• 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 March 2012 Sales Results [Up3: ME3 Total, Binary Domain]

Vinci

Danish
I really don't get why there is a discussion regarding why Nintendo's software sold on the Wii or why the system was so popular. And I can't imagine how anyone could call it a 'fad' even now. I could see someone making the argument that it was a fad early on, but going on six years later and with another successful product (Kinect) following its lead?

That borders on delusional.
 

SykoTech

Member
No it didn't. Kid Icarus hasn't had a game in decades, I sincerely doubt your logic that a crossover fighter revived the IP when:

1. It is a completely different IP in a different genre.

2. A very large majority of the cast is more iconic and from more enduring series than Pit, thus most likely overshadowing him.



Hence, people bought Brawl primarily because it is a fun fighting/party game and also for the roster of staple Nintendo characters.

I do admit that it made Pit relevant again in the eyes of Nintendo fans, but overall it contributes little to a series relaunch like Uprising.

Were you not around for Brawl or something? Other characters overshadowed him? Pit was very popular in Brawl. Also genre is completely irrelevant, as its the overall I identity of the franchise that matters. And more than just "Nintendo fans" play Smash Bros. Brawl brought Kid Icarus into the public's eyes, not just the eyes of hardcore Nintendo fanboys. They probably already knew about the franchise.

Uprising most likely would not have even been created if it wasn't for Brawl. I don't know what you can't understand about that, but that's all there is to it. Just as Melee gave Fire Emblem life outside of Japan (kinda), Brawl gave the Kid Icarus franchise life.
 
I really don't get why there is a discussion regarding why Nintendo's software sold on the Wii or why the system was so popular. And I can't imagine how anyone could call it a 'fad' even now. I could see someone making the argument that it was a fad early on, but going on six years later and with another successful product (Kinect) following its lead?

That borders on delusional.
If that's what people are taking away from my argument than I'm just doing a really bad job condensing my thoughts onto my phone.

I'm sure its getting old but all I'm saying is what was already much better related above. If there was no motion tech the Wii would not be in the state it is today. That's all. It was perfectly timed and it allowed Nintendo to penetrate the market and expand their audience. Without it the Wii (IMO) would have been no more successful than the Cube or 64. If someone had a counter argument that doesn't feel personally threatened I would love to hear it.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Not PC digital, but yes PC retail.

Hm, that sound really low, wasn't it like 1.8 million or something before the last update? I can't believe PC numbers are this low considering how fast i find other people in multiplayer, no matter the time. Maybe the digital numbers are better...
 

Vinci

Danish
If that's what people are taking away from my argument than I'm just doing a really bad job condensing my thoughts onto my phone.

I'm sure its getting old but all I'm saying is what was already much better related above. If there was no motion tech the Wii would not be in the state it is today. That's all. It was perfectly timed and it allowed Nintendo to penetrate the market and expand their audience. Without it the Wii (IMO) would have been no more successful than the Cube or 64. If someone had a counter argument that doesn't feel personally threatened I would love to hear it.

There shouldn't be any counter-argument on this topic, nor does the Wii or Nintendo require defending on this point. Nintendo used motion technology and its development talents to penetrate the mainstream market by removing obstacles ordinarily blocking less seasoned gamers from taking part in gaming experiences. It made playing a video game intuitive rather than intimidating.

It was an ingenious move.

To state otherwise is to lessen the brilliance Nintendo showed in not only concocting the scenario but pulling it off as well as it did. There's nothing negative about this strategy in and of itself, nor should it be attacked. [I'm not saying you are, for what it's worth - just stating it clearly for those who believe the system to have been a 'fad' or motion controls to have been a 'gimmick' and nothing more.]
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Hm, that sound really low, wasn't it like 1.8 million or something before the last update? I can't believe PC numbers are this low considering how fast i find other people in multiplayer, no matter the time. Maybe the digital numbers are better...

1.18 million without PC.

That said, for comparison, Fallout: New Vegas had about 114K retail PC sales.

Retail PC is basically dead in the U.S.

There are a lot of companies who do retail PC releases in Europe, but not the U.S. these days.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
1.18 million without PC.

That said, for comparison, Fallout: New Vegas had about 114K retail PC sales.

Retail PC is basically dead in the U.S.

There are a lot of companies who do retail PC releases in Europe, but not the U.S. these days.

Even in Canada, finding a retail PC game can be hard sometimes. I was never able to find Batman Arkham City, so i ended up buying it on Steam during the holidays sales.
 

Bisnic

Really Really Exciting Member!
Thanks. I guess there's a lot of question marks though over its legs, especially after the backlash to the ending, which was reported in even mainstream media outlets. April NPD should be interesting.

If anything, maybe the backlash will make people curious and sell the game more copies. :p
 

Nirolak

Mrgrgr
Thanks. I guess there's a lot of question marks though over its legs, especially after the backlash to the ending, which was reported in even mainstream media outlets. April NPD should be interesting.

