Support NeoGAF

[Stoney Mason]

It's got the name Halo on it. How is it surprising that it sold really well? Did anyone think it wasn't going to do spectacularly?

Yes. I'm too lazy to dig through threads at the moment but the answer is yes based on what people posted in the past.

 

[Owzers]

So since its out there anyone want to spin why the PS3 keeps performing worse than it did last year on a consistent basis now...

A month or two might be a fluke. 5 months is a trend.

Wait till Killzone 2....damn........God of War 3 then?

I think it helps 360 to have 1) a cheaper system and 2) tends to have cheaper price tags on games as well.

 

[tetrisgrammaton]

so how does it stack up year over year?

March 08 Hardware
721 Wii
698 DS
297 PSP
262 360
257 PS3
216 PS2

March 09
601K Wii
563K DS
330K 360
218K PS3
168K PSP
112K PS2





so...
Wii -120
DS -135
PSP -129
360 +68
PS3 -39
PS2 -104


Soooo.... i guess the whole industry is the loser

 

[Karma]

Can update this post I made for Killzone 2 comparisons last month now:

So, Bioshock 360 sold better than KZ2 and to a smaller user base. That is amazing.

 

[Barrett2]

MLB '09: THE SHOW (PS3) 305K

This game is EXCELLENT. Well deserved.

goddamn 500 errors -_-

 

[djblackice]

I think this shows that there doesn't have to be one winner of the console battle - in fact software for all the platforms can enjoy retail success.

Why can't GAF be like Anita Frazier?

 

[T.M. MacReady]

People seem to ignore the fact that if the word "Halo" wasn't attached to this particular console RTS, it would have sold about 50k. It was also marketed ambiguously to ensure that FPS fans bought it thinking it was a true halo game. It will most likely never chart again and the trade in copies are piling up.

So who cares if HW outsold KZ2? And who actually expected Madworld to chart? This thread gets crazier every month.

 

[boiled goose]

Where are:

--Madworld
--Henry Hatsworth


what else am I missing

i dont think HH will have a huge opening.... it might selll for a while though,,, like most ds software.

for madworld, 150k? anything under 100k i think is a dissapointment.
chinatown wars should be pretty close to 200k.


Re5 selling so much makes me said...
no more true survival horror.. (not that re5 is bad)

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I think he's refering to your threads.

Ha I even tried to tone down the ridiculousness of the KZ2 one. Oh well.

 

[cedric69]

They expected it to save the PS3. They probably thought it would be Halo type sales I bet.

Thanks for bringing back some sense to the discussion. By reading some people's comments it looks as if the past two years of "yeah, but KZ2 will conquer all" didn't happen.

 

[Lagunamov]

Where are:

--Madworld
--Henry Hatsworth


what else am I missing



Microsoft did a superb job hiding this fact. The promotional campaign and TV commercial do not indicate this is the case. :lol

What? Demo, videos, ensemble studios, etc...

 

[Gomu Gomu]

I am really sad for KZ2. It deserves to sell more. Fuck how can an MLB game surpass it :/

Where are:

--Madworld
--Henry Hatsworth


what else am I missing

Rhythm Heaven? GTA China wars?

 

[TChirath]

Thoughts:

- Low hardware sales all around. PS3 dropped year to year again.
- I underestimated Halo franchise. Very good numbers.
- KZ2 sales is disappointing. How can FPS fans chose to buy CoD:WaW over it? It also did not move PS3 at all. What the hell.
- RE5 did much better than I thought on the 360. I actually expected most of RE fans to buy the PS3 version since it's a new franchise on MS console. So wrong I was.
- Not seeing Mad World and GTA Chinatown Wars on the top 10 makes me worry about the direction that the industry may be going

 

[[Nintex]]

How ?

As far as I know SCEA didn't have any bundle pack (SCEE did), did a piss-poor job on advertising the game and simply doesn't seem to care this gen.

Yet, they fire the head of SCEE and not SCEA

 

[rjcc]

halo killer can't even beat a halo spinoff? ouch.

 

[Mrbob]

The issue with the PS3 are sales are starting to stagnate. The only spark is a price drop.

Also, I haven't decided if those Halo Wars sales are good are not. Yes, it is an RTS, but it also have the Halo branding attached to it. Sell through on the game is roughly 1/5 of the first month of Halo 3. I'll take the middle ground and say they are OK, like Killzone 2 sales. Not great, not horrible.

 

[lowlylowlycook]

I don't really see the big problem. Killzone just doesn't have the brand awareness other franchises do. 600k in 5 weeks is fine for KZ2. Probably won't have much legs after this month though...who knows.

Last gen, maybe. You can't afford those kind of sales on a game that costs as much as KZ2 probably did.

 

[Jon]

Well. I am surprised. Still, I feel like 600K for the Wii is pretty damn good. My prediction is well off as I fell prey to the Killzone 2 hype. I really did expect the "Playstation Family" to have a good month, especially with the extra week.

