Chobel
Member
He's talking about XB1 sales in 2015, I assume he's projecting that XB1 will do 600K in Jan+Feb+Mar, and BB is behind XB1 in Amazon (Best of 2015). I don't agree with his reasoning though.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
NPD Sales Results for February 2015 [Nintendo Numbers, Majora's, MH4, ~XB1]
- Thread starter vinnygambini
- Start date
He's talking about XB1 sales in 2015, I assume he's projecting that XB1 will do 600K in Jan+Feb+Mar, and BB is behind XB1 in Amazon (Best of 2015). I don't agree with his reasoning though.
theprodigy
Member
wait, we've got people thinking Bloodborne can do 500k+ now? oh boy
SuperSonic1305
Member
I thought the AC bundle was holiday only or did they mean until next Christmas lol
anexanhume
Member
Yes. I think it's fair to say that perhaps Amazon under represents XB1, over represents BB sales, or even both. But over 300k seems like a fair projection to make, even allowing for a lot of slop in those ratios.
Welfare
Member
Oh I thought he was talking about PS4. Didn't realize BB was behind the One.
lol
Over shipments are crazy.
Primethius
Banned
Oh boy indeed. Maybe they meant WW within a week or something.
Nightengale
Member
Bloodborne will do 500k in just UK/JPN/US alone, easily.
Bloodborne is the very definition of niche. It appeals to the hardest of the core gamers, those who enjoy punishing challenge. The fact that most of the active posters on this forum find the game compelling does not make it mainstream.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
Sales determine niche. If people are buying it then it doesn't matter what the gameplay is like.
No, niche is a strategy/marketing term that refers to a specific segment of audience. Targeting at a niche is one of the three generic strategies for success, and that is exactly what Bloodborne is doing: it is targeted at the hardcore gamer niche, it is positioned extremely well and it sells amazingly, because it hits all the right notes.
Niche does not mean poorly selling, it means smartly targeted.
Bloodborne appeals to all those who enjoyed the Souls games that became very known and appreciated thanks to internet and word of mouth. They're not hardcore gamers only.
Sales do not determine a niche either, not completely, because they're influenced by other factors (marketing, reviews, platform, price..). Quantum Theory was the bad copy of Gears of War, it was exactly what people wanted back then, and it still sold like shit.. it doesn't mean it was a niche game.
Minecraft sold millions but it was a niche game back when it released.
You're targeting a niche the moment you release a game that's not what the market is asking for, in my opinion. This applies to different games at different years to different cultures: FPS was a niche genre, now it isn't; platform was not, now it is, same for graphic adventures and so on. Yakuza is niche here, not in Japan, Games with no multiplayer, open world games, all things that matter and I could go on. Bloodborne right now, as well as DS2 was, is very far from this definition of niche. People are asking for this kind of game, there's a big audience out there even if smaller compared to many others. If BB is niche, what about The Wonderful 101? What about a puzzle game, Bayonetta?
You're talking from a marketing point of view, which makes sense, but I never liked that definition because I don't feel it works properly since everything is targeted to a niche at this point, some bigger than others, while what we generally mean for niche is different. I think that when people on the internet say "niche", they're talking about a Disgaea kind of niche, that very specific, small portion of gamers. Or the gamers that buy Nier, or Catherine for example.
BlackBuzzard
Banned
No, what gave you that idea?
Welfare
Member
That's Japan and only Japan.
Everything is more popular than the Wii U.
The Wii U has sold in 4.45 million units in America in two and a half years where as the Xbox One is certainly over 7 million in less than half the time.
Welfare
Member
It's not even at 10 million yet.
Welfare
Member
LiquidSolid
Member
Germany.
That number is debunked further down the page I believe.
As far as I'm aware this is the correct calculation.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=149655638&postcount=33
This is backed up by the Japanese version which confirms the error in that 8.94m should actually be 8.2m
http://www.segasammy.co.jp/japanese/pdf/release/200106281.pdf
It was either 8.2m (annual report) or 8.96m (by adding up previous ARs) by March 2001. The rest were shipped after DC was discontinued at steep discount to clear inventories.
Wii U's slightly ahead of DC worldwide (9.2m in 25 months vs 8.2/8.96m in 28 months).
Wait, seriously? How far away is the Wii U from 10 million? At this rate, it would be extremely lucky to even reach 15 million at the end of its cycle, especially if NX, whatever it is, releases next year.
It's at 9.2m worldwide as of December 31st 2014.
4.45m - America
2.30m - Japan
2.46m - Other
Welfare
Member
Software rankings show it's either equal or XB1 is selling better.
Ah ok.
As of Dec 31, the Wii U is at 9.2m. It'll probably hit 10 million by June.
Jeez, that is horrible. How did Nintendo screw up so bad after the phenomenal Wii? Is lack of third party support the main reason?
How many games are out and will be out from January to June? With the lack of third party games, first party games should play a really important role in sales. And Zelda got pushed to next year, right?
LiquidSolid
Member
That's a mighty long stretch you're taking there.
The last time we got a report on German sales, the Wii U was the second best selling console (albeit distantly), while the Xbone was struggling to outsell the 360.
Welfare
Member
Kirby and Mario Party 10 are already out, with Xenoblade X out in April (JP) and Splatoon in May.
I think that's it.
Weekly sales are different than LTD, and what was the last Wii U German sales update?
