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NPD Sales Results for November 2013 [Up3: Zelda, Pokemon, Mario, 3DS, Wii U]

Phades

Member
PS4 1.1m. Makes sense that they diverted so many units to the other territories. Only 100k in the last two weeks to NA isn't much.

That is still around 30% greater than what Microsoft put up and they are supplying the world creating a more dispuresed and greater entrenched install base. I don't see it as a completely bad move, but there is also the underlying pull of the concept of the PS4 being the next Wii in terms of availabilty possibly creating artificial interest in the unit (blame Jimmy Fallon?). Given the parity, that really should grab developer interest in general, but not to the extent of ignoring platforms that are not the Wii U.

i guess they did miss black friday completely? They only have 2/3 shipments in Dec as well. Weird to focus on EU when they were buying you no matter what to give up what could be a huge lead in the US

Isn't there an impending Asia launch as well?
 
One thing is clear, the only ones with a chance to make money are the AAA and some indie hits. Say goodbye to all the niche games unless they are made by a small team.

Nintendo did not started their marketing campaign soon enough for making an impact in November, plus the hype for the Next Gen consoles was huge. I have a gut feeling that Wii U will double its sales in December, not afraid to be wrong and don't care.

Very likely that MK8+SSB+another price drop hits in spring 2014 to push more Wii U's.
 

johnny956

Member
LBP has sold millions and millions and Tear away was only hampered by the health of the platform itself. Rare never even made games that were as high quality as LBP or Tearaway during their entire run with Xbox thus far. Heck LBP Vita is one of the top selling Vita games (though it wasn't made by MM).

What a silly statement.

Personally I think Tearaway would sell as much as Puppeteer did on the PS3.
 

Klocker

Member
No. Hell PS4 games were selling like crazy even before the console came out. Sooner or later you'll just have to accept that it has higher demand.

There are also digital sales that are not counted here and we don't know if one group prefers digital over the other, (I am almost all digital for a year now) and xbox 1st party top three sold over 50% more units on less hardware than ps4 top 3 1st party, leaving ps4 owners to choose more third party games.

Also ps4 had the b2 get 1 free leading up to launch. Xbox did not
 

Zen

Banned
Personally I think Tearaway would sell as much as Puppeteer did on the PS3.

And they've made LBP which has sold millions and is one of Sony's better franchises. Even if Tearaway did Puppeteer numbers, it's wouldn't be an indictment of the entire studio. If Tearaway was made as a PS3 project it would have received a lot more support and promotion from Sony than just an 8 person dev team, so we'd be talking about a title that probably didn't look exactly like the title we got for Vita.

I'm willing to be that exposure alone (even if it was basically just the same exact game with sharper graphics and was still a 'small' project' would have netted it better sales than 14k.
 

Dunlop

Member
No. Hell PS4 games were selling like crazy even before the console came out. Sooner or later you'll just have to accept that it has higher demand.

Probably, but that has absolutely not bearing this month as both are pretty much sold out so the extra week plays a huge factor
 
PS4 was out longer.


Some games for BOTH came out BEFORE the consoles did so your arguement is flawed. And its funny to see the "well the PS4 was out longer" comments when whenever that was brought up in PS3 vs 360 and the PS3 was out a whole year later it was laughed off as an excuse by some.
 

johnny956

Member
One thing is clear, the only ones with a chance to make money are the AAA and some indie hits. Say goodbye to all the niche games unless they are made by a small team.

Nintendo did not started their marketing campaign soon enough for making an impact in November, plus the hype for the Next Gen consoles was huge. I have a gut feeling that Wii U will double its sales in December, not afraid to be wrong and don't care.

Very likely that MK8+SSB+another price drop hits in spring 2014 to push more Wii U's.

A price drop right when MK8 hits would probably have the biggest impact for the Wii U. The question is what kind of price are we talking about? I think another $50 isn't going to do much. Still has the $2xx on it. If Nintendo can get it priced for $199 (no game bundle) then I think it has a decent chance of moving a good amount of units. The question is, will Nintendo take that much of a hit by pricing it so low?

It won't "save" the Wii U but that will move some units to where other games might sell more in the future on the platform
 

tbm24

Member
Some games for BOTH came out BEFORE the consoles did so your arguement is flawed. And its funny to see the "well the PS4 was out longer" comments when whenever that was brought up in PS3 vs 360 and the PS3 was out a whole year later it was laughed off as an excuse by some.
The games being released prior to the consoles doesn't mean much. I didn't buy my ps4 games until the day of. Also please attempt to compare a week to a full on year.
 

marrec

Banned
How did that help x360 or hurt ps3 last gen?

