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[BishopLamont]

If I was NPD, I'd pay Evilore a cut each month to ensure the status quo of no leaks gets maintained. That would just be smart business.

Why would they pay when they can make a shady deal to get what they want and not needing to uphold their end of the bargain FOR FREE?

 

[Saty]

So, basically they're saying their service is worthless

They are tracking most of the other avenues and i think they have quarterly DD report but they don't share with the public anything but broad and general numbers.

For most of the 60$ console-disc releases, they are going to live and die according to what the retail figures points to.

 

[donny2112]

i think they have quarterly DD report but they don't share with the public anything but broad and general numbers.

Probably best. They may be able to get a passable idea of total digitial spend, but with their "tracking" of digital sales involving polling a few thousand of their individual contributors, there's no way that individual digital sales data can be very complete.

Unless Steam, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all decide to start licensing out their digital download data, NPD is out of luck for tracking individual games in that arena with useful accuracy.

 

[specialguy]

Europe has actually received more numbers, its NPD who has gone backwards.

.

It's been ages since I've seen a legit UK weekly hardware figure. IIRC we used to at least get them occasionally.

 

[Diablos54]

It's been ages since I've seen a legit UK weekly hardware figure. IIRC we used to at least get them occasionally.

We only get them when a certain figure is passed these days (Like a certian platform passes X million), it sucks.

And yea, screw NPD. We used to get top 10 sales numbers are hardware before IIRC, now we only get top 10 combined sales...

 

[BishopLamont]

It's been ages since I've seen a legit UK weekly hardware figure. IIRC we used to at least get them occasionally.

We get official UK numbers from time to time. We get hardware numbers for many European countries also.

Hell at least we get weekly top 50 or whatever, instead of monthly top 10 like NPD.

 

[Saint Gregory]

We only get them when a certain figure is passed these days (Like a certian platform passes X million), it sucks.

And yea, screw NPD. We used to get top 10 sales numbers are hardware before IIRC, now we only get top 10 combined sales...

With no numbers

Something about this whole thing reminds me of that scene from The Empire Strikes Back with Darth Vader and Lando Calrissian

"... I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."

 

[Anth0ny]

So Kid Icarus is sitting at ~218K in US and ~262K in Japan.

I feel like that's low considering the insane amount of marketing this game received.

 

[liger05]

So Kid Icarus is sitting at ~218K in North America and ~262K in Japan.

I feel like that's low considering the insane amount of marketing this game received.

I think you overestimated the IP. Its done well.

 

[bigtroyjon]

So Kid Icarus is sitting at ~218K in North America and ~262K in Japan.

I feel like that's low considering the insane amount of marketing this game received.

US, not North America.

 

[frankie_baby]

So Kid Icarus is sitting at ~218K in North America and ~262K in Japan.

I feel like that's low considering the insane amount of marketing this game received.

Seriously most of gaf thought it'd be lucky to do 300k lifetime worldwide

 

[antonz]

Almost 500k between US and Japan and then whatever Europe has done is a successful relaunch of an IP most people today have no idea about. Its shown a small set of legs in japan so far and will probably sell small amounts in the US for awhile. Could end up doing 800K lifetime depending on Europe.

 

[donny2112]

I feel like that's low considering the insane amount of marketing this game received.

They're trying to make this into an evergreen title. Get back on this analysis with next FY's shipped numbers.

 

[allan-bh]

Neogaf bowed to the NPD Group, sorry but this is reality.

 

[frankie_baby]

Almost 500k between US and Japan and then whatever Europe has done is a successful relaunch of an IP most people today have no idea about. Its shown a small set of legs in japan so far and will probably sell small amounts in the US for awhile. Could end up doing 800K lifetime depending on Europe.

Seriously 800k is incredibly pessimistic, its legs have been pretty good in Japan and it now seems its held up well in America, when all is said and done I'd expect worldwide lifetime around 1.5 million maybe even more

 

[b3b0p]

U.S. consumers are afraid to use their money on a $300-$400 console + games when it's not #1.

Media Create needs to open up shop in the U.S. Weekly numbers for everything would introduce some fun conversations and statistics.

 

[CadetMahoney]

Microsoft is still happy to release data because, hey, they're number one. If Microsoft was falling behind Sony or Nintendo, I doubt that the company would be so quick to share results.

