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NPD Sales Results for March 2014 [Up4: FFX/X-2 HD]

Saganator

Member

The Costco I shop at has had a full pallet of Xbones on the floor for over a month. I asked one the dude's there and he said there are piles of them in the back area, over 100 on had for over a month and the guy said they move maybe 1 a day. Seems like Costco got boned by all the other retailer's price drops. Costco sells Xbone for $479 since launch with nothing else bundled.
 

Kiote

Member
a_560x375.jpg


Nice, here come the juniors to call into questions NPD and to unskewer the data for us. There's still a chance for XB1 in Ohio, do not call it!

Not calling in to question anything. NPD is a perfectly valid metric for comparison, but, by their own admission, their numbers do not represent actual total sales of these consoles because they do not have access to the point of sale data for all retailers. It's not like XB1 magically sold an extra 60k units at smaller retailers while PS4 sold none.

Software sales is a whole other issue. The lack of Digital sales data, at this point, is becoming a significant skew.
 
What the fuck?! The PS4 led with 50$ console price drops, 100$ console price drops and Titanfall coming in those bundles as well as the shit ton of marketing they have done for the series? I don't understand...

Microsoft is going to hit that panic pricedrop and Kinect is going to go bye bye. Sony is like Apple right now, they are going to sell with 0 fucks given.
 

Sydle

Member
Surprised to see FFX/X-2 chart and WTH at Minecraft 360?

Very surprised that some people believed MS was going to turn it around so easily. They have years of work ahead of them to undo the feelings left from several years of Kinect focus, neglect of new core IP development, TV focus, proposed DRM policies, and a higher price for a less powerful console. So much working against them. All self inflicted, but I trust they've learned given recent developments and, just as important, they will be enabled to actually adjust given a new CEO that believes in Xbox as a games-first platform and new Head of Xbox that is games-centric.

The way I see it is they have this entire generation (i.e. it will take years) to repair their goodwill, build up momentum, and then set up to come out swinging next gen. I suppose something could go terribly wrong on Sony's side to make way for Xbox One to gain more traction, but that seems highly unlikely.

Personally, and I say this as a big Xbox fan, I hope they struggle a bit more. I want it to sting, badly, so they don't forget it and they never get comfortable again.
 

donny2112

Member
To be fair to Chartzzzzzz though, they predicted PS4 was gonna beat Xbone long before NPD released.

So did these 54 people from the prediction thread. VGC is just guessing, same as us. :p

GAFfers predicting PS4 > XB1 for March 2014 NPD
Aquamarine
Averon
BlackBuzzard
BruceLeeRoy
Codeblew
Deku Tree
Delusibeta
DoubleTake
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Duxxy3
FTF
FiggyCal
FliXFantatier
FusionCode
Graphics Horse
JaguarCROW
KillerMan91
LOCK
LordOcidax
Loris146
Maxxan
Mr Swine
Paskil
RamzaIsCool
Randolph Freelander
RexNovis
Sloane_Ranger
TheBanditKing
TheCloser
TheRealTalker
TomShoe
Wynnebeck
airmangataosenai
allan-bh
andromeduck
anexanhume
ascii42
astrogamer
azhar
baekshi
daegan
ethomaz
mejin
michaelius
molvetica
moneal2001
noobie
pcostabel
perfectchaos007
pieatorium
pitseleh
quetz67
sext0n
travisbickle
 

Dragon

Banned
On a serious note though, I think the PS4 being the dominant console is good news for Japanese devs, especially the niche ones. They now have the best of both (halves of the) worlds. They can release a game on PS4 and have a larger userbase in the west to sell to, while also having the largest userbase in their home country as well. Unlike last gen where if they released on PS3, they had less western userbase, but if they released on 360, they would get 0 sales in Japan.

Japanese devs don't seem to care about the PS4. They're doing mobile and 3DS with some niche games on Vita...
 

SegaShack

Member
I honestly don't see what is so crazy from this data. Since when did a multiplatform game ever become a system seller? Someone from last gen could have easily got the 360 or PC version without buying the One. I know many want one company to fail and one to dominate, but competition is always what's best. MS is not "screwed" because of this. They have the number one selling game of the month only on their platforms. Xbox One is not beating PS4 sales but that does not mean they lose money.

tldr: Winner of "Console Warz" =/= Profit
Multiplatform Game =/= System Seller


As consumers we benefit from competition. A few months into a system's life cycle does not spell doom and gloom for the future. This is not a Wii U level failure right here.
 
