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[Grecco]

Call of Duty 4 has sold 500k on the DS?

I have to admit I find this evidence very compelling. I knew games on Nintendo systems tended to have longer lifespans, but not this much longer. That's very impressive.

I used to be in a guild where the guild leader worked on that game. So im pretty happy for his success. Go NSpace

 

[Cipherr]

Nintendo has been advertising the hell outta Layton lately. Now they're doing the same thing with Rhythm Heaven.

Heres hoping they do the same with the supposed partnership with Capcom trying to make Monster Hunter console titles a force in the US. Supposedly thats their goal. We shall see if they can do it. Im not as impressed by Layton as I would be by that. Layton isnt exactly non gaming, but I wouldn't call it worlds apart either. MH3 on the other hand is pretty much a core game through and through.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

:lol @ people getting mad at gaf for the ds/wii hardcore game sales. ur mad at the wrong people. the people who didn't buy don't post here!

 

[Vinci]

:lol @ people getting mad at gaf for the ds/wii hardcore game sales. ur mad at the wrong people. the people who didn't buy don't post here!

wat - who's mad? u mad?

 

[HK-47]

I'm not shocked at legs on Wii/DS titles as a general concept, schuelma, but you have to admit the profound nature of those legs is pretty amazing.

CoD4 DS was not well received and is a "hardcore" game. Even on the DS, would anyone have been surprised by fairly truncated legs?

And yet, it has instead gone on to do 13x its original month's sales. I know Wii/DS legs are very good, but that is incredible for such a game.

Actually it got decent scores despite lacking a MP modes and being very short. Plus the fact that it wasnt advertised at all and was pretty much a throwaway title

 

[Kifimbo]

:lol @ people getting mad at gaf for the ds/wii hardcore game sales. ur mad at the wrong people. the people who didn't buy don't post here!

Mad isn't really the right word. And yes, some people in this thread were asking for a XBLA/PSN version and others were saying it should have been on the PSP. So they post here and they didn't buy it.

 

[fernoca]

the people who didn't buy don't post here!

And the people that bought it; from here, don't play it.
Heck there are over 40k accounts in GAF, even if all of them posted here and bought the game, the biggest half that bought it (48k) wasn't from here anyway.....................

...

 

[gtj1092]

Why do core gamers on Ps360 buy games first month in big numbers but the as we're told the vast under served core gamer market on Wii/DS don't(or do they)?

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

 

[MobiusPigeon]

the point is that the majority of likely buyers for those titles are hardcore. the others probably had something else to do like knit or play squash.

 

[Vinci]

Why do core gamers on Ps360 buy games first month in big numbers but the as we're told the vast under served core gamer market on Wii/DS don't(or do they)?

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

Seems to vary based on IP and/or advertising. Things that are more marketed or inherently marketable sell early, while others have a slow burn.

 

[Kifimbo]

Why do core gamers on Ps360 buy games first month in big numbers but the as we're told the vast under served core gamer market on Wii/DS don't(or do they)?

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

My guess is this.

1) Xbox 360/PS3 owners are mostly core gamers that follow news and buy their games as soon as possible to play online with as much people as possible.
2) Wii owners are different in general, they don't care about the new games, they buy games based on word of mouth, based on kids birthday, based on "Ok, I'm done with this game, what will I buy next". You probably also have core gamers waiting for price drops of Wii/DS games because most of their money goes to PS3/Xbox 360 games.
3) Mario, Pokemon, Zelda are different, because they are loved by core gamers. So they have huge opening like Xbox 360/PS3 games. But they also sell in the long run because of 2).

 

[xs_mini_neo]

Simple, publishers are pigeon holing the Wii's userbase (Just like they have with all Nintendo consoles and handhelds since the N64) in an attempt to avoid developing games for Nintendo's platforms.

Whether it's kiddiness, low userbase size, "only Nintendo games sell" or "only old grannies have a Wii" it's the same old thing as before. It's just an excuse and it doesn't matter how well Nintendo's consoles sell, western developers will continue to always avoid putting their best effort on Nintendo's consoles.

Japanese developers don't seem to hold much of a grudge against Nintendo themselves though since the DS is getting healthy support, but the devs by and large want to work on the HD machines so they're obviously avoiding Wii development because they want to work with high powered consoles.

