NPD Instant Analysis: Things You Should Note
EA finally gets the Wii, and not in a way that will excite hardcore gamers. Ghostbusters goes missing. PSP jumps. And more observations you can use at cocktail parties from today’s June NPDs.
(Check out our software and hardware reports for June here… then read this analysis and add yours.)
EA Nails The Wii, Thanks To mums And Dads: EA has two Wii games placed powerfully in the top five best-selling games of June, a feat that I don’t think any third-party publisher has accomplished since the Wii launched. And how did EA do it? Not with a game for teenage boys. Not with a first-person shooter. Not with an M-rated gorefest. But with EA Sports Active, a fitness game targeted at grown women, many of them likely to be mums. And they did it with Tiger Woods PGA 10, the definitive sports game for dads. That’s the Wii audience for EA… all grown up!
Tiger Pulls A Guitar Hero: Also notable about the performance of Tiger Woods on the Wii is that the game charted for the Wii but not for any other platform. While Maddens and Call of Dutys are still series whose PS3/ Xbox360 versions handily outperform the Wii editions, Tiger performed more like a Guitar Hero game. The Guitar Heroes have been selling better on the Wii than on any other platform. That speaks to who has a Wii. It is also a likely a byproduct of the Wii Remote (with MotionPlus) being so well-associated by EA and gamers with the swing of a golf club. What’s the next franchise that will see Wii out in front?
Open Worlds Are Big — But Do People Think Of Them As Open Worlds?: It looked like Prototype, Infamous and Red Faction Guerilla, three open-world games released within weeks of each other, would cannibalize each other’s sales. Maybe they did. Maybe they didn’t. But none appears to have flopped, as versions of all three made the top 10. People like open-world an consume a lot of them, despite those games being among the longest games out there. Could the allure be that they give so much bang for their buck? Or is their open-worldness something most consumers don’t notice? A genre connection that’s invisible to those buying based on commercials and boxart?
Blasts From Pasts: Among the top 10 posts of June are only five games released in the new 35-day reporting period. That’s the way it works these days: lots of games linger. This month’s lingerers are the consistent strong sellers Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit along with recent stars Infamous, UFC and EA Sports Active.
Notable new releases that failed to make the overall software top 10 (With no console or handheld version selling under 192,700 units in the U.S. by July 4): Rock Band Unplugged (June 9), Ghostbusters: The Video Game (June 16), Let’s Tap (June 16), Guitar Hero Smash Hits (June 16), Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP), Overlord II (June 23), The Conduit (June 23), Transformers Revenge of The Fallen (June 23), BlazBlue (June 30), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (June 30), Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (June 30)
Nintendo DS – 21,900 units/day (down 725)
Wii – 10,334 units/day (down 5)
Xbox 360 – 6,874 units/day (up 624)
PS3 – 4,706 units/day (up 27)
PSP – 4,671 units/day (down 1,085)
PS2 – 4,363 units/day (up 184)
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
A "new" Guitar Hero game failing to crack the top 10? Maybe this is a sign that this thing is finally beginning to lose its legs. Maybe Activision has finally reached market saturation with all those GH titles in such a short amount of time...
TheShape
@Stephen Totilo: mmm, what I'm looking for is the part where you say what you say after CITING some kind of sales data indicating the average age (or I suppose parental status) of those who bought this game!
how many [term that means hardcore to the people here] gamers do you think just picked this up because they were intrigued by M+?
why not mention that?
you say I'm looking for something that isn't there, but the entire point of that portion of the article was to say that EA did not have a successful Wii game with [term that means hardcore to the people here] gamers.
you simply speculated and chose to do it in a way that furthers what is a negative stereotype in the culture of gaming that you and I operate in.
if you can tell me you honestly weren't aware of that then I can acknowledge that I'm reading too much into what you've written lately.
but if you can honestly tell me you weren't aware of that, then I don't think you should be writing for a gaming blog =\
Crash__Man
@FP_slomo788:
For the most part I agree with you, first-party exclusives won't be going anywhere, but I can see publishers looking at the sales of Infamous, crunching the numbers and seeing that they can't recoup development costs off PS3-only sales, forcing them to go multiplatform.
Compare with the sales numbers of Prototype on 360, and a publisher would have to have their palms crossed with silver by Sony to justify PS3-only development.
