Topic: Official Sales Thread

[noname2200]

I'll admit it: Luigi's Mansion is doing much, much better than I anticipated.

[Louieturkey]

Surprise, no new games for Wii U or PSV and their sales go down.  Funny how that works. 

[Luigi Dude]

Game and Wario is selling poorly. I find this a bit surprising.

It's not a traditional WarioWare game which don't sell as well as the real ones.  The last WarioWare game, D.I.Y which wasn't traditional either, had a huge drop from previous games and that was released when the DS was still selling huge.

[azeke]

It's not a traditional WarioWare game which don't sell as well as the real ones.  The last WarioWare game, D.I.Y which wasn't traditional either, had a huge drop from previous games and that was released when the DS was still selling huge.

By the way, what's the deal with this game?

Do you really have to wait each time to download every game?

[Enner]

If you are tired of Wii U negativity, then avoid the following talking-heads segment.

http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/8q4vcl/bonus-round-pachter-on-next-gen-pricing-

Anyway, an interesting point was raised in the talks. The Xbox 360 (with a hard drive) and the Playstation 3 have yet to have their prices break below the $200 line. Once that happens, the panel (passingly) agreed that the sales prospects for the Wii U will be in (deeper) trouble. I was so focused on what the Playstation 4 and the Xbox Durango will be priced at and how it will relate to the Wii U that I forgot about how Sony's and Microsoft's current consoles can make potentially fatal moves against the Wii U.

Are $149 Xbox 360s and $199 Playstation 3s on track for the end of this year? Will the Wii U be caught woefully in the middle between the technical superiority of the PS4 and Xbox Durango and the established value of the PS3 and X360? Or is the audience waiting for the cheap PS3s and 360s not an audience that would've bought a Wii U?

This year just gets crazier by the day.

[TJ Spyke]

Shocker, Pachter hates on Nintendo. And this comes right after he admits that he doesnt understand Japanese companies.

[Oblivion]

But they raise a good point. A $200 PS3 with seven years library of games? Or a $350 Wii U with very few games that unfortunately half of can be found on other systems for much cheaper. Not that I'm hating on the system, I love my Wii U. But I can definitely understand the other side of the argument.
(I thought the 3DS was a bigger disappointment than the Wii U, and look how that has turned out.)

[Luigi Dude]

Once again, Nintendo's first party software is what sells their systems.  It doesn't matter how cheap the 360/PS3 are going to be, if people want to play the newest Mario Kart or Wii Sports this Fall, they'll have to buy the Wii U.

This is the same argument some people tried to use back in 2006 saying since the Wii's technology and graphics weren't next gen like the 360/PS3, it needed to be $150 or less since it was competing against the PS2.  So when Nintendo announced the price for the Wii would be $250, these same people declared the system would bomb because nobody was going to pay that much for a glorified Gamecube when the PS2 was much cheaper.  And well, we all know how that turned out.

Wwhen it comes to Nintendo, comparing the technology and what the other systems are doing doesn't mean **** when the number 1 reason anybody buys Nintendo consoles in the first place is for Nintendo's own games.  This holiday season, the Wii U's fate will be decided entirely on what Nintendo has ready for the system, since the games they release will be what drives the Wii U sales and nothing Microsoft and Sony can do will change that.

[Oblivion]

Nintendo doesn't have a Wii Sports-like title this time around. And it's going to be quite some time before we get a quality first-party title from Nintendo. And I don't want a Nintendo system that just has some good Nintendo games (that I actually don't like too often, I hate Mario, I only liked Wind Waker, I only like Metroid Prime, I like Mario Kart for a little while then it gets boring, etc. I bought the Wii for the unique third-party games. That's why I buy a Nintendo console.

[NWR_insanolord]

We have two very high quality first party titles, but yeah, it's probably going to be a while before we get a third.

[Ceric]

Paraphrase: Nintendo's its own worst enemy.

Agreed.

Now on the whole price thing in specific.  If the WiiU was being bought as a true Media Center, one of the big reasons to even buy a PS3, then this might be concerning. But Nintendo made a lame duck media tool without fully thinking through the strategy.

Just read Luigi Dude's post again.  The lack of Nintendo software is what is hurting the system the most right now.  Pikmin should have been February.  Then Something next month.  Monster Hunter while good is Niche, though a dedicated console buying for a single game niche.  Lego City Undercover while from what I read is good just nothing I could see someone buying a system for though I think it will be evergreen.  Making March actually a relatively good month strategy out of a poor mishandeling of the system launch.

[NWR_insanolord]

I'm pretty sure Nintendo wanted Pikmin/Wonderful 101/Game & Wario all out in Q1, but it seems pretty clear they're all having development problems. I think on some level this hasn't been Nintendo not learning from their mistakes as much as it has been Nintendo not having enough experience with "HD" development to accurately judge what kind of time they were going to need.

[Oblivion]

We have two very high quality first party titles, but yeah, it's probably going to be a while before we get a third.

Which two?

