Topic: Last Story sells...

[UncleBob]

~$3,000 copies?

http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/10/hours-debut-for-last-story-data-report.html

Coffee with Games breaks down the Nintendo Channel data and it would appear that roughly 2,800 people have their Wii set up to transmit playtime data and have actually played Last Story.

3,000 copies.

Wow.  That's... low.

Some comparison data:

Raving Rabbids 2
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/10/time-for-wii-u-rabid-rabbids-time-for.html
337,017

Mario 64 (Wii Shop download)
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2011/09/super-mario-64-turns-15-birthday-hours.html
305,206

Sid Meier's Pirates
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/09/talk-like-pirate-play-like-pirate-sid.html
4,294

Kirby's Dream Collection
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/09/is-kirbys-dream-collection-worth-40.html
89,306

Okami
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/10/is-okami-for-ps3-worth-20-how-many.html
135,556

Xenoblade
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/05/great-titans-appear-xenoblade.html
3,134

Smash Bros (Wii Shop download, N64 title)
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/09/super-smash-bros-wii-hours.html
71,107

Metroid: Other M (which had "disappointing" sales)
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/09/how-many-hours-can-you-expect-from.html
111,142

Metroid Prime Trilogy
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/08/buy-metroid-prime-trilogy-hours-report.html
86,562

Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure
http://www.coffeewithgames.com/2012/08/played-more-than-mario-skylanders.html
55,571

[broodwars]

I would take that data with a severely large grain of salt, considering how few Wii owners hook up their Wiis online.  Hell, just look at how many users the most played game on that list has (Raving Rabbids 2): 337, 017.  Some of these games have probably sold over a million copies.  You could probably get a better idea of the true number if we knew how many units a particular game sold compared to its playtime user count here, and then used that percentage against Last Story's number here.

[UncleBob]

I agree, this number isn't wholly accurate of how well the game has sold.
That's why I posted several other games with their numbers.

For example, using the same population of people, more people bought and played Sid Meier's Pirates (which is a pretty ****ty port) than Last Story.

[broodwars]

For the sake of doing quick and dirty math (yes, I know the numbers will be off), I pulled the VGChartz numbers for Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure on Wii: 1.04 million units.

1,040,000 divided by 55,571 (the number the game has from Nintendo Channel) equals approximately 18.71.

18.71 multiplied by 2,828 (The Last Story's Nintendo Channel numbers) equals approximately 52,912 Last Story copies sold.

Sadly, that sounds just about right for a niche Wii game released at the end of the Wii's life cycle with no real marketing push.

[UncleBob]

Using that same method, M:OM sold 740,000 copies in NA according to VG Chartz.  That gives you a multiplier of 6.66.  So, you end up with 18,835 copies of Last Story sold.

And I'm guessing that it's more likely that M:OM players picked up Last Story than Skylanders players.

For fun, VGChartz puts Pirates! at 100,000 units.  Using your method, this would put Last Story at 65,859 units.  Even more than your number!

[coffeewithgames]

Hey, that's my post(s)! Haha.




I always clarify the "Nintendo Channel" information, but it's definitely not reflective of all Wii players... well, unless ALL Wii owners report the data, which usually isn't the case. So, it's hard to know for sure, but you can get a rough guestimate with a lot of the information for total sales.

[UncleBob]

Hey! Never noticed you posted here!  Hopefully, I'll get you some well-deserved traffic with this post...

[coffeewithgames]

Hey! Never noticed you posted here!  Hopefully, I'll get you some well-deserved traffic with this post...

Haha, I submit many of these stories as "tips" here, but they are never posted to the front page. I'm glad you found it, and hopefully you found it interesting!

[UncleBob]

I check out the site every so often.  One of the handful of sites I check on a semi-regular basis.  Keep it up.

[broodwars]

Using that same method, M:OM sold 740,000 copies in NA according to VG Chartz.  That gives you a multiplier of 6.66.  So, you end up with 18,835 copies of Last Story sold.

And I'm guessing that it's more likely that M:OM players picked up Last Story than Skylanders players.

For fun, VGChartz puts Pirates! at 100,000 units.  Using your method, this would put Last Story at 65,859 units.  Even more than your number!

Yeah, I knew and acknowledged the method was flawed when I posted it, but I think it's fair to say that The Last Story probably didn't do better than 100,000 copies sold in NA.

[Enner]

This a rather dicey way to figure out North American sales numbers.

The Last Story is in line with Xenoblade in the Nintendo Channel. Maybe that's a good-ish sign? We'll have to wait for Xseed to talk about how well or poorly it did.