At what point does the PR benefit of having a platform exclusive cease to outweigh the loss taken when your exclusive game doesn't set the world on fire? That's some tough math for Sony to run, and looking at Infamous, it's not a pretty equation.
Jonman
@Crash__Man: Tiger Woods is released and marketed as pegged to Father's Day. Nothing I write can shake you from your convictions because you are looking for something that isn't there.
@Jonman: I think more and more 360's are bricking and people are just forced to buy a new Arcade and transfer the HDD over. With promises from Jasper and newer MoBo's -- It makes sense that people would want a newer one over a refurbished one.
I say, in my opinion, about a third of 360's out there are one person's 2nd or 3rd unit. And realistically 40% of the sales numbers these days are actual unique sales for the 360.
@Lokno: bear in mind that it split among 3 platforms, and the floor for the top 10 was a lot higher this month (192K or so). If you assume 180K on 360, 140K on ps3 and another 100K on wii (reasonable hypotheses, I think), that's 420K for half a month, probably putting it within spitting distance of Prototype on a 'per diem' basis.
@Jonman: "Infamous's sales have to be disappointing. ~370k in the first couple of months is not fantastic, especially for such a flagship title. This lends credence to the idea that the days of PS3-exclusives are over."
Far from that. As the article points out, inFamous was going against two other open world games, one of which was a pretty old franchise. And it was the only exclusive of the bunch, on the platform with the smallest userbase, yet it managed to be in the top 10. I'd say that's pretty impressive.
Also, the days of pretty much any next gen third party-funded exclusives are over. Prices are too high, userbases are too small. However, the days of first party titles are from over, and the PS3 has plenty of those. inFamous is one, so don't expect it on other platforms.
At this point any PS3 owner would be silly to worry about exclusive titles. Even if Sony decided to just milk the new IPs there would be plenty of PS3-only games. Plus the old PS franchises like GoW and Socom.
Every console except for the 360 is down in year-on-year sales from 2008. Sony platforms are especially down. The PS3 pricedrop needs to happen sooner rather than later to reinvigorate that - rumours have been flying for long enough that potential buyers might be holding off on the purchase of a PS3. The 360 is just about matching last year's numbers, showing that MS are either doing a stellar job of marketing the machine, or that they're benefitting from Sony's ongoing clusterf***.
The Wii numbers are significantly down on last year, suggesting that the Wii has saturated the market at it's current pricepoint. I wouldn't be surprised to see pricedrops announced for this holiday season from all 3. Sony because they have to, MS in response to Sony, and Nintendo because they can.
On the software side, it's interesting to note that this is the first month that Wii Fit hasn't appeared in the Top 10 since it launched. It's only the 2nd month that Wii Play hasn't been in the Top10 since June '07. Wii Fit may have saturated it's market too, or may simply have been made obsolete by EA Active. The absence of Wii Play is remarkable, as it's sales have proportionally tracked the sales of the Wii itself extremely closely, as it's the usual method by which you get a second Wiimote.
Infamous's sales have to be disappointing. ~370k in the first couple of months is not fantastic, especially for such a flagship title. This lends credence to the idea that the days of PS3-exclusives are over.
Jonman
"EA Nails The Wii, Thanks To Moms And Dads: EA has two Wii games placed powerfully in the top five best-selling games of June, a feat that I don't think any third-party publisher has accomplished since the Wii launched. And how did EA do it? Not with a game for teenage boys. Not with a first-person shooter. Not with an M-rated gorefest. But with EA Sports Active, a fitness game targeted at grown women, many of them likely to be moms. And they did it with Tiger Woods PGA 10, the definitive sports game for dads. That's the Wii audience for EA... all grown up!"
okie doke. 100% of the journalistic integrity you were trying to tell me about the other day just evaporated.
if Tiger Woods did well on any other console would it be because of moms and dads? or the "definitive sports game for dads"?
you, sir, are part of the problem.
Crash__Man
@Hypernetic: I didn't see the negative sentiment either!
Relax on the defensiveness; I am currently playing the shit out of Tiger Woods 2010.... so damn good on the Wii!
@Hypernetic: As for EA Active being a Wii Fit clone, you might want to do a little research before you start labeling. It's completely different in terms of the types of exercises and mechanics. It actually involves western exercise rather than yoga....