[NWR_insanolord]

New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land. You may not like Mario, but that's a damn good one, and Nintendo Land is amazing in multiplayer.

[Ceric]

Also little Kids like it.

[Ian Sane]

The Wii U is more enticing for someone who doesn't already have a PS360 because then its third party ports have some actual value.  A big problem for the Wii U is that they can say "we have Arkham City and Assassin's Creed 3" and PS360 owners shrug and says "So?" because why would you buy a new system for those games if you already had a console that can play them?  But in direct competition for someone who doesn't own any of those consoles those Wii U third party games actually matter somewhat.  I think it's a way easier sell for that audience then someone who already has those systems.

But then the "well the old system has a billion more games" argument has been used for decades by people who don't know **** about videogames.  The Wii U is supposed to be a new gen.  The price comparison against the PS360 is only a problem if the market sees the Wii U as Nintendo's answer to the PS360, but if that's the market perception a PS360 price drop is the least of Nintendo's worries.

[noname2200]

I'm pretty sure Nintendo wanted Pikmin/Wonderful 101/Game & Wario all out in Q1, but it seems pretty clear they're all having development problems. I think on some level this hasn't been Nintendo not learning from their mistakes as much as it has been Nintendo not having enough experience with "HD" development to accurately judge what kind of time they were going to need.

That explanation makes some sense for Wario and Pikmin*, but since Platinum Games are the folks developing Wonderful 101 it can't explain everything.

*It would be a terrible excuse too, since the transitional problems are well documented and there are an abundance of experienced HD devs out there nowadays.

[Luigi Dude]

New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land. You may not like Mario, but that's a damn good one, and Nintendo Land is amazing in multiplayer.

I think the biggest mistake Nintendo made was releasing NSMB 2 just a few months earlier on the 3DS.  A lot of people who wanted to play 2D Mario would have bought that game earlier, or when the holiday came and they see that there is two new NSMB games, they're going to buy the cheaper one which is NSMB 2.  The fact that NSMB 2 continues to be on all the weekly charts in Japan and Europe and the 3DS is still getting better sales show the brand is still strong, but most people only want to buy one at a time so NSMB 2 is overshadowing NSMB U.

Had Nintendo not released NSMB 2, I think the Wii U woulds be getting higher sales since the NSMB audience would have to buy a Wii U if they wanted to play the newest game.  Instead Nintendo gave them a much cheaper alternative for a similar experience which is what most are buying now instead.

This is why Mario Kart will be a much bigger killer app this holiday and greatly increase sales since it'll be 2 years since the last game and that audience has a much bigger fanbase on home consoles then handhelds, unlike NSMB which shares a very similar fanbase on handheld and console.  Mario Kart Wii sold 12 million more the Mario Kart DS compared to NSMB DS selling 2 million more then NSMB Wii.

[alegoicoe]

Shocker, Pachter hates on Nintendo. And this comes right after he admits that he doesnt understand Japanese companies.

I don't understand how can people take this clown seriously. I mean how can you be an analyst if you don't know **** about half of the video game market; fu*king poser

[Kytim89]

People on this forum like to compare me to Pachter, but even I would not make such an asinine statement such as the one that he just did about the Wii U.

[SixthAngel]

Why would the WiiU get killed by these low prices but not the new PS/Xbox?
The big games for these systems are going to be cross generation like Watchdogs so they will be available on these cheap systems. This is a problem for every new console entering the market.

WiiU needs games people will buy the system for, not to entice the 150 dollar console purchasers.
I also really like Ian's comment about perception and Luigi Dude's NSMB analysis.  Just too many NSMB too close together.

[Enner]

Japan numbers!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=541683

Top-seller: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - 56.562 / 515.975

Nintendo 3DS/3DS XL sales: 46.723 | Total sales: 11.141.862

PlayStation Vita sales: 14.112 | Total sales:  1.500.324

Wii U sales: 9.984 | Total sales: 879.014

Media Create Sales: Week 15, 2013 (Apr 08 - Apr 14)