But these include unofficial price cuts that happened during the month. And it still got outsold.

Why is being outsold so bad when the system's selling so well? In fact, it's selling better than well. It's easily outpacing the Xbox 360, which we all agree was a very successful system, right? So why should it being outsold by the PS4 be something that's all of a sudden ? We know the Xbox One is the more expensive system of the two to begin with. We also know it's available in notably less markets.

Those deals that were going around largely softened the initial investment for a lot of people, including myself who got a titanfall bundle last month, but many hardcores being all over those price cuts and deals that were showing up shouldn't be confused to somehow mean that everybody saw and was able to take advantage of those same deals in time. I know plenty of people that didn't catch certain deals fast enough before they were gone. And it isn't like all these people aggressively stay on the lookout for these things, like I believe most hardcore followers of the industry do. Hell, even I got lucky to catch some deals when I did, because prices were all over the place. Even with the Amazon $50 promotion, I ended up paying $488+ for my system. Fantastic deal with Titanfall, but I could still get a PS4 for less.

At any rate, I'm happy to see we have a healthy console industry. PS4 is selling gangbusters and, say this one quietly, the Xbox One ain't doing half bad either!
 

zero_suit

Member
On a serious note though, I think the PS4 being the dominant console is good news for Japanese devs, especially the niche ones. They now have the best of both (halves of the) worlds. They can release a game on PS4 and have a larger userbase in the west to sell to, while also having the largest userbase in their home country as well. Unlike last gen where if they released on PS3, they had less western userbase, but if they released on 360, they would get 0 sales in Japan.

I take it you haven't checked the Media-Create threads lately...
 
As a whole this is my perspective too.

While the Xbox One is lower, it's not actually doing bad at all, so what we're really seeing is a strong appetite for the next-gen platforms that a lot of the major publishers were relying on to continue making grandiose AAAA productions.

If we only had the PS4 at 7 million and the Xbox One at 1 million or whatever, that would be decided less good.

The PS4 outselling the Xbox One does reinforce what the audience wants, so that sends a certain message across as well, but in the end we need a big userbase to support AAAA next-gen only titles.

it depends on the question of "bad for who" I think.

For Xbox one owners its probably fine. The system is chugging along at a decent clip and doing more than well enough to ensure that it will at least get ports of just about all relevant ps4 and PC games targeted to a western audience.

For microsoft though? it's terrible. the xbox 360 topped out at about 80 million units, but did so only by racking up a massive, insurmountable lead in the US and UK. It's becoming more and more apparent that this kind of lead in the west just isn't sustainable. Even a tie is looking like it's out of the question in the US and UK, we're looking at a 20-30% loss, at least. Back of the envelope calculations would probably put the xbox one at about half of the lifetime sales of the xbox 360- maybe 40-45 million units total, over it's lifespan.

This is..pretty bad. Not exactly enough to guarantee an XboxTwo- Microsoft's money is probably better spent elsewhere- bing, surface, windows phone, enterprise, etc.

The only alternative is a massive price cut to bring the xbox one into price parity with the PS4- but sony designed that thing to accomodate easy price cuts. that one won't be simple. Or- dropping kinect. But then the xbox one loses ANY advantage over the PS4 at all.

MS isn't anywhere close to being in nintendo's precarious position, but it's not a great spot to be in if the goal is maintaining or increasing marketshare over the 360.
 

TyrantII

Member
I don't follow much of the other gaming press the way I do Giantbomb. I wasn't implying inappropriate behavior, I was simply giving an example.



I swear this woman from Community looks JUST like a porn star that I sometimes...dream about named Charlotte Stokely.

CharlotteStokely2-e1304610112506.jpg


I think it's uncanny.

/heads to GIS

Yup. Thats a pron star!
 