Worst thing is we won't be able to call them out on the double standard down the line since others did it too. Not that I expect it coming anytime soon the way things are going.

Screw NPD. We used to get top 10 sales numbers are hardware before IIRC, now we only get top 10 combined sales...

Something about this whole thing reminds me of that scene from The Empire Strikes Back with Darth Vader and Lando Calrissian

"... I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."

heh

 

[bigtroyjon]

Microsoft has competent, top of the line PR people working for them. They'll always put out info because they will know how to massage it in their favor. It's always better to get out in front of something than to just sit back and let other people control the story.

Here is an example from 3 Aprils ago

Edit- I googled a couple of random months from earlier in the gen, and I think MS PR actually gave out more info when they were getting their ass kicked by the Wii on a monthly basis.

Feb 2008 All kinds of stuff given out that month.

 

[Metal Gear?!]

I almost want the industry to crash on it's ass at this point. The whole thing is in desperate need of a shake up because everyone is being idiots.

...

Although they have killer software nintendo is getting annoying with their underpowered hardware.

Ummm... you do realize the problem there right?

 

[pulga]

NPD is really shitty now.


So, Kid Ic bombed, huh?

 

[AniHawk]

So, Kid Ic bombed, huh?

it's just a little airborne. it's still good, it's still good!

 

[pulga]

it's just a little airborne. it's still good, it's still good!

GAFs motto is so perfect.

 

[Aaron Strife]

So the best selling game sold less than Kid Icarus? Excellent news.

It's got good word-of-mouth and will probably have some staying power. The numbers so far seem good to me.

 

[boiled goose]

I disagree with this. The name at the start of a game only appeals to the minority of members on NeoGAF. If Naughty Dog had made Uncharted: Golden Abyss, I'm not sure there would be a huge amount of difference in the end results or the sales figures.

It's such a tired argument. There are a lot of people that would argue Resistance Retribution is better than its PS3 counterparts, and I still personally believe God of War: Ghost of Sparta is the best in the series. There's no reason to believe that having the "top tier" developers on those projects would make a difference -- and nor should it.

The problem is more with perception than anything else.

Having said that, I quite like what Evolution Studios did. Obviously the bulk of the studio is working on a new "big budget" project, but a small portion of it was split off to make MotorStorm RC. That seemed to work out really well.

How about this.
sony does not need naughty dog making uncharted for vita.

they need naughty dog devloping something unique and defining for vita.

 

[goomba]

I still don't understand the point of sales charts which keep some results secret.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

I know Sony PR is usually quite desperate, but really Sony? Skype?

Does the Microsoft % include PS3/Wii only or PSVita as well?

 

[SlipperySlope]

So the best selling game sold less than Kid Icarus? Excellent news.

It's got good word-of-mouth and will probably have some staying power. The numbers so far seem good to me.

Uh... what?

 

[gerg]

Uh... what?

I think Aaron Strife may just be having some fun with the comma in the title.

 

[AniHawk]

they need naughty dog devloping something unique and defining for vita.

maybe a video game of some sort.

 

[RukusProvider]

Basically this is the NPD we have to look forward to if Nintendo decides to pull a Sony and not give any numbers out. This is officially the NPD with the least amount of info available.

 

[Celine]

I know Vita is struggling but 55k. Can't be that bad can it?

It can be.

 

[shrimpjive]

actually we dont really know the vitas #s so its safe to assume there probably num 1 or num 2..easy... I would guess..just a guess...there over 250k..if it were low why wouldnt sony say something think about it..

 

[Mpl90]

actually we dont really know the vitas #s so its safe to assume there probably num 1 or num 2..easy... I would guess..just a guess...there over 250k..if it were low why wouldnt sony say something think about it..

?
What are you saying? I'm not understanding it XD

 

[TheUnknownForce]

NPD is really shitty now.


So, Kid Ic bombed, huh?

If it means anything to you, KI was the highest-selling 3DS title for the month of April.

It's ~500-550k WW right now, so I wouldn't call it a bomb. Now Spirit Camera, THAT'S a bomb. 20-30k WW I believe.

Only issue is how much marketing dollars went into it. We have to see how it performs over the next few months to see if it has longer legs. That's Nintendo's aim anyways.

 

[jman2050]

Given how Nintendo games continue selling KI is a virtual lock for 1 mil and possibly beyond.