If anything, maybe the backlash will make people curious and sell the game more copies. :p

Interestingly, what Bisnic said might be happening.

In PAL Week 13 ME3 went up 28% in the UK, and in Week 14 (this week) it didn't change at all.

That's actually quite unusual in my experience outside of titles with quite good legs, especially when they're high on the charts.
 

Tookay

Member
If anything, maybe the backlash will make people curious and sell the game more copies. :p

I could see that happening in a sense. It certainly raised awareness over the game to some people who maybe wouldn't have otherwise heard about it. Even my mom knew about this game and its controversy by the end of it.

EDIT: Haha yeah looks like you might be right, after seeing Nirolak's data.
 
There shouldn't be any counter-argument on this topic, nor does the Wii or Nintendo require defending on this point. Nintendo used motion technology and its development talents to penetrate the mainstream market by removing obstacles ordinarily blocking less seasoned gamers from taking part in gaming experiences. It made playing a video game intuitive rather than intimidating.

It was an ingenious move.

To state otherwise is to lessen the brilliance Nintendo showed in not only concocting the scenario but pulling it off as well as it did. There's nothing negative about this strategy in and of itself, nor should it be attacked. [I'm not saying you are, for what it's worth - just stating it clearly for those who believe the system to have been a 'fad' or motion controls to have been a 'gimmick' and nothing more.]
Yes! Thanks Vinci. Exactly right. The whole context of that was now I'm curious what Nintendo is thinking for Wii-U. It's feasible that they have enough mind share to be hugely successful just based on that alone. It will be interesting to see
 

Vinci

Danish
Yes! Thanks Vinci. Exactly right. The whole context of that was now I'm curious what Nintendo is thinking for Wii-U. It's feasible that they have enough mind share to be hugely successful just based on that alone. It will be interesting to see

Until they show us something, it's hard to guess whether what they're planning will work or not. I personally think Chase Mii and Battle Mii show immense potential from a marketing and gameplay standpoint, but not everyone agrees. Oh well.
 

Kazerei

Banned
Interestingly, what Bisnic said might be happening.

In PAL Week 13 ME3 went up 28% in the UK, and in Week 14 (this week) it didn't change at all.

That's actually quite unusual in my experience outside of titles with quite good legs, especially when they're high on the charts.

Make such a terrible ending that it causes controversy even the mainstream media picks up => sell more games!

What a great signal to send to other developers.
 

Haint

Member
Poor Binary. I was expecting ME3 to be a 3 or 4 million unit seller across all platforms. Thanks for buying a million or so copies of Turdcoon City guys, now every game's going to be MP.
 

1-D_FTW

Member
20k for Binary Domain?

I'm curious about the title and will pick it up during a Steam sale, but come come on Sega. Make Nagoshi do a killer racing game. Point that man back to his roots.
 

DrWong

Member
A bit late...

.3DS is still barely below 4.75 million.
Right. I was a month ahead but it still doesn't change my point: for me 3DS is ok.

The problem with these comparisons is that we will be also forced to compare 3DS sales in the future to NDS in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
Why would it be a problem? Anyway comparisons will be made.

Guys, 3DS have had one of the best first years ever, with 4.5 millions sold, just behind Wii ( 5 millions ) and GBA ( over 6 millions ). And we all know that in US, the peak isn't reached in the first years, but later, much later even ( Wii reached its peak for December in 2009, or DS peaking for some months something like 6 years after its launch ). US consumers doesn't adopt to trends as quickly as Japan, we have datas showing this.

It's a combination of attraction a platform generates and line-up of games available on the platform. A console does better when more and more games of value are released. And I'm not even comparing it with the first 13 months of DS, which have been absolutely shitty, just 2.6 millions - 2.3 till October + 300k done in November. And DS itself is still selling something, not allowing 3DS to sell more. But Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 already did a good job in making people talk about the platform, and the fact the games are still selling costantly after Holidays is a good, very good sign for the future, especially with the upcoming games ( Animal Crossing, 2D MARIO - and this is the most important one, since it made the DS really start at the time, combined with Lite - ...I'd say even Epic Mickey ). In US, it's different than elsewhere. Right now, 3DS is doing fine. Not dominating like in Japan, absolutely, but it's doing fine, and had a massive Christmas for a new platform, too.

Will it reach or even outsell DS? Eeeeeh, it needs the software which made DS not only a big, big success, but a sort of a big aspect of US culture: games like BT, which can attract massive amount of people, Mario and Pokèmon won't be enough for this...and this E3 we'll see their new attempts, after Nintendogs ( which initially has been damaged by the high price of the device ). Without these breakout hits, even with all the possible Japanese support, the Pokemon games, Mario and all others, helping each other, or even the "Sony-like" releases selling with time, it will be IMPOSSIBLE for 3DS reaching DS numbers. It needs something which differentiate it from iDevices distinctly in mass audience's eyes.
This.
 

