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[Doubledex]

(Finally a thread for it )

 

[DR2K]

noooooo
This is with around 5 days of sales, right? It deserved better, it's really well done.

It came out the 29th. So not that many days. Whereas NG2 on the X360 came out June 3rd.

 

[x Power Pad Death Stomp x]

There are commercials for Ninja Gaiden all over WWE Raw tonight. More than for Borderlands, if that means anything at all.

 

[AniHawk]

(Finally a thread for it )

Guess again.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Hey Anihawk, any hints as to how Dissidia: Final Fantasy performed?

 

[micromagic]

The PS3 did do pretty well but I was expecting bigger numbers really, given all the pro Sony hype on this board and around the office.

ODST sales blew away my expectations, which were around 700k tops given the reputation the game had as being short (even though I enjoyed the hell out of it).

I am dissapointed at the rest of the software sales out there. I expected Batman to be around 500k per sku. Scribblenauts did damn good though!

The average prediction for the PS3 from the NPD predictions thread was 419K so it at least exceeded GAF's expectations.

I think Batman has done pretty well. Around 500k on the PS3 alone in August and September.

 

[Doubledex]

Guess again.

AniHawk can't find the "funny"

 

[EDarkness]

I guess it's not a shock, but Dead Space: Extraction did pretty awful, even given that it came out at the end of the month. It's unfortunate because it was clear there was some genuine effort put into the final product, but EA was either stupid or willfully ignorant if they didn't see this development coming down the pike (and they apparently didn't). Amir0x's view that it's not an inferior product despite neutering half of how you interact with the Dead Space universe (navigation) is just as crazy as Sipowicz's view that the game deserved to go down in flames despite being a thoughtful and polished piece of software. At the same time, Amirox is right that it shouldn't be written off entirely because of it's genre, and Sipowicz is correct to point out that the lack of replayability stemming from the genre is a massive deterrent for those who might have otherwise been interested.

To further address some points that have been made, utilizing the Wii's unique strengths (like IR) doesn't preclude making use of its full functionality. The whole "get an 360" angle is just a bunch dismissive high handed bullshit. They could've made a legitimate full fledged Dead Space game combining the precision of the pointer for aiming and full control over your character's movement on Wii, but they took the easy way out (in relative terms- I'm not suggesting putting out a quality game is easy in and of itself, regardless of genre).

Look at the good will that existed when the game was originally announced, accompanied by cynical yet tongue in cheek comments about it probably being a rail shooter. You don't have to be a marketing whiz to realize the largely untapped "core" audience of the Wii already had a fair degree of resentment based on an obnoxious trend of ports and spin-offs in lieu of fully fleshed out experiences. The wane in interest when the game turned out to actually be a rail shooter was palpable. Anyone could've anticipated (and in fact many did) that the game would have a difficult time drawing interest, especially given people's already existent frustrations concerning spin-offs, and that's to say nothing of the fact that a much more powerful IP has a competing product slated in the same general window. The whole direction Extraction took was just a dumb misfire and missed opportunity on EA's part, and it's all the more disheartening because the game isn't half assed. They really should have known better though. Blaming Wii owners for the game's failure is stupid and tactless.

I don't feel sorry for them at all. When they announced the game, I just knew it wasn't going to be a rail shooter, but in the end, it was. Man, what a let down. Unfortunately for them, I have already purchased a bunch of those kinds of games and I'm totally burned out. I played HotD:O, HotD 2&3, and Umbrella Chronicles to death. Those games are awesome. I'm not saying that Extraction isn't a good game, but it's like music games to me. There are simply too many of them, and I'm enjoying the ones I have. However, a good adventure game is something I can't get on the Wii, that would have made the most sense instead of a lightgun game.

I even get the feeling they knew they were going into bad territory when their initial explanation of the game tried to skirt around the issue that it was a rail shooter. They're smart people, so I assume they know what mistake they made. The real tragedy is that they'll pin this one on the "casual" Wii userbase as they always do. I can't speak for every other Wii user, but that's my reason for not buying the game.

Oh, and one other thing is that I'm really tired of the Wii market as of now. Poor versions, half-assed versions of games, is just getting old. I will pick up NHL 2k10 because they at least tried to make the Wii version decent.

Funny thing...

I went to TGS last month and Ubisoft was showing of their new Avatar game. Game does look cool in motion, but the Wii version was nowhere to be seen. I asked about it, but was told (true or not) that the Wii version wouldn't be releasing in Japan. Man, I just don't understand publishers and developers this generation.

 

[AFreak]

Woo! PS3 back in the saddle.

