wapplew
Member
Well, hiding QB PC version for 3 years do piss off some "hardcore" fans.
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NPD Sales Results for January 2016
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Well, hiding QB PC version for 3 years do piss off some "hardcore" fans.
This, so by default 'everything' is mute point.
To be fair, Microsoft aren't magically immune to fuck-ups as Halo MCC shows. I wouldn't count that as 'doing everything right'.
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
I think most sane people see it as a good thing anyway. It was expected to release on PC, just not straight away, so I would mark it as 'a pleasant surprise'.
(And CrapGamer got a nice reply from Yosp as well as Spencer, so now he's conflicted he might wind his neck in somewhat.)
Underappreciated post, iunderstoodthereference.jpg.
Nightengale
Member
What does "doing everything right" even mean?
It's easy to look back and disparage games media for their hubris and arrogance over XB1's DRM plan and "Sony Too", but there are also a lot of things that we don't know whether or not it'd actually be a good thing/effective positive influencer on selling consoles, etc.
This is true even for game releases, much less things that are of larger unknown quantities, like BC-compatibility for XB1 or VAS like EA Access.
I mean, if I look at this forum in isolation, sometimes I see people being surprised by MLB's sales success or how Bloodborne isn't a super massive sales success (via NPD, even compared to stuff like DB Xenoverse) or how GTA continues to sell crazy numbers.
And when we look back at last-gen, this is true as well in many different forms.
Look at PS+ and IGC. Did adding "free games" to PS+ do anything to significantly increase subscriber count of PS+ on PS3? Not to the extent that they were willing to brag about anything other than satisfaction rate. Did that help with PS3 console sales in a tangible way? I don't think so.
I look at how PS+'s IGC as a value-adding-component was largely ignored by the broader owner of PS3s, and I see this trend pretty much an extension of how stuff like XB1-BC or EA Access doesn't appear to do anything for XB1 in terms of massive sales accelerators. A lot of us here think EA Access/XB1-BC is good value. \
But the numbers don't lie. A larger number of people don't.
If anything, there were only a few things that we can actually call "did something right' that actually resulted in massively increased sales. Those were :
- PS3 Slim release + $100 price drop
- Release of Kinect for Xbox 360
- XB1 AssCreed 2-game bundle @349 for 2 whole months.
There are others as well, but those 3 stood out as obvious ones.
It's easy to look back and disparage games media for their hubris and arrogance over XB1's DRM plan and "Sony Too", but there are also a lot of things that we don't know whether or not it'd actually be a good thing/effective positive influencer on selling consoles, etc.
This is true even for game releases, much less things that are of larger unknown quantities, like BC-compatibility for XB1 or VAS like EA Access.
I mean, if I look at this forum in isolation, sometimes I see people being surprised by MLB's sales success or how Bloodborne isn't a super massive sales success (via NPD, even compared to stuff like DB Xenoverse) or how GTA continues to sell crazy numbers.
And when we look back at last-gen, this is true as well in many different forms.
Look at PS+ and IGC. Did adding "free games" to PS+ do anything to significantly increase subscriber count of PS+ on PS3? Not to the extent that they were willing to brag about anything other than satisfaction rate. Did that help with PS3 console sales in a tangible way? I don't think so.
I look at how PS+'s IGC as a value-adding-component was largely ignored by the broader owner of PS3s, and I see this trend pretty much an extension of how stuff like XB1-BC or EA Access doesn't appear to do anything for XB1 in terms of massive sales accelerators. A lot of us here think EA Access/XB1-BC is good value. \
But the numbers don't lie. A larger number of people don't.
If anything, there were only a few things that we can actually call "did something right' that actually resulted in massively increased sales. Those were :
- PS3 Slim release + $100 price drop
- Release of Kinect for Xbox 360
- XB1 AssCreed 2-game bundle @349 for 2 whole months.
There are others as well, but those 3 stood out as obvious ones.
I don't suppose you have any evidence to back up your "feelings" for this to be true?
The force was strong with playstation. There is no balance in the force when price parity exist. Thus I predicted the new year to be harsh for Xbox One. It was foretold.
SnowFlakeCake
Member
I don't think MS could have ever seen the XB1 fucking up this badly against the PS4 in NA, even as a worse case scenario. The 360 was a real monster in NA compared to PS3, it's going to hurt MS seeing the PS4 in front.
