo DS sold more than half a million, even in advance of the April 5 launch of the new Nintendo DSi™ system. Both Wii and Nintendo DS extended their lead as the best-selling video game systems of this generation.

"Nintendo systems accounted for 58.4 percent of the video game hardware sold in March, more than all other systems combined," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Consumers continue to be attracted to the wide range of software available and the great value of Nintendo systems."

Four games published by Nintendo finished in the top 10 best-sellers of March. These include Pokémon Platinum Version at No. 2, Wii Fit™ at No. 3 with more than 541,000 sold, Wii Play™ at No. 8 with more than 281,000 sold and Mario Kart™ Wii at No. 9 with more than 278,000 sold.

Early U.S. sales of the new Nintendo DSi hand-held system are ahead of those for Nintendo DS Lite, according to Nintendo's internal tracking numbers. In its first week, Nintendo DSi sold 435,000 in the United States. After the same amount of time on the U.S. market after its launch, Nintendo DS Lite had sold 226,300 systems. These numbers demonstrate that the Nintendo DS brand remains strong, and that consumers continue to look for the best new experiences on their portable video game systems.

So far this year, video game industry revenues are on par with 2008, but Nintendo remains a key driver. Without Nintendo products, the industry would be down 14 percent for the year, according to the NPD Group.

That'll help next month's predictions.

I know I helped with 3 to that number.

 

[MikeE21286]

Wow @

PS3 HW numbers
No GTA CW
and Resident Evil 5....my god.....performer of the year vs expectations thus far.

also very happy for The Show and surprised to see KZ2 in there honestly.

 

[jman2050]

I credit The Show's sales solely to the Dustin Pedroia commercial which is probably the best sports game commercial ever.

To be perfectly fair though, the Tim Lincecum 2k9 one is not far behind.

 

[Opiate]

Don't know.

The common idea that a game has to sell millions to cover its costs is so broken. This is why games as a business can be profitable. Break even isn't that hard, it is in cases like Midway where their costs continually outpace their sales over the course of 4 or 5 releases that they go under.

Most games only need 350-500k in sales to break even depending on their budgets of course.

But gaming hasn't been very profitable recently. Consider the following companies:

Sony
Take 2
Electronic Arts
ActivisionBlizzard
Microsoft
Ubisoft
Midway
SCi/Eidos (soon to be subsumed)
Midway
THQ
Codemasters

Of these companies -- the major western publishers -- only two have made a net profit this generation. One is about to be subsumed, and another is in the process of bankruptcy. The largest Privately owned publisher, LucasArts, has laid off a considerable amount of their work force, which indicates they are likely losing money, too.

I ask this question honestly, Warm Machine: how do you reconcile your sense of the industry with these financial results?

 

[chubigans]

I'm just leaving these here. I'm sure there's more.

Don't make me post all the people who said KZ2 wouldn't even make the top ten in March. DONT MAKE ME DO IT.

 

[starmud]

hopefully gta pulled in 200k or near (it could still be #11, as MS strips out handhelds). seeing nintendo send out emails to remind people chinatown wars was out worried me a bit...

april cant be too horrible for the title considering the amount of people waiting until dsi launched. plus the systems launch probably skewed to the faithful or people who would pick up the title. i know when i picked up my dsi, rhythm heaven and GTA were the most popular tag alongs. :x

 

[MirageDwarf]

Holy crap @ RE5 sales.

So much for Killzone 2 which was hyped insanely by fans for visuals and, more importantly, better multiplayer gameplay. And there was no competition by other popular franchise.

I expected more for KZ2 since it is exclusive and lack of competing titles in release window.

EDIT:

READING FTL....

 

[Stop It]

What's the point of going down to $300 if it'll just bankrupt SCEI? The only way Sony can afford to drop the PS3 to $299 is if the SW sales rises enough to cover the huge losses they'll take on the HW. The fact that Sony hasn't done it yet, despite all the reasons in the world too do so, should tell you that Sony doesn't think the SW sales can cover the massive HW losses they'll assuredly take. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if SCEI is content with selling only 200-250k PS3 a month on average at $400.

I think that Sony probably COULD have dropped the price if it wasn't for this global recession. In the last 6 months the Yen has been almost steady while the Dollar and Stirling has bombed in comparison, the net effect is that Sony probably now lose shedloads on exported PS3s.

The impact of that means that as you said, if the price of PS3 dropped to $299, Sony would be out of business within 3 months, there is no way they can suffer any more losses on the hardware and believe me, they are huring like hell as it is.

Sony need to hope that software sells, and they need more mid tier software that is cheaper to make and thus make better margins. Where the hell have the SCEE studios that used to make games every year in the PS1/PS2 gone?

