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[Four_Chamber]

Vita remains dead as a doornail in the West. 33k in four weeks is abysmally- it is joining the upper echelon of the most poorly received systems on American soil. It may have had some momentum in Japan for a little bit but its free-falling in the US.

360 continues to truck along as the king of the US market. This run of first place sales is really remarkable. With the strong Microsoft earnings report, they really are sitting pretty entering the next generation.

 

[Dragon]

Only system that will ever stand a chance of outselling PS2 is 360 more than likely.

What? I'm assuming you're talking about US only, otherwise you're more insane than Pachter.

 

[kinggroin]

Honestly, I'm okay with this. All I ever want and expect from Nintendo consoles since the N64 is good first-party games. It's all I bought the system for. So, unless they kill the WiiU outright (highly unlikely), there will eventually be more worthwhile Nintendo games and I'll be satisfied. Heck, if they release some kind of DQ/MonHun game in Japan that makes the system sell well over there, then I'd even be fine if they bowed out of retail here and only released games on the eShop in the States. Unlikely I know, but I'm just saying I would be fine with it. (Same with Vita)

Sales-wise, the system's a disaster, though. The WiiU is the Wii all over again but this time the gimmick fell flat and there is no casual audience to prop up the system. The only thing left is a handful of families and diehard Nintendo fans.

So not the wii all over again.

 

[ascii42]

Well in the USA:

2007:
PS2 - 3.97 million units
PS3 - 2.56 million units

2008:
PS3 - 3.55 million units
PS2 - 2.50 million units

2009:
PS3 - 4.33 million units
PS2 - 1.80 million units

2010:
PS3 - 4.33 million units
PS2 - >261,800 units


Around ~7.5 million units in the USA since the PS3 launched.

~8.5 million by my count, plus whatever the PS2 sold during the 2006 Holidays.

 

[MeBecomingI]

Those Vita numbers are terribad and incredibly depressing. Absolutely shocking numbers and yet Sony continues to do nothing. I really wonder how long Sony will continue to keep it alive before pulling the plug. It just can't capture attention and I'm not sure it will be able too. It is competing against so much, from the 3DS to the Galaxy S4. It can't make a name. I doubt there will be much push for the machine even when the PS4 comes out so unless Sony surprises everyone with huge, exclusive games from big name franchises at E3, a massive price cut (with memory card included with the machine) and a huge disruptive marketing campaign, I doubt it will survive much longer.

The 360 is a beast and the U.S is just eating it up. They are going to have a pretty easy time selling the next Xbox in the U.S.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

What? I'm assuming you're talking about US only, otherwise you're more insane than Pachter.

...this is an NPD thread.

 

[Dragon]

...this is an NPD thread.

Is it? I thought it was a thread to say crazy things and then run away.

 

[donny2112]

See the inflation-adjusted figures:

No one bought their consoles at launch based on inflation-adjusted figures. Inflation-adjusted numbers are a mildly interesting discussion point, but it does not have any particular effect on sales at the time.

Nintendo launched a console at $200 from NES to GameCube, went to $250 with Wii and a pack-in (and got lucky), and then jumped the shark going to $350 (Basic may as well not even exist for most), in my opinion.

So are you saying the U.S. market is more price sensitive than other markets or that any sustained bump needs both a price cut and influx of appealing software?

Most price sensitive? I'd say, yes. Definitely moreso than Japan. Don't really know about Europe. On the sustained bump, you don't need a sudden influx of appealing software for a price drop to cause a prolonged increase if you already have a large back catalog of appealing software readily available. Adding appealing software with a price drop on top of an already large back catalog of readily available appealing software would seem to be a real recipe for sustained sales, though.

 

[kobashi100]

In all honesty, would a Vita price drop actually make a big difference right now?

 

[ascii42]

In all honesty, would a Vita price drop actually make a big difference right now?

Couldn't hurt. It's not like Sony would lose much money doing it, at the current rate.

 

[gcubed]

In all honesty, would a Vita price drop actually make a big difference right now?

needs games and a steady release of them

 

[yon61]

Vita remains dead as a doornail in the West. 33k in four weeks is abysmally- it is joining the upper echelon of the most poorly received systems on American soil. It may have had some momentum in Japan for a little bit but its free-falling in the US.

360 continues to truck along as the king of the US market. This run of first place sales is really remarkable. With the strong Microsoft earnings report, they really are sitting pretty entering the next generation.

