Topic: Official DS Sales Thread

[mantidor]

Im shocked that super princess peach sold more than the godfather or subsistence. they were all released the same month, right?

[Mario]

Hardware sales for March in the USA

PS2 - 273,000
GBA - 201,000
Xbox 360 - 192,000
PSP - 186,000
NDS - 184,000
Xbox - 83,000
GCN - 63,000

DS is struggling big time to even stay relevant, with big releases such as Tetris and Metroid Prime Hunters underperforming. PSP keeps destroying the DS without even any games, GBA continues to dominate the handheld market for f*ck knows why. GCN is being outsold by a dead system as PS2 cleans up and Xbox 360 builds on its solid next gen lead. The game market in general is looking very grim in the US at the moment. Perhaps they need a Revolution.

What's it gonna take for DS to be a success over there? Brain Age will be the big test.

[Renny]

That really is grim. I don't know if I should hope those PS2 sales are for KHII or replacements. Poor little Cube.

[Louieturkey]

The only reason the GBA is not beating the PS2 is because of the DS.  Brain Age should start changing things and so should New SMB.  With the demise of the UMD movie, PSP should start to (extremely) slowly drop off in sales.  Unfortunately, PSP is selling on image alone since image is really what sells in the US.

Edit: No I'm wrong, the DS Lite will be the thing to change things.  It'll change the image of the DS and sales will boom.

[KDR_11k]

In other news, I have 186000 new fools to pity. HAHA!

[Artimus]

As long as Nintendo keeps pushing the GBA, the DS is going to suffer. America doesn't have room for more than one or two handhelds, let alone three.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Quote
Originally posted by: vudu
NPD March rankings (not sales figures)

Quote
Kingdom Hearts II (PS2)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (Xbox3 60)
Black (PS2)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360)
MLB '06: The Show (PS2)
Fight Night Round 3 (PS2)
Black (Xbox)
The Godfather (PS2)
Fight Night Round 3 (Xbox 360)
God of War (PS2)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360)
Metroid Prime: Hunters (DS)
Sonic Riders (GC)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Super Princess Peach (DS)
The Godfather (Xbox)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence   (PS2)
Fight Night Round 3 (Xbox)
Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
24: The Game (PS2)

I'm not sure what's funnier, the fact that no PSP games made it into the top twenty or that the only GameCube game to make it is Sonic Riders.

How about that Elderscolls IV: Oblivion made the list twice

edit: I hope that when DS Lite releases Nintendo advertises that DS can play all of your old GBA games too, that should help the DS replace the GBA in sales and cement it as THE handheld to own.
The GBA has had a good run, it time for it to slowly fade into non-importence over the next year or so.

[Ian Sane]

"As long as Nintendo keeps pushing the GBA, the DS is going to suffer. America doesn't have room for more than one or two handhelds, let alone three."

I agree completely.  This is the very reason why so many thought the "third pillar" concept was flawed.  One of Nintendo's handhelds was going to be overshadowed by the other.  Realistically that happened in Japan it's just that the "right" one sold.  What I find really odd is that not only is the PSP selling well despite a lack of games but the GBA doesn't have many new games either.  Nintendo is pushing the GBA with the Micro and the new screen for the SP but there's not like a whole whack of GBA games being released.  I thought the emphasis on the GBA would blow up in their face but I thought it would result in a lot of unsold GBAs.  This is much worse.

One major factor would be that the DS is incredibly successful in Japan because of the non-gamer strategy.  Brain Age is huge over there.  The plan is working.  It's not working in North America, or at least not yet.  We'll see how Brain Age sells here.

[jasonditz]

But the GBA does have a very solid library. If you didn't already own one, the fact that few of the games have been released in the past year probably isn't a huge issue.

The people buying GBAs now are the same people buying PS2s now... they're the low end of the market looking for the most bang for the least buck. You can buy a GBA for $70 or whatever and find boxes and boxes of reduced to $10 or less GBA games at most stores.

If that's a market worth exploiting, I see no problem with Nintendo continuing to sell GBAs as long as people are buying them.  

[Arbok]

Quote
Originally posted by: jasonditz
The people buying GBAs now are the same people buying PS2s now... they're the low end of the market looking for the most bang for the least buck.

Well, you know, why not get a DS then? GBA library + DS library > GBA + GBC

Personally, I think Nintendo's problem at the moment is not making it clear to the casual consumers that the DS can also play GBA games as well.

[Kairon]

The premiere problem Nintendo is having right now is in manufacturing DS Lites.

