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NPD Sales Results for March 2010

Metalmurphy said:
And it will cause at GDC they specifically stated (for the first time) that GT5 WILL release this year.

Right. Like they emphasized at TGS last year that it would be out in March 2010 in Japan.

Again: it's cute that you guys believe them absolutely and without hesitation rather than being like, oh, yeah, good one, I guess Polyphony delay all their games a whole lot, but I still think it'll probably be out this year finally which I totally would not have said "that's cute" about.
 

gillty

Banned
Gully State said:
Actually they said it had more players...there's a key difference..not making any assertions about piracy just that it's an ambiguous statement.
unlike some games they actually use a LOGIN SERVER and cdkeys are tied to accounts.

so yes the pc version sold atleast 1 million.
 

Shurs

Member
xbhaskarx said:
Whoa, massive GoW3 and FFXIII sales vault PS3 into third place!

Good numbers for Battlefield 360, just 3k less than FFXIII PS3.

Sony need to take the PS3 and PSP out back and put them out of their misery.

xbhaskarx said:
GoW3 not quite as impressive when you put it like that...


You're a fucking idiot.
 
charlequin said:
Right. Like they emphasized at TGS last year that it would be out in March 2010 in Japan.
did they?

charlequin said:
Again: it's cute that you guys believe them absolutely and without hesitation rather than being like, oh, yeah, good one, I guess Polyphony delay all their games a whole lot, but I still think it'll probably be out this year finally which I totally would not have said "that's cute" about.
I don't believe them without hesitation. I simply can read between the lines. If you honestly think it's not coming out this year then the real fool isn't me.
 

heringer

Member
gunther said:
Did I catch up with a npd thread?. :lol .

Anyway any info on Red Steel 2. Im really interested on how it sold. I know its not going to be concluding unless its really low.

edit: Less than 100k and the game has really low chances of succes.
Definitely less than 100k.
 
dolemite said:
both the Wii and the PS3 had shortages in March, yet one nearly doubles the others number. Also Sony stated that they sent enough units shipped for the God of War III launch, so why the shortages talk?
A shortage means that there isn't enough available supply to meet the demand for the product. It doesn't mean that the level of demand is the same between the two products, or that the number of consoles available is the same either.
 
truly101 said:
Didn't a lot of people predict that FFXIII wouldn't break 1 million in the US?

Yup. I didn't think it would. After I thought about it for a while I was even expecting GoW3 to outsell XIII combined.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
Love to her sales figures on Yak 3, Infinite Space, Strange Journey, and of course Resonance of Fate...
 
I hadn't done these for a few months... figured it would be fun to do again.

2010_3_performance.png

2010_3_performanceGAF.png

2010_3_precision.png


So as may seem unsurprising, GAF and the industry expected more from the "HD consoles" than strong-performers Wii and DS.

The PS2 continues to surprise, as month after month people assume it will finally drop off and yet it continues to stick around at perhaps the most steady rate of any console... you can nearly set your watch to the PS2's 24k (or so) sold per week.

GAF comes in the lead with prediction accuracy by a fair margin, though EEDAR and Pachter almost completely nailed their Wii predictions, explaining the 7 percentage point difference in Wii's performance vs GAF and vs the industry overall.
 

Shig

Strap on your hooker ...
Nirolak said:
It's notable that Bad Company 2 actually has a third version though that's not reported here.
Ah yes, good point. I'm sure PC sales were not insignificant, considering the existing audience is rooted there.

Those sales factored in, it might have even beat Pokemon(!)
 

Elios83

Member
charlequin said:
Sure, but a few years ago a game had to be those things to have the PS3 version tie or come close to tying the 360 version. That's my whole point -- the install base is increasingly unimportant as a factor in the sales of multiplatform titles compared to other factors like superior version, genre (shooters are never going to sell anywhere close as well on PS3), platform incentives, etc.

It's always like that though. Software sales scale linearly with the installed base just at the beginning of the life cycle. When a console installed base is past the 10m units mark for the US market (and that's the case for PS3 and 360) software sales start to depend more on other factors like those you have stated.
 
Metalmurphy said:
I don't believe them without hesitation. I simply can read between the lines. If you honestly think it's not coming out this year then the real fool isn't me.