It's 33k in five weeks actually which is even worse.

 

[Messofanego]

Update: Number one game BioShock Infinite sold 878,000 units on home consoles during the month, according to data supplied by Cowen and Company. The analysts now expect the game to be on track to sell 4.5 million units (including PC sales) for its first year on sale.

So it'll be Year 2 when Bioshock Infinite gets to break even?

 

[SmokyDave]

In all honesty, would a Vita price drop actually make a big difference right now?

Not in a good way, no. Best left until the week before Killzone drops. It still won't make a big difference, but at least it's better than no difference at all.

The biggest reform they could make would be to sort out the memory situation.

 

[Four_Chamber]

It's 33k in five weeks actually which is even worse.

Damn, all 6K a week of those Americans that are plopping down $ for the Vita are fighting a brave fight. I've purchased things happily that were utter failures here (Dreamcast, Game Gear, etc) so its a strange feeling watching the Vita die a prolonged death here. A price drop isn't going to change much honestly. Unless this hail mary of Remote Play takes off, the Vita is going to quietly slip away into oblivion in the near future.

 

[Aquamarine]

~8.5 million by my count, plus whatever the PS2 sold during the 2006 Holidays.

7.5 was a typo. I meant 8.5.

No one bought their consoles at launch based on inflation-adjusted figures. Inflation-adjusted numbers are a mildly interesting discussion point, but it does not have any particular effect on sales at the time.

Nintendo launched a console at $200 from NES to GameCube, went to $250 with Wii and a pack-in (and got lucky), and then jumped the shark going to $350 (Basic may as well not even exist for most), in my opinion.

I'm just interested in the degree to which consumer perceptions of price points adapt over time. That is, how $200 was viewed in 1996 vs. how $200 was perceived in 2013. Are you implying that consumer perception has retained relatively constant?

the only thing i could find was 50m, i'm sure people here have much more definitive numbers

45.7 million as of March 2010 is what I have, but I should probably double check to make sure various figures are accurate.

 

[Celine]

This chart is in accordance with our NPD leaks.

The real question is if this data was sourced independently or if they just got it from GAF.

He is a gaffer.

 

[gcubed]

7.5 was a typo. I meant 8.5.



I'm just interested in the degree to which consumer perceptions of price points adapt over time. That is, how $200 was viewed in 1996 vs. how $200 was perceived in 2013. Are you implying that consumer perception has retained relatively constant?



45.7 million as of March 2010 is what I have, but I should probably double check to make sure various figures are accurate.

yeah, that number was north america, saw the US breakdown and your number is better

 

[bigtroyjon]

In all honesty, would a Vita price drop actually make a big difference right now?

I don't think it would make any difference aside from an initial surge in sales in the price cut month. We aren't talking about below average or merely bad sales, the platform is dead in the US.

 

[ascii42]

45.7 million as of March 2010 is what I have, but I should probably double check to make sure various figures are accurate.

Difference could be US vs. North America as a whole. When was the last time Sony released shipment figures for the PS2 for North America/US? I think we can assume pretty much all shipped PS2s have sold at this point.

 

[theviolenthero]

In all honesty, would a Vita price drop actually make a big difference right now?

The system is on sale for $200 damn near every week, so i don't think price is the issue right now.

 

[Plinko]

Does anybody think that it would be in Sony's best interest to quit the handheld industry and put their full effort to consoles and in Nintendo's best interest to quit the console industry and put their full effort into handhelds?

 

[ascii42]

Does anybody think that it would be in Sony's best interest to quit the handheld industry and put their full effort to consoles and in Nintendo's best interest to quit the console industry and put their full effort into handhelds?

Maybe Sony and Nintendo should work together...again.

 

[Celine]

Does anybody think that it would be in Sony's best interest to quit the handheld industry and put their full effort to consoles and in Nintendo's best interest to quit the console industry and put their full effort into handhelds?

Not me, at least for Nintendo.

 

[liger05]

The Vita situation is so strange. I never thought it be #1 but in no way would I of thought it would be tracking so low. I don't think anyone did?

How can a device that was so well received when it was revealed end up like it has done. I know Sony are always quiet regarding the vita performance but they must be baffled.

33K in a 5 week month is beyond disaster. How do you turn that around?