@ShadowOdin isn't american: For a $400 system, those numbers are pretty good, also considering most Americans just don't have any money right now. What is it, 40% drop in hardware sales overall since last year? Yeah, I'd say video games aren't recession proof like everyone expected. Once the price drops we'll see an improvement.
As for the PS2, it's $99. Not much else to say there.
The days of American's putting the importance of quality over price are long gone, at least for now. The trend in America is to buy the cheapest product you can find, and this permeates throughout all consumer goods; whether it be electronics, or food items and clothing. It's just the way things are right now.
@Fernando Paramo: So, can we stop calling Chinatown Wars a flop?
@RicoTheSaboteur: And used PS2 systems are CHEAP. I work at a pawn shop and we sell them for $50 including tax and one game of choice. We sell like 20 a week.
BNC92781
@Lokno: I don't think the sales of the game are going to have a huge effect on whether or not the third movie happens. Hollywood has greenlit worse ideas for dumber reasons, and Ramis and Aykroyd seem enthusiastic about doing a third movie now.
spiderweb1986
@Hypernetic: Let's hold off on this sentiment until we see how MS and Sony implement their new motion based controls. Let's face it, they wouldn't even exist if not for the newfound casual market that the Wii has turned out.
GoonerVance
not really surprising that BlazBlue and Call of Juarez aint there on the list because they were released right at the end of June,i predict them to be high in the July top 10.
@RicoTheSaboteur: Oh trust me, it was not the strong PS2-numbers I felt skeptic about.
PS2 is a great console and I might soon be buying another one.
@Lokno: I dunno- I think the game is ridiculously fun, especially for Ghostbusters fans. :P
@CHunterX: Or, you know, I might be because it's a good game.
Just a thought, but that can't be possible, Wii games only sell if they're mini games, made by Nintendo or come with a peripheral.
@ShadowOdin isn't american: The important thing to realize is that the people who buy a PS2 today were not wondering if they should go for a PS3 instead.
At $99 and with a gigantic used games market, the PS2 is the most sensible choice for low income families when they consider a system for their children. These PS2 numbers will continue to be strong for years and they still are in Europe too.
@CHunterX: The opposite is also possible, since it was the case for me: it sold well because it supported MotionPlus. Personally, I wanted to see how a golf game with MotionPlus would play. And other than some niggles (better tutorials please!) I'd say they did a pretty good job.
Cloral
@fearing: I didn't hear one either. I think he might've been looking for one.
Cloral
Biggest change from the PD numbers:
PSP sales down 19%...that's quite a bit :9
kftgr
I think that The PS3 is going to remain in this shape until a price drop, new cheaper slim console, and until their heavy hitters start coming out. But The 360 will still have a huge lead by the time that comes around.
Vanilla_Garilla
For God Sakes, stop using that ridiculous term "hardcore" gamer. We all know they don't exist.
Ferkner
@Hypernetic: I didn't notice a negative slant to the article. He actually said that the games were for adults. I fail to see how that's negative, sounds more positive to me.
So the PS3 sold as well as the PS2?
Wow, you americans really aren't that much for the PS3, are you?
Not blaming you or anything like that. Just a quiet observation.
I bought and loved Infamous and UFC. I plan to buy Red Faction asap (I rented it and loved it). And my wife wants EA Sports Active for her birthday... as for the rest, I rented Prototype. I liked it, but liked Infamous and Red Faction better. Still may pick it up eventually. I rented Call of Juarez 2. It was an improvement over the first one, but still not the shining Wild West experience I hoped for. Maybe Red Dead Redeption...
Can we PLEASE drop this stupid "zomg casual games are killing the game industry crap"? I'm so sick of these negatively slanted articles on here. Look at what else was released in that period, is it REALLY that surprising that a TIGER WOODS EA SPORTS game is at the top? A game that is NOT played solely by casual "dads" (or even dominated by them, golf games are very popular). And a wii fit clone? Uh-oh, a clone of one of the best selling titles/peripherals on the Wii tops the charts in the slowest month of the year? We might as well throw in our hats folks, gaming is done for!!!!
Hypernetic
@-Skyline-: Thing is there's TONS of games for ds, and unless tons of people bought the ds for the same game in a given period it would make sense the sales are more spread out among the games
@Solertia: BlazBlue was on shelves for one day of the sales period. It'll do fine for the genre it's in, don't worry.