Like I said very clearly, it is very probably coming out this year. But since I don't actually feel the need to defend platform exclusives from very light teasing I can (and do!) laugh about the idea that maybe it won't.
 
Metalmurphy said:
If you honestly think it's not coming out this year then the real fool isn't me.
it was a joke about gt5 taking a long time to develop, not a serious prediction

why are you guys getting so upset about it and taking it personally
 

FrankT

Member
Hardware looks to be pretty much in line although that is a nice Wii number. Anyhow impressive GOW numbers at around what MGS4 did first month combined with the bundle. 500k FF XIII on the 360 is well beyond my expectations and likely well over a million now WW. If that isn't worth a port for first month sales then I don't know what is in fact. Bascially from April on out the numbers should be very interesting on both the SW and HW front. I also believe we are in for some very big down months ahead.
 
truly101 said:
Didn't a lot of people predict that FFXIII wouldn't break 1 million in the US?

Yeah but I always knew it would be massive. It's Final Fantasy and the first one of a new gen. So many were excited for it.
 

Brannon

Member
In military life, you'll run into certain 2 or 3 star generals that don't even talk to ranks that don't bling at the collar.

Nintendo is at that stage right now. So far above the competition that it just doesn't matter any more. In fact, I'm inclined to say that they're beyond first place and are now permanently entrenched in this gen's Hall of Fame; MS and Sony can fight for what's left of the first place table scraps.
 

Osuwari

Member
Mt Heart Attack said:
Well I have a feeling that Nintendo expects the 3DS to sell considerably better than the Ps3 :p
I mean, maybe part of the continued success of the Ps2 is due to the failure that was the launch of the Ps3.. Sony screwed up the generational leap so the old, cheaper, immensely popular console continues to sell..
but yeah, I think that most will depend on what Nintendo actually has in mind for the DS, on what kind of support Nintendo is planning to offer to its old handheld after the 3DS launches:/

if the GBA is any indication, the DS will have a few more games out, it will sell more than the 3DS for a while and will become a shovelware machine a few months later.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
it was a joke about gt5 taking a long time to develop, not a serious prediction

why are you guys getting so upset about it and taking it personally
I saw your post the first time, and it has nothing to do with what's now being discussed here.
 
elrechazao said:
Tell me: If the ps3 (or the 360 or the wii) had 1,000,000 more units in circulation this month, what would the net increase in sales for that console be, if any? The same poor logic that says that software sales increase linearly with install base is at play here.

Logic doesn't fail, but terrible assumptions are easier.
That one can't predict what the increase in sales be isn't enough to conclude that there wouldn't be one; stop trying to raise the standard of proof to something so nitpicky when the very definition of a shortage is that demand outstrips the available supply, and we know there were shortages.
 
The shortages are really going to hurt sony down the line. The start of the year was when they had the best chance to outsell the 360. Now for the rest of the year MS still has a bunch of high profile exclusives, a potential price drop, possible 360 slim and natal to launch. I think the 360 is going to outsell the PS3 by a considerable margin for the rest of the year (it may lose 1 or 2 months i mean in total sales).

Lagspike_exe said:
Someone hasn't heard of Gran Turismo. :(

Is this really a certainty? I have no doubt that GT5 will sell more than any other PS3 game in Europe but will it do the same in the US? I think there is an extremely high chance it will debut lower than GOWIII.
 
Elios83 said:
It's always like that though. Software sales scale linearly with the installed base just at the beginning of the life cycle. When a console installed base is past the 10m units mark for the US market (and that's the case for PS3 and 360) software sales start to depend more on other factors like those you have stated.

Right. I, er, know that? I'm one of the people who is always explaining that to people. :lol

Both 360 and PS3 are way behind the Wii and never getting anywhere remotely close to it. The 360 still has some significant networking benefits as a result of launching first that will help it until the end of the generation. The PS3 has finally broken through the ceiling that was holding it back and can now sell both exclusives and multiplatform games at a fully respectable level. That is about my read of the home console situation as it stands right now.
 

Elios83

Member
Brannon said:
In military life, you'll run into certain 2 or 3 star generals that don't even talk to ranks that don't bling at the collar.