 

[Tallshortman]

Thought it was closer than that. Well, by the end of the year it should be within 10 million. What did the PS2 wind up selling after the PS3 launch in the US? I know worldwide roughly 50% of the PS2's sales came after PS3's launch, but there were probably a lot of developing countries involved in that.

A lot of those post-PS3 PS2 sales were from poorer nations where Sony has a large advantage over MS in terms of distribution as well as significant sales in Japan where 360 has been dead in the water for a while. Also I'm fairly sure not even close to 50% of PS2 sales were post 2006.

EDIT: Yep 9 million in US post PS3 launch and the system sold over 50mil total here so yeah that would be a pipe dream.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Although 2013 is the first Year of Luigi, it may be the last year of Iwata.

Stone. cold.

 

[Rocky]

The Vita situation is so strange. I never thought it be #1 but in no way would I of thought it would be tracking so low. I don't think anyone did?

How can a device that was so well received when it was revealed end up like it has done. I know Sony are always quiet regarding the vita performance but they must be baffled.

It really is sad. Its a great handheld and I love it. I think its one of the nicest handhelds I have ever had. But it really looks like Sony is doing nothing to improve it's sales. They don't even seem to want to make current owners happy. I'm still waiting to be able to play Crash Bandicoot on my Vita. Apparently every other region is able to except NA.

 

[ASIS]

Maybe Sony and Nintendo should work together...again.

That's the only way.

 

[The Horror the horror]

The Vita situation is so strange. I never thought it be #1 but in no way would I of thought it would be tracking so low. I don't think anyone did?

How can a device that was so well received when it was revealed end up like it has done. I know Sony are always quiet regarding the vita performance but they must be baffled.

33K in a 5 week month is beyond disaster. How do you turn that around?

Western publishers don't believe in handhelds. Well, except for the ones making games on iOS, but their games are better received on Smart Phones than the Vita which is understandable -- no one is going to buy a Vita to pay cheap games when their phones can already do that. As for Japanese publishers, they're funneling their resources into the 3DS.

The Vita is really stuck.

 

[Celine]

The Vita situation is so strange. I never thought it be #1 but in no way would I of thought it would be tracking so low. I don't think anyone did?

How can a device that was so well received when it was revealed end up like it has done. I know Sony are always quiet regarding the vita performance but they must be baffled.

It's a Sony system without a relevant third-party support, it's fated to go down.
Sony offerings aren't even as good as what they would if they were for an home system.

Combine that with high competition with Nintendo and smartphones and you get the 6K per week average.

 

[fluffydelusions]

Western publishers don't believe in handhelds. Well, except for the ones making games on iOS, but their games are better received on Smart Phones than the Vita which is understandable -- no one is going to buy a Vita to pay cheap games when their phones can already do that. As far Japanese publishers, they're funneling their resources into the 3DS.

The Vita is really stuck.

It also doesn't help that the memory card prices are ridiculous. P.S I was there day 1 for the PSV...even got the 3g model

 

[liger05]

Western publishers don't believe in handhelds. Well, except for the ones making games on iOS, but their games are better received on Smart Phones than the Vita which is understandable -- no one is going to buy a Vita to pay cheap games when their phones can already do that. As far Japanese publishers, they're funneling their resources into the 3DS.

The Vita is really stuck.

Yes Western publishers dont believe in handhelds and didnt even care much during the DS beastmode but for some reason people seemed to think just cos the Vita was a powerful machine western publishers would somehow jump on board.

 

[ascii42]

A lot of those post-PS3 PS2 sales were from poorer nations where Sony has a large advantage over MS in terms of distribution as well as significant sales in Japan where 360 has been dead in the water for a while. Also I'm fairly sure not even close to 50% of PS2 sales were post 2006.

PS2 is over 150 million now, and searching for "PS2 100 million" on Google gets me a bunch of articles from Nov 2005, which was probably shipped. So probably around 33% worldwide, and 20% in North America came after PS3 launch, actually.

Don't know what I was thinking, perhaps that PS2 sales increased by 50%.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Part of the issue with the Vita is that a lot of the PSP's biggest backers weren't there for it. PSP promised a Final Fantasy VII prequel with high production values, a new Kingdom Hearts game with high production values, a new console-quality exclusive GTA, etc. Capcom got behind the system with a number of ports and remakes that indicated they wanted to be on that system.

The Vita needed to shore up those announced games as a launching pad, even if they weren't coming out anywhere near launch.