The latest numbers we have from Germany are-
PS4 at 1.2m as of November 2014
XB1 at 270,000 as of November 2014
WiU at 350,000 as of August 2014.
I would imagine that as of March the Wii U will still be in the lead but I wouldn't be able to hazard a guess at how big that lead is.
PS4 at 1.2m as of November 2014
XB1 at 270,000 as of November 2014
WiU at 350,000 as of August 2014.
I would imagine that as of March the Wii U will still be in the lead but I wouldn't be able to hazard a guess at how big that lead is.
First half sounds quite good. What about the second half?
Welfare
Member
Mario Maker, Yoshi Wooly World, Star Fox, and Xenoblade X (everywhere else?). Barring E3 announcements, that's also it I think.
Sounds decent on the first party front. But without third party games, the Wii U is not going to see any dramatic increase in sales. I hope Nintendo tries harder next gen.
Nah, it's just that the device was not designed correctly from the beginning. Nintendo had three main advantages with the Wii: for people who wanted to play games, it was the cheapest, it was the most accessible, and it had the widest variety of games. For all but the most "core" of the "core" (and they were going to buy it anyway), Wii was the best option. Given the changing gaming landscape over the last 10 years, all of those advantages are completely gone. Games are now free; Nintendo cannot do better than that. Games are more accessible than ever (they are always with you and are paired with your necessary lifestyle devices); Nintendo cannot do better than that. They do not have a variety advantage; Nintendo has not built an ecosystem to support games like Flappy Bird alongside games like Candy Crush alongside Infinity Blade so they are not present.
There are lots of other contributing reasons. The price is too high, the software selection is weak overall and many acclaimed titles have little mainstream appeal, the design of the thing itself is gimmicky, and the concept is done better by real tablet manufacturers.
I don't think I've ever bought into "PR" as a reason for anything doing badly or doing well, but even if there were counterexamples here and there, generally speaking good PR is not going to move the needle (and bad PR is not going to sink a blockbuster). Wii U was just a failure on every level. It's designed for an audience it can't win. If anything, the sales of the Wii U have been absolutely useful. We now know there are approximately 10 million (max 15 million) diehard Nintendo fans in the world.
edit: Nintendo designing mobile games is a big recognition that they lost their "big 3" advantage but the real test will be what NX looks like. I suspect that Nintendo reversing its fortunes is going to make a lot of people unhappy (and longer term I see absolutely no way they do not shift dramatically with the industry), but I think ultimately nearly every 18-35 year old male is going to be unhappy anyway.
LiquidSolid
Member
XB1 was reported to be at 170k in August 2014 (which was when it was reportedly in less demand than the 360), so it must've received a relatively huge sales boost to get to 270k in just three months.
It's called the holiday season
haha
Also it was 170k as of June, not August. PS4 was 540k as of June.
So PS4 LTD sales jumped jumped by 122% in the last 5 months of 2014, for Xbox One that jump was 59% increase.
By your definition, neither graphic adventures nor platformers are niche either because a good number of people buy Telltale's graphic adventures and Nintendo's platformers. Nintendo systems aren't doing that well, but certainly, Mario is still selling pretty well despite that. In addition, puzzle games aren't niche... They just moved to mobile and became Free with IAPs. The way I see it the Souls games are in this weird state where they certainly would be niche if compared to the games people usually hype up, but unlike say Platinum's games, they end up actually selling to a decent amount of people.
Excellent post. You're right, I forgot the most important reason. Nintendo is still trying to chase the casual gamers who formed a large majority of the Wii owners. Unfortunately for them, those gamers all moved on to smartphones and tablets. I've always seen the Wii U as gimmicky anyway and I have little interest in anything gimmicky in general. But VR is probably the exception because it will offer a whole new level of immersion.
Fatal Frame Wii U, I believe (which I'm really looking forward to)
LiquidSolid
Member
It's called the holiday season
haha
Also it was 170k as of June, not August. PS4 was 540k as of June.
So PS4 LTD sales jumped jumped by 122% in the last 5 months of 2014, for Xbox One that jump was 59% increase.
Boerse were the original source of those numbers and they made no mention of them being from June:
http://www.boerse-online.de/nachric...ieht-in-Deutschland-Xbox-One-davon-1000233529
But yeah, holiday season was a bit of a no-brainer.
Gfk released their June numbers on that day.
170k is as of the end of June 2014.
Please see here- http://www.boerse-online.de/nachric...-der-PS4-Microsofts-Xbox-One-davon-1000231563
Welfare
Member
This Venture Beat article says June.
LiquidSolid
Member
Gfk released their June numbers on that day.
170k is as of the end of June 2014.
Please see here- http://www.boerse-online.de/nachric...-der-PS4-Microsofts-Xbox-One-davon-1000231563
Ah, they had two different articles and the only one linked from GAF in the two threads about German sales last year was the short one. Strange but thanks for that.
They got all their numbers from Boerse anyway. Zhuge's link was the one I wanted.
IndoAssassin
Banned
So WiiU is a niche?
WiiU is poorly positioned.
SnowFlakeCake
Member
That is incredible, how two consoles are pretty much irrelevant in such little time. Going to be interesting to see where the PS4 is at when the XB1 reached 1 million in Germany, could see PS4 at 3 million minimum.
Welfare
Member
Just to make the Wii U look worse, it was out a year longer.