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NPD Sales Results for January 2009

vanty

Member
Rlan said:
NSMB and Mario Kart DS in the Jan Top 10, yet only Mario Kart Wii for Wii. Why isn't Super Mario Galaxy Selling to the masses?
Most people who want to play Galaxy would have bought a Wii a while ago, they're not the kind of people who are buying a Wii in 2009.
 

Burai

shitonmychest57
Shinobi said:
Didn't stop some 'experts' from conjuring up this gem of a chart a mere 7 months ago...

cnetchart495.jpg

You can't blame the "experts" for that. All they can do is go by historical precedent and that said that the PSone and PS2 had regular price drops once they'd saturated the market at their current price to bring in new customers.

What the analysts couldn't predict was that Sony would eschew this model with the PS3. That Sony would keep the price at the same level long after they'd exhausted all consumer interest at that price.

The analysts couldn't predict that Sony would lose their fucking minds and looking back at NPD threads, neither could GAF.
 

joshcryer

it's ok, you're all right now
I never post in NPD threads, but this is crazy. How is it concievable that Sony doesn't price drop ASAP? Whoever is running gaming division needs to use some common sense here.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
Gaborn said:
No they don't. Sony can't afford it, so they just have to accept that they're not going to "win" this generation and when it makes sense from a financial perspective they'll lower the price. Short of that they would gain... what? the "bragging" right of ONLY selling close to the 360?
The rest of this gen is going to be damage mitigation of decisions made long ago. In hindsight what's happening is not at all surprising, but I'm still in awe at the changes in this industry in just one gen.
 
I think multiple SKUs actually hurt Sony and MSFT.

Too many choices for uneducated consumers; they just want a god damn game console. It has to be hurting them.
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
So PS2 looks pretty limp now. Is it finally done?
 
J-Rzez said:
360's numbers are so-so, and it doesn't necessarily look too good as they've given the potentially new consumer zero reason to be interested in their machine in the up coming months since they've not shown jack-shit to be excited for. They gotta get something out there.

With a $199 price point they don't need game boosts, in fact apart from 1 or 2 titles, game releases only seem to have a negligible effect on sales really once you have a decent library.
 
vanty. said:
Most people who want to play Galaxy would have bought a Wii a while ago, they're not the kind of people who are buying a Wii in 2009.
So true, and yet so sad. Mario Galaxy is 100x better of a game then Mario Kart Wii is. Mario Kart Wii is almost an embarrassment compared to Galaxy.
 
Burai said:
You can't blame the "experts" for that. All they can do is go by historical precedent and that said that the PSone and PS2 had regular price drops once they'd saturated the market at their current price to bring in new customers.

What the analysts couldn't predict was that Sony would eschew this model with the PS3. That Sony would keep the price at the same level long after they'd exhausted all consumer interest at that price.

The analysts couldn't predict that Sony would lose their fucking minds and looking back at NPD threads, neither could GAF.
These charts were made in 2008, when it was clear that Sony had gone insane.
 
lawblob said:
I think the sad truth is revealing itself. A lot of people really do just buy the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player. I can't think of any other explanation for the always mediocre software sales.
The actual explanation has nothing to do with what PS3 owners use their machines for. It's that NPD top 10 is a tiny slice off the very top. The PS3 software sales are below the chart because the hardware sales are so low. Owners purchase about the same amount of software per machine as normal.
 
mr_bishiuk said:
I dont know most of the top guys want to work on the best equipment & tools, they probably look at the Wii as a way of getting some quick cash if anything. I mean if they did a big RPG game for instamce how many would it sell on Wii really, is that what the Wii Audience want? or have that type of audience moved on to HD consoles?

This is ridiculous to the point of making me angry. When a console sells 300k in FREAKIN JANUARY, are you honestly trying to say that within those 300k people and the MILLIONS of others who bought the console already there isn't an audience for those kinds of games? How can you seriously ask that? It makes absolutely no sense at all. There is no way that it's only non gamers buying the console, not in the amounts we've consistently seen on a monthly basis
 

Shinobi

Member
Gaborn said:
No they don't. Sony can't afford it, so they just have to accept that they're not going to "win" this generation and when it makes sense from a financial perspective they'll lower the price. Short of that they would gain... what? the "bragging" right of ONLY selling close to the 360?

