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[vinnygambini]

Those DKC numbers are a bummer and are exhibit A in the "Wii U owners don't buy any non-Mario software" argument.

fixed

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

the wii u was already up year over year for almost every month. with mario kart, it will probably have raised the baseline to a point where it doesn't dip below 40k like it did routinely last year. not that it sounds particularly impressive, but the system will probably sell a million units in the us this year. maybe even a million more from where it currently is.

Those are still incredibly sad numbers....

 

[Thunder Monkey]

taking a single month out of context, is it completely irreleant to you that the ps4 sold in 2 months what the 360 took what 5months? Is It irrelevant that the 360 was sold out for several of those months? The Xbox one is also well ahead of ps3 not just because of its fantastic start and this month is only slightly behind ps3 month and thats with an early price drop announcement.

There were doom articles in january with poor numbers remember? then febuary boosted everyting again. I just don't see the sense in basing your entire point off one month.

Basing it on the fact that launch aligned they started higher and then leveled off much faster. From Jan to April the market leader PS4 is staying dangerously close to the 360, and One is under the PS3. WiiU also had a pretty good start. With a very drastic cratering in the first six months of the year. The first five months of this year has the PS4 flipping between selling on par and under the 360, and One performing generally under the PS3.

Insane launches mean very little.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Actually I think GBA was doing these numbers even longer than a year after. I distinctly remember "GBA vs PS3".

Yeah GBA was selling more in the" who can get lower" competition with the PS3.

 

[mo60]

I'm just trying to be optimistic because it's been Doom and Gloom for the industry for a long time now and this is the first positive month in several years I think so that is promising. I would hate to see the industry go through a major crash. I know some folks cherish the thought of the death of AAA gaming and a revolution in the Indie world, but I fear it. I love me some AAA and think of all the folks that would go out of work permanently, scary.

I don;t want AAA games to die either , but some developers/publishers do need to take some more risks and expand there gaming portfolio to be inclusive to all groups of gamers.

 

[TheRealTalker]

Ps4 < 200k failed to reach my prediction


Edit: Actually I was waaaay off with the Vita

 

[Tripon]

They published Guild 01 and Guild 02 games on the west.

Those are eShop games. They have no retail presence at all, which a game like Fantasy Life Link would require.

 

[Orthogonal]

Dark Souls 2 [360] 212k [PS3] 209k

Wow, I would never have expected 360 to outpace PS3 on this game. Game had to have broken well over 1M worldwide by now. Great to see.

 

[shinra-bansho]

I'd say you have a combination of more frontloaded early adoption, and less notable software only available for new platforms. Coupled with the US seasonal lull in sales. As well as extraneous factors like the announcement of unbundling very early. Collectively looking at this, I don't think I'm ready to Chicken Little yet on the segment of the market these new systems serve.

Last gen is declining really quickly though, although I'd guess that's just a function of how bloody old these systems are.

I wonder, had the systems had their sales spread over the last 7 months more evenly whether there'd still be talk of imminent demise.

 

[AniHawk]

Those are still incredibly sad numbers....

the market is full of incredibly sad numbers right now. pretty much everything looks like it's second or third place to a much more successful platform, including the most successful platform.

Last gen is declining really quickly though, although I'd guess that's just a function of how bloody old these systems are.

it would have served microsoft and sony well to drop their consoles below $150 during this period of crossgen (and lategen exclusive) support.

 

[BananaSprinkles]

Dark Souls 2 [360] 212k [PS3] 209k

Wow, I would never have expected 360 to outpace PS3 on this game. Game had to have broken well over 1M worldwide by now. Great to see.

42~ million 360s in the US vs 26~ million PS3s.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

Those are eShop games. They have no retail presence at all, which a game like Fantasy Life Link would require.

Just answering you question, Level 5 has a localizing and publishing arm on the US.

 

[Kacho]

Eh they're not particularly bad or good I would say. I think it's probably very good for the series but apparently infamous has always been a mid-level series sales-wise. I doubt the budget was too big relative to other AAA games

Ah, ok. Had no idea about the budget. I guess I'm just surprised more people didn't pick it up since there isn't much out there at the moment.

 

[maabus1999]

I'm just trying to be optimistic because it's been Doom and Gloom for the industry for a long time now and this is the first positive month in several years I think so that is promising. I would hate to see the industry go through a major crash. I know some folks cherish the thought of the death of AAA gaming and a revolution in the Indie world, but I fear it. I love me some AAA and think of all the folks that would go out of work permanently, scary.

Indie can't survive without AAA hardware. PC being an exception, but not a great one. The next generation is probably going to be streaming based to save on costs. No profit margins in hardware anymore.

 

[pieatorium]

Did you forget how horribly awful sales of the 360 and ps3 were in the beginning? That isn't a baseline to want to be compared to as a market leader. Did you forget that 3rd parties owned like 2/3 of Wii software sales (again iirc)?

Did you forget that despite awful horrible sales of 360 and ps3 they both ended up 80% of the dominant wii? Did you forget that the only 3rd party wii games that have sold anything in the last 5 years are just dance and skylanders?