I know it's the most obvious shit evar but exclusives really do mean fuck all in the grand scheme of game sales, at best they provide a more diverse library but don't see them as the reason people buy consoles. The game conferences Sony have had recently have bored to to tears with the number of times a multiplat game has been shown but these results show why they do that, I mean for fuck sake GTA V is just ridiculous at this point.
With that said, I would say there are a solid amount of consumers out there, like me, that buy a console by looking at the exclusive games available. Not so much in NA but I imagine games like GT Sport and Uncharted 4 will push consoles in EU.
I know it's the most obvious shit evar but exclusives really do mean fuck all in the grand scheme of game sales, at best they provide a more diverse library but don't see them as the reason people buy consoles. The game conferences Sony have had recently have bored to to tears with the number of times a multiplat game has been shown but these results show why they do that, I mean for fuck sake GTA V is just ridiculous at this point.
With that said, I would say there are a solid amount of consumers out there, like me, that buy a console by looking at the exclusive games available. Not so much in NA but I imagine games like GT Sport and Uncharted 4 will push consoles in EU.
Yes, comparing a Final Fantasy spinoff to another Final Fantasy spinoff is completely pointless.
Excellent post as always.
Glorified G
Member
This is just way to simplistic and ignores a multitude of factors of why a console is a runaway success compared to its competition. Seriously, Tekken Tag Tournament? The game that lead what most people consider the weakest launch lineup in history? That made the PS2 the go to console compared to Xbox that had Halo? Where it's sequel broke entertainment records when it was released? Or was it that fact that MS had no prior existing userbase and mindshare compared to its main competition that had the most popular console in the prior generation?
Crash Bandicoot made the PS1 separate from it's competition, the one that had freakin' Mario 64 at launch? Or was it Nintendo's decision to go with the expensive and outdated media format along with strict licensing requirements that turned off developers and made the overall library quite scarce with several droughts throughout its lifespan.
Name one person outside of gaming forums that care who was a publisher of any specific game title. There are soooo many factors on why a console would dominate it's competion that exclusives are overall a minor and quite significant factor in the grand scheme of things. It's almost like you looked on wikipedia for total consoles sales and said to yourself "Wow, the PS2 dominated! It must have been that awesome launch lineup and that exclusive Tekken Tag Tournament that made the difference!"
anothertech
Member
Dam. PS4 up year over year, but hardware sales down 15%??
Xbone had a rough Jan. PS4 the only thing selling atm.
As for "doing everything right" you gotta be realistic here. BC is great if it worked smoothly but it's a major work in progress. It's 'best lineup in Xbox history' has had the worst sales and attatch rate in Xbox history. Halo MCC is still a joke, Halo 5 was no where near the Halo we wanted. 3 years later the bone is still underperforming compared to the competition with 3rd parties. Kinect, one of the biggest r&d expenses of the Xbone never had a chance, let alone had a killer app developed. It's arguably the worst UI of all the consoles at the moment. Fortaleza 'hololens' turned out to be a pipe dream for a distant future. About the only thing the box has going for it is Scalebound and Quantum Break which I hope to Zod are big hits so those kinds of games keep getting dev funding.
They def made a lot of changes and turn around for the better, that's for sure. But there's a big chasm between that and doing everything right. I love my Xbone but I keep my expectations in check.
Xbone had a rough Jan. PS4 the only thing selling atm.
As for "doing everything right" you gotta be realistic here. BC is great if it worked smoothly but it's a major work in progress. It's 'best lineup in Xbox history' has had the worst sales and attatch rate in Xbox history. Halo MCC is still a joke, Halo 5 was no where near the Halo we wanted. 3 years later the bone is still underperforming compared to the competition with 3rd parties. Kinect, one of the biggest r&d expenses of the Xbone never had a chance, let alone had a killer app developed. It's arguably the worst UI of all the consoles at the moment. Fortaleza 'hololens' turned out to be a pipe dream for a distant future. About the only thing the box has going for it is Scalebound and Quantum Break which I hope to Zod are big hits so those kinds of games keep getting dev funding.
They def made a lot of changes and turn around for the better, that's for sure. But there's a big chasm between that and doing everything right. I love my Xbone but I keep my expectations in check.
Haha a stupid post made all the worse by the fact that Type 0 sales were also considered a disappointment (his post, not yours). So selling a tiny fraction of bad sales is somehow supposed to be fine. It's not like Type 0 was met a with much better critical response to Explorers either. Average 3DS FF game sells much worse than average PS4 FF game (Xbox SKU is fairly irrelevant to the comparison).