Am I reading it right? 6.1 milliion LTD???? If true, that is really impressive debut for NEW SP only IP. I doubt even Bioshock 2 will reach this number on single platform now.

Reading it wrong, that's sales based on LTD of the console, in that case, Bioshock sold that amount of units when the Xbox 360 had sold 6.1 million, not that Bioshock sold that much.

 

[Slurmer]

oh man my predictions were so bad

 

[ZealousD]

I credit The Show's sales solely to the Dustin Pedroia commercial which is probably the best sports game commercial ever.

Is that the one that goes "How many MVPs do you know that can't hit that pitch?" "Besides you? Ummmm.."

 

[RSTEIN]

Awesome post.



And the umad post of the day. We eagerly await your demise.

Doubledex has two loves in his life: the PS3 and Stallone. Funny enough, both are in desperate need of a big comeback. It's a tough time for him, cut him some slack.

 

[gregor7777]

Plus, as someone with both consoles, the "isolation" I feel as I play my PS3 is so striking, the lack of effective community and online integration continues to amaze me. You feel so disconnected from the broader community, its not surprising more word of mouth doesn't spread.

Fucking exactly. PSN is nowhere near as vibrant as the Live community, and that plays a huge part in word of mouth sales.

PSN is by no means bad, but I feel exactly the same way as you describe.

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

:lol :lol :lol @ these people thinking that halo buyers are clueless drones.

If anything the opposite is true... Halo fans are so positively obsessed with their chosen drug that they have filters that screen out anything non-Halo from their gaming diet.

Believe me... those people knew what they were buying.

Except for possibly the parents of the Halo-addict-wannabe kids who were like "Oooh, a Halo game that isn't rated Mature!" But that would require that parents pay attention to ESRB ratings. Fat chance of that.

 

[Opiate]

Don't make me post all the people who said KZ2 wouldn't even make the top ten in March. DONT MAKE ME DO IT.

I'd actually appreciate if you did, as it illustrates, combined with Zealous' post, the wide variety of expectations for the title.

 

[ZealousD]

Don't make me post all the people who said KZ2 wouldn't even make the top ten in March. DONT MAKE ME DO IT.

You're free to do so. I wasn't one of them!

 

[FrankT]

Private Hoffman said to me in a previous thread about KZ2 that if it did less than 750,000 in Feb and March NPD that he could consider that disappointing figure sales for KZ2.

Even Private Hoffman think the game did badly and didnt live up to the expectations of every KZ2 fan who were running amok on the boards with their avatars like it was the second coming of christ.

Yea Mr. Hoffman said a lot of things. Said it would perform better than MGS4. I said otherwise. Of course this wasn't the first disagreement we've had in sales age.

 

[Gadfly]

Surprised that Halo Wars managed to outsell Killzone 2.

This probably doesn't count the copies that were returned back to retail after buyers found out the game is an RTS.

 

[Brannon]

And man, RE5 beat the control naysayers down with the rear end of a platypus. Way to go Capcom, now let's have that Bionic Commando demo!

 

[MirageDwarf]

Reading it wrong, that's sales based on LTD of the console, in that case, Bioshock sold that amount of units when the Xbox 360 had sold 6.1 million, not that Bioshock sold that much.

Felt something wasn't right. Thanks.

 

[TheKingsCrown]

This probably doesn't count the copies that were returned back to retail after buyers found out the game is an RTS.

...


Please tell me you're joking. :lol

 

[gregor7777]

This probably doesn't count the copies that were returned back to retail after buyers found out the game is an RTS.

Didn't the demo have a massive amount of downloads?

 

[bill0527]

So we've finally seen the peak of the Wii?

I don't have an opinion one way or the other, but I anecdotally speaking, I was in Best Buy and Target a couple of days ago and saw stacks and stacks of Wii systems piled up and that's the first time I've ever seen that since the system launched.

 

[markatisu]

The Top 20 will probably be disappointing as well containing GHWT, probably two versions of GH Metallica, and most of the games from last months Top 10

I am more interested in Top 10 by Platform

Disappointed by PS3 sales, it had 3 big games over the last 45 days so would think it could have at least matched last year. I think a few people should eat some crow after last months "KZ2 will easily defeat Halo Wars" posts, I do not consider it a "bomb" but it certainly was not the system seller many positioned it as.

Wii seems fine to me, last year it had SSBB and only managed to come in under 100k difference with no games of the same caliber releasing. Even if its on a decline as many here would enjoy (especially Link), it has Wii Sports Resort coming out so it wont have much chance to dip too far (unlike Japan which will have gone almost 6 months with no big Nintendo release)

What amuses me though is people who say "look at Wii, its leveling off or dropping", you cant keep breaking records forever and with everything else down across the board it provides some context.