Both companies are winning. Gamers are winning. Why should we give a shit? I still and will never understand this red team blue team stuff.

As someone pointed out above, it will make it harder for MS to pay for an exclusive from the big Pubs if they see COD and BF4 selling in a 3:1 ratio on the consoles.
 

satam55

Banned

fantasia2.png
You sure? Major Nelson specifically said North America.
 

SmokyDave

Member
You shouldn't undermine those games Smoky, they are quite a gem honestly. You should try them, you would be pleasantly surprised :)

Dude, just to be clear, I don't doubt that for one second. I'm sure they're both top tier crackers. I loved 3D Land (so I'm sure I'd dig 3D world too), and handheld Zelda is definitely my jam (even Phantom Hourglass rocked my socks). My comment had nothing to do with the quality of those games.

I'll definitely be buying Zelda in the new year once my backlog dies down a bit.
 
Kind of like how platformers have similarly narrowed to Mario, Rayman, and a few other titles here and there? Do I t to be reductionist about platformers after pointing that out?

The two biggest FPS this holiday are Battlefield and CoD. And if you think they're basically the same thing with minor differences, then you've not played them.
Battlefield was something different at the times of Bad Company 2, now they've been CoDerized and that's impossible to deny.
On the other hand, you put a 2D Mario at the same boat as a 3D Galaxy Mario and a 3D-World Mario, which on terms of gameplay, are completely different kinds of games.
In fact, even between 2D Mario and Rayman there's a huge difference in terms of gameplay (you would've done better comparing Donkey Kong Country Returns to Rayman).
If you want to be reductionist, do it well at least.


The basic mechanics of every Zelda game are killing enemies and bosses in dungeons. See how you can be reductionist about anything when you want to lazily dismiss something? The difference is you don't care for FPS games, so you can dismiss them, whereas you like Zelda and Mario and can't see the similarity that allows for me to be reductionist too. When you like a series or genre, you see the nuance.
The difference is that I've played to more FPS than you've played any other kind of games besides those.
Look, the difference between a new Mario/Zelda and a new FPS those days is that on Mario/Zelda you have to re-learn the mechanics on nearly every new iteration, while if you are an excellent player on CoD you won't need more than 5 minutes to be an excellent player on Battlefield.
 
LBP has sold millions and millions and Tear away was only hampered by the health of the platform itself. Rare never even made games that were as high quality as LBP or Tearaway during their entire run with Xbox thus far. Heck LBP Vita is one of the top selling Vita games (though it wasn't made by MM).

What a silly statement.

Kinect Sports 1 and 2 are both multi million sellers, as is PD Zero. Viva Pinata series, Diddy Kong DS, and Banjo N&B were all well received critically. Killer Instinct and PD 64HD are also pretty popular, even though they aren't made by Rare.

So, we should all stop making silly statements.
 

curb

Banned
Higher sales on third party games on the PS4 will make it harder for MS to moneyhat games.

I've been trying to change my perspective on this. I want what you said but I'll phrase it this way:

Higher sales on third party games on the PS4 will make it less attractive for major publishers to enter into exclusivity arrangements with Microsoft.
 
How did that help x360 or hurt ps3 last gen?

Both companies are winning. Gamers are winning. Why should we give a shit? I still and will never understand this red team blue team stuff.

Fanboys gonna fanboy.

Also, a lot of people haven't really forgiven MS for the DRM fiasco and thus want to see them fail.

EDIT: Or at least "lose."
 
I've been trying to change my perspective on this. I want what you said but I'll phrase it this way:

Higher sales on third party games on the PS4 will make it less attractive for major publishers to enter into exclusivity arrangements with Microsoft.

That sounds better and less divisive.. Lets go with that.
 
Not surprised by Wii U low numbers. Aside from the general public disinterest, there were barely any deals for it. Meanwhile, there were tons for the various 3DS models. Guess that thing is just too expensive to produce.
 

Zen

Banned
Kinect Sports 1 and 2 are both multi million sellers, as is PD Zero. Viva Pinata series, Diddy Kong DS, and Banjo N&B were all well received critically. Killer Instinct and PD 64HD are also pretty popular, even though they aren't made by Rare.

So, we should all stop making silly statements.