01./01. [3DS] Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon <ACT> (Nintendo) {2013.03.20} (Â¥4.800) - 56.562 / 515.975 (-17%)
02./00. [3DS] Card Fight!! Vanguard: Ride to Victory!! <TBL> (FuRyu) {2013.04.11} (Â¥5.229) - 44.538 / NEW
03./02. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf # <ETC> (Nintendo) {2012.11.08} (Â¥4.800) - 36.709 / 3.062.077 (-25%)
04./03. [PS3] One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 # <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.03.20} (Â¥8.190) - 12.799 / 370.758 (-52%)
05./04. [PS3] Pro Baseball Spirits 2013 <SPT> (Konami) {2013.03.20} (Â¥7.980) - 8.059 / 149.725 (-48%)
06./07. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii: Super Deluxe Edition # <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.11.29} (Â¥5.040) - 6.983 / 449.305 (-39%)
07./08. [PSV] Muramasa Rebirth <RPG> (Marvelous AQL) {2013.03.28} (Â¥4.980) - 6.492 / 63.287 (-42%)
08./05. [PSP] Pro Baseball Spirits 2013 <SPT> (Konami) {2013.03.20} (Â¥3.980) - 6.487 / 124.326 (-54%)
09./14. [3DS] New Super Mario Bros. 2 # <ACT> (Nintendo) {2012.07.28} (Â¥4.800) - 6.473 / 1.996.530 (-33%)
10./11. [PSP] Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment # <RPG> (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.03.14} (Â¥6.280) - 6.435 / 186.444 (-39%)
11./13. [PS3] Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX <RPG> (Square Enix) {2013.03.14} (Â¥6.980) - 5.993 / 189.169 (-39%)
12./18. [PSV] Soul Sacrifice # <ACT> (Sony Computer Entertainment) {2013.03.07} (Â¥5.980) - 5.049 / 160.663 (-28%)
13./12. [WIU] Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes Online # <RPG> (Square Enix) {2013.03.30} (Â¥6.980) - 4.969 / 48.171 (-50%)
14./09. [PSP] Fate/Extra CCC # <RPG> (Marvelous AQL) {2013.03.28} (Â¥6.279) - 4.878 / 88.889 (-56%)
15./19. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 <RCE> (Nintendo) {2011.12.01} (Â¥4.800) - 4.775 / 2.025.127 (-31%)
16./21. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (Best Price!) <ACT> (Capcom) {2012.11.15} (Â¥3.800) - 4.768 / 284.824
17./10. [WIU] Game & Wario <ETC> (Nintendo) {2013.03.28} (Â¥4.935) - 4.719 / 38.274 (-57%)
18./16. [PSV] One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2013.03.20} (Â¥7.140) - 4.620 / 90.199 (-43%)
19./20. [3DS] Professor Layton and the Legacy of Civilization A <ADV> (Level 5) {2013.02.28} (Â¥5.500) - 4.356 / 203.602 (-32%)
20./22. [3DS] Taiko no Tatsujin: Chibi Dragon to Fushigi na Orb <ACT> (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.07.12} (Â¥5.040) - 4.110 / 466.189

Top 20

3DS - 8
PS3 - 3
PSP - 3
PSV - 3
WIU - 2
WII - 1

HARDWARE
Code:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|System | This Week  | Last Week  | Last Year  |     YTD    |  Last YTD  |     LTD     |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3DS # |     46.723 |     56.864 |     63.796 |  1.361.982 |  1.376.356 |  11.141.862 |
|  PSV  |     14.112 |     19.328 |      8.250 |    369.499 |    219.685 |   1.500.324 |
|  PS3  |     14.039 |     16.807 |     17.765 |    334.760 |    457.757 |   9.194.844 |
|  WIU  |      9.984 |     14.783 |            |    251.727 |            |     879.014 |
| PSP # |      7.566 |      8.876 |     13.166 |    226.552 |    305.944 |  19.855.563 |
|  WII  |      1.383 |      1.718 |      6.837 |     29.366 |    174.103 |  12.668.202 |
|  360  |        492 |        536 |      1.373 |     10.576 |     23.313 |   1.624.410 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|  ALL  |     94.299 |    118.912 |    113.832 |  2.584.462 |  2.605.926 |  56.864.219 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 3DSLL |     28.139 |     34.180 |            |    847.698 |            |   2.938.069 |
|  3DS  |     18.584 |     22.684 |     63.796 |    514.284 |  1.376.356 |   8.203.793 |
|  PSP  |      7.566 |      8.876 |     13.166 |    226.552 |    305.944 |  19.679.576 |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Looks like another slow week with nothing new other than Card Fight!! Vanguard: Ride to Victory!!

[Louieturkey]

I think that's the biggest drop in sales week-to-week for Animal Crossing this year (meaning after the holiday rush). 

[Fatty The Hutt]

Wii U stinkin up the joint again, sales wise.

[Enner]

Details on eShop sales.

StarFox 64 3D and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, for instance, both had 20 percent of their sales on the shop. Art Academy: Lessons For Everyone, Brain Age: Concentration and Crossword Plus each did 15 to 25 percent of sales on the shop. And about a third of Fire Emblem sales were through the store.

"When the NPD numbers come out later this week, you're going to see life-to-date 3DS game sales surpass 20 million units in the US," says Fils-Aime. "And that's just physical. It doesn't include digital sales. ... So far in 2013 - through April 15 - 3DS game sales are up 55 percent versus last year, counting both physical and digital."

"What I would say about Wii U - and what Mr. Iwata has said - is that the pace of launches has been slower than we hoped. But as we prepare for E3, the pace of launches for Wii U is going to dramatically increase."

After 2 years, 3DS has sold 8 million units in the US so far - 1 million more than its predecessor in the same time frame.
Fire Emblem: Awakening has sold 240,000 life-to-date with a third being from the eShop.
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon has sold 415,000 so far.
67% of 3DS connected to the internet; 41 million items from the eShop have been downloaded.