Another problem is that many games are going to the PSP that should be going to the DS: Katamari, Puzzle Fighter, etc.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[vudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: BlackNMild2k1
How about that Elderscolls IV: Oblivion made the list twice

One's the Collector's Edition and one's the Regular Edition.  Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing which is which.

[Ian Sane]

Thinking more about this I'm wondering if part of the problem is that the American market just wasn't ready for a new Nintendo portable.  The GBA's life was kind of cut short.  Ignoring the PSP it was more than capable of lasting at least another year or so before getting replaced.  In Japan there was this whole "crisis" where people were getting bored of gaming and thus Nintendo felt the need to expand to that blue ocean strategy.  And it has worked.  But in America the "crisis" didn't really exist so there wasn't as much need for a new Nintendo portable.

It doesn't help that the DS kind of looks like a meager upgrade in comparison to the PSP.  Yes the DS has better hardware than the GBA but the jump is not nearly as high as the jump from GBA to PSP.  So there's this portable that is technically better but not as much as it could be that has a lot of extra doodads attached and is also not officially a "Gameboy".  I could see people interpretting such a system as a stop-gap between the GBA and the next "real Gameboy".  It doesn't help that Nintendo has spent so much effort trying to seperate the brands which I've always felt is counter-intuitive.  Even on boards like this, where the posters know their sh!t, talk about the next Gameboy comes up as if the DS doesn't really "count".

If Nintendo called it the Gameboy DS then there would be no doubt that it plays GBA games and that it was the real deal.  

[TrueNerd]

It shouldn't matter what the system's name is. The DS' library has gone from 'awful' to 'awesome' in the last year. The GBA hasn't had hardly anything substantial release for the system since, what, Wario Ware Twisted? You know, the GameCube hasn't had anything come out for it in the last 15 months and that system has sold accordingly. Yeah, the GBA had a better library established before its drought, but I cannot fathom a single reason why GBA is still selling as well as it is. Hopefully the Lite will change all of that.

And the PSP has yet to establish itself as anything more then a poor man's PS2... that is somehow more expensive then a PS2. But you know how it is in this stupid country, brand awareness and style sell better then what's good.  

[Artimus]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
If Nintendo called it the Gameboy DS then there would be no doubt that it plays GBA games and that it was the real deal.

To this day I'll never understand why they didn't. I fully expected them to name it that right up until launch.

[KnowsNothing]

It was for protection.  The game boy name was perfect, and if the DS failed ninty didn't want it to ruin the gameboy name.  They just weren't confident, I guess.  But whatever, the next GB is a while off, the DS really IS the next game boy...

[jasonditz]

Quote
Originally posted by: Arbok

Quote
Originally posted by: jasonditz
The people buying GBAs now are the same people buying PS2s now... they're the low end of the market looking for the most bang for the least buck.

Well, you know, why not get a DS then? GBA library + DS library > GBA + GBC

Personally, I think Nintendo's problem at the moment is not making it clear to the casual consumers that the DS can also play GBA games as well.

Well, but for the same reason that people bought PSOnes instead of the PS2 when it was relatively new. The system price difference might seem trivial to us, but it's not to them. There's also the question of the lack of GBA multiplayer support.

[IceCold]

I've said it before, but seriously, I can't fathom it. It's just dumbfounding. Nearly every single major franchise that sold the GBA to so many people in North America has been successfully translated to the DS, and in some cases with even better results. Castlevania. Advance Wars. Sonic. Kirby. Mario Kart (not a port). Mario & Luigi. Wario Ware. All of these have arguably better versions on the DS, and they were integral to the success of the GBA. Combine these with some awesome new IPs or new handheld iterations, and the DS's library is nothing if not healthy. The only two big franchises left are Pokemon and Metroid (both coming sooner or later). And please don't say anything about new "traditional" IPs - when Madden is annually on top of the North American charts, that clearly isn't the case.

So why on earth is the DS selling so badly over here? After the launch, I knew Kirby and Meteos wouldn't be enough to boost sales significantly. But I was confident that when autumn and Christmas came, the great new titles would push the DS on top once and for all in a big way. I mean, come on, that lineup from September to December was just brilliant. When this didn't happen, I was shocked, but I waited for Metroid Hunters; great graphics, online, FPS, handheld? Bingo! Or was it? We don't know the actual sales numbers, and NPD is inaccurate as usual, but all signs point to it horribly underperforming.

There are some bright spots though; namely the DS Lite, New Super Mario Bros, and to a lesser extent, Brain Training. If Peach sold so well (relatively), then NSMB should be a hit. But all bets are off now; from what we've seen, anything's possible. I will say, though, that I will give up on this market if Mario doesn't help the DS.