This generation is set now, you will never get a major franchise from a major western developer with full effort being put on its production on the Wii (And probably DS now) Hopefully we might still see some Japanese developers throw strong support (We're finally starting to see some form of shift with Dragon Quest 10 and Tales of Graces actually, along with Monster Hunter 3 and Crystal Bearers)

QFT and because you practically copied and pasted this from my brain. Kudos.

 

[Cipherr]

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

Because the numbers dont lie. Look at the numbers and openings on this very page for those Wii games and their LTDs. Its clear that Pokemon Mario and GH are the exceptions and not the rule. The majority of games are burning slowly.

 

[Chumly]

Why do core gamers on Ps360 buy games first month in big numbers but the as we're told the vast under served core gamer market on Wii/DS don't(or do they)?

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

Wii/DS games can have big openings along with long legs. But the fact remains that Wii/DS games have much stronger legs than PS3/360 games and the first month of sales for Wii/DS games are never good to go off to see how the title will do.

 

[Bizzyb]

Link's Crossbow Training, what the fuck.

It comes with a gun?....

 

[TheGreatDave]

It comes with a gun?....

Barely!

 

[ViperVisor]

Why do core gamers on Ps360 buy games first month in big numbers but the as we're told the vast under served core gamer market on Wii/DS don't(or do they)?

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

I've been trying to put a post together in this area.

It's about expectations and wants. They are a bit different on Wii vs PS360. Everyone wants quality and or fun. PS360 wants of good shooters has been happening up through KZ2. Wii was a game changer so it's hard to know what was wanted as the novelty was so huge to start. Red Steel was there at launch so it sold and used some things but not very well. There was quality in the shooter area with MP3 but the series had it's limits from going huge from the start and even the help the Wii brought to it didn't expand the appeal.
Shooters have been a big piece of the pie for a nearly a decade since GoldenEye forged the mold. So if you were gaming around then you were more likely to follow the path to 360 or PS3.
The only quality/fun people expect on Wii is Nintendo or the simple plug and play with party aspects. Some take the leap to the exceptions but those are few in number to begin with before you look at their performance individually.

I don't know what the tipping point in time was to avoid the Wii becoming a game of horseshoe but now it is horseshit being thrown at the stake. I am fairly sure when it didn't happen by Holiday 2008 things were fucked. For some time before then it was obvious Nintendo was going to have little to put out. Unless Shiggy got back out his delay stick and used it like never before. Yet diddly poo happened.

Motion+ I fear will not help this problem. It's already late. It is easy for EA with existing games to enhance them but other than that you are jumping into the deep end to start on Wii now. And you are not gonna beat Nintendo to the punch with the party factor of Resort or depth with whatever full fledged out usage they are doing. The current party game people are the ones who will move on to the future of Wii which will be more of the same.

It's just sad.

 

[markatisu]

I am super impressed with COD4 DS, I did not think anything of that game after such a low opening. Makes you wonder if there are any games like that one since all we ever see is the same old same old DS games (last month 7 out of the top 10 were from anywhere from 1-2 years old)

Because the numbers dont lie. Look at the numbers and openings on this very page for those Wii games and their LTDs. Its clear that Pokemon Mario and GH are the exceptions and not the rule. The majority of games are burning slowly.

Those would also be examples of big AAA games, nobody has really proven that big AAA games that are mass marketed and heavily budgeted do not sell on the Wii. Boom Blox, de Blob, and COD WaW were not (shit COD WaW was not even advertised for a whole month as being for Wii, when it was it sold). Metroid Prime 3 was highly budgeted but NOA admitted they refused to market it, even games that have mid-large budgets like Deadly Creatures were refused advertising, GH and Layton are examples of advertisings assistance.

GTA:CW could be a good example of one that might not, but if it ends up selling more next month thanks to the DSi and then matches or surpasses the PSP version the point will be moot. We just do not know what to make of that right now I think.

Conduit may be a good example depending on how SEGA is pushing it, it is getting a CE version at Gamestop so its not the average Wii game. I do not remember any average budget games getting special editions.

 

[lowlylowlycook]

Just for a bit more on Wii software sales:

Tiger 09- Didn't debut in the top 10, now at 494K

Boom Blox- debut at about 60K, now at 420K

RE4- debut at like 120K if I remember correctly- now at 759K


As well as CoD and even something like de Blob which didn't get close to charting and is almost to 250K.