Kinect Sports 1 and 2 are no more Rare than if Polyphony Digital got press ganged into making IOS farting apps, and you say 'critically 'acclaimed' to cover up for the fact that Banjo N&B and Viva Pinata all tanked at retail. PD Zero only sold due to launch software hype and had a fairly poor reputation short after the fact (like much of Rare's Xbox output).

These sorts of things aren't silly statements when context is comparing critical reception and sales the basis for determining the studios as a fit for their respective platform holders.

Rare certainly wasn't a good fit hence why they have been raped and turned into a Kinect Sports studio. They had to undergo a complete cultural purge and realignment of what exactly the studio is. The last 'Rare' projects they released (Banjo and Viva) tanked hard and they don't have a critical reception anywhere near MMs output. Insert lenghtly articles about Rare's founders and top people leaving the company shortly before Kinect.

Despite solid reviews, their Microsoft titles sold worse than expected. As a result, Microsoft decided to restructure the studio during the end of the decade.[20] Several key employees quit or were fired around this time. In March 2010, the company opened a new facility in Fazeley Studios, located in Digbeth, Birmingham.[21] Later that year, Microsoft confirmed that Scott Henson, a developer who previously worked on the hardware and software design of the new Xbox 360 console and Kinect for Xbox 360, replaced Mark Betteridge as Studio Manager and that their main focus will be on Kinect.[22] According to Henson: "Kinect will be the main focus for Rare going forwards as it's a very rich canvas. This is just the beginning of an experience that will touch millions of people."[23] Rare's first Kinect project was Kinect Sports, released in November 2010. Despite average reviews,[24] the game was a commercial success, selling three million units as of May 2011.[25] In March 2011, Henson announced that Craig Duncan, who has previously worked on Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing and the Colin McRae Rally series, was hired on as Senior Studio Director.[26] In April 2012, Simon Woodroffe, who previously worked at several studios including Adventure Soft, Midway Games, Ubisoft, and Sega, became the studio's Creative Director.[27]

They have a lot more titles to bring down the average, but unfortunately that only informs a history since they've been making games for so much longer since switching the the Xbox brand.

And sure Killer Instinct is doing ok, but Microsoft doesn't trust Rare with its own legacy IPs and would rather farm them out to C list developers, because the Rare of old proved themselves incapable. Honestly Rare was a mess before Microsoft bought them, but I digress.
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Any reason why Sony didn't officially drop a number? Was it too close to XB1 for bragging rights?

If they give numbers now it becomes suspicious when they refuse to give numbers later.

That seems to have been their general policy built up from the PS3 and trying to hide that neither it nor their handhelds were doing too hot.
 
Any reason why Sony didn't officially drop a number? Was it too close to XB1 for bragging rights?

I believe the consensus among general insiders is sony did 200k more than MS in the U.S, which is great, but not eye popping great. According to mort, sony has a lot of units(500k?) dedicated to Asia in the coming month, so we might actually see the xbox outsell the ps4 in the US for December at least, due to supply. I'm sure sony doesn't want to trumpet their numbers too hard if there is a chance they lose it next month.
 

curb

Banned
That sounds better and less divisive.. Lets go with that.

I used to get frustrated with Microsoft "buying" content but I realized that no one is making EA or any other publisher take money from MS. It's the publishers that take short term financial gain over customer sales and loyalty.
 
Battlefield was something different at the times of Bad Company 2, now they've been CoDerized and that's impossible to deny.
I didn't say CoD had no influence on its design, I said they're still fundamentally different games. One's the successor to fast paced TDM arena shooters, and the other is a tactical, cooperative large-scale shooter. They're two completely different experiences in the genre.

In fact, even between 2D Mario and Rayman there's a huge difference in terms of gameplay (you would've done better comparing Donkey Kong Country Returns to Rayman).
If you want to be reductionist, do it well at least.
You run to the right and jump until you finish a level, how are they different at all?

Think that sounds dumb? Good, because it fucking is. I know and respect the differences between these titles, and I'm trying to make a point so you'd do the same for other genres.


The difference is that I've played to more FPS than you've played any other kind of games besides those.
What a shitty thing to say and assume about me. "You have limited tastes!" Yep, put more time into Animal Crossing: New Leaf than any other game this year, but all I play are FPSes.

