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NPD Sales Results for May 2009
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
dammitmattt
Banned
poppabk said:
It's more accurate to say that they're OS-based. But it doesn't matter if developers do all the work emulating these features within the game. People won't care unless it's standard across the platform (outside of a small, dedicated minority, of course).
Azih said:
So apparently the games last generation were all risk-free and didn't cost any money to make?
Shin Johnpv said:
No! Almost all the effort on online and community features on the 360 and the PS3 has been borne by Microsoft and Sony. XBL and PSN are not created by third parties AT ALL, they just have to come in and take advantage of the entire infrastructure and interface created by the platform holders. They have nothing even remotely similar on the Wii because Nintendo just does not care.
Azih said:
What's less risky? Going the blockbuster route and hoping to god you never have a bomb, or spreading out your budget across a variety of titles drawing off franchises and game styles that were popular on the PS2 and use those to create a climate of low-cost development?
Seriously: There is nothing about the Wii that inherently makes it contrary to traditional games. Nintendo has shown this by releasing quite a few traditional games on the system throughout the Wii's life. They wouldn't do this if they intended it to simply be the 'Wii ____' machine.
The only reason we've reached this point is because of how 3rd parties approached this generation, with these stupid stereotypes about what can and cannot work on a Nintendo console.
EDIT: Never claimed it was risk free, just that the risk is remarkably less. Hell, I'm not even stating that developers should only make games for the Wii. I'm suggesting that there should have been an approach that included all systems to build a healthy climate for games on the cheapest option for development.
Depends on the platform. 360 owners demonstrated that they migrate from game to game based on good demos. On the other hand there is no evidence that franchises and game styles popular on the PS2 would be popular on the Wii.Vinci said:
Except for perhaps the audience. Which is the only thing that matters.
Nintendo releases games on the Wii in the same manner they released games on the GC and N64. Spaced out to maximise selling windows. It's as effective in creating an attractive third party ecosystem on the Wii as it was on the GC and N64.
There are no obligations or responsibilites on 3rd parties at all. THAT'S WHY THEY ARE THIRD PARTIES. All Obligations and responsibilites fall on the PEOPLE WHO MAKE THE PLATFORM.
Grampa Simpson
Banned
I don't think Nintendo feels the need to bail out the third parties. I don't think you'll ever hear of Nintendo giving Eidos a moneyhat because they're too big to fail.sonicmj1 said:
Nintendo will let them fail, and the ones that are left will be wiser.
Regulus Tera
Romanes Eunt Domus
jvm said:
YES, RHYTHM HEAVEN IS HANGING IN THERE!
A Twisty Fluken
Member
Azih said:
Third parties are responsible for staying in business.
RE: Top 20 glad to see Tsunku keep on ticking.
Azih said:
This is both the blessing and the curse of being HD Flavor of the Month. (...someone should really trademark that term):
If your demo is good and the hype is just right, your sales figures explode out of the gate. If the game isn't #1 on the NPDs for that month, it's damned close. Forum discussions and blogs pop up proclaiming said game the Game of the Forever, etc., etc. After that, the second month rolls around, the old Flavor of the Month either clings to the bottom of the T10 or drops completely as the new Flavor replaces it, and then by month 3 it's never heard from again.
If your game hits Flavor of the Month status, great. You're probably going to recoup your massive investment and possibly even profit. If not, you're in trouble. Two or three consecutive misses and you're probably bankrupt.
norinrad21
Banned
jmdajr said:
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Mama Robotnik said:
:lol :lol :lol
hoooooooly shit ! this is the best .gif of forever
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
jvm said:
Was Call of Duty 4 on sale or something?
Holy shit @ that.Rhythm Heaven seems to be selling well in the US.
Azih said:
So you're suggesting that the Wii's audience has never existed before? That many of its owners didn't own a PS2 or have any interest in gaming prior to the release of the system? And that it's better to take your chances spending gobs of money on a single title rather than spreading the same amount of money out across several games in hopes of creating a new IP and helping to promote a healthy game-buying climate on a console with relatively low development cost, which is advantageous to you?