Now, I'm not saying Mad World is going to end up selling 300K....but its not like that would be unprecedented.

In a way that has to be really normal. It's the hardcore, first couple of days is 1/2 total sales trend that seems pathological.

I wonder if, in addition to the obvious extra costs of making HD games, part of the problem with games losing money these days has to do with the need for game to have such high production values that it can be hyped to the moon and get people to preorder or line up to buy it day one or whatever.

I mean if a game is going to sell 1/2 the total copies on day 1 you can't let the gameplay speak for itself. Obviously by the time anyone plays your game the opportunity will have passed by.

CoD4 among other games show that this isn't the only way to work on the HD consoles, at least for multi-player games, but it seems that developers and publishers are stuck on a track that leads to incredibly front loaded sales and it also seems that the odds are against them making money that way.

 

[rpmurphy]

Why do core gamers on Ps360 buy games first month in big numbers but the as we're told the vast under served core gamer market on Wii/DS don't(or do they)?

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

On top of what everyone else has said regarding this, I'd like to add that I think the Nintendo core base is picky when it comes to 3rd party software, since historically, Nintendo has the primary source of popular franchises on its platforms starting with the N64. It's difficult to dissociate from that mentality when it has been the norm for a couple generations in a row and continuing to be the case this generation for the most part. So we're going to see Wii/DS software heavily skewed toward Nintendo for the foreseeable future. But as for 360/PS3 core base, they are less skewed towards 1st party software because the nature of their demographic is quite different.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

DID EVERYONE MISS THIS POST?

Just for the record here's the first month NA sales for the PSP GTAs.



*Interesting note: Vice City Stories was released on October 31, 2006 and didn't make the cutoff for the October NPDs so it first appeared in the November 2006 NPD listings meaning it had a full four weeks of sales to get to 125k.

Chinatown Wars was released on March 17, 2009 and had roughly two weeks of sales to get to 88k.

If you break that down to weekly averages Vice City Stories sold ~32k units per week and Chinatown Wars sold ~44k units per week.

How 'bout them apples?

This is a very good point, but you have to factor the userbase sizes of these games during release. Then again you could argue that their was far less competition in games for the PSP back then compared the DS at this time.

problem is that as just a random developer, you're going to have a bitch of a time sticking out on the 360, especially without a recognizable IP. People are wowing at Halo Wars and RE5 and WaW. But at the same time there are plenty of decent games on the 360 with new or lesser IPs that have tanked spectacularly or at the very least probably didn't cover production costs.

It's an interesting market... Do you go for 360 (w/ PS3) and hope that your smaller game can withstand the crushing blow of the 3rd part big guns on that system, or do you go to Wii where it's cheaper to develop but you have to deal with Nintendo. If you are going to sell 70K no matter what (like say possibly Madworld for existence) it almost makes more sense to do it on the console where it might only cost $1M to develop vs. one where it might go up to $2-5M to develop.

That's the funny part about Madworld. It relatively tanked on the Wii at 70K and people blame it because of the Wii's brand perception. Yet had it sold the same 70K on the 360 all those same people would say is how it's a crying shame that no one bought this game.

TTFW.

Prince of Persia?
Star Ocean 4?
Infinite Undiscovery?
Dead Space?
Mirror's Edge?

How quickly do people forget.

Madworld wouldn't have sold well on anything. The people who are saying "wrong console" are ridiculous. Would the game have had performed ANY better on the 360 or PS3? What appeal would the game have had? These are systems that thrive on realistic graphics, shooting things, and American blockbuster-like entertainment. How is Madworld going to mesh well with these consoles? What game on these platforms that has had success that is even remotely similar to Madworld?

I said it when the game was announced, I said it in last months NPD (check if you don't believe me), and I'm saying it here and now. Madworld had no chance of selling well on anything. It's black and white, it's a beat-em-up, it's ridiculously violent, it's cartoony, and it's by SEGA. I predicted 65k last month and it seems my predictions were almost exact.

P.S. Oh yeah and The Conduit will tank too due to it being generic as all hell and outside of the controls it doesn't seem ground breaking in any way.

For third month over 300k? With no real major release? Thats pretty amazing.

Halo Wars and Resident Evil 5 (multi)?