On to April NPD we go!

 

[Tiktaalik]

Well I'm pleased that RE5 did so well.

Halo Wars did much better than I thought it would have!

 

[jeremy1456]

People seem to ignore the fact that if the word "Halo" wasn't attached to this particular console RTS, it would have sold about 50k. It was also marketed ambiguously to ensure that FPS fans bought it thinking it was a true halo game. It will most likely never chart again and the trade in copies are piling up.

So who cares if HW outsold KZ2? And who actually expected Madworld to chart? This thread gets crazier every month.

Nobody's ignoring that, we just don't care and aren't quite sure why you do.

 

[Grecco]

I am really sad for KZ2. It deserves to sell more. Fuck how can an MLB game surpass it :/



Rhythm Heaven? GTA China wars?

Was RH released in the NPD time frame for march?

 

[schuelma]

So Microsoft is suddenly frisky enough to mention the Wii hardware sales in their P.R for the first time in a while :lol :


http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/npd-us-xbox-360-sales-up-25-per-cent-in-march

"Xbox 360 was the only game console to show year-over-year growth in the US as the USD 199 starting price continued to resonate with consumers looking to get more entertainment value for their money," Microsoft said in a statement.

"Retail sales of Xbox 360 systems hit 330,000 units in March, climbing 25 percent from a year earlier, in contrast to double-digit declines posted by Wii and PlayStation 3. March was the sixth month in a row that Xbox 360 has seen year-over-year sales growth."

 

[Stitch]

Wii 601K

Xbox 360 330K

PlayStation 3 218K

 

[Htown]

Where are:

--Madworld
--Henry Hatsworth


what else am I missing

GTA: Chinatown Wars, which I expect to show up just outside the top ten.

Madworld is probably closer to 20. Hatsworth is probably outside.

 

[kinggroin]

No Street Fighter IV?
No MadWorld?
No GTA: Chinatown Wars?

Uh oh.

Basically. most depresing software sales in quite some time imo.


Fuckin' gears of evil shouldnt be up there if SFIV isn't. Blech.

 

[FrankT]

I knew when I read an Aaron Greenberg interview that hit earlier today that the PS3 was going to be down again for the month year over year. He stated it was the 5th month now and November was the first month.

 

[Vilix]

I can't say that I'm surprised, but it doesn't look like Killzone 2 is going to have any legs at all. It sold considerably more in its first two days than it did in the five weeks that followed. It's probably going to disappear altogether within a month or to.

Capcom is having a great year, and I'm glad they're seeing the success they deserve. I have to wonder how front-loaded the sales of RE5 are going to be. I was hoping to see Street Fighter IV hang around for a while longer.

Once again, Nintendo is completely unstoppable. In the past couple of months the HD twins have had high profile exclusives like Halo Wars and Killzone 2, as well as highly anticipated multiplatorm games like Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5. None of this matters. The Wii doesn't even need to have any big releases to outsell the 360 and PS3 combined.

And that's a shame.

 

[Attack You]

Microsoft did a superb job hiding this fact. The promotional campaign and TV commercial do not indicate this is the case. :lol

The demo upped to Live before release, however, failed at hiding the RTS nature of the game.

 

[Majora]

So, Bioshock 360 sold better than KZ2 and to a smaller user base. That is amazing.

I was going to post this. No matter how you slice it the KZ2 sales are disappointing. Bioshock had far less hype, was selling to a much smaller userbase and yet still outsold KZ2 in the same time period.

I think at this point it's safe to say nothing is going to lift the PS3 without a significant price drop.

 

[Y2Kev]

What? Demo, videos, ensemble studios, etc...

The demo is a good point, but 90% of the buying public (that mass that bought 3.3 million units of Halo 3 launch month) hasn't been exposed to videos on the net/XBL and has no idea who Ensemble Studios are...were.

If you're suggesting the game sold really well even though it's an RTS, I'd point you to Halo 3's sales. The lower sales are already "priced in," so to speak.

 

[DevelopmentArrested]

Where are:

--Madworld
--Henry Hatsworth

i love those games.. but you really expected them to sell 200+?
id like to see a top 20 as well.

 

[cedric69]

I think this shows that there doesn't have to be one winner of the console battle - in fact software for all the platforms can enjoy retail success.

Amen to that.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

People seem to ignore the fact that if the word "Halo" wasn't attached to this particular console RTS, it would have sold about 50k. It was also marketed ambiguously to ensure that FPS fans bought it thinking it was a true halo game. It will most likely never chart again and the trade in copies are piling up.

So who cares if HW outsold KZ2? And who actually expected Madworld to chart? This thread gets crazier every month.

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

 

[Psychotext]

So, Bioshock 360 sold better than KZ2 and to a smaller user base. That is amazing.

Yeah, shows how well it did really. Not to mention Gears 1.