 

[Diablos54]

actually we dont really know the vitas #s so its safe to assume there probably num 1 or num 2..easy... I would guess..just a guess...there over 250k..if it were low why wouldnt sony say something think about it..

We know the general area of Vita's numbers (100k max), the fact that it's so low is the reason why Sony didn't say anything about it in their PR.

 

[Father_Brain]

We know the general area of Vita's numbers (100k max), the fact that it's so low is the reason why Sony didn't say anything about it in their PR.

To be fair, Sony didn't say anything about Vita's March numbers either, which were only 20K or so shy of its launch numbers and much better than most (including myself) had predicted.

 

[Diablos54]

To be fair, Sony didn't say anything about Vita's March numbers either, which were only 20K or so shy of its launch numbers and much better than most (including myself) had predicted.

Failing to sell more in a month that they could in their first week isn't exactly something you'd want to brag about though, even if it did do better than a lot of us predicted.

 

[Infinite Justice]

Failing to sell more in a month that they could in their first week isn't exactly something you'd want to brag about though, even if it did do better than a lot of us predicted.

But they do this thing to PS3 as well even when it has a respectable number but since they haven't beaten the 360 for that month its waved off.


I think at this point the only way they would actually give numbers is if they get the top spot for one of these months.

 

[Ramblin]

But they do this thing to PS3 as well even when it has a respectable number but since they haven't beaten the 360 for that month its waved off.


I think at this point the only way they would actually give numbers is if they get the top spot for one of these months.

What was the last month Sony had the top home console?

 

[Mooreberg]

The April release list might be the best example yet of how strange publishers have gotten with timing. There are so many logjams around the end of fiscal quarters, and then you get absolute wasteland months where some games could have done much better.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

What a miserable month for the industry.

 

[dreamer3kx]

What a miserable month for the industry.

Yea kind of scary actually.

 

[Penguin]

We know the general area of Vita's numbers (100k max), the fact that it's so low is the reason why Sony didn't say anything about it in their PR.

Actually I believe the ceiling was lowered to 83k max.
Since it sold less than Kid Icarus did

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I disagree with this. The name at the start of a game only appeals to the minority of members on NeoGAF. If Naughty Dog had made Uncharted: Golden Abyss, I'm not sure there would be a huge amount of difference in the end results or the sales figures.

It's such a tired argument. There are a lot of people that would argue Resistance Retribution is better than its PS3 counterparts, and I still personally believe God of War: Ghost of Sparta is the best in the series. There's no reason to believe that having the "top tier" developers on those projects would make a difference -- and nor should it.

The problem is more with perception than anything else.

Having said that, I quite like what Evolution Studios did. Obviously the bulk of the studio is working on a new "big budget" project, but a small portion of it was split off to make MotorStorm RC. That seemed to work out really well.

I couldn't disagree with this more that it wouldn't help. Actually I will say that this is the crux of the very issue why Nintendo handhelds sell easily while the Sony handhelds do not. Yes the problem is perception, but there is a reason why Nintendo doesn't have a problem with that perception while Sony does. The reason why Nintendo IP's on handhelds move the systems unit and not Sony's IPs on their handhelds is because Nintendo has earned the reputation of putting quality entries on the system. Mario Kart on the 3DS isn't a throw away entry, its the next addition hence the 7. Super Mario 3D land is the next big Mario game, even made by the Galaxy team. Nintendogs and Cats? Same thing. And looking at the future this seems to continue. Paper Mario 3DS is made by the team that makes the rest of the series, same thing with Animal Crossing. And honestly this isn't anything new. Nintendo has earned this. With the Nintendo DS they had a true sequel to Super Mario Bros, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, etc. and have been rewarded for it. Hell they even the same thing happened with 3rd parties with games like Dragon Quest and you see the same effect today with Monster Hunter 4 on the platform.

Sony couldn't be any more different. During the PSP years by giving high profile games like God of War, Socom, and the like to 2nd tier (at best) 3rd party developers and while the games were enjoyable they weren't even close to the real thing. People knew this and that's why the games failed to move units because they weren't "the next mainline addition to the franchise" but more so a "spinoff" or "the handheld entry". And the sales reflect this.