The whole one game will save the system came from mosly ps3 fans. Every game hyped up was like ''its going to convert people to the ps3'',''X game will have legs'', ''When X game comes out it will justify the ps3''. People are just poking fun at the whole spinning around those ''arguments''. Its kinda sad that people not are claiming the whole ''360 trolls'' argument, just to make them look like the victim.

While I'm not going to comment about the quantity of PS3 fans that do this and whether or not it is just as bad, not as bad, or worse with other fractions, I will say this. Possibly if PS3 fans would stop caring about their console's placement (especially since it will be IMPOSSIBLE for them to get 2nd place now) and instead enjoy the exclusive games SONY and the very few third party publishers are providing to try and justify THEIR purchase then possibly they wouldn't feel so pressured to defend the PS3. I went Wii, DS, and High End PC gamer this gen, that saying I really don't think the PS3 deserves to get AS much as hate as it does. Because it has a pretty nice line-up of games.

Killzone 2
Metal Gear Solid 4
Valkyria Chronicles
Disgaea 3
Uncharted
Little Big Planet
Hot Shots Golf 5

But idk just my two cents.

Doesn't sound like an either/or proposition to me. Not from a finance perspective and certainly not from a development team(s) perspective.

Sega has stated they would like to see Madworld become a franchise. There's a way they have a chance to do that. If you think they shouldn't want to see it become a franchise, tell them, not me.

I think you are selling the game way short when you assume it couldn't sell better on other platforms. This political correctness about not "bashing" the Wii has gotten way out of hand. The fact is the consumer demographics are not identical across all the systems. That's not a criticism.

The biggest flaw in your argument is that SEGA didn't go toward the Wii to "experiment" but because every single game they released on the PS3/360 earlier this generation bombed horribly (as well as having FAR bigger budgets then these games).

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=311897



a few months from now all this alarmist reaction to MadWorld and Chinatown Wars sales will seem silly and will most likely be forgotten...

Didn't De Blob also get really low numbers? Similar to No More Heroes?

Apparently ChinaTown Wars sales are okay...

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/04/17/gamestop-says-gta-chinatown-wars-is-exceeding-expecations/



Fuel, meet fire.

Okay so after House of the Dead Overkill, Madworld, and GTA: China Town Wars getting bad sales during their first month but positive PR's tell you people something? As well as our previous digging of De Blob and Boom Blox sales tell you all something? These platforms sell their games by legs they are slow burners.

In actuality it is the PS3/360 that are the oddballs with their games being so frontloaded.

Every other platform sales their games by the "on legs" model.

PC's sell their games on an on legs basis, so does the Wii, and the DS. There is a reason why their games rarely make the top 10 or even 20 charts yet they end up surpassing a million.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and The Witcher never charted anywhere by my memory, and now they're well over million sellers and on there way to crossing into the second million. I can say the same for De Blob and Boom Blox. And Drawn to Life.

It's the PS3/360 that are the exceptions to the rule due to the fact that unlike the other platforms they have a very homogeneous userbase as well as strong advertising competition.

But yeah whatever, I'm sure most people will still play as gaming sales "experts" just to look the other way and whistle during the PR release of these games 3 months from now.

When will GAF learns that you can't tell if a game bombs in the first month?

...Gaf is still can't learn just because a game in the West doesn't surpass a half a million during its first month or doesn't reach 100k in Japan during it's first week doesn't make the game a bomb...

It came from renewed advertising, Nintendo ran an extensive promo campaign last month with Lisa Kudrow. Amazon.com sold out of it for a few days (anecdotal I know but its obviously was a sign)

Layton was ~90k its first month according to SimExchange

...Is this why Layton 2 has been so delayed?

Layton 3 confirmed?

If you read the thread he's talking about then the answer is pretty much EVERY Layton and future Layton (well possibly) confirmed.

I hope all this money coming in to Level-5 leads to some Inazuma. I'm very drawn to that game for some reason...

This makes two of us. I don't like puzzles so Layton doesn't appeal to me, but Inazuma sounds interesting and just has that certain "vibe" to it.

 

[Fredescu]

Okay so after House of the Dead Overkill, Madworld, and GTA: China Town Wars getting bad sales during their first month but positive PR's tell you people something? As well as our previous digging of De Blob and Boom Blox sales tell you all something? These platforms sell their games by legs they are slow burners.