The day is April 18 2014 and a somber tension hangs in the air within the Polygon offices. The offices that just one year before were bustling with activity and laughter. But now the laughter has faded. The desks are lined with workers, with catatonic stares as the employees come to contemplate the news. The horrifying truth. There is no banter in the office, all that can be heard is a small echoing sobbing from the bathrooms and the furious mashing of a keyboard from Ben Kuchera's desk. Arthur Gies kicks over a small bin and whispers "Titanfall... Titanfall was going to change everything". But in his heart he comes to realise the dream is over.

okay jokes aside this is novelist material
 

Jomjom

Banned
Japanese devs don't seem to care about the PS4. They're doing mobile and 3DS with some niche games on Vita...

Eventually they will. Just look at how many games are still releasing on PS3. Those games aren't going to move to mobile or handheld. We're gonna get a billion Atelier games on PS4 before long.

I take it you haven't checked the Media-Create threads lately...

Oh I do, but it's not like the PS3 blazed the charts in Japan either. There will be niche Japanese games on the PS4 soon enough.
 

harSon

Banned
As consumers, people should be pretty excited about Microsoft getting their asses handed to them by Sony. Microsoft has a history of being pretty awesome when their backs are against the rope, and hopefully that's the case here. My only worry is that we won't see the fruits of Spencer's labor for a few years, as was the case with Sony last generation. Should be interesting to see Microsoft's gameplan moving forward. The only thing that might royally fuck them over from a first party standpoint, is the possibility that it'll basically be Matrick, Balmer and company's gameplan that'll be guiding the XB1 for the next 1-2 years.
 
The next few months are going to be rough for the Xbox One.

There are no noteworthy releases to drum up demand for the console from now until fall. They've tried all the easier options for lowering the price of entry with bundling their biggest exclusive and a year of XBL Gold, and those have failed to spur sales (avg. weekly sales this month were worse than last month for XB1 despite the value proposition being much better comparatively). They can't afford to take those deals away because demand would dry up.

Comparatively, the PS4 has some pretty big console exclusives coming soon in MLB The Show and Planetside 2 (I really think this game will make a big impression among console gamers) as well as Sony having huge co-marketing deals for the biggest third-party games from now until October with Destiny and Watch Dogs.

Even a massively impressive E3 showing from Microsoft won't move the needle in the short term when they need it most. Microsoft simply has no content to move the needle from now until fall, which I think is a big reason why Titanfall was pushed by MS to the extreme it was. They needed Titanfall to make a substantive difference for Xbox One momentum and it hasn't.

Something drastic has to happen in the short term to alter the value proposition of the Xbox One, and since you can't just make valuable content appear in a month or two, the change will likely have to be hardware-related. If Microsoft doesn't do something big, they will effectively be ceding the next 4-6 months to Sony build momentum among consumers and publishers/developers.

Good post. I personally think it's a good system but there are drawbacks. Not many people are clamouring for a Kinect, it's not as powerful in the hardware stakes as it's competition aswell as being more costly and they do not have the depth of first party as Sony.

While they may continue to make deals with third party, it may be futile should the current sales trends continue. Third party publishers will look at the sales and simply look at the higher install base.

In my opinion the biggest problem of Xbox One is Xbox One itself. Some at Redmond are probably still getting a pay cheque for making choices that have flattened the momentum it's predecessor built.
 
MS didn't have a choice. What games do they have coming out this year with even a semblance of hype attached?

Everyone believed Titanfall was systemseller bro, even after the poor performance (60fps is king debacle) on Xbone, and the deafening silence of EA/MS, even to this day of it's precise performance. Still 95% of GAF predicted a win for MS for march due to Titanfall.

This is the game from the makers of CoD.
 
To be fair to Chartzzzzzz though, they predicted PS4 was gonna beat Xbone long before NPD released.

And they had PS4 at 6.9 million before the 7 million figure was announced by Sony.

I know you guys like to shit on them, but they do a decent job with what they have.
 

kingocfs

Member
There's no mystery here: Titanfall sold well, but it simply wasn't enough of an attractive game to the average consumer to overcome the negatives the Xbone is saddled with, particularly a (still) higher price tag, no Kinect-less sku, and a weaker system than the less-expensive PS4.
It's the price, that's all there is to it when it comes to the average consumer. One consoles is more than the other. They blew it big time making it $100 more out of the gate.
 
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