Nevermind the fact that when Sony is able to drop PS3's price, MS will be able to respond in a nanosecond to either keep the gap as is or increase it (a part of the equation that some people always manage to forget).

Damage limitation is all Sony can do at this stage...they've known that for a while, even if some of their diehard fans haven't.
 

Gaborn

Member
GhaleonEB said:
The rest of this gen is going to be damage mitigation of decisions made long ago. In hindsight what's happening is not at all surprising, but I'm still in awe at the changes in this industry in just one gen.

Sony made some major major mistakes. I had some feeling that they might've been able to overcome it, but it quickly became obvious it isn't the case. People need to realize it's no longer about "winning" or about "sales" for Sony, it's about making profit, period. They can't play like they're working to catch the 360 because, honestly, that's not practical.

Shinobi - exactly. And just to make it explicit, in corporate terms that means Sony has to work on the one "victory" they have left, that is, working towards earning a profit with the system.
 

Opiate

Member
mr_bishiuk said:
I dont know most of the top guys want to work on the best equipment & tools, they probably look at the Wii as a way of getting some quick cash if anything.

Out of curiosity, why are these hypothetical top guys not building games for the high end PC that won't even exist for 2 years (when their game comes out)? It could look considerably better than Crysis at that point. Considerably. With better online functionality and more control options.

This question has been asked before, but I don't think there is an answer. And Bishiuk, I don't really disagree with you, but as a PC Gamer first and foremost, it's always frustrating to see an hypothesis like the one you've just provided... only to discover you mean the PS/360, not the PC, when the PC is indeed the "best equipment and tools" while 360 is now 4 year old technology.
 
Holy shit, I just realized that Wii Fit outsold the Wii system.

You know you have a successful game if it sells to over 100% of the new userbase for the month. :lol

Edit: Damn, I was beaten to it.
 

hie

Member
Opiate said:
This question has been asked before, but I don't think there is an answer. And Bishiuk, I don't really disagree with you, but as a PC Gamer first and foremost, it's always frustrating to see an hypothesis like the one you've just provided... only to discover you mean the PS/360, not the PC, when the PC is indeed the "best equipment and tools" while 360 is now 4 year old technology.

that's easy.

the PC is a moving target. it has to scale. consoles don't.
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
Stumpokapow said:
If this month's ratio continues, Wii Fit will pass the PS3 in the US as of the April NPD release.


Wow. Thought that was crazy enough in Japan, but never thought it could happen in the U.S
 
I just read the entire thread to this point. Good to see that there's still some lolz to go around. I thought all the PS3 believers would be gone by now.
 

DMeisterJ

Banned
I think Sony has figured out that the PS3 will never be first or second-place. They're destined for last place forever, and will likely not price cut until it's financially sound for them to do so. They will continue to try to make profit as that is the goal of any business, though, obviously, they'd love to sell more consoles (who wouldn't?). It's a shame that Sony has been clawing back from stumble after stumble some four years after the initial "Five hundred ninety-nine dollars", but it'll probably never get over that. Sad too, Sony has really fallen from grace in the past few years. Here's hoping Sony gets it right next gen with the PSP2 and PS4, but with their track record... x_x

If Wii Fit passes PS3, I predict lots of Sony Fanboys will never post on this site ever again. :lol
 
joshcryer said:
How is it concievable that Sony doesn't price drop ASAP? Whoever is running gaming division needs to use some common sense here.
As a company Sony doesn't need to reach second place; they need to make money. The PS3 sales this January are higher than every single January Gamecube ever had, and higher than all but one Xbox January. Nintendo made money doing that; Microsoft didn't, but it didn't kill their console division. Sony just need prudent management.
 

Barrett2

Member
Frillen said:
Where's Private Hoffman?

He was given to a nice family on a farm. They have PS3s as big as tractors out there, and a Sony Bravia with picture so clear you can see it from the space shuttle.
 
Stumpokapow said:
If this month's ratio continues, Wii Fit will pass the PS3 in the US as of the April NPD release.
So, as far as hardware goes, there will be a higher installed base of Balance Board users than PS3 users.

...wow.
 
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