Plenty of people agree that the Madworld PR wasn't very positive. The GTA PR was from Gamestop, I'd be interested to hear from the publisher. House of the Dead Overkill had a good first month in the UK, I don't remember how it went down in the US.

de Blob sold 230k in the US which while meeting publisher expectations hardly makes the million sellers on the 360 abominations. I'm sure plenty of those games sell 230k in the six months after their launch too, it's just the launch sales that were different.

 

[border]

Okay so after House of the Dead Overkill, Madworld, and GTA: China Town Wars getting bad sales during their first month but positive PR's tell you people something?

Do you expect the PR reps for these companies to be anything other than positive? As if they'd really just say "We fucked up - this game is an abject failure!"?

 

[markatisu]

Do you expect the PR reps for these companies to be anything other than positive? As if they'd really just say "We fucked up - this game is an abject failure!"?

Actually I expect them to make no comment, thats what usually happens when something epic fails

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Plenty of people agree that the Madworld PR wasn't very positive. The GTA PR was from Gamestop, I'd be interested to hear from the publisher. House of the Dead Overkill had a good first month in the UK, I don't remember how it went down in the US.

de Blob sold 230k in the US which

Fair enough from Madworld and GTA. But SEGA stated that House of the Dead Overkill easily met their expectations. I don't know where De blob is at now in the US, but that 230k figure is from 3 months after its release. 2 months or so after THQ updated the games world-wide LTD with 700k and it was counting.

I'm sure plenty of those games sell 230k in the six months after their launch too, it's just the launch sales that were different.

They don't get that much of a significant incrase, just look at the big list of LTD's of recent games that were released last NPD thread. Older games with similar sales and release didn't fair too well after their hype. Most of the 360 and PS3 games barely budged.

 

[onipex]

Maybe third parties should use what Nintendo has showed them and actually show people playing and enjoying their games.

I think that would have worked much better for games like De Blob , Boom Blox and HotD.

Mad World is a beat'em up and I don't think they are too popular these days.

 

[Fredescu]

But SEGA stated that House of the Dead Overkill easily met their expectations.

I know, I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm saying that it didn't necessarily have a slow first month. In the UK it was in the top 10 two weeks running.

They don't get that much of a significant incrase, just look at the big list of LTD's of recent games that were released last NPD thread. Older games with similar sales and release didn't fair too well after their hype. Most of the 360 and PS3 games barely budged.

Looking at that list, there are a few that do. Fallout 3 on 360 went from a 375k first month to 1.14 million for example. We know Halo 3 is still selling, it's in the 360 top ten this month. I'm sure there are plenty that don't. I'm sure there are plenty that don't on Wii/DS too.

 

[border]

Mad World is a beat'em up and I don't think they are too popular these days.

Yeah, nobody likes that Gods of War game or the Ninja's Gaydens.

 

[apotema]

Where is Commodus making fun of Maximus GIF when I need it???

 

[HK-47]

Yeah, nobody likes that Gods of War game or the Ninja's Gaydens.

Those are pure action games, not beat em ups.

God Hand is a beat em up, also an awesome game, that didnt poorly

 

[DrGAKMAN]

Maybe third parties should use what Nintendo has showed them and actually show people playing and enjoying their games.

I think that would have worked much better for games like De Blob , Boom Blox and HotD.

Mad World is a beat'em up and I don't think they are too popular these days.

Maybe you're onto something...Ubisoft used "lifestyle advertising" for Rabbids and CAPCOM did for the RE4 Wii port too...at least in Europe I think. Wow, the more I think of this, the smarter it sounds...

 

[Yes Boss!]

I can't say I'm enthused by the numbers we've seen so far this month, but I'm going to hold out hope until The Conduit. < 200K would be terrible. I'm expecting 300-500K in June's 12 days of release. For me personally and just me, I haven't really had any interest in Overkill, Deadly Creatures, MadWorld, or GTA:CW. I do have interest in Dead Rising Wii, but even I'm waiting until it has price drops before getting it. The Conduit, however, is a day one purchase for me. I'm holding out for declaring the sky to be falling until we get those results in July.

I'm surprised you are expecting that from a June release. I'd be very surprised if it even hits 100K in its first month.