 

[Thoraxes]

the wii u was already up year over year for almost every month. with mario kart, it will probably have raised the baseline to a point where it doesn't dip below 40k like it did routinely last year. not that it sounds particularly impressive, but the system will probably sell a million units in the us this year. maybe even a million more from where it currently is.

Definitely. And MK is a series known for its legs too.

 

[SwiftDeath]

Dark Souls 2 [360] 212k [PS3] 209k

Wow, I would never have expected 360 to outpace PS3 on this game. Game had to have broken well over 1M worldwide by now. Great to see.

Eh 360 has an US install base of like 41M I think? Versus like maybe 26M PS3?

So an install base difference of like 15M and a sales difference of like 3k...

 

[Ottoni_Bastos]

Dark Souls 2 [360] 212k [PS3] 209k

Wow, I would never have expected 360 to outpace PS3 on this game. Game had to have broken well over 1M worldwide by now. Great to see.

Well the install base of Xbox 360 is way bigger than Ps3's in USA.The fact that the numbers are pretty much equal shows how great the attach rate of this franchise is on PS3.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I'd say you have a combination of more frontloaded early adoption, and less notable software only available for new platforms. Coupled with the US seasonal lull in sales. As well as extraneous factors like the announcement of unbundling very early. Collectively looking at this, I don't think I'm ready to Chicken Little yet on the segment of the market these new systems serve.

Last gen is declining really quickly though, although I'd guess that's just a function of how bloody old these systems are.

I totally am ready to chicken little.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Just answering you question, Level 5 has a localizing and publishing arm on the US.

I think the bigger problem is they either don't have the capital to actually publish games yet or they have no distribution relationships.

 

[Tripon]

Just answering you question, Level 5 has a localizing and publishing arm on the US.

I should have clarified myself. I do not believe Level 5 has ever tried to publish and distribute any of their games in the Western market on a retail level.

 

[Josh7289]

Indie can't survive without AAA hardware. PC being an exception, but not a great one. The next generation is probably going to be streaming based to save on costs. No profit margins in hardware anymore.

Too many problems with streaming, including ones impossible to solve like input lag.

I think cheap hardware will continue to be the norm going forward. PS4 and XBO are basically off-the-shelf PC parts. They need to make money off the hardware right away at launch, or at least not lose anything on it. Expect that to continue, and expect no one to dare launch a console above $400 from now on as well.

 

[SeanTSC]

find out in the next exciting episode of NPD Z

Going to wait for the filler-cut Kai remake.

 

[mo60]

Did you forget that despite awful horrible sales of 360 and ps3 they both ended up 80% of the dominant wii? Did you forget that the only 3rd party wii games that have sold anything in the last 5 years are just dance and skylanders?

The wii was dead earlier than both. Software support for the console died in 2012.

 

[thepotatoman]

Said in every NPD thread. The next month will always be interesting and it will.

Will the Kinectless SKU re-energize the Xbox One?

Can a full month of the MK8 bundle resurrect the Wii U?

Can PS4 hold the line?

The only thing interesting about this month was knowing how big of a bump Wii U got from MK8, and the only thing interesting about next month is how big of a bump XBO will get from dropping the kinect, which might spill over into the next month to get the full picture about it's impact.

From then on, everything's going to be really boring until the holidays. After the kinectless sku numbers it'll be pretty clear the general trajectory for all the consoles. I guess it could become interesting if XBO just does a month after month nosedive after it has no new news left to prop it up, but that luckily seems unlikely.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

the market is full of incredibly sad numbers right now. pretty much everything looks like it's second or third place to a much more successful platform, including the most successful platform.

I don't think the situation of Xbone and PS4 are that bright, but they aren't doing sub-GC numbers and looking for 1 million consoles in a year....

There are sad numbers and then there's Wii U and Vita....

 

[Busaiku]

soul sacrifice did amaaaazing

I actually thought that for a while.

 

[jroc74]

I searched the thread, didnt see it mentioned.....wasnt there a bet about MLB and sales some weeks ago? I wish I could find that thread...

PS4 is killing it. Watch Dogs....expected by me, even with the IMO nit picking going on with the game.

Wii U actually might be saved by Mario Kart. And Zelda U coming soon.

Shocked to see the 360 game sales outpacing XBO game sales.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

Did you forget that despite awful horrible sales of 360 and ps3 they both ended up 80% of the dominant wii?

By having the most extended generation in history.

 

[Shizuka]

I should have clarified myself. I do not believe Level 5 has ever tried to publish and distribute any of their games in the Western market on a retail level.

Yet a company like Idea Factory International is already making a retail print for their second game published.

 

[SwiftDeath]

All right I'm done for a while back to me soaps

 

[warheat]

WHOA, WiiU beat X1?

 

[kinoki]

I'm starting to feel a bit sorry for the XBO now. 76k now. Next month we have the pent up demand for a lower-priced SKU with less value. I think consumers will be pretty savvy about that. I think that most consumers expected a $100 drop on the Titanfall-bundle and what they got was something that would end up costing them more.