NPD Analysts said today Easter fell in March last month and accounted for 8% of 2008 console sales, Easter falls in April this year so everything should increase next month (one would hope).

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Doubledex has two loves in his life: the PS3 and Stallone. Funny enough, both are in desperate need of a big comeback. It's a tough time for him, cut him some slack.

:lol :lol

 

[Stop It]

Felt something wasn't right. Thanks.

No worries.

Anyway :lol at anyone who took Hoffmans posts seriously, ever, one of the more hilarious joke characters, if only because he tried to play the "straight" guy a bit too much.

Doubledex has two loves in his life: the PS3 and Stallone. Funny enough, both are in desperate need of a big comeback. It's a tough time for him, cut him some slack.

Harsh.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

This is disturbing. My enjoyment of killzone is dropping everytime i see its sales.
I might have to reevaluate my entire opinion of madworld when its sales are revealed.

 

[ALeperMessiah]

It's a shame sony spent so much money on kz2 just to back it up with shit advertising.

 

[J-Rzez]

We need to all unite in the Official Killzone 2 thread and bump it high to the sky to prove that Killezone 2 is not a bust.

So. KZ2 is a bust? Why is this? Didn't it go a ways over a million WW now? I'd imagine it shouldn't have a problem pegging 2m WW all said and done.

And wow at Halo wars. The name has some oomph to it for sure, up there with Mario, GTA, and GT. Slap that name on something and it'll sell.

I know Sony's nursing their pocketbooks now, but it's a shame they can't get that price down significantly, and sooner. If they want to stay competitive they have to, as it can't be any clearer to them. They need to trim $100 of fat off that PS3 at E3. Though, I suppose it's not too bad that a $400 machine is selling only 100k less a month than a $200 one, but still.

 

[Future PhaZe]

Very excited about those RE5 numbers. Takeuchi redeemed? My friendslist was surprisingly consistent with RE5 on it for a while and the XBL activity for it this week pretty much confirmed the million + sales. Very nice indeed for Capcom. It's a terrific game.

Kind of surprised by the lack KZ2 sales in the US. Last months numbers and this months numbers combined didn't really come near where I thought it would hit.

 

[FateBreaker]

While it is tempting to gasp at Sony's poor-ish sales in general, or the fact that Halo Wars did not sell that well...(really thought it'd be over one million), I think the biggest news is just how well the Capcom games are selling -- and I'm so happy about this. Quality deserves good sales. I can only hope Dark Void and Bionic Commando, which both look very good, continue this trend.

 

[squatingyeti]

*yawn* So KZ2 is a flop, because it will sell over a million in the USA?
Wow, I love these flops

I think we should judge games flopness based on the the ratio of gifs posted vs. the sales in NPD.

The only conclusion we can come to is had you guys not posted 30 gifs in EVERY thread, KZ2 would not be considered a flop.

You only have yourselves to blame. How do you feel with this guilt on your shoulders? :lol

 

[ZealousD]

This probably doesn't count the copies that were returned back to retail after buyers found out the game is an RTS.

 

[daycru]

Wait for Killzone 3.

 

[perfectchaos007]

The recession has FINALLY hit video gaming.

 

[MikeE21286]

This is disturbing. My enjoyment of killzone is dropping everytime i see its sales.
I might have to reevaluate my entire opinion of madworld when its sales are revealed.

iseewhatyoudidthere.gif

 

[Kilrogg]

Actually, what he's saying has been true for a while. Sony fans have more or less resigned themselves to the PS3's fate for the last few big releases. Sure, they went nuts with the list wars (even including Final Fantasy VII Remake and Lair as system saviors at one point) at the beginning of the gen and while some may still BELIEVE, the ones who stick around long enough know now to keep their stated expectations muted.

I'm a little disappointed that Madworld didn't make the top ten this month, though not because the game appeals to me personally. Rather, it's because publishers/devs seem to be looking closely at this game's sales as an indication of more traditional games' performance on the console. Which wouldn't be a good indication at all, of course, since the trick to sales success on any console would be to look for gaps in the market - at needs not being met. I believe that Madworld's performance will be more a function of need for a game of its type overall rather than the need for it on the Wii specifically.

I want Madworld to succeed because it might eventually mean a wider variety of software built for the Wii. I suspect asking GAF to understand would be pissing into the wind, but whatever.

Double-edged sword.