[nitsu niflheim]

When the DS came out, Nintendo should have put into gear a plan to discontinue the GBA within 6-8 months.  

[jasonditz]

If the DS is selling so badly, why is it that every time Overstock has a DS game as it's deal of the day its sold out by early afternoon?

Anyhow, the three things that I see driving DS sales in the US among traditional gamers are all yet to be released (but all forthcoming)

1. Zelda game
2. new Mario game that's an actual platformer
3. Pokemon game that's an actual RPG

[NWR_pap64]

OK, who was the one that said that the DS was selling badly?

Last I heard, the numbers were really good. The difference is that in the US it's another handheld, in Japan the DS is almost an iPod like phenomenon.

Even then, it's doing MUCH better than the PSP.

So why complain?

And I think 2006 will see the definite retirement of the GBA and Nintendo will focus on the DS greatly.

All the GBA announcements I've heard recently have been from third party companies, nothing from Nintendo.

[IceCold]

Quote
Even then, it's doing MUCH better than the PSP.

Worldwide, yeah.. but we're talking about North America. The PSP outsold it for the first few months of its launch, and since then it's been even. The DS only has a slight lead overall, due to its earlier launch. And that is just ridiculous, especially with how many more quality games the DS has over the PSP..

[SixthAngel]

I was under the impression that the psp games were doing horrible despite keeping up and was becoming more of a media player for people.

Cancelling the GBA doesn't seem to be a problem so much as people in the US just don't seem to care about handheld gaming that much.  I have a DS and ended up picking up a bunch of games but the only reason I got it was because I was going to Hong Kong for a few months.  I considered gettting a GBA but decided the price difference wasn't great enough.  While some people will buy handhelds for the games it seems to me like in North America they are often bought only when needed and remain secondary to regular consoles.  Many people are simply not interested in a portable gaming device if they are not away from home to play it.  Since portables are considered so secondary to these people they don't care for the newest thing just something cheap to pick up and play.  Price point seems to be the primary reason for purchase and I think canceling the line would make a small move to a DS but more people would just not buy at all.

Because of that long argument I also think that big new games on a handheld won't cause big spikes in sales like consoles but instead an existing library is important to sway customers.  So I think backwards compatibility is very important to advertise, if it wasn't there I would have a GBA right now.

[capamerica]

Where are your hearing that the PSP is neck and neck with the DS?
That sounds like total Sony BS to me. Especially since Sony will Not release sale figures and only releases Shipped figures. While Nintendo releases actual Sale figures. Maybe the PSP and DS are neck and neck in the sense that Sony has shipped as many PSPs as Nintendo has sold DSes.

If the PSP was actually doing as well as the DS do you think we would be seeing all this support for the PSP being dropped? You have developers scaling back PSP support and Movie companies dropping UMD movie support. While in the DS's court we have developers jumping on left and right.

I think Sony is just pulling the wool over your eyes to make you think the PSP is doing better.

[IceCold]

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as people in the US just don't seem to care about handheld gaming that much.

Well, that's not true - the GBA/SP sold through the roof in North America, even when it was new and the price was quite high. Of course, it had Pokemon, which the DS doesn't have yet. Still, the DS has an amazing catalogue of games but for some odd reason it isn't selling as well. Just look at Nintendo's own offerings; for the GBA there was little competition so they didn't have many original games themselves. Contrast this to the DS, where they're putting in an incredible effort to put out quality titles.

Quote
Where are your hearing that the PSP is neck and neck with the DS?

Oh, I have no doubt that internationally the DS is outselling the PSP by a wide margin. Hell, even France and Spain caught the Nintendogs bug. I am also aware that Sony gave a figure that showed how many PSPs they had shipped worldwide, which is bullshit of course. In comparison, the DS is absolutely handing it to the PSP.

However, as I said before (twice ), I'm talking about the North American market. If you look at the NPDs for the last year, what I said would become apparent. Of course, the NPD numbers are unreliable and inaccurate, as they exclude some stores and extrapolate and goodness knows what else. However, you can get the general feel of the market from them. And since the PSP launched over here, it outsold the DS at first, evening up with it later on. Since then the sales have been around the same for both handhelds, so the DS is in the lead due to its early launch. I thought that, with the rush of wonderful DS games in the last 6+ months, it would pull ahead easily. However, even with all those games, the sales show little improvement.

But I guess that in a world where Over the Hedge wins GameCube GOTY, this is not a surprise..