With ntkrnl having spilled the 2015-2016 lineup there's nothing in the future we don't know about. If you aren't sold on the titles lined out in that leak there's no reason to buy a XBO. There's no surprises in the coming year. XBO-fans who want the console to do good can only hope that it keeps around 100k units from here on out with a bump during the holidays. Atleast that's how it looks like to me.

 

[The Giant]

June Wii U sales are gonna be interesting. You will have the MK8 buyers and the buyers who bought one due to E3.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

I think the bigger problem is they either don't have the capital to actually publish games yet or they have no distribution relationships.

Well, I think they have a US office from some time and all they did with it was publish some eShop games. So yeah, is not being really productive whatever the reason.

 

[RurouniZel]

WHOA, WiiU beat X1?

No, but neither did well.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

WHOA, WiiU beat X1?

ummm.... no?

 

[SwiftDeath]

WHOA, WiiU beat X1?

YES

Spoiler

No

Edit: See HERE for most up-to-date summary

 

[Subtle]

so the 3ds is doing terribly?

 

[AcademicSaucer]

If they do, they have done a really good job of hiding it.

so far they have only published eshop games

 

[nelchaar]

Came here looking for numbers.

Left with protractors and angles.

 

[Orthogonal]

I don;t want AAA games to die either , but some developers/publishers do need to take some more risks and expand there gaming portfolio to be inclusive to all groups of gamers.

and yet, as budgets continue to balloon, they will likely become more conservative. There are very few with the pedigree and name cache to go that route.

 

[Toki767]

so the 3ds is doing terribly?

Relative to the DS? Sure.

Relative to the Vita? Not at all.

Relative to everything else but the PS4 at the moment? It's probably fine.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

No next year will be a more apt comparison to 2007.

Being on the market for the same amount of time and all. At the rate we're going at least one (leaning on One myself) will be behind their predecessor in a LTD stance by then. PS4 likely won't be too much higher than 360 LTD in America if this rate is consistent as well. I doubt it falls behind 360 LTD, but if this is the bar, they very well could in America by the spring of 2016.

No, because 360 was heavily supply constrained well into May of 2006.

Since supply of the PS4 exceeded demand months ago, we are now at the point where a "baseline" level of sales have been established for demand, and seasonal/monthly changes are now accurately accounted for. May 2006 also only had the Xbox 360 on the market, thus no competition. PS3 hadn't even released yet, so why is May of 2006 more appropriate based on time since launch, when that's only capturing one console?

May 2007 is a much more appropriate point of comparison -- both consoles on the market, both in their first May without supply issues.

 

[AniHawk]

I don't think the situation of Xbone and PS4 are that bright, but they aren't doing sub-GC numbers and looking for 1 million consoles in a year....

There are sad numbers and then there's Wii U and Vita....

well the xbox one just put up a sub-gc month. well, pretty much everything except the ps4 did. the ps4 put up a sub original xbox month.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

so the 3ds is doing terribly?

Has been for a while now.

In months its predecessor was selling 400k+ it's selling less than 100k units.

 

[Orthogonal]

Well the install base of Xbox 360 is way bigger than Ps3's in USA.The fact that the numbers are pretty much equal shows how great the attach rate of this franchise is on PS3.

Eh 360 has an US install base of like 41M I think? Versus like maybe 26M PS3?

So an install base difference of like 15M and a sales difference of like 3k...

Very true, when looking at it in terms of attach rate the PS3 is still in the lead, but still, I thought DS1 was way behind on the 360. Very impressive growth for the franchise.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Why? PS4 is selling way better than xbox 360 and Xbox One is selling better than PS3. The Wii thing we were already talking about but the biggest impact for that would be software which the vast majority of was nintendo. The plastic instruments died long ago and fitness soon followed Ubisoft now has more than just AC selling to the 'hd' audience so the drop in Just Dance isnt as big a deal (though profit margins/roi is a thing).

I'm sorry but that is utterly ridiculous. They absolutely need to seek the Wii/DS audience, it is vital and the reason they're after the mobile's market (without achieving anything great so far)
Ubisoft released this last April:

#1 franchise: Assassin’s Creed: 73 million
#2 franchise: Just Dance: 48 million
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: 30 million
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: 26 million
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: 25 million
Petz: 24 million
Rayman: 25 million
Imagine: 21 million
Prince of Persia: 20 million
Driver: 19 million
Far Cry: 18 million
Rayman Raving Rabbids: 14 million
The Settlers: 10 million
The Experience: 9 million
Anno: 5 million
___


Data and this year's Ubi conference should give a hint of how important it is for Ubisoft to work hard to replace their Wii audience buying into dancing on other platforms, something they have failed to do when kids stopped asking for Wii/NDS's Petz/Imagine games a few years ago.
It's a massive source of Ubi's profitability and it'd have an impact on AAA development as well.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

so the 3ds is doing terribly?

Not good, would be a better defintion.

The biggest problem is that is a downfall from here.

 

[SwiftDeath]

well the xbox one just put up a sub-gc month. well, pretty much everything except the ps4 did. the ps4 put up a sub original xbox month.

So I take it PS4 is behind Wii launch aligned now?

What's second best PS2?

Thanks SwiftDeath, for doing the updates, it's appreciated.

You're welcome. I totally don't just do them so I have an easy future reference point. Totally