Though things are kind of bad if we're talking about western PSP sales wistfully, but it'd be better than what's happening there now.

 

[gigantor21]

The Vita situation is so strange. I never thought it be #1 but in no way would I of thought it would be tracking so low. I don't think anyone did?

How can a device that was so well received when it was revealed end up like it has done. I know Sony are always quiet regarding the vita performance but they must be baffled.

33K in a 5 week month is beyond disaster. How do you turn that around?

It took a big price-cut and Ambassador program along side several key releases to get the 3DS back on it's feet. And that started after what? 5 months or something? On the successor to the monstrous DS, no less.

Sony can't do anything in the West in the near term. Hell, their options for the rest of the year seem pretty slim, unless they're willing to sell the system and the memory at a massive loss. And even that can only do so much without a sterling software line-up.

 

[DR2K]

Vita needs a price shake up, software and hardware prices are not consumer friendly. 1st party software is non existent, at least assure buyers things like Gran Turismo, GoW, and a steady stream of new ips agree coming like Nintendo with WiiU.

 

[gigantor21]

Vita needs a price shake up, software and hardware prices are not consumer friendly. 1st party software is non existent, at least assure buyers things like Gran Turismo, GoW, and a steady stream of new ips agree coming like Nintendo with WiiU.

That this wasn't a given from the start is still baffling to me. You'd have thought these would be announced and on their way by now, if not already out.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Duder you're just being delusional for the sake for being delusional. Saying MH4 will beat Deep Down in US just seals it. I wonder how you'll be arguing next month if SS manages to make the same numbers as MH3G on the 3DS and how it's an awful result. (now mind you there's a 90% chance it won't sell as much).

Seals what? Both Tri and MH3G outsold Dragon's Dogma in the US, how is it delusional to say that might happen again with their sequels?

If Soulsac (or any Vita game really) did over 100k it's first month I wouldn't be downplaying it. No one would, it'd be a legit miracle. Smokeydave would totally lose it, celebrations all around.

And again, explain to me how 3U matching Tri sales with no promotion is a bad sign for 4's localization prospects? Capcom being happy with western Tri sales I might add too, how are they going to respond worse this time? Are they delusional too?

Do you have the updated MH numbers from NPD? Can you share them?

All I know is "over 400k" which Harker mentioned last year.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Just re-launch the Wii-U, Nintendo.

Sega did it successfully with the Mega Drive 2
Sony did it successfully with the Slim

You can do it with the Wii U, just make sure it launches in conjunction with a killer game, and I don't mean fucking Pikmin 3 either.

I don't understand this concept of relaunching, and how that's perceived to have this magical effect to turn things around as if consumers are oblivious to the fact that it's a repackaged dud.

The examples you gave were of two wildly successful systems. By the same token you can look at the revamped Atari Lynx which launched with an exclusive Batman game that sank like a rock. Or how about the 3DO and it's slicker revamps that failed to do anything? Consumers aren't as dumb as gamers think.

Price cuts and more Nintendo games will help the U's dim future, but it's never going to be a serious challenger this generation. Hopefully this reality check will wake Nintendo up to the fact that they don't have the "Midas touch", and actual effort needs to be put forth in future system launches.

 

[Dr. Zoidberg]

So not the wii all over again.

As a PRODUCT, Wii U IS the Wii all over again. An underpowered system that relies on a gimmick to attract attention. It's the exact same philosophy as last time. Unfortunately for Nintendo, if the gimmick fails to impress you have nothing to fall back on except good exclusive games and Wii U doesn't have enough of those to matter at this point.

What makes matters worse is that the gimmick in this case adds substantially to the cost of the system, so you can't even take advantage of your low specs to undercut the pricing of your competition. The gimmick was a terrible idea this time. It was obviously targeted at the Japanese market where the use-case makes sense, and it's not surprising looking at Nintendo's history that they would do this to the detriment of other markets.

 

[MikeE21286]

For those asking for a relaunch...

Does a proposed relaunch include the Gamepad?

If so, seems a wasted effort.

 

[Father_Brain]

Part of the issue with the Vita is that a lot of the PSP's biggest backers weren't there for it. PSP promised a Final Fantasy VII prequel with high production values, a new Kingdom Hearts game with high production values, a new console-quality exclusive GTA, etc. Capcom got behind the system with a number of ports and remakes that indicated they wanted to be on that system.