Zachack said:
You'd have to ask one of the Sales Agers. I don't keep charts filed away to pull out at a moment's notice.
dammitmattt
Banned
Talamius said:
And yet, Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty: World at War, and Halo 3 are all in the top 19 this month....
------------
Speaking of, was there a big sale on COD4 something? Good to see Sacred 2 on there. Not surprised to see another shitty Wii Fit knock-off on there.
dammitmattt
Banned
Kifimbo said:No New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
No Boom Blox
Not a single version of UP is surprising.
Sucks for Boom Blox, but Up came out at the very end of the month, so it might make the June list, especially with that cheap price.
LiquidMamba
Member
The Wii doesn't need a price cut to outsell Microsoft and Sony, they need a price cut to match their guidance of 25 million sold over the fiscal year. Even with upcoming software, I don't believe they can sell that many units without a price cut.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
How would we know this, and how would publishers know this? There is no database of demos as far as I know, and is there really a correlation with sales? GTA4 didn't have a demo and that seemed to do pretty well. Halo3 didn't have a demo and that seemed to sell pretty well as well. Gears of War? Gears of War 2? I don't remember if COD4 got a demo or not, maybe after release. Assassins Creed?Azih said:
I know people like to believe that quality sells, but on all systems, hype/marketing/IP/licensing are king.
dammitmattt
Banned
jvm said:
Speaking of, where are the platform-specific top tens? Does someone else get the exclusive?
I still think it's too soon to call whether or not it'll see growth as Mario Kart Wii did from Mario Kart DS.J-Rock said:Fixed.
It will probably clear 5 and maybe 10 million easily, but 15 million+ (what Mario Kart Wii has achieved, and what I meant by "really, really huge") is still uncertain at this point.
I'm suggesting that it was an unproven quantity to developers just as the initial 360 audience was, just as the intial PS3 audience was.Vinci said:
I'm saying it's better to cater to a audience that has proven it is open to a certain kind of game by making those games for them.
You mean like XBLA and PSN?
Azih said:
So why deliver nothing but shit to the one system, the least expensive to develop for, and put all your titles on the most expensive systems to develop for?
Then why did 3rd parties latch only onto Nintendo's success with Wii Sports rather than looking at their success with their other titles? And why, from the beginning, assume that the system works any differently than prior ones did if its userbase is largely unformed at the beginning of its lifecycle?
So developers should give up the retail space for a number of their smaller franchises due to the rise in costs associated with the PS360? Why not try to build a market for such titles on a platform that's cheaper to develop for and would allow you to have your retail release? That actually could be groomed into another PS2 - where things weren't so specific about what can be successful and what cannot?
My problem with what 3rd parties did is that they went into developing for the Wii assuming that traditional titles would not sell on it. That's evident by their releases. But why would they assume that? Because it's Nintendo? Because it's the Wii?
Really, I'm trying to understand: What makes the Wii so dramatically different and alien from any console that existed before it?
Wow, Halo 3 is higher than Killzone 2.jvm said:
*shrug* I'm not an ActiBlizzard decision maker, but I will note that by the time CoD4 came out 360/PS3 cross development had become pretty damn economical, and it is possible that CoD4 made use of HD capabilities to such an extent that making a Wii version was judged to be more trouble than it was worth. Especially since it's such a multiplayer heavy title.donny2112 said:
GrotesqueBeauty
Banned
Thanks for the top 20. NSMB and Mario Kart DS are unholy beasts. They just never stop. I'm still curious about Klonoa numbers, even though it's already apparent that they're shitty.
Vinci said:
Honestly you've got a fairly large chip on your shoulder. I think a large variety of games have come out on the Wii, the titles that find success like Carnival Games and Guitar Hero, attract competitors.
There were different experiments, and the ones that worked better became the mainstray. Why do you insist on 3rd parties building or grooming markets? That's Nintendo's job.
Dude, Since the N64 Nintendo consoles have been kinda iffy for third parties.