Anteater

Member
Didn't pick up BD, I thought the demo was decent, just not my cup of tea, it deserves better, I've played shittier games that sold a lot more than that.
 
Good lord, I'm guessing Capcom is done with handhelds for good.

They shouldn't give up. I own SSFIV and RE:R on 3DS and I've played UMvC on Vita and they're incredibly high quality handheld games. They pretty much lost out during the last handheld gen aside from MH (which is a big aside) and the PW games so they've got to build a better foundation this gen on the 3DS and Vita.
 

fernoca

Member
Good lord, I'm guessing Capcom is done with handhelds for good.
Why?
Super Streety Figther IV exceeded exceptations and shipped 1.2 million copies worldwide (which is close to what they shipped across Xbox 360 and PS3 combined...even when it can be argued that the game was over shipped).
Monster Hunter Tri G is at over 1.2 million copies just in Japan.
And as noted already, Revelations seems to be trailing/doing better than Mercenaries 3D and Capcom was happy with those results last year.

That some of the games are not selling that well in some regions or not performing as some of the fans are expecting is another thing.
Heck, Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom was relatively ignored in consoles too (compared to the original); so it not that that well on Vita is not shocking.

If anything ,they should focus on building onto those releases to expand the audience, rather than just give up.
 

Owzers

Member
I rented Binary Domain from Gamefly, and while 20k is ridiculously low, the game is kind of drab and i'm glad i didn't buy it for $45 when it was on sale.
 
02. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (360, PS3)** Capcom USA -

03. MLB 12: The Show (PS3, PSV) Sony (Corp)

Very good numbers for a Slant Six Resident Evil game that is completely panned critically just about everywhere, who bought this?

Good to see MLB the show doing well.
 

LuchaShaq

Banned
So are those ME3 numbers good, for all the hype, marketing, and attempts to expand the brand?

Honestly it depends on how the new players took the swiss cheese ending.

A friend of mine who plays 2-3 games a year asked me about ME3 due to ads he saw. Basically buys COD/Halo/Batman/Spiderman and then every year one random game that surprises me.

He was loving it and even considered going back to ME1/2 to see guys like Wrex he never got to check out.

Then when he hit the ending? Word for word from an email he sent me after he beat it.
"Finally beat it...you should have warned me about the ending. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT? I honestly thought it was a great troll, if this was a 2 min youtube video instead of a 60$ game I'd be cool with it. I usually don't notice the game maker names but I won't be buying anything else they make anytime soon. Why would they ruin the whole game with that shit? Are they trying to be like Lost but somehow worse and only doing that shit at the end. Seriously warn me next time man fuck"
 

FLEABttn

Banned
I know we've collectively talked about the B tier games being fucked this gen, but 20k copies sold? That's just awful. Assuming NPD is Canada and the USA alone, that's only 120 sold in all of New Mexico.
 

LuchaShaq

Banned
I know we've collectively talked about the B tier games being fucked this gen, but 20k copies sold? That's just awful. Assuming NPD is Canada and the USA alone, that's only 120 sold in all of New Mexico.

I mean what can you expect when you release a game that is similar to the hugely marketed game of the month a week apart with almost no marketing yourself?

Hell even people like me who were cautiously optimistic about Binary Domain knew to rent it or wait 2 months for a 10$ bomba.
 

Alex

Member
When I dip into the B-tier and buy Japanese games my choices don't usually involve cover shooters, that's usually what I'm trying to get away from in that scenario. I like Yakuza, but I probably wouldn't buy Binary Domain even if it was sold for 20 bucks, it's just not for me.
 

FLEABttn

Banned
I mean what can you expect when you release a game that is similar to the hugely marketed game of the month a week apart with almost no marketing yourself?

Hell even people like me who were cautiously optimistic about Binary Domain knew to rent it or wait 2 months for a 10$ bomba.

I'm actually unconvinced that ME3 took many sales away from Binary Domain. Some, sure, but they're not exactly substitute goods I think.

The funny thing I think is that that the waiting for bombas these days are such self-fulfilling prophecies. If the plan is to hasten the downfall of the business model/industry, well, it's working.

When I dip into the B-tier and buy Japanese games my choices don't usually involve cover shooters, that's usually what I'm trying to get away from in that scenario. I like Yakuza, but I probably wouldn't buy Binary Domain even if it was sold for 20 bucks, it's just not for me.

Nothing wrong with that.

These are US sales

Thanks for the clarification. That's better...ish.
 
jimsighg4b5g.gif


I expected something this low, but that's too much. ):
 
Why? Just because it's not well-known? Nothing about it is a budget title. It's a great game. The problem wasn't the price or distribution, it was marketing, as is frequently the case with SEGA post-DC.

Why is everyone blames marketing when a game bombs?

I saw a good amount of coverage for the game. It just looked incredibly generic and flat out dumb. I imagine that has more to do with it not selling than the failure of the marketing dept.
 
Top Bottom