The Vita needed to shore up those announced games as a launching pad, even if they weren't coming out anywhere near launch.

Though things are kind of bad if we're talking about western PSP sales wistfully, but it'd be better than what's happening there now.

On the hardware level alone, Vita is in a no-man's land when it comes to AAA development: it's close enough to HD consoles that most third parties can't justify the costs of making exclusive games that take full advantage of the hardware, yet not close enough to easily handle ports from those platforms.

That wouldn't be an insurmountable problem given more favorable market conditions, but given the actual conditions (3DS as presumed dedicated handheld victor before Vita launched, Western disinterest in dedicated handhelds, several years of poor to terrible PSP sales in the West prior to Vita launch, the apparent disappearance of the PSP-era Dudebros on the Go market), it's not hard to see why things played out as they have.

Vita needs a price shake up, software and hardware prices are not consumer friendly. 1st party software is non existent, at least assure buyers things like Gran Turismo, GoW, and a steady stream of new ips agree coming like Nintendo with WiiU.

In the current market, I doubt that GoW Vita would sell significantly better than Uncharted, which as of last December, had failed to break 300K retail in the US after over ten months on sale.

In the West, I'd guess that GT would sell around 1/4 of what GT PSP did in those regions (~865K combined).

 

[The Horror the horror]

I don't understand this concept of relaunching, and how that's perceived to have this magical effect to turn things around as if consumers are oblivious to the fact that it's a repackaged dud.

The examples you gave were of two wildly successful systems. By the same token you can look at the revamped Atari Lynx which launched with an exclusive Batman game that sank like a rock. Or how about the 3DO and it's slicker revamps that failed to do anything? Consumers aren't as dumb as gamers think.

Price cuts and more Nintendo games will help the U's dim future, but it's never going to be a serious challenger this generation. Hopefully this reality check will wake Nintendo up to the fact that they don't have the "Midas touch", and actual effort needs to be put forth in future system launches.

Those two systems never had the sort of killer apps Nintendo has to accompany and support a system relaunch.

I will agree, however, that a simple transformation of the Wii U's design and marketing image is not enough. In addition to those, it needs to be relaunched with a killer app (Mario Kart or Smash Brothers would suffice), a more attractive price, a much improved account system, a flood of VC games (no more arbitrary piecemeal BS), and perhaps some enhancements made to its hardware property to satisfy SOME third party publishers, which would mean Nintendo's bottom line taking a hit, but in the long run they should stand to profit.

 

[michaelius]

In the current market, I doubt that GoW Vita would sell significantly better than Uncharted, which as of last December, had failed to break 300K retail in the US after over ten months on sale.

???

Creamsugar had UGA above 300k when he posted best selling Vita games few months ago. And having game on PSN+ since September sure is helping to sell retail copies

 

[UberTag]

The Vita can be easily salvaged in Japan. That's a market that can easily support two portables.

Not sure what else can really be done for North America apart from the massive indie push Sony is currently on.

They should also be more steadfast about courting iOS developers to bring their top properties over to the system.

Candy Crush Saga, Infinity Blade II, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Ridiculous Fishing, Year Walk, Magicka, The World Ends With You: Solo Remix, Bastion, MTG: Duels of the Planeswalkers, Game Dev Story, X-COM... whatever is hot, whatever reviews well, whatever has decent graphic IP, whatever builds a following... make a play for it. The worse that can happen is a developer says no... but the Vita faithful appear to be buying a LOT on the digital store.

Nobody is going to break the bank on AAA development for the system until its install base grows (if then) but you can definitely open the port floodgates for any and all parties.

 

[royalan]

Wait, I'm confused by the OP this month.

Just how bad are the numbers for Wii U for March?

 

[jmdajr]

When did Gears come out? Not even a million?

 

[John Harker]

woa at the fall of Dead Space and Metal Gear. Neither even appear once on the top 10 xbox or ps3 sku. Even Defiance managed to do that.

 

[Aquamarine]

Wait, I'm confused by the OP this month.

Just how bad are the numbers for Wii U for March?

Thank you!

360 - 261K
3DS - 230K
PS3 - 211K
Wii - 91K
NDS - 86K
Wii U - 67K
PSV - 33K
PSP - 8K

NDS, PSV, and PSP are calculated.

^ These are what we're using at the moment.

They're a combination of leaked numbers, PR numbers, and deductive math.