I think it puts into perspective why so many JP devs are going Vita + PS4 (with a PC release following localisation). 3DS is on a decline outside of Japan.
Pennywise83
Banned
They're not comparable spin-offs. They're not even in the same genre. Explorers is a cheap MH-wannabe game, with low budget and little advertising; it does lack all the elements that FF fans typically like about the series: traditional jRPG gameplay, story, well defined characters. It's not a bad game at all - it's just an enjoyable but forgettable experiment as SQEX did plenty of times within the FF franchise. Ah, it wasn't even developed in-house.
Type-0 was the beginning of an alternative numbering system parallel to the main series (as statred by SQEX itself). It's a sort-of-traditional jRPG game (though with a less traditional battle system) and a grand scale (the team had difficulties in working on the project on PSP because of its scale) more akin to FF series than Explorers. Ah, it contained FFXV demo and was one of the most requested games when it was on PSP.
Jarod McChicken
Member
Playing FF Type-0 on PS4 or Xbox One was 10 times more cheap than playing FF Explorers on a Nintendo 3DS. The only thing that wasn't cheap on Type-0 was the price.
Highly requested ? Oh yeah it was, but on PS Vita, where your expectations are not exactly the same.
Overselling a mediocre game like this just to soften the fact that FF Explorers is a complete flop, Jesus D:
Oh god, finally numbers! Thanks, Cream.
PS4 very good, Wii U doomed and XB1 bad. What is This, 2014?
Well, i think XB1 was The bigger surprise of This NPD...
Mario and Luigi did ok for one week of Sales, if has legs like usual Nintendo Games could Sell 250-350K LT in USA and >1 Million WW.
EDIT: oh, this only at retail, with digital 1 million is a given.
PS4 very good, Wii U doomed and XB1 bad. What is This, 2014?
Well, i think XB1 was The bigger surprise of This NPD...
Mario and Luigi did ok for one week of Sales, if has legs like usual Nintendo Games could Sell 250-350K LT in USA and >1 Million WW.
EDIT: oh, this only at retail, with digital 1 million is a given.
Dash_Riprock
Member
If February has similar sales for the XB1 (and remember, it has to contend with SFV this month), I think its fair to say that XB1 sales peaked last year and from now on its all downhill until next gen for them. I don't see anything this year except MAYBE gears that could help them. Not even a slim, since in all likelihood Sony had one in the works too right now. MS really seems to have not understood what made the 360 such a juggernaut (hint, its wasn't their HGF exclusive trinity).
Pennywise83
Banned
It doesn't matter: Type-0 was highly requested by many FF fans (please note that FF fans need(ed) to buy a PS4 because it's where the mainline series is going to be), and FF fans bought it; they also bought it because of the demo - a strategy that paid off in the past, see DQVIII. You cannot compare Type-0 (an attempt to start a parallel mainline series - therefore focusing on those aspects that FF fans like) with Explorers, which is a cheap MH-wannabe - so without those elements that FF fans care (story, characters).
Also, I'm not "soften the fact that FF Explorers is a complete flop" - I didn't say anything about Explorers' performance per se, so be careful with this damage control.
Jarod McChicken
Member
In that case I take note that real time combat with dumb camera, shitty world map, cities made of one street, lackluster narrative, awful direction and graphics from 10 years ago are those aspects that FF fans like. Moreover, it is well known that Final Fantasy is the series where everyone is united behind a consensus
Of course you didn't, the game is barely worth any comment (even if it has the same director as the upcoming PlayStation blockbuster Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna). But imagine if someone wanted to badmouth it, he could come with some reasoning like : it was the first and long awaited Final Fantasy entry on the system, it was specifically developed for the 3DS (unlike Type-0 HD who was only ported to sell a 60$ demo), it was on the system where the hunting action genre sells million (the online multiplayer was not forgotten of course), it has a good number of a hugely popular Final Fantasy icons (and god knows that 3DS audience love its chibi characters !), and it even came on a very slow month with no competition. If such a person was lurking around here, he would make this number looks even worse by adjusting it's so called reasoning to its bias !
Xbox will be fine this year. They'll coast along being down year over year until the mid year or whenever they drop the price to $300 permanently. Then I can see a slim announcement, although I could equally see the PS4 getting a redesign as well.