 

[Oblivion]

As I've argued before, I don't think SMG is representative of what a console Super Mario would be like remade in the disruptive values of Wii. Similar to MP3:C and other early Wii efforts by Nintendo, it started development well before the development of Wii, and conceptually, it can be dated back to Mario 128. And I interpreted Miyamoto's lukewarm comments about SMG after it was released as lamenting that it wasn't fashioned after the success of the DS and Wii.

Actually, there was quite a bit of NSMB influence in the game. Such as having short levels but having a large quantity of them.

And there's more. You have Aonuma expressing a lot of enthusiasm for what he accomplished with PH, members of the LoZ development team citing Brain Age, not other action adventures, as their true rival (which is another way of saying disruptive change). All this, and TP being "the last traditional LoZ game," I don't think the change you can expect will be one that you will approve of.

Probably not, but we'll wait to see the first trailer.

Also, I didn't say I didn't like the GB/NES games. Those Zeldas are great, but I was referring to 8 bit games in general (the rest of the library) that I wasn't really into.

 

[Mkliner]

Maybe third parties should use what Nintendo has showed them and actually advertise their games.

Hey couldn't hurt right?

 

[border]

Those are pure action games, not beat em ups.

GoW and Ninja Gaiden are not beat-em-ups? Seriously? Maybe that's some kind of weird distinction that you chose to make, but I don't think the mainstream market sees much difference. You run from area-to-area in a mostly linear fashion clobbering the crap out of dudes with weapons and combos.....almost any genre distinction beyond that is going to be primarily academic.

 

[Kenka]

Huh, has this been mentioned ? About GTA :

I think strategically, this is a very important game because it helps send the message that great M-rated content can come to the platform and will find a home. I think all it’s going to take is time.” - Steve Singer, vice president of licensing/third party relations for Nintendo of America

“Remember that many games for Nintendo DS have a nontraditional sales pattern. The trend is toward ‘evergreen’ games that sell well over an extended period of time instead of in a one-month spike. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Nintendo DS is a good example. In its first month (November 2007), it sold only 36,000. To date, it has sold through nearly 500,000. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is a great game that has received tremendous reviews. We expect that with continued backing, it will follow the same long-tail/evergreen sales route that other top sellers have taken.” - Denise Kaigler, Nintendo of America’s vice president of corporate affairs

http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2009/04/17/nintendo-chinatown-wars-sales-will-prove-m-rated-content-belongs-on-ds/


Impressive. It's good to see Nintendo will ensure GTA to become a success

 

[Grecco]

GoW and Ninja Gaiden are not beat-em-ups? Seriously? Maybe that's some kind of weird distinction that you chose to make, but I don't think the mainstream market sees much difference. You run from area-to-area in a mostly linear fashion clobbering the crap out of dudes with weapons and combos.....almost any genre distinction beyond that is going to be primarily academic.

eh stuff like Ninja Gaiden is more stylish combo based. The more old school brawlers, modern versions of double dragon arent really popular anymore.

 

[grandjedi6]

I give you the power of good marketing:

This means that Layton almost certainly sold more in its 13th month of release in the US than it did in its first.

 

[border]

eh stuff like Ninja Gaiden is more stylish combo based. The more old school brawlers, modern versions of double dragon arent really popular anymore.

Madworld has a combo system that rewards you with more points for multi-kills and stylish murders. I don't see it as seriously different than DMC/NG/GoW, nor do I see why the Wii audience would. GoW in particular seems functionally closer to Double Dragon with its fixed camera.

 

[justchris]

ARGH! Will people stop talking about Sega's decision to put Madworld on the Wii? Madworld was designed for the Wii from the very beginning by Platinum Games, and it was entirely their decision, not Sega's. It was always going to be on the Wii, regardless of who published it. Please stop saying this.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

I know, I'm not disagreeing with that. I'm saying that it didn't necessarily have a slow first month. In the UK it was in the top 10 two weeks running.

The comments were directed toward the NPD sales in America where it only performed 45k.

I Looking at that list, there are a few that do. Fallout 3 on 360 went from a 375k first month to 1.14 million for example. We know Halo 3 is still selling, it's in the 360 top ten this month. I'm sure there are plenty that don't. I'm sure there are plenty that don't on Wii/DS too.

That is a very good point, but the thing is those are games that are already huge hitters. I'm more so referring to third party games that aren't blockbusters but receive very modest sales, hence me listing games like No More Heroes and De Blob instead of Mario and Sonic at the Olympics.