EDIT: I don't think Forza 3 will claim the top spot in October and most likely won't beat #2s sales. Based on the fact that Number 2 was a bundle(and the same thing happened with Motorstorm 2). But we shall have to wait 30 days to see if I'm right.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

The average prediction for the PS3 from the NPD predictions thread was 419K so it at least exceeded GAF's expectations.

That's just because GAF is full off ADD people who don't understand what 5 weeks means. 420k would have been pathetic. That would mean sales dropped down to something like 40k/week at the end.

 

[Kevtones]

I'm going to be sad if this game bombs(which I suspect it has) because I really enjoyed it and was one of my favorite games this year.

Me too, it's one of the cooler horror games I've played in a long time...

2-3k.

Ah fuck Thanks for the info though.

 

[grandjedi6]

2-3k.

People should just start asking what didn't bomb this month :lol

 

[AniHawk]

Hey Anihawk, any hints as to how Dissidia: Final Fantasy performed?

It was the top selling PSP game of the month.

 

[Regulus Tera]

It was the top selling PSP game of the month.

That's not really reassuring.

 

[Sean]

The average prediction for the PS3 from the NPD predictions thread was 419K so it at least exceeded GAF's expectations.

Every console exceeded GAF's expectations. From the HW prediction thread:

So comparing to GAF expectations....

Console Actual :: Units Compare (Percentage of expectations)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PS2 146.0K :: +36.0k (+32.7% beyond expectations)
PS3 491.8K :: +72.8k (+17.3% beyond expectations)
PSP 190.4K :: +23.4k (+14.0% beyond expectations)
360 352.6K :: +58.6k (+19.9% beyond expectations)
WII 462.8K :: +94.8k (+25.7% beyond expectations)
NDS 524.2K :: +99.8k (+19.0% beyond expectations)

So we can see why people might say PS3 "didn't do as well as they expected" even though EVERY platform did better than expected. From this I think GAF expected more of a dominating performance over the Wii and 360, but the Wii exceeded expectations even more than the PS3 did.

 

[BorkBork]

I asked earlier, but how did Layton do this NPD?

 

[SpacLock]

The PS3 completely redesigned their console and dropped the price, but barely sold shit compared to the the effort.

The 360 had a price drop on their major model + the release of Halo ODST, but sold what the majority of GAF expected. Less than they should have IMO.

The Wii sold a shitload like always even though they didn't release a single good game this month IMO.

as for the handhelds, I really don't give a shit.

What's so exciting about this NPD? Nothing really. Except for ODST selling a shitload for an addon, but that's just the power of the Halo name going to work.

 

[sphinx]

I wonder why people always pay attention to DS software.

It's like DS gamers are told " O.k. so this month you WILL buy Scribblenauts and Mario and Luigi. Next month come again and I'll tell you what you will buy next and you'll do as you are told, even against your will "

I mean scribblenauts looks as crappy as any other awful looking game, yet people give it a chance. I don't have numbers but I don think Super Paper Mario on Wii was as nicely received like M&L3.

Homeconsole games need big IPs, enormous budgets and amazing visuals to have a chance at anything. Yet DS games are always given a chance.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Woo! PS3 back in the saddle.

EDIT: I don't think Forza 3 will claim the top spot in October and most likely won't beat #2s sales. Based on the fact that Number 2 was a bundle(and the same thing happened with Motorstorm 2). But we shall have to wait 30 days to see if I'm right.

NPD doesn't count bundled sales.

 

[boiled goose]

I agree, but the stuff I'm discussing is pretty obvious and almost inarguable.

During the Wii's ascension, the 360 adverblurbs went from "360 sells the most software" to "360 generates the most revenue" to "360 sells the most third party software" to "360 generates the most third party revenue" in fairly short order. The conclusion these very specific wordings suggest is practically inescapable.

Microsoft should be happy they can still cling to that last sales bullet point. It's a testament to their third party relations and the horribly botched Wii third party execution that they can.

I wonder why nintendo doesn't like to tout the third party software line as much. the only time I remember hearing it was after a holiday npd month. I think it was one of the first times wii third party > 360 third party units.

Third party games that make it to top ten or top twenty rarely get mentioned in their reports.

2-3k.

at least better than spyborgs...

I guess mature horror games sell better than Saturday morning cartoon look alike brawlers.. :/

Games bomb because no one gave a shit about them. or knew they existed.

 

[grandjedi6]

I wonder why people always pay attention to DS software.

It's like DS gamers are told " O.k. so this month you WILL buy Scribblenauts and Mario and Luigi. Next month come again and I'll tell you what you will buy next and you'll do as you are told, even against your will "

I mean scribblenauts looks as crappy as any other awful looking game, yet people give it a chance. I don't have numbers but I don think Super Paper Mario on Wii was as nicely received like M&L3.