Exclusives wise nothing is going to move the needle. Halo didn't and Halo > Gears. I think Quantum Break will be a small blip and will sell better than Alan Wake but not enough hardware to win a month that's PS4s (Uncharted, Ratchet and Dark Souls 3, which will heavily skew to PS4). After that what retail releases does Microsoft have until the holiday period?
Exclusives wise nothing is going to move the needle. Halo didn't and Halo > Gears. I think Quantum Break will be a small blip and will sell better than Alan Wake but not enough hardware to win a month that's PS4s (Uncharted, Ratchet and Dark Souls 3, which will heavily skew to PS4). After that what retail releases does Microsoft have until the holiday period?
Forza Horizon 3. It's a yearly franchise now.
I guess I was kind of referring to Q2 and early Q3 releases. In my mind anything from mid September on feels like the Holiday period (I suppose because as opposed to there being, at most, one major release in a month there can be up to say 5!)
You hear a lot about their release schedule accommodating the rest of the year now, but there's not a lot of evidence to suggest it. That's a discussion for another thread though.
Nightengale
Member
Crackdown 3
MP Beta
I'm thinking retail releases. Is there anything to suggest that digital only things increase hardware sales in any significant way?
Also Crackdown seems like small fry IP to be honest. Maybe if the second one hadn't been panned critically.
Nightengale
Member
I had it spoilered because it's kind of a joke answer.
GravityInsanity
Member
SlipperyFishes
Banned
They got part one. I wonder how many parts they're making to complete the game.
Pennywise83
Banned
In that case I take note that real time combat with dumb camera, shitty world map, cities made of one street, lackluster narrative, awful direction and graphics from 10 years ago are those aspects that FF fans like. Moreover, it is well known that Final Fantasy is the series where everyone is united behind a consensus
Again, it doesn't matter. The game has always been presented as the start of an alternative mainline FF series (producers said so, not me) and it was advertised in this way - the game offered a more traditional jRPG experience than Explorers. It's fine if you think the game was awful and each aspect needs to be panned - but critics didn't destroy it and therefore, prior the release, all signals pointed towards Type-0 HD as a respectable entry in the FF franchise, with a world-map, airships, a rich story and well-defined characters. I mean, there was plenty of talks in the gaming community to convince SQEX to release the game overseas - I didn't see much excitement for Explorers, instead, did you? The fact that people wanted the game on PSV is a non-issue here - FF fans need(ed) to buy a PS4 nonetheless, since the series is planned there. Also, no need to exaggerate my argument - when I say FF fans I refer to those gamers who typically follow the franchise, and might be willing to buy a spin-off as Type-0 which kind of resemble the mainline series.
Difference is, FF fans and gamers in general didn't care at all about Explorers - while they did about Type-0. Western gamers also showed to not care about MH-wannabe (MH being the only successful hunting action shows that the genre is not a mainstream one). I'm not saying Explorers sold well, but that the comparison with Type-0 HD is completely out of place.
Oh, did I forget to mention that Type-0 HD was bundled with FFXV demo - that is, one of the most anticipated Japanese games of all time?
Not even close.
If ~130k is close to the truth, no doubt. Just terrible, MS will need to do something if this trend continues.
gundamkyoukai
Member
There is not much MS can do other than a price cut and that might not work .
Sony has them match or beat in almost every way .
They just have to try and ride out this gen while making there ecosystem better on PC and console .
slavesnyder
Member
I find it amusing that first, when MS announces far too high bundle pricepoints some people applauded. "they want to make profit their priority cool idea, they will be fine, Phil found the masterplan."
And now, when no one finally buys this overpriced stuff we act surprised. MS has taught consumers how much an XboxOne bundle should cost, 300$ or even less. There is no turning back here.
I see their rock / hard place dilemma. Either selling many units without profit. Or making profit on the units but selling nothing.
I think price cut will work. Xbox One did great in holidays against a super strong PS4 that had price cut and appealing bundles.
Xbox One is $349 since november 2014, this price doesn't work anymore. MS should cut to $299, even if Sony respond Xbox One at least will be more cheap than now.
Thinking further, I strongly believe that Xbox One needs a Slim model for create some momentum and I'm betting MS will launch this new model in 2016.
Whoops, it's hard to tell here sometimes.
Is Sea of Theaves a retail game? I reckon that will be 2017 though.
slavesnyder
Member
Agree. Slim is inevitable / obvious to happen. Especially with the size of the console, this can make it more attractive. Plus, it's good logistic-wise as all package could shrink down by.a lot.