Look, the difference between a new Mario/Zelda and a new FPS those days is that on Mario/Zelda you have to re-learn the mechanics on nearly every new iteration, while if you are an excellent player on CoD you won't need more than 5 minutes to be an excellent player on Battlefield.
This is objectively not true, because the scale of a match, objective-based nature of matches, and inclusion of vehicles are all new or different mechanics that have no or few directly applicable skills from CoD. As someone who was pretty good at CoD, it took a lot longer to become good at Battlefield than 5 minutes. You don't come into Battlefield knowing how to be an ace pilot.
 

Phades

Member
Vita is over 60‰ digital sales in NA... but that doesn't make the Tearaway number all that much better.

If it was 40% physical and 60% digital for tearaway, that would place it near 23k units right? Still junk compared to other stuff launched though and less than half of the console sales for the same period.
 
This is irrelevant but I just want to thank Creamsugar for his/her input and the numbers that they have provided.
This thread would have been long dead without these numbers.
 

Bruno MB

Member
I was thinking about this month's 3DS sales and it seems very likely that its (November) sales peaked during its first year, that's really uncommon. Excluding systems that were a total failure we would have Xbox, its best November happened to be the first one because that was its launch month.

I thought that with the new 2DS model + bundles + Pokémon X / Y and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds this would be the peak for 3DS. I have a hard time thinking that next year things will be better. For reference, Game Boy Advance in its fifth November sold 892,000 units, 3DS will probably never match those sales.

Nintendo 3DS

November 2011 - 795,000
November 2012 - 540,000
November 2013 - 770,000

Game Boy Advance

November 2001 - 929,000
November 2002 - 1,283,000
November 2003 - 1,323,000
November 2004 - 1,323,000
November 2005 - 892,000
November 2006 - 641,000
November 2007 - I couldn't find it
 
Updated cs Compilation:


  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - 11% digital, excluding bundles
  • PSV Walking Dead bundle - 29.6% of sales, ~21.5K
  • Gold Zelda 3DS, Blue 2DS and Red 2DS all above 100K
  • Mario Party: Island Tour < 60K
  • Angry Birds: Star Wars - 2.7K
  • 25K > Mario and Sonic at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games > 20K
  • Tearaway - ~14K
  • Pokemon LTD 2.45M including bundles
  • Call of Duty: Ghosts > 6M
Hardware not in OP:
  • PS4 - 1138K
  • PS3 - ~424K
  • Wii - ~70K
  • 75K > PSV > 70K
PSV memory card LTDs:
  • 8GB - 360K
  • 16GB - 172K
  • 32GB - 167K
XB1 Software > 100K
  1. Call of Duty: Ghosts (>385K)
  2. Battlefield 4
  3. Dead Rising 3 (<220K, 215K<)
  4. Forza Motorsport 5 (<= 200K)
  5. Ryse (>185K)
  6. Assassin's Creed IV
  7. Madden NFL 25
  8. NBA 2K14
The Fighter Within < 4K

PS4 Software > 100K
  1. Call of Duty: Ghosts (>440K)
  2. Battlefield 4
  3. Assassin's Creed IV
  4. Killzone: Shadow Fall (<=270K)
  5. NBA 2K14
  6. Madden NFL 25
  7. Need for Speed
  8. FIFA 14
100K > Knack > 90K

Call of Duty: Ghosts platform split:
XBO - 6.42% (>385K)
PS4 - 7.39% (>440K)
360 - 55.45% (>3.33M)
PS3 - 30.42% (>1.82M)
Wii U - 0.33% (>20K)

ACIV, NFS, Madden, NBA 2K14, FIFA and NBA Live splits

Battlefield 4, next gen split:
XBO - 45.65%
PS4 - 54.35%

Quoting this so people can see what the updated numbers are.
 

Lumyst

Member
Previous record was: NPD January 2013 Sales Results - 4,596 replies and 364,845 views.

This is the first time I'm reading through that thread. There's much eerie prescience (or perhaps wisdom gleaned from experience watching sales trends) regarding the WiiU. Something is fundamentally unappealing about the machine itself. The sales of Nintendo handhelds are also declining overall compared to previous handhelds, I'd say it looks like the 2DS has only been a bandage rather than a cure. Two parts of their business are in decline, that is very concerning. I myself have learned some things from sales threads, about how businesses love to see trends that show an increase in sales, and looking at Nintendo's products, there are cases where that can't be said. While I have read some posts before saying "It's understandable that sales have declined due to competition from mobile devices, the 3DS is doing well considering that," it is not okay because no business should be fine with their sales declining.
 
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