Homeconsole games need big IPs, enormous budgets and amazing visuals to have a chance at anything. Yet DS games are always given a chance.

:lol Jesus Christ

Where does one even start with an argument like that?

EDIT: Here, let me try anyway:

1.) You're evidently complaining about 2 games you haven't played and making a comparison to a 3rd you haven't played either.
2.) You're implying the M&L3 was well received compared to Super Paper Mario just because its on a handheld and not anything with, you know, its quality.
3.) You're arguing that DS owners are mindless zombies that buy whatever crap are given to them, stating that Scribblenauts and M&L3 of all things are examples of that crap, and then completely ignoring any notion of people's individual desires and gaming tastes
4.) You're flat our arguing that DS games are inheritantly inferior to console games
5.) You're making the logical fallacy that quality = sales
6.) You're arguing that console games need big IPs, enormous budgets and amazing visuals to succeed, which is not only not broadly true, but also could be said the same for handheld games if you wanted to go there.
7.) You're acting as if consumer demand is biased and playing favorites as if they were a critical review or something.

 

[boiled goose]

I wonder why people always pay attention to DS software.

It's like DS gamers are told " O.k. so this month you WILL buy Scribblenauts and Mario and Luigi. Next month come again and I'll tell you what you will buy next and you'll do as you are told, even against your will "

I mean scribblenauts looks as crappy as any other awful looking game, yet people give it a chance. I don't have numbers but I don think Super Paper Mario on Wii was as nicely received like M&L3.

Homeconsole games need big IPs, enormous budgets and amazing visuals to have a chance at anything. Yet DS games are always given a chance.

well, the ds does have a very large userbase. and it is pretty diverse, allowing different kinds of games to succeed.

 

[Flo_Evans]

People are vastly underestimating Forza 3.

The only major sims that have been released on the consoles are GT5P and Forza 2. GT5P isn't even a full game, and Forza 2 disappointed on many levels.

There is a huge amount of pent up demand for a very solid racer, and I'd argue that the poor performance of games like Dirt 2/Shift are because people are waiting for F3. It's like Modern Warfare 2, except for racing games.

And in NA, my prediction is that Lifetime sales of Forza 3 are going to be greater than GT5.

You are on crack. :lol

 

[SpacLock]

You are on crack. :lol

I must be smoking the same crack because I think that's a logical assumption. Either way, I'm done with this thread. Just dropped in for a couple of posts. Love seeing both of the HD consoles doing good.

 

[cw_sasuke]

I wonder why people always pay attention to DS software.

It's like DS gamers are told " O.k. so this month you WILL buy Scribblenauts and Mario and Luigi. Next month come again and I'll tell you what you will buy next and you'll do as you are told, even against your will "

I mean scribblenauts looks as crappy as any other awful looking game, yet people give it a chance. I don't have numbers but I don think Super Paper Mario on Wii was as nicely received like M&L3.

Homeconsole games need big IPs, enormous budgets and amazing visuals to have a chance at anything. Yet DS games are always given a chance.

Scribblenauts isnt a everyday DS Game, its one of the biggest and most hyped Games this year on DS. But yeah it proves that you can make a lot of money on the DS if you have a nice idea, even without spending millions.

 

[Opiate]

I wonder why people always pay attention to DS software.

It's like DS gamers are told " O.k. so this month you WILL buy Scribblenauts and Mario and Luigi. Next month come again and I'll tell you what you will buy next and you'll do as you are told, even against your will "

I mean scribblenauts looks as crappy as any other awful looking game, yet people give it a chance. I don't have numbers but I don think Super Paper Mario on Wii was as nicely received like M&L3.

Homeconsole games need big IPs, enormous budgets and amazing visuals to have a chance at anything. Yet DS games are always given a chance.

I'm... not even sure what you're getting at here.

Are you suggesting that "DS Gamers" follow a herd mentality, buying the next big thing every month? Because that's essentially the opposite of what empirical evidence shows us: DS gamers buy a wide variety of software, and the games tend to have far longer legs than their console bretheren.

Are you suggesting that DS games are bad? Obviously, that's just your opinion, and it could have been more succinctly stated.

Is it some combination of the above? Honest questions here. Your phrasing is very convoluted.

 

[speculawyer]

as for the handhelds, I really don't give a shit.

:lol

Pretty much my sentiments.

 

[speculawyer]

Really happy for scribblenauts,.

I'm really happy for them . .. and Imma let them finish, but . ..

 

[confused]

I must be smoking the same crack because I think that's a logical assumption.