@FriedConsole: I think Turok partially falls on the "riding on the coattails of nostalgia" theory. And Red Faction is far from mediocre. Easily one of the best games so far this year. It actually probably is the best game I've played that released this year.
@CHU BOI: lol I haven't noticed that till now XD
Aw, poor BlazBlue :( Oh well, it's still an awesome game, regardless of mean ol' sales figures >:T
Solertia
@(Zombie) Goldwings: You HAVE to preorder PSP games, because stores don't even bother stocking them if theres no orders. I know a lot of shops around where I live feel this way towards the PSP.
@-Skyline-: DS games are usually bought more on a whim, and they do sell steadily. I only recently bought the new Castlevania. I bought The World Ends With You months after its inital release.
People go for console experiences first and pick up portable title when they feel like it.
Though as for total DS software sales.... Nintendo is probably raking in a big chunk of that.
People buy DS games... it just as awhole they buy them less often... but there are enough of them doing so it doesnt matter as much.
@-Skyline-: Hopefully not, because VGChartz is garbage.
Anyway, there are so many titles for the DS (and tons of good ones), that there's probably no one title in particular that will dominate sales aside from New Super Mario Bros. or Mario Kart DS. The sales are probably distributed amongst a variety of titles instead of being concentrated on a select few.
pslong9
The only reason PGA Tour 10 for Wii got on the charts was because it was packaged with MotionPlus. You are looking too much into this.
@Fernando Paramo: I never let the facts get in the way of good joke.
AncientUnknown1
Not a great month overall for sales. A little disappointing, altogether. Stuff that didn't deserve to do well did well, and stuff that did deserve it didn't.
So it goes, so it goes.
@VinceNotVance: Even mediocre shooters consistently sell on the 360. If Turok sells, I don't think games sales mean anything.
FriedConsole
@DigitalHero: In any case I think the game might appear next month after the movie gets time to settle in. I hear it's getting good reviews and such.
Too bad for Ghostbusters, it was a pretty decent game, all things considered. But maybe its a good thing its not a run away success; no one wants Ghostbusters III: Demons of Chicago, with an all new 20-something cast.
@Fernando Paramo: I hope you're not trusting VGChartz for your sales info...
-Skyline-
@-Skyline-: Maybe some are upgrading their gear. The DSi is new, so some of the sales might just be people going to the new hardware, hence why the non matchup.
DocBacca
@AncientUnknown1:
Get your facts correctly... the DS is the system with the most software sales this gen.
Fernando Paramo
@(Zombie) Goldwings:
I don't know, Harry Potter actually got delayed. The film was supposed to come out last year but Warner pushed it to Summer 09 because they needed a movie to fill in the gap created by the writer's strike.
@-Skyline-: It's like Nintendo puts a little crack in each DS box. They buy one, then they buy another, but never any games.
AncientUnknown1
@-Skyline-: Final Fantasy CC, Chrono Trigger, Harvest Moons, Pokemons... shall I keep going?
@(Zombie) Goldwings: I'd like to add that in Toronto finding Monster Hunter was very difficult. It was sold out practically everywhere I went when I went on my Game Hunter quest (lame).
(Sorry Ryan! I will get your Birthday present soon)
@-Skyline-:
DS software sells consistently, with extremely long legs... thats why is the system with the most amount of software sold in this entire gen, and is also the system with the most million sellers.
Heck, GTA DS is already 700,000 worlwide.
Fernando Paramo
Harry Potter should have come out at least 2 days AFTER the movie came out. That way you can combine the marketing power and get the fans excited for both. Instead it got lost in the wave of other games.
That or people found out the Harry Potter games aren't too great :/
@-Skyline-: To pair with their R4?
puresewas1de
lol He still looks like he's got a dart stuck in his neck
"Ghostbusters" did pretty well, supposedly (at least that's what I'm getting on VGChartz.com). I'm all for that game, even if it's mostly riding on the coattails of nostalgia rather than providing an exceptional gameplay experience.
Oh and give it up to Red Faction- a game that everyone counted out for being "just another shooter"; did fairly well considering the competition.
People buy the DS, but what do they buy with it? There were no DS games in the top 10... So what are people buying a DS for?
-Skyline-
I like this breakdown of the numbers. The setup and analysis is nice to read instead of simply reading the number of sales. Perhaps adding the actual sales figures would be good too!
JRDad