So you believe that Ghost of Sparta is the best God of War game. So what? You are in a minority with this. And as someone who has played Ghost of Sparta and III I can't imagine how you could think that. But opinions are opinions, and yours is like I said in the minority. One of the games was a multimillion seller and on the top 5 of GAFs GOTY poll. The other only charted at #4 on the best PSP game of that year. Thats some disparity. "But I know plenty of people who think that the best version of Resistance and Socom are on the PSP!" So what? I know a fair amount of people who believe that Street Fighter EX 3 is the best Street Fighter game or that Metroid Prime Hunters DS is as good as the Gamecube versions (no I'm not making this shit up). You don't think sales will reflect this?

The reason why people don't get amped up to Sony's entries on their handheld is the same reason millions of people didn't flock to buy Resident Evil: Revelations. Because people know, or think they know that the game is the "handheld entry" or the "spin-off". They don't look at Resident Evil: Revelations and think "Oh my God! Its the next Resident Evil game!" they think "Oh they made a Resident Evil game for the 3DS. Cool." Again not the next mainline entry but merely another handheld entry.

And this is the reason why Uncharted won't move Vitas and why when Animal Crossing or New Super Mari Bros. 3DS comes out people will be lining up outside of Gamestop. Because with the Vita versions they aren't the next mainline entries. Not the same developer, not the same budget, not the same attention or care. With the 3DS games its the exact same developer, similar budget, and same attention and care. You may disagree with this, but the general populace does and the purchasing habits reflect this. And until Sony realizes that they need compelling content to sell their system and not just big title games developed by second string developers with the occasional niche game here and there they might as well bow out of the race.

 

[nincompoop]

I couldn't disagree with this more that it wouldn't help. Actually I will say that this is the crux of the very issue why Nintendo handhelds sell easily while the Sony handhelds do not. Yes the problem is perception, but there is a reason why Nintendo doesn't have a problem with that perception while Sony does. The reason why Nintendo IP's on handhelds move the systems unit and not Sony's IPs on their handhelds is because Nintendo has earned the reputation of putting quality entries on the system. Mario Kart on the 3DS isn't a throw away entry, its the next addition hence the 7. Super Mario 3D land is the next big Mario game, even made by the Galaxy team. Nintendogs and Cats? Same thing. And looking at the future this seems to continue. Paper Mario 3DS is made by the team that makes the rest of the series, same thing with Animal Crossing. And honestly this isn't anything new. Nintendo has earned this. With the Nintendo DS they had a true sequel to Super Mario Bros, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, etc. and have been rewarded for it. Hell they even the same thing happened with 3rd parties with games like Dragon Quest and you see the same effect today with Monster Hunter 4 on the platform.

Sony couldn't be any more different. During the PSP years by giving high profile games like God of War, Socom, and the like to 2nd tier (at best) 3rd party developers and while the games were enjoyable they weren't even close to the real thing. People knew this and that's why the games failed to move units because they weren't "the next mainline addition to the franchise" but more so a "spinoff" or "the handheld entry". And the sales reflect this.

So you believe that Ghost of Sparta is the best God of War game. So what? You are in a minority with this. And as someone who has played Ghost of Sparta and III I can't imagine how you could think that. But opinions are opinions, and yours is like I said in the minority. One of the games was a multimillion seller and on the top 5 of GAFs GOTY poll. The other only charted at #4 on the best PSP game of that year. Thats some disparity. "But I know plenty of people who think that the best version of Resistance and Socom are on the PSP!" So what? I know a fair amount of people who believe that Street Fighter EX 3 is the best Street Fighter game or that Metroid Prime Hunters DS is as good as the Gamecube versions (no I'm not making this shit up). You don't think sales will reflect this?

The reason why people don't get amped up to Sony's entries on their handheld is the same reason millions of people didn't flock to buy Resident Evil: Revelations. Because people know, or think they know that the game is the "handheld entry" or the "spin-off". They don't look at Resident Evil: Revelations and think "Oh my God! Its the next Resident Evil game!" they think "Oh they made a Resident Evil game for the 3DS. Cool." Again not the next mainline entry but merely another handheld entry.

And this is the reason why Uncharted won't move Vitas and why when Animal Crossing or New Super Mari Bros. 3DS comes out people will be lining up outside of Gamestop. Because with the Vita versions they aren't the next mainline entries. Not the same developer, not the same budget, not the same attention or care. With the 3DS games its the exact same developer, similar budget, and same attention and care. You may disagree with this, but the general populace does and the purchasing habits reflect this. And until Sony realizes that they need compelling content to sell their system and not just big title games developed by second string developers with the occasional niche game here and there they might as well bow out of the race.