Me too, no way is Forza gonna bomb.

 

[sphinx]

people, don't read more into my post than there is to read.

My point is: People give DS software a chance. In my personal appreciation, that has only happened with the PS2 in this decade.

We have Wii ( 3rd party at least ) games bombing left and right, PSP is abysmal, 360 is o.k. I guess but only if it's high budget/mega-hyped and PS3 pretty much the same.

With the DS, you just do your game, place it properly with some minor ads and put it nicely in the store and odds are in your favor. On any other platform, you are better off not even trying, unless you are Nintendo/Capcom/Square etc.

 

[boiled goose]

people, don't read more into my post than there is to read.

My point is: People give DS software a chance. In my personal appreciation, that has only happened with the PS2 in this decade.

We have Wii ( 3rd party at least ) games bombing left and right, PSP is abysmal, 360 is o.k. I guess but only if it's high budget/mega-hyped and PS3 pretty much the same.

With the DS, you just do your game, place it properly with some minor ads and put it nicely in the store and odds are in your favor. On any other platform, you are better off not even trying, unless you are Nintendo/Capcom/Square etc.

for wii it is not only 3rd party stuff. (excitebots)

Upcoming games will get ignored completely if people are not told they are coming out. Nintendo is really not doing the best job of letting people know what the upcoming releases are. Microsoft has done a very good job with that this gen.

 

[grandjedi6]

people, don't read more into my post than there is to read.

My point is: People give DS software a chance. In my personal appreciation, that has only happened with the PS2 in this decade.

We have Wii ( 3rd party at least ) games bombing left and right, PSP is abysmal, 360 is o.k. I guess but only if it's high budget/mega-hyped and PS3 pretty much the same.

With the DS, you just do your game, place it properly with some minor ads and put it nicely in the store and odds are in your favor. On any other platform, you are better off not even trying, unless you are Nintendo/Capcom/Square etc.

Gee, I wonder why. It surely has nothing to do with both systems being the dominant one in their respective generation's NPD!

Spoiler

Apparently alot of DS games bombed horribly I hear :/

Though that could be said of every console. Its just that no one is bothering to ask about the inevitable DS bombs this month.

 

[Stink]

People are vastly underestimating Forza 3.

The only major sims that have been released on the consoles are GT5P and Forza 2. GT5P isn't even a full game, and Forza 2 disappointed on many levels.

There is a huge amount of pent up demand for a very solid racer

Really? Are you sure the 15million+ people who bought Mario Kart Wii doesn't have something to say about that?

 

[grandjedi6]

Really? Are you sure the 15million+ people who bought Mario Kart Wii doesn't have something to say about that?

Omar Ismail's original argument was pretty lousy, but you do realize that has nothing to do with this topic at all, right? I seriously doubt a Mario themed party-racer on the Wii will effect sales of a simulation racer on the 360 in anyway.

 

[SmokyDave]

Good showing for the PS3!

Summary of the other numbers that have been posted in this thread:

Gran Turismo PSP > 18K
Motorstorm Arctic Edge <3k
Gran Turismo PSN Card Voucher <1k

 

[GC|Simon]

2-3k.

It's such a shame. Cursed Mountain bombed, Dead Space: Extraction bombed. Spyborgs bombed, too - but I think Cursed Mountain and Dead Space are much better than Spyborgs (I haven't played Spyborgs yet, but who want's an brawler?).

No Wii owner should complain in future about the lack of core games expect he owns Cursed Mountain and Dead Space. I'm really pissed right now.

 

[sphinx]

Gee, I wonder why. It surely has nothing to do with both systems being the dominant one in their respective generation's NPD!

well, the GBA, which was the " second place " last generation was perhaps as healthy as the PS2 in the software department. Again, just an impression but the GBA never needed the mega budgets or any amazing product placement strategies to suceed with software. I guess the 360 is kinda like the GBA in this regard but then again, big marketing and hype is needed this time around.

yes there are bombs as well on DS and PS2 but I think you get my point, DS games are properly placed in stores, when a game " looks like fun " regardless of budgets, previews, reviews, boxart, hype/anticipation, people buy it when it is on DS. It happens to me, the DS is the only system I dare buy a game on impulse ( yeah I've been burned but also have found some gems, meaning, I give DS software a chance ).

No way I'll buy a random wii game with the amount of crap and shovelware out there and no way I'll buy a random 59.99 dollar 360 game which might turn to be a 6 hour long so called "online or co-op oriented " game ( meaning single player sucks and gets boring after 40 minutes ).

there is an interesting software selling attritube inherent to the DS I am talking about. Well, it's the software king after all.