Nintendo is at that stage right now. So far above the competition that it just doesn't matter any more. In fact, I'm inclined to say that they're beyond first place and are now permanently entrenched in this gen's Hall of Fame; MS and Sony can fight for what's left of the first place table scraps.

Although Nintendo is number one, in the hall of fame and all of that what they have left on the table is far from a scrap.
It's the whole core business and the third parties business environment.
 

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
EmCeeGramr said:
it was a joke about gt5 taking a long time to develop, not a serious prediction

why are you guys getting so upset about it and taking it personally
Because it was sworn upon by a sacred oath of PD members, that this would be the year it comes out. Their pride and honor as developers are on the line

And people thought BC2 was going to do poorly. About 1.3million sold with good chance of it have some solid legs.
 
Metalmurphy said:
I saw your post the first time, and it has nothing to do with what's now being discussed here.
yes it does

charlequin made a joke about gt5 taking a long time (by expressing mock incredulity at people being sure of the release date), which he did not seriously mean to imply that gt5 will not be out this year

you said that he was honestly believing that gt5 won't be out this year and kept dogging him about one of the oldest types of video games industry jokes as though he had insulted you



stop getting mad about video games
 
badcrumble said:
That one can't predict what the increase in sales be isn't enough to conclude that there wouldn't be one; stop trying to raise the standard of proof to something so nitpicky when the very definition of a shortage is that demand outstrips the available supply, and we know there were shortages.
You have no evidence as to what "shortage" means, beyond a smaller supply compared to what Sony wanted to exist in the retail chain. So all of the inferences you are making are based on what you personally perceive as "shortage". I've been looking for a deal on a ps3 for a month now, and I have not once seen a PS3 out of stock at walmart.com, amazon, kmart, gamestop, or locally at any retail, nor seen a single report of any supplier having no units in the way say, the wii had clear shortages. I'm waiting for evidence of customer demand outstripping supply beyond sony's actual production numbers falling short of their production goals. That metric isn't useful for assessing consumer demand, sorry. Again, simple logic.
 
Brannon said:
Nintendo is at that stage right now. So far above the competition that it just doesn't matter any more.

morelikethegrandcanyon.jpg

AdventureRacing said:
Is this really a certainty? I have no doubt that GT5 will sell more than any other PS3 game in Europe but will it do the same in the US? I think there is an extremely high chance it will debut lower than GOWIII.

I want to say that it'll still beat out GoW3 because GT is just that big, although racing sims really have been hurting lately.
 
Valru said:
unlike some games they actually use a LOGIN SERVER and cdkeys are tied to accounts.

so yes the pc version sold atleast 1 million.

It may have sold a million but whether or not it outsold both PS3 and 360 is unknown. My point is that the statement you guys are refering as support for the PC SKU outselling the consoles combined is too ambiguous..

Noticed on Kotaku that this post was taken the wrong way. The PC had more players than either console not more than both consoles combined. You'll need to work to beat both consoles combined effort
 

gerg

Member
badcrumble said:
That one can't predict what the increase in sales be isn't enough to conclude that there wouldn't be one; stop trying to raise the standard of proof to something so nitpicky when the very definition of a shortage is that demand outstrips the available supply, and we know there were shortages.

I'm sure that, yes, the sales of the PS3 would have been higher in March were the supply there. But this does not mean that the PS3 would then have been selling on the level of the Wii, either.
 

Acheteedo

Member
Outside of the holiday season, Sony couldn't have picked a worse time to have hardware shortages. There's clearly a high potential for sales there, but will the high demand still be there over summer?
 

Loudninja

Member
Acheteedo said:
Outside of the holiday season, Sony couldn't have picked a worse time to have hardware shortages. There's clearly a high potential for sales there, but will the demand still be there over summer?

Its not like they deiced to have shortages one day, shit happens. :lol
 
EmCeeGramr said:
yes it does

charlequin made a joke about gt5 taking a long time (by expressing mock incredulity at people being sure of the release date), which he did not seriously mean to imply that gt5 will not be out this year

you said that he was honestly believing that gt5 won't be out this year and kept dogging him about one of the oldest types of video games industry jokes as though he had insulted you



stop getting mad about video games
Who's mad?