Excellent post. I agree 100%.

 

[Burai]

I couldn't disagree with this more that it wouldn't help. Actually I will say that this is the crux of the very issue why Nintendo handhelds sell easily while the Sony handhelds do not. Yes the problem is perception, but there is a reason why Nintendo doesn't have a problem with that perception while Sony does. The reason why Nintendo IP's on handhelds move the systems unit and not Sony's IPs on their handhelds is because Nintendo has earned the reputation of putting quality entries on the system. Mario Kart on the 3DS isn't a throw away entry, its the next addition hence the 7. Super Mario 3D land is the next big Mario game, even made by the Galaxy team. Nintendogs and Cats? Same thing. And looking at the future this seems to continue. Paper Mario 3DS is made by the team that makes the rest of the series, same thing with Animal Crossing. And honestly this isn't anything new. Nintendo has earned this. With the Nintendo DS they had a true sequel to Super Mario Bros, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, etc. and have been rewarded for it. Hell they even the same thing happened with 3rd parties with games like Dragon Quest and you see the same effect today with Monster Hunter 4 on the platform.

Sony couldn't be any more different. During the PSP years by giving high profile games like God of War, Socom, and the like to 2nd tier (at best) 3rd party developers and while the games were enjoyable they weren't even close to the real thing. People knew this and that's why the games failed to move units because they weren't "the next mainline addition to the franchise" but more so a "spinoff" or "the handheld entry". And the sales reflect this.

So you believe that Ghost of Sparta is the best God of War game. So what? You are in a minority with this. And as someone who has played Ghost of Sparta and III I can't imagine how you could think that. But opinions are opinions, and yours is like I said in the minority. One of the games was a multimillion seller and on the top 5 of GAFs GOTY poll. The other only charted at #4 on the best PSP game of that year. Thats some disparity. "But I know plenty of people who think that the best version of Resistance and Socom are on the PSP!" So what? I know a fair amount of people who believe that Street Fighter EX 3 is the best Street Fighter game or that Metroid Prime Hunters DS is as good as the Gamecube versions (no I'm not making this shit up). You don't think sales will reflect this?

The reason why people don't get amped up to Sony's entries on their handheld is the same reason millions of people didn't flock to buy Resident Evil: Revelations. Because people know, or think they know that the game is the "handheld entry" or the "spin-off". They don't look at Resident Evil: Revelations and think "Oh my God! Its the next Resident Evil game!" they think "Oh they made a Resident Evil game for the 3DS. Cool." Again not the next mainline entry but merely another handheld entry.

And this is the reason why Uncharted won't move Vitas and why when Animal Crossing or New Super Mari Bros. 3DS comes out people will be lining up outside of Gamestop. Because with the Vita versions they aren't the next mainline entries. Not the same developer, not the same budget, not the same attention or care. With the 3DS games its the exact same developer, similar budget, and same attention and care. You may disagree with this, but the general populace does and the purchasing habits reflect this. And until Sony realizes that they need compelling content to sell their system and not just big title games developed by second string developers with the occasional niche game here and there they might as well bow out of the race.

I think you've over thought it. The real problem is that the "mature" audience that buys Sony's flagship IP really don't want a dedicated handheld to go with their PS3. Who really has the time to be playing games at home and then be playing them when they are out too?

Children. Nintendo's target audience.

People's time is finite, especially the audience that Sony target.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I think you've over thought it. The real problem is that the "mature" audience that buys Sony's flagship IP really don't want a dedicated handheld to go with their PS3. Who really has the time to be playing games at home and then be playing them when they are out too?

Children. Nintendo's target audience.

People's time is finite, especially the audience that Sony target.

Why cant it be both? Not everyone who bought 3D Land are just Saturday morning cartoon age children. There are millions of adult nintendo fans.

 

[Ruud_Luiten]

Why cant it be both? Not everyone who bought 3D Land are just Saturday morning cartoon age children. There are millions of adult nintendo fans.

Impossible, nintendo is for kidz11!!!

 

[Infinite Justice]

What was the last month Sony had the top home console?

I have no idea to be honest.