 

[legend166]

well, the GBA, which was the " second place " last generation was perhaps as healthy as the PS2 in the software department. Again, just an impression but the GBA never needed the mega budgets or any amazing product placement strategies to suceed with software. I guess the 360 is kinda like the GBA in this regard but then again, big marketing and hype is needed this time around.

yes there are bombs as well on DS and PS2 but I think you get my point, DS games are properly placed in stores, when a game " looks like fun " regardless of budgets, previews, reviews, boxart, hype/anticipation, people buy it when it is on DS. It happens to me, the DS is the only system I dare buy a game on impulse ( yeah I've been burned but also have found some gems, meaning, I give DS software a chance ).

No way I'll buy a random wii game with the amount of crap and shovelware out there and no way I'll buy a random 59.99 dollar 360 game which might turn to be a 6 hour long so called "online or co-op oriented " game ( meaning single player sucks and gets boring after 40 minutes ).

there is an interesting software selling attritube inherent to the DS I am talking about. Well, it's the software king after all.

I really think what you mean is that there's a selling attribute inherent when games only cost $30.

 

[sphinx]

I really think what you mean is that there's a selling attribute inherent when games only cost $30.

Partially.

I remember many new/sealed, good quality, recently launched gamecube (and to some extent xbox) games begging to be bought at $19.99 (bargain bin or not) and people wouldn't give a shit, at all.

 

[Kenka]

Is the information on Creamsugar's twitter reliable ?

 

[Kujo]

Great numbers for PS3 and Wii. PSP Go is $100 too much.

 

[Taurus]

Damn, Sony got PS3 going for this month but completely shot himself in the foot with PSPgo? :lol

 

[AranhaHunter]

There is nothing on that list that was realistically going to sell all that well.

That's not what Reggie said:

We think we [can] win over the Halo audience with something like The Conduit, a multi-player, online, shooting experience, or Dead Space Extraction.

Maaaaaybe. To my knowledge Sony has never directly mentioned any unit sales data for any game outside of FF7 and (obliquely) GT5P. Requests get a pretty strong "no" response, and I bet I'm not the only person who's tried.

Tretton did mention that they had the biggest download volume week during September and his wording suggests that he meant the PSPgo launch week (i.e. GT launch week).

Look, we have no hard data and are basically trying to argue based on circumstantial evidence. I'm trying my best not to act like you're wrong -- because I have no idea. But I will try to say that no one, outside of Sony and its partners, has any idea how well things sold on PSN.

We have no idea, but we should eventually find out GT numbers through PD's site and we should see if the DD volume is high or if it is indeed a bomba, I definitely think the bad reviews and bad word of mouth has hurt it though.

Matter of fact I'm thinking that PSP games will only sell well now in Japan, I'm kinda scared to see what numbers LBP will pull. Maybe PSP games sell well over time in the US, IDK, IIRC the June NPD leak had 10-12 PSP games selling over 20k, so IDK, I think that's just wishful thinking on my part.

It's a legit question to be perfectly honest. Same thing with Bioshock and it will be the same thing going forward until the next generation.

Most (sane) people don't buy year old ports at full price, I bought Bioshock and Oblivion when they hit the low price of 20 bucks and I know a couple of people that bought it at 30, late ports should not be priced higher than 30, but then again if you half ass it like Capcom and Lost Planet 1, then you might as well not even do it.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

Is the information on Creamsugar's twitter reliable ?

has turned out to be accurate in the past and a mod has confirmed

 

[faridmon]

You Wii owners should not be complaining about the reason why there are no Mature games or even games from third parties.

Dead Space Extaction Bombed, Cursed Mountain Bombed and SpyBorg (or whatever they calle it) bombed.

enough excuses,efen if DS:E is an On rail shooter, it is a fantastic game.

screw you Wii owners, next you complain just look at your game library.

 

[Htown]

screw you Wii owners, next you complain just look at your game library.

My Wii game library has about 60 games in it, so screw you.

 

[Mariah Carey]

These are all pretty bleak numbers. I mean it's nowhere near as bad as the record industry but honestly the videogame business looks like it's in shabby shape, honestly.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

These are all pretty bleak numbers. I mean it's nowhere near as bad as the record industry but honestly the videogame business looks like it's in shabby shape, honestly.

4 years in and MS and Sony are still getting $300 for their machines, thats much higher than in past gens

 

[goomba]

Well done PS3.

DS still the real champ though

 

[AFreak]

NPD doesn't count bundled sales.

But that doesn't mean Microsoft doesn't. Also, it is worldwide sales right(that 4 million mark) and doesnt that mean that other things like media create/UK charts count bundles?