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NPD January 2012 Sales Results [Up2: MW3 Sales, (Down ~50% Over BLOPS, But Still #1)]
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
No, it wouldn't. It's simply put a gamer's pick. An extensive gaming library accompanied by a first-rate online service.
I'm pretty sure it's because the 360 is the "That's where my friends are playing" box and the "Call of duty" box.
Edit: Don't take my comment as saying the 360 does not have quality titles, of course it does, every console does.
You seem to have no knowledge at all about the popularity of Call of Duty on PlayStation.
Monthly NPD press releases are getting to be pretty useless... It was bad enough when we got combined SKUs and incomplete numbers for the top 10. Now we are receiving next to know numbers.
Do we know whether MW3 is still ahead of BLOPS after 3 months? Any rough idea of what Skyrim is sitting at LTD?
Do we know whether MW3 is still ahead of BLOPS after 3 months? Any rough idea of what Skyrim is sitting at LTD?
So you're saying the first thing most gamers think when someone says Call of Duty is "playstation"? Xbox is definitely the home of COD. COD is sold and bought on any hardware possible but its legs are with Xbox. It's like thinking MGS = Xbox.
I'm pretty sure the top 3 best selling games on the PS3 in the US LTD are Call of Duty titles. The games sell better on the 360, but that is partially due to the fact that there are a lot more 360 owners in the US.
Petrae
Member
Greater than 4MM combined.
Petrae
Member
That's a correct assumption. It's not uncommon for sales to drop off pretty dramatically from December to January, and combined with a lack of new software (yes, I sound like a broken record) to drive consumers to retail... it's a recipe for disappointment.
Not precisely. Call of Duty is by far the most prominent and passively played series on PS this generation. It's bigger on the 360, sure, but that doesn't signify that PS3 gamers aren't playing CoD.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
There's a name for a giant drop after December: January. For reference, DS's December->January drops:
-80%
-85%
-85%
-90%
-83%
-87%
And I'm lacking last year's numbers.
-80%
-85%
-85%
-90%
-83%
-87%
And I'm lacking last year's numbers.
Only in the U.S.? That's quite remarkable.
Microsoft has done a fantastic job of leveling the playing field with the playstation brand this generation (remember at the start of this generation resident evil, grand theft auto, devil may cry, tekken, final fantasy, and metal gear solid were all Playstation exclusives) and was able to offer an afordable next gen experience when Sony launched at $599 with an uninspiring software library.
So it got a head start. Then because of Live, sales may well have become self-perpetuating, but Microsoft had to do something right to get into that position in the first place.
Petrae
Member
Indeed.
While MW3 combined outsold Skyrim combined last month, individual SKU sales were a different story. Both still bowed to Just Dance 3 on the Wii, though, which is still selling quite well.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
It's cheaper, it had a head start, multiplat ports tend to be equal or favor the 360, and MS has made online gaming a priority this gen since day one. Paying for XBL should be a huge factor but people aren't good with adding up the cost of future scheduled payments.
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Also, while Microsoft ended up breaking the Sony lock on so many former Playstation exclusives, they in turn sustained the brand popularity of their exclusive Halo franchise, and succeeded in establishing Gears of War as a new exclusive series. Yes, Gears supposedly isn't literally exclusive, but it may as well have been this gen.
Meanwhile, Sony ended up with Gran Turismo delayed for years, and arguably failed to establish significant popularity of new exclusives like Resistance and Killzone. Uncharted has been their biggest success with fresh exclusive IP this gen, I think?
People like to blame XBL's popularity on people being too dumb to realize they're paying for it. But XBL actually was a more feature packed service from day one, that Sony was stuck playing constant catch up to. XBL enjoyed a lot of deserved hype for being the best online service.
Moving forward, MS does need to stay ahead of the curve, I think, and offer yet more value for the fee. Cloud storage a big one, so that's good.
NemesisPrime
Banned
It is the gamers console. Nuff said.
TBH I find it weird that Europeans (and I am one) still cling to the PS3.
CadetMahoney
Member
Amazing when you think about it.
Cool Escalator
Banned
I think the fact that PS3 > Wii should be in the OP somewhere.
Just one question:
About "49% of total" mentioned in Microsoft PR, can you confirm they meant consoles (and not the total spent on 360 platform)?
Petrae
Member
Extrapolation of unit sales based on that 51% number would be wrong. PS3 & Wii accounted for more than 340K combined. Unfortunately, that's as specific as I can be.
Sho_Nuff82
Member
NPD is full of shit, it's got to be listed by units or revenue.
They raise prices again I'll stick to xbla and waiting for games to hit between $20 and $40 like I have been already. No reason to pay full price at all this late in the game. I haven't bought saints row 3 yet for this reason. It's been what 6 months? And it's still $60? F that.
Saints Row has been on sale for $30-40 multiple times already. If you don't check sales that's your fault. And Saints Row came out in November.
It's puzzling how the Wii has tumbled.
frankie_baby
Member
Do we actually know that's the case? Or did I miss something other than a random blog?
walking fiend
Member
dunno about PC (neither retail nor steam); but it sold roughly 11.5m in the last year on HD consoles(US)
missed something; seems PS3 has only dropped 28% YoY
pieatorium
Member
Um everyone knows this? Like you showed it happens every year. Now can you tell us what's the name for 34% drop yoy?
If the 28% drop is true, that puts the PS3 around 192k (267k on Jan/2011).
Which added to the aprox. 340k units combined (between PS3 and Wii), then that puts the Wii at around 148k (did 319k on Jan/2011).