[Luigi Dude]

Someone on Neo Gaf with NPD access has already said The Last Story sold less then 40k it's first month.  When the people on Neo Gaf with NPD data say stuff like this, it usually means the real numbers are a few thousand less.  So at the bare minimum we know The Last Story has sold at least 35,000 copies.

[Shaymin]

We also know that it was Playstation Vita < Last Story < 40k. So probably 37-38k opening month.

[Kytim89]

The chances of the NA getting Pandora's Tower become slimmer by the days.

[Ceric]

The chances of the NA getting Pandora's Tower become slimmer by the days.

Everyone Believe in the Bright Shiny Digital Future.

[NWR_insanolord]

So what you're saying is, Reggie was right to not think it was worth bringing these games over. /troll

[ejamer]

Although I enjoy the CoffeeWithGames posts showing Nintendo Channel data, the numbers really aren't very useful for estimating sales. To transmit your data, you need to (a) have your Wii online, (b) agree to send information about the titles you play, and (c) actively use the Nintendo Channel.


The first two caveats will have a significant effect on the numbers, making me question how accurate they are. But it's that third one that is the real killer for me.  How many people still check the Nintendo Channel with any regularity?  And more importantly, why?  What does the Nintendo Channel currently offer that should interest me at this point in time?


Hopefully The Last Story sold to - or above - expectation. It's almost certain that expectations were low to start with given the timing and market viability of this release.

[TJ Spyke]

The first two apply to me, but I don't remember the last time I checked the Nintendo Channel.

[BeautifulShy]

Yeah ejamer has it right here. I personally have it set up to do the first 2 but I haven't recently went on the Nintendo Channel to check much there. I usually did it weekly when the Nintendo Week was happening but I have done it off and on with less regularity. I think I may have checked for things on there for Nintendo Direct stuff and or after any big gaming event like E3 or similar convention.

I don't think this data is a good measure of sales.

[Tamazoid]

Didn't Xseed say they were happy with sales? So I doubt it was a complete bomb.

[marty]

I wonder how much better this game (or Xenoblade) would have sold had it been given a timely release. 

[TJ Spyke]

The games got more publicity by not coming out earlier, so they probably would have sold worse with earlier releases.

[marty]

Maybe, but they would have been released in a much healthier market and may have even helped market health if they were released in (financial year) 2010.  The Wii has been in a death spiral for almost 2 years, if you think 2 jrpgs are going to benefit from being released into that market, that's your right, I guess.  That doesn't make any sense, though.

[noname2200]

The first two caveats will have a significant effect on the numbers, making me question how accurate they are. But it's that third one that is the real killer for me.  How many people still check the Nintendo Channel with any regularity?  And more importantly, why?  What does the Nintendo Channel currently offer that should interest me at this point in time?

I'll echo that question. I honestly can't think of anything there that compels a person to log on anymore. Are they even still doing Nintendo Week?

[ejamer]

...
Are they even still doing Nintendo Week?

Nintendo Week was cancelled a while back. I think it was March. There were new trailers/videos around E3 and maybe for a Nintendo Direct event... but most people with any interest watched those online.


The only reason to use the channel at this point is to rate games (useless!) or see how many hours you've put into a particular title.  While time tracking is interesting, it's not really a compelling reason to boot up the channel.

[Fatty The Hutt]

...
Are they even still doing Nintendo Week?

Nintendo Week was cancelled a while back. I think it was March. There were new trailers/videos around E3 and maybe for a Nintendo Direct event... but most people with any interest watched those online.


The only reason to use the channel at this point is to rate games (useless!) or see how many hours you've put into a particular title.  While time tracking is interesting, it's not really a compelling reason to boot up the channel.

There are still DS demos on there. Just sayin'
 
I still heart the Nintendo Channel. 

[CM30]

I'm skeptical about this as world.  I mean, I guess you could say the amount of people sending playtime data for games has a very, very loose correlation with the game's popularity, but as said, most people don't send the data.  Heck, I know I don't send any playtime data to anyone, so whatever games I play aren't being counted in any of these stats, and I'd expect many others are the same.


And even then, is it really that low?  It's about the same as what Xenoblade got, and to be perfectly honest, I'd suspect a significant amount of people didn't buy the game due to how late it came out in the Wii's lifespan.  Maybe they just moved on to other things by then.

[UncleBob]

Okay - so let's be honest - no, the Nintendo Channel data isn't even a remote indicator of how well the game sold.

(Question though - do you have to open the Nintendo Channel on a regular basis to send the data?  I thought it did that automatically via the WiFi Connection....)

That's why you can't really compare this number to raw sales data of other games.