I totally know where you're coming from. On the one hand, Madworld doesn't really appeal to me either, so, do I want it to succeed and have third parties the same kinds of games? Not really, because chances are those won't appeal to me either. On the other hand, the more variety on the system, the less pigeonholing on the industry's part. The Wii more than any other system has been suffering from a preconceived idea of what demographics own one, what Wii owners want, what they don't want, etc. If a wide variety of experiences can thrive on the system, it sends the message that there's avenue for innovation and exploration and, of course, sales success.

But again, I don't necessarily want the Wii to become just a Wii with its fair share of hardcore games, as they appeal to me less and less and won't save the industry any more on the Wii than on the PS3/360. I want the boundaries of the medium to be pushed further, and not only by Nintendo. And more than anything else, I want more games that show effort and love from the developers, not the current shovelware festa and consumer disdain.

 

[AniHawk]

The recession has FINALLY hit video gaming.

You lie, Ron Paul.

 

[Averon]

I think that Sony probably COULD have dropped the price if it wasn't for this global recession. In the last 6 months the Yen has been almost steady while the Dollar and Stirling has bombed in comparison, the net effect is that Sony probably now lose shedloads on exported PS3s.

The impact of that means that as you said, if the price of PS3 dropped to $299, Sony would be out of business within 3 months, there is no way they can suffer any more losses on the hardware and believe me, they are huring like hell as it is.

Sony need to hope that software sells, and they need more mid tier software that is cheaper to make and thus make better margins. Where the hell have the SCEE studios that used to make games every year in the PS1/PS2 gone?

Reading it wrong, that's sales based on LTD of the console, in that case, Bioshock sold that amount of units when the Xbox 360 had sold 6.1 million, not that Bioshock sold that much.

I have no doubt in my mind that Sony was preparing to drop the PS3 to $299 this Spring. But the global recession and the rise of the Yen put a stop to that. This generation is Sony's "perfect storm". Almost everything that could've gone wrong has. It's actually quite amazing once you think about how everything had to come together around the same time to put SCEI in the situation they're in.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

The whole of SCEA need sacking and replacing, this is getting ridiculous now.

And ffs at halo wars, that game looks terrible, like baby's first rts or something.

 

[SuperSonic1305]

If K2 had launched March 1st and sold 619k in March NPD would it still be a flop because everyone is acting like it had 2 full months.

 

[JordoftheDead]

I really thought Killzone 2 would post more than that.

Still, it became very clear that the Killzone-hype seemed to be contained to forums and not so much outside-world.

I have two PS3-only owning friends (one is an infuriating Sony fanboy who refuses to ever even play a 360) and neither were even aware of it.

I liked it a lot, but it certainly wasn't the all-conquering FPS that most hyped it as.

I don't really get the dislike of Halo Wars either, while I didn't love it, it was (back-handed compliment incoming) quite good for a console RTS.

*SHRUGS*

 

[Bizzyb]

It's a shame sony spent so much money on kz2 just to back it up with shit advertising.

I actually REALLY like that commercial with the slo-mo bullet.

I think it's just that with the economy the way it is and SO much to choose from and "Kill Zone" not quite being that franchise name like "Resident Evil" or "Halo" it was never destined for greatness.

We have gotten to a point where new IPS have to impress the HELL out of the general audience in order to become a successive franchise....also, it was a PS3 exclusive, what do ya expect?

 

[Bernbaum]

I don't think the news here is KZ2's performance, but rather the fact that the 'economic downturn'

Spoiler

It's a recession!

is now having an observable impact on the video games market.

 

[squatingyeti]

The whole of SCEA need sacking and replacing, this is getting ridiculous now.

And ffs at halo wars, that game looks terrible, like baby's first rts or something.

Sales of KZ2 not what you expected...Attack a game that has nothing to do with it! LOL.

 

[Averon]

It's a shame sony spent so much money on kz2 just to back it up with shit advertising.

I suspect that Sony gimped KZ2's advertising to maximize KZ2's chance of generating a decent profit. A $10 million ad campaign is another $10 million KZ2 have to generate at retail to reach a positive return. That's the only reason i can think why KZ2 have such lackluster ads.

 

[chris0701]

People are seriously arguing that KZ2 had the proper marketing? Good grief.

For a long time, I even believed this game DO NOT need huge market promotion.

At least it had great hype ever.

 

[fortified_concept]

It's a shame sony spent so much money on kz2 just to back it up with shit advertising.

As I predicted 4 months ago Sony's marketing for Killzone 2 was atrocious. I don't know wtf is their strategy when they're throwing lots of money at ambitious projects and then getting stingy on the marketing department but I'm not complaining as long as the keep funding AAA projects. But it's definitely insane.