So, the overall aprox. numbers are something like:
360: 270k (confirmed)
PS3: 192k (28% drop from same month last year)
3DS: 150k (Nintendo info saying that it's at "more than 4.25 million", last month was at "more than 4.1 million")
Wii: 148k (over 340k [PS3+Wii] - over 192k [PS3] = over 148k])
With 3DS and Wii probably alternating positions and give or take few extra thousands.
Which added to the aprox. 340k units combined (between PS3 and Wii), then that puts the Wii at around 148k (did 319k on Jan/2011).
So, the overall aprox. numbers are something like:
360: 270k (confirmed)
PS3: 192k (28% drop from same month last year)
3DS: 150k (Nintendo info saying that it's at "more than 4.25 million", last month was at "more than 4.1 million")
Wii: 148k (over 340k [PS3+Wii] - over 192k [PS3] = over 148k])
With 3DS and Wii probably alternating positions and give or take few extra thousands.
frankie_baby
Member
Yeah but I thought the 28% came from the random blog
walking fiend
Member
how did you get 340K?
maybe I am wrong, but shouldn't PS3+Wii be ~270K?
well, yes, but he turned out to be a gaffer and seems he said they are the real numbers; I think in few pages ago he posted
Petrae
Member
Pretty much, except for 3DS, which is a bit underdone.
walking fiend
Member
haha, thx; think he is the owner of the blog ...
edit, eh just saw his below...
edit, lol, I mean above (was below when was writing...)
RIP gaming
walking fiend
Member
I guess it's only Nintendo underperforming; PS3 + 360 are doing quite good considering they are in their 6th and 7th year.
Petrae
Member
That's a grave overreaction for one month. Before we start digging the grave, it's important that we see what February brings. There are new software releases (including SoulCalibur V and Final Fantasy XIII-2, which will be counted for February) and we have the Vita wild card.
Let's give it the rest of Q1 and monitor trends first. If we keep seeing such severe double-digit declines, then we can talk about price cuts, new platforms, or... "RIP gaming", as you stated.
More interesting then.
Some slow months ahead, but no biggie.Wii at over 50% over last year, while low...is expected. And goes around the expectations of it probably ending with 50% decline from 2011 -worldwide-; which is around 5 million or so for the entire 2012.
Still, that puts the Wii ending 2012 with 100 million units worldwide; which is not bad at all.
You for got your signature "DCX"..
But, no biggie. January is usually slow even more after such big numbers a month prior.
Just wondering, where did the 4.1 number come from? I heard it mentioned somewhere else too, but Nintendo's PR only said "more than 4 million"
opticalmace
Member
Don't know about others but I bought it because of the exclusives and the low price. I don't subscribe to XBL and couldn't care less.
pieatorium
Member
December was down considerably yoy aswell, numbers not such as big as previously.
Petrae
Member
The Wii factor cannot be overstated. Those comparisons drag down the rest of the market. Console units sales were down overall in 2011 versus 2010, but up for PS3 and Xbox 360. That's an important point of reference.
Yes, everyone was down in December 2011 versus 2010, but the drops were more pronounced because Wii had reached mass market saturation. Even if Nintendo were to cut the price of the Wii to $100 (which I can see as a possibility), how many are really going to buy? It's not like the PS2 and its DVD functionality, where buying a second unit for a different room of the house added some purpose. True, the Wii has Netflix, but then you have to factor in the internet connectivity variable.
January did present bigger drops than anyone anticipated. I stand by my assertion that it's at least in part due to a lack of new software releases to get consumers interested and buying.
frankie_baby
Member
If Wii is cut swiftly to 99 dollars I could see it doing very well this year unfortunately I don't think it'll be cut til April, I wouldn't actually be surprised if that cut was planned for xmas just gone but had to be shelved cos of the 3ds cut
Petrae
Member
April or May makes sense. We saw last year's drop announced in early May, as a point of reference.
I'd like to see more games get the Wii Select budget treatment. Get lower-priced software into the channel, mix it up with a couple of new releases, and see how that affects hardware sales.
This, also I've never payed more than 25$ for live.
MS points being on sale constantly saved me more than I spent on live since XBLA is my favorite platform for exclusives this generation (even more so if you don't count PC ports that came 3-6 months later).
The xbla lineup, the controller (enormous factor for me), and consistency of live (despite being called a liar in multiple threads me and many other people have had issues downloading large files on psn) all matter a ton to me.
BenjaminBirdie
Banned
Check out comics for a fun sneak peek!
Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
I forgot this too. One year, I got a 12 month gold card for $15 bucks, WOO.
Never paid full price for a subscription either. Almost every person I know who uses XBL gold gets discounted 12 month cards from retailers like Amazon during the very frequent sales.
Meanwhile, on the subject of next gen prices... publishers have grumbled about games being too cheap already, in part to try and help justify subscription services like COD Elite. I feel it's mostly just marketing diversion than indication of a serious plan to charge $70 as the new base price for software.
But, I do have a bad feeling that we could see a stealth price raise for big releases in the form of the "special" edition having more and more of what should be the base content of the game for $69.95. The $59.95 "standard" edition would become more and more gimped.
Hell, we've already seen that this gen. Several key titles have more or less had an unreasonable amount of basic content locked to a special edition. Dragon Age II comes to mind.
On the other hand, the "season pass" concept could become more the standard. FYI, I'm not sure that would be a bad thing. Generally, it guarantees you're paying for content that hasn't been created yet. It also offers a roadmap of how the game will be supported after launch. And a few of the season passes this gen have been pretty good deals for the amount of content you get over time.