I'm not saying that the PS3/360 games don't and can't receive legs, but just not as much as Wii, DS, and PC games do solely due to purchasing habits on those platforms. When games sell by legs on the PS3/360 it's a rarity, but on the Wii, DS, and PC it's the main course for publishers.

 

[ZeoVGM]

It's been a long time since I've laughed, cried, and fought back a strange urge to masturbate while reading an NPD thread. I missed it.

 

[Tiktaalik]

The rough first weeks sales for Madworld and quick price drops might indicate that the Wii audience is price sensitive and Sega knows it. I expect Madworld to sell in the long term, but Sega might have just been wringing cash out of the super hardcore at the initial price point and will plan to make up the rest at a casual price point.

 

[Jonsoncao]

Top 10 PS3 is saddening. No LBP or Resistance 2.

why? top 10 on 360 has neither Gears 2 nor L4D
since they already out for months

 

[Azelover]

Why do core gamers on Ps360 buy games first month in big numbers but the as we're told the vast under served core gamer market on Wii/DS don't(or do they)?

And I don't understand how people can say DS/Wii gamers don't buy games in the first month when games like Pokemon, Mario____ and Guitar hero have huge openings? Or do those games not count?

There's this misunderstanding that the craving for so-called "Core titles" meant M-rated content. What really sells on Nintendo systems are Nintendo games, and by that I don't mean the brand but the kinds of games that amassed that audience in the first place. Smash Bros., Zelda, Mario, none of those are rated M, but those are the "Core titles" that the craving was about in terms of quantity, not M-rated games.

Besides, you do need to create a little bit of familiarity. Maybe you'll have a slow start on Nintendo platforms, but you gotta try to at least have some consistency in your quality and investigate what the user truly enjoys. Of course Nintendo has the best track record, it's their platform. The data is definitely available with player stats and everything, but outside of Nintendo it seems to get largely ignored.

 

[Pachael]

So [the game I like to succeed] sold poorly in the first month because of non-interest, piracy, long legs, favorable PR etc?

Maybe they should put all games on DD and not put out numbers, leaving everyone with a win-win as they try and put a significant spin on their numbers! (As for TT going 'exceeding expectations', did they really expect GTA:CW to sell < 50k?)

 

[Version 3.0]

This is a very good point, but you have to factor the userbase sizes of these games during release. Then again you could argue that their was far less competition in games for the PSP back then compared the DS at this time.

The size of the installed base doesn't have nearly the effect that people seem to think it should. At launch, a good game can sell to a very high percentage of buyers. The same can be true for a poor-selling console years later. But a market-leading console never sees high penetration for its games; by definition, the makeup of its demographic is too diverse. As a console sells more units, its owners buy a broader range of games, they don't all buy the same ones.

It's proven time and time again. Look at extremely popular games and their sequels years later that have double or triple the userbase to sell to: the sequels are often lucky to even match the sales of their predecessors. They never outsell them on a percent of install base criteria.

You can actually argue the opposite: that a niche console is more likely to have high sales (especially initially) of a key game, because all its owners are practically the same person, all waiting with cash in hand, just like they did when the console itself launched.

 

[Sleeker]

Wow. Halo: ODST sales will be massive if a Halo RTS can sale like that.

Probably wont receive as much marketing though.

 

[MechDX]

Probably wont receive as much marketing though.

I hope youre joking.


MS will pimp this shit like its no ones business. BK meals, Mt Dew cans fucking EVERYWHERE!

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

The size of the installed base doesn't have nearly the effect that people seem to think it should. At launch, a good game can sell to a very high percentage of buyers. The same can be true for a poor-selling console years later. But a market-leading console never sees high penetration for its games; by definition, the makeup of its demographic is too diverse. As a console sells more units, its owners buy a broader range of games, they don't all buy the same ones.

It's proven time and time again. Look at extremely popular games and their sequels years later that have double or triple the userbase to sell to: the sequels are often lucky to even match the sales of their predecessors. They never outsell them on a percent of install base criteria.

You can actually argue the opposite: that a niche console is more likely to have high sales (especially initially) of a key game, because all its owners are practically the same person, all waiting with cash in hand, just like they did when the console itself launched.

Very good point.