 

[Narcosis]

Anita Frazier said:

The top-ten software list includes three games for each of the new platforms as well as Pokemon Platinum for the DS. I think this shows that there doesn't have to be one winner of the console battle - in fact software for all the platforms can enjoy retail success.

She obviously doesn't read GAF :lol

 

[Thunder Monkey]

March 08 Hardware
721 Wii
698 DS
297 PSP
262 360
257 PS3
216 PS2

March 09
PlayStation 2 112K
PlayStation 3 218K
PSP 168K
Xbox 360 330K
Wii 601K
Nintendo DS 563K

so...
Wii -120
DS +135
PSP +129
360 +68
PS3 -39
PS2 +104


Soooooo... i guess ps2, ds and psp are the big winners here, and wii is the big.. loser :O

More then a few mistakes there.

 

[AniHawk]

Soooooo... i guess ps2, ds and psp are the big winners here, and wii is the big.. loser :O

I think at some point, you started switching the years around. Everything is down except the 360.

 

[nib95]

Wait till Killzone 2....damn........God of War 3 then?

I think it helps 360 to have 1) a cheaper system and 2) tends to have cheaper price tags on games as well.

In case you didn't realise, no single game is going to propel the PS3 out from this. The only thing that will is a price drop. But sure...keep chanting that same old tired rhetoric and missing the point whilst you're at it.

 

[Gomu Gomu]

halo killer can't even beat a halo spinoff? ouch.

I know this is wrong, but I :lol ed

 

[TheGreatDave]

Is that in reference to the OT?

Of course. The facts speak for themselves. The Resistance 2 thread has 18 self pleasing posts of wanking starting it, the Killzone 2 one has 9. What were you expecting? This game was supposed to revitalise the PS3, and you gave it substandard marketing.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

Walken gets me every time.

 

[voltron]

Happy that Res5 performed so well. This will serve as more proof to publishers that successful game launches can happen in March.

 

[[Nintex]]

So for the 1 billion dollar question

"What was a bigger waste of money?"
A. RARE
B. Guerrilla Games

 

[GhaleonEB]

 System         Mar'09      Feb'09       Mar'08       MoM Change      YoY Change
 360            330,000     391,000      262,000      -16%            26%
 PS3            218,000     276,000      257,000      -21%            -15%
 Wii            601,000     753,000      721,000      -20%            -17%

(I don't track handhelds.)

 

[Tiktaalik]

I wonder does the ho hum (considering expectations) Killzone 2 sales mean that the genre kings this gen (Call of Duty, Halo) are too entrenched for anyone to make an impact? Are FPS fans too invested in Call of Duty/Halo to pick up a 3rd FPS? Could spring be a bad time to release a big budget FPS? Many might still be playing CoD 5 (which just got a map pack).

I personally didn't pick up Killzone 2 yet due to genre fatigue and FPS games released earlier this gen being "good enough". I wonder how many others didn't pick up Killzone 2 for the same reason.

 

[Y2Kev]

i love those games.. but you really expected them to sell 200+?
id like to see a top 20 as well.

I thought MadWorld could have sold 200k.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Of course. The facts speak for themselves. The Resistance 2 thread has 18 self pleasing posts of wanking starting it, the Killzone 2 one has 9. What were you expecting? This game was supposed to revitalise the PS3, and you gave it substandard marketing.

:lol Well I can't argue with that.

In case you didn't realise, no single game is going to propel the PS3 out from this. The only thing that will is a price drop. But sure...keep chanting that same old tired rhetoric and missing the point whilst you're at it.

It is still such a huge barrier of entry for people and in this economy its just asinine. Hopefully they are waiting for E3 to announce a price drop.

 

[Stop It]

Killzone 2 sells 600k+ in NA and it's a failure.. on on GAF :lol

Also, since it probably needs to be said: KZ2 worldwide > Halo Wars worldwide.

First, that's probably not true, Halo Wars did exist outside of the US, and didn't sell terribly either.

Secondly considering that Killzone 2 was announed at E3 2005 and a constant hype stream has been building up here during that period, you'd expect it to sell more than say, Call of Duty: World At War PS3, a 3rd party annual release title that also sold millions on 360.

Yet, it didn't, not even close at that, so yes, that's pretty much a failure all things considered, and no, that's not a good thing. I honestly don't know what SCEA done to screw this release up frankly, the FPS userbase is clearly there because of sales of the CoD series, yet they weren't able to motivate them to buy KZ2, why?

Finally, all the people saying that the sales were good considering that KZ2 is a new IP: No, first, it's a sequel, and a well hyped one too, with nearly 3 years of pre-release marketing, secondly, proper new IPs like Gears of War and Bioshock outsold it, with a lower 360 userbase at the time too, so that's not a valid reason either.

 

[evolution]

Too bad for KZ2 its a great game that deserves more sales. I noticed the other day that quite a few people have no idea what KZ is. COD seems to have a strong hold on them

 

[Luckyman]

MLB 09 300k? Wow. Great PS3 software numbers.