Also charlequin didn't make the joke. Read the thread properly and don't just jump on random posts.


charlequin said:
I want to say that it'll still beat out GoW3 because GT is just that big, although racing sims really have been hurting lately.
Forza 3 says hi!
 

truly101

I got grudge sucked!
Hasn't Pokemon been far outselling every other JRPG for over a decade now, including FF? I don't get what people are surprised at.
 

Iksenpets

Banned
Four games breaking a million sales in March is really huge, and PS3 getting two games above any 360 title is a pretty big achievement for them. Major grats to Sony. Hardware's kind of underwhelming though.
 

D4Danger

Unconfirmed Member
CrushDance said:
Damn, Sony's hardware shortages really hurt them.
Aspiring said:
Bloody hell HUGE fucking numbers for PS3 games in there. WOW at GOW3. Yet how does the hardware be so low? Are there still shortages?
Baki said:
Shortages dude.
CrushDance said:
To everyone wondering why PS3 hardware is so poor even though it had two major releases; hardware shortages. It was reported earlier this year and apparently won't be stable till early next month.
yencid said:
im pretty sure the ps3 had a shortage didnt it?
operon said:
These hardware shortages are at a bad time for the PS3 when all these games that are selling well on it are now, playing right into M$ hands
GeoramA said:
OMGoW :D

Probably could've been more if there wasn't a PS3 shortage.
Aspiring said:
So there is still PS3 hardware shortages. So does this mean, next month GOW3 may have legs, as people pick up there consoles and games? Also poor Sony. I mean they finally land a blockbuster game with massive sales, and they got no consoles to sell :lol Really bad timing.
Serenity said:
I mean its not like there wasn't news stories on the shortages or anything or a myriad of anecdotal evidence but of course thats all fanboy conspiracy:D
bytesized said:
Are PS3 shortages THAT bad? :/
user_nat said:
With software sales like that you would have to assume the PS3 is in short supply to not sell more consoles.
Duxxy3 said:
That huge shortage of PS3's hurt.
J-Rzez said:
GoW3 sales are very well deserved. Hope it keeps raking in the sales it deserves, and keeps the funding going into those killer studios.

They really need to sort their shortage issues out though for the PS3. Considering my one friend that finally took the plunge for GoW3, U2, FFXIII (meh), and MAG had to drive almost 2 hours away to get to a store that had one in stock for his impulse buy (income tax refund lol), they need to get on this. I didn't think it was that bad.
Baki said:
I think the most significant factor was the shortages + other title released within the month.
Elios83 said:
PS3 shortages issue is due to two planned hardware revisions this year to cut costs. The first one was in spring (new Slim model is already out), next one will be in early fall. They didn't anticipate that they could have demand exceeding 400k units during the slow months of the year.
Even in this case it will be interesting to see how many PS3 units they plan to manufacture during the next fiscal year (April 2010-March 2011).
Baki said:
The shortages are real.
Baki said:
Even LA Times was reporting on the shortages.
J-Rzez said:
Nope. Sorry. GT5 is the biggest franchise Sony has. Still impressive what they got considering the shortages. These threads are fun though!
psrock said:
GOW3 sold more than I expected, but it seems a lot of people expected over a million, let me check the prediction thread.

Sony is seriously a complex company, they have shortages when there is demand, but have too much when no one wants the PS3.
Baki said:
Let me put it another way for you.

The existance of shortages means that the number we have here is NOT representative of demand because there was not satisfactory supply to fully satisfy demand.

So in other words, we have no idea what the sales would have been like had there been supply to satisfy demand.
Nirolak said:
The Sony press release said there would be shortages for the next few months, so at least the next few months.
AdventureRacing said:
The shortages are really going to hurt sony down the line.
Acheteedo said:
Outside of the holiday season, Sony couldn't have picked a worse time to have hardware shortages. There's clearly a high potential for sales there, but will the high demand still be there over summer?

So what you're saying is there's so some sort of shortage?
 
I think I bet someone last month that Pokemon would outsell GoW3 but I don't remember who it was and I'm pretty sure we couldn't agree if SKUs were to be combined (I insisted they were).
 
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