But what you CAN do is compare it to the play data from other games.  To me, the results of this are quite interesting.

[Phil]

The Last Story was interesting to me at first, but then reviews (not just from game sites, but users themselves) turned me off of the title. I can't see myself spending $50 on a game I might or might not like, and renting isn't an option right now.

[noname2200]

Okay - so let's be honest - no, the Nintendo Channel data isn't even a remote indicator of how well the game sold.

(Question though - do you have to open the Nintendo Channel on a regular basis to send the data?  I thought it did that automatically via the WiFi Connection....)

That's why you can't really compare this number to raw sales data of other games.

But what you CAN do is compare it to the play data from other games.  To me, the results of this are quite interesting.

The problem is that other games came out when (I suspect) much more peoples dropped in on the Nintendo Channel.

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm pretty sure I've opened the Nintendo Channel a total of four or five times ever. I don't think I'm alone in that.

[leahsdad]

I've still got the collector's edition of Last Story, shrinkwrapped, sitting on my shelf.   Geez, I never really thought it would take me this long to get through Xenoblade!  I'm at hour 40, still clearly nowhere near the end of this game.  And I also don't open Nintendo Channel anymore anyways,  I haven't since they cancelled Nintendo Week.

[Mop it up]

Kirby's Dream Collection isn't listed in the Nintendo Channel, that link you posted shows the time for Kirby 64.

(Question though - do you have to open the Nintendo Channel on a regular basis to send the data?  I thought it did that automatically via the WiFi Connection....)

I'm pretty sure you do have to open it for it to update your times. When you load up the Nintendo Channel it goes through a period of "Sending data..." and I find that this process takes longer if I haven't visited the channel in a while.

[coffeewithgames]

Okay - so let's be honest - no, the Nintendo Channel data isn't even a remote indicator of how well the game sold.

(Question though - do you have to open the Nintendo Channel on a regular basis to send the data?  I thought it did that automatically via the WiFi Connection....)

That's why you can't really compare this number to raw sales data of other games.

But what you CAN do is compare it to the play data from other games.  To me, the results of this are quite interesting.

Yes, and I try to make sure to never quote anything as "sales" data, unless it's the Virtual Console and WiiWare titles, because then it's easy to do the math on the reported numbers and how much has possibly been made... but even then it's never stated as ALL sold.


I do it more for the hours reported, and provided the number of players as extra information, just like the "professional" and user reviews in the pieces, as well as trying to find trailers/videos for them.

[azeke]

Yes, and I try to make sure to never quote anything as "sales" data, unless it's the Virtual Console and WiiWare titles, because then it's easy to do the math on the reported numbers and how much has possibly been made... but even then it's never stated as ALL sold.

Thanks for the site and your work!

Just went through your reports about VC games:
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has 240,177 Wii owners that have reported game-play data through the Nintendo Channel in the United States, with 1,722 days possibly reported
Super Smash Bros. has 1,126,147 Total Hours of game-play reported, from approximately 71,107 U.S. Wii owners that have reported data
Super Mario Bros. 3 has approximately 798,090 U.S. Wii owners that have reported game-play data through the Nintendo Channel, with 1,701 days reported
Paper Mario has approximately 191,273 U.S. Wii owners that have reported hours through the Nintendo Channel, with 1,862 days possibly reported since the game released
Super Mario 64 has about 305,260 Wii owners that have reported game-play data through the Wii's Nintendo Channel, with 1,772 days possibly reported since it was released.
Super Mario Bros. has approximately 618,052 U.S. Wii owners that have reported game-play hours through the Nintendo Channel, with 2,051 days possibly reported
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards now has 935,279 Total Hours of gameplay reported, from approximately 89,306 U.S. Wii owners that have reported data through the Wii's Nintendo Channel
F-Zero X has 195,195 Total Hours of gameplay reported, from approximately 31,743 U.S. Wii owners that have reported gameplay hours through the Nintendo Channel since its U.S. release
Approximately 29,551 U.S. Wii owners have reported playing Wave Race 64 through the Wii's Nintendo Channel

Not bad for a bunch of roms, eh?

[coffeewithgames]

Yes, and I try to make sure to never quote anything as "sales" data, unless it's the Virtual Console and WiiWare titles, because then it's easy to do the math on the reported numbers and how much has possibly been made... but even then it's never stated as ALL sold.

Thanks for the site and your work!

Just went through your reports about VC games:

Not bad for a bunch of roms, eh?

Haha! Glad you found it interesting, and those are just the PUBLISHED reports. Not counting my NCD folder of around 150gbs of video and screenshots of games over the last 3 years.