If they are clever they include a microphone for voice commands. As far as I followed, this was by far the best kinect feature.
Doctor_Thomas
Member
Part one is all they need.
No one is going to go out and buy new hardware for the later parts and no one is going to give up their progress to start on another system.
Wanna be honest.
By end of 2014, i made this predictions:
- XB1 to be a big up YOY next year thanks a $300 official price / maybe some $250 unofficial pricedrop, and the help of Halo 5. And then, sales to drop like a rock in 2016.
...Why this drop?
Because, i mean, MS dropped the price by a freaking $150 in 2014, and XB1 got A LOT of promotion from Gamestop, Best Buy ecc... Why wait for 2016/2017 if XB1 is already so easy to buy? Let's buy it NOW.
In the end, yes, XB1 was a bit up YOY in 2015, as i expect (to be fair, a bit more, i predicted 4.8m and it sold 4.94m)... but withouth the temporaney $300 offcial and $250 price which i expected, and with a super drop of Halo 5 compared to the others games.
...That's why, i changed my predictions by end of 2015, and i thought XB1 could peak this year...
I think i made a mistake to changed my old prediction.
We will see, but at first i predicted 4 million for XB1 this year (by end of 2014), in the predictions thread i said 5 million. -_-
At this point, the only think that can help XB1 to sell those numbers is a very good slim model and crazy deals like in 2014 during the holidays.
By end of 2014, i made this predictions:
- XB1 to be a big up YOY next year thanks a $300 official price / maybe some $250 unofficial pricedrop, and the help of Halo 5. And then, sales to drop like a rock in 2016.
...Why this drop?
Because, i mean, MS dropped the price by a freaking $150 in 2014, and XB1 got A LOT of promotion from Gamestop, Best Buy ecc... Why wait for 2016/2017 if XB1 is already so easy to buy? Let's buy it NOW.
In the end, yes, XB1 was a bit up YOY in 2015, as i expect (to be fair, a bit more, i predicted 4.8m and it sold 4.94m)... but withouth the temporaney $300 offcial and $250 price which i expected, and with a super drop of Halo 5 compared to the others games.
...That's why, i changed my predictions by end of 2015, and i thought XB1 could peak this year...
I think i made a mistake to changed my old prediction.
We will see, but at first i predicted 4 million for XB1 this year (by end of 2014), in the predictions thread i said 5 million. -_-
At this point, the only think that can help XB1 to sell those numbers is a very good slim model and crazy deals like in 2014 during the holidays.
The Last One
Member
It's kinda funny read your comments about this specific topic now and then check back October 2015 NPD thread. You and some users from Media-create threads were sure on how the PS4 didn't have the "JRPG" audience thanks to the first month of retail sales in NA of certain titles that are niche like Final Fantasy Explorers.
Dash_Riprock
Member
A slim model only helps if Sony doesn't counter in any way. If Sony price matches, or worse, releases a slim model of their own, MS is right back to square one.
Omnistalgic
Member
Is this confirmed? I don't think anything has been announced for ff7r yet. Would be kinda silly to secure the exclusive IMO game is going to sell on ps4.
We already know it's coming to PS4 first.
small44
Member
PS4 is a product like PS2 but not like the Wii.PS4 owner buy the same IP that was available on PS2 not causals games like Wii.
PS4 success is due to strong 3rd party games,weak competitors and worldwide recognition.
Why? We know it sold 754,000 by end of 2015, in one month can't be much difference.
You should ask this after months.
DriftingSpirit
Member
Woah, I've never seen this! :O I love stuff like that!Don't forget the sleeper hit.Please no delay.
I don't know, I think it was bgamer who said Horion won't do too much. Sony said they want this IP to become something big in terms of games, merchandise, etc... so I think it can really hit if Sony manage it well enough.
Thanks a lot, creamsugar!
Can you please post the number for Xenoblade Chronicles X?
Amazing avatar.
Thanks cream.
DustyVonEric
Member
Thanks for the chart, Square! Love seeing the milestones in there.
And thanks to you always, Cream! Who doesn't love getting a good cream pie? Er... Wait a minute...
Pennywise83
Banned
No. That was one of the explanations of why those 3 games bombed, which is nothing absurd. 3DS doesn't have a strong FF fanbase - which is obvious since 90% of recent entries are elsewhere.
Yeah, I wanted to write of the past few years in fact. Still a highly anticipated game.