As other Nintendo reps have said before him, Fils-Aime thinks Chinatown Wars may have been counted out too soon by people focusing on its launch numbers. "In the handheld space, with Nintendo platforms specifically — whether it's Game Boy Advance or Nintendo DS — the fact is that first month sales really don't matter," he said. "You have a title like Mario Kart, in its first month, a holiday month that did just over 200,000 copies. New Super Mario Brothers, which launched in the summer, did over 150,000 in its first month. Those are not huge numbers, yet both of those have gone on to sell more than four million units apiece and to be in the top 10 total industry titles for the last two years running. So, first month doesn't matter in the handheld space as long as it's a high-quality game, which Chinatown Wars is, has some continuous level of marketing support — whether its retail marketing, consumer marketing, online — as long as you keep the buzz going it will continue to sell millions and millions. And that's my expectation for Chinatown Wars. As long as the team at Take Two and Rockstar give it a long life, it will do very well."
Reggie said he would have liked to have seen higher sales for MadWorld but doesn't think its launch counts out other M-rated Wii games. "The challenge with home console is that for a 'gamer game' you need to have the buzz and the expectation early and you need to support the title for a number of months to drive the sales. On both of those fronts, I'm not sure MadWorld was able to do that."
What do you guys think? Is the Regster right, or should he stick to just kicking ass and leave the thinking stuff to the intellectuals? :reggie:
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Deguello on June 14, 2009, 07:49:32 AM
I think the insanely focused attention the first month (or week) gets is just not good analysis. Word of mouth tends to spread more on market leading consoles.
Guitar Hero is a good example, because most people thought that game flopped in it's first month waaay back in 2004. It just kept steadily selling on word of mouth alone until a franchise was born. Pokemon is another good example, as it totally tanked in it's first few weeks in Japan, but just grew and grew and grew and now it's the most popular RPG ever.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: TJ Spyke on June 14, 2009, 10:16:01 AM
I think we are past the days when a game would get most of its sales in the first month. I think Nintendo realizes now that not everyone wants a game as soon as it comes out and may want to get it later. There is also word of mouth with people hearing about a game from other people playing it, and new owners of a system. Somebody just getting a Wii now might want to get Mario Kart Wii, I think this is especially evident with handheld games like New Super Mario Bros. (which managed to be in the top 10 games for 2008 even though it came out back in May 2005).
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: redgiemental on June 14, 2009, 11:27:18 AM
I think Reggie may be right.
The Wii and DS seem to operate on a different sales cycle than games traditionally.
At least to a certain extent anyway.
A movement to longer-term sales over blockbuster first weeks would benefit consumers in my opinion. Word-of-month sales model benefits games of good quality while first week/month sales speak more about marketing than actual quality.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Chozo Ghost on June 14, 2009, 12:28:47 PM
I really hope that GTA Chinatown and Madworld's sales improve enough to the point where their developers will create sequels on Nintendo hardware. These are M rated games which are in very short supply on Nintendo hardware, so gamers better start buying these in greater numbers so we will see more.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: DAaaMan64 on June 14, 2009, 01:06:05 PM
Chinatown Wars sales will improve. I'm not so sure about Madworld's though.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: KDR_11k on June 14, 2009, 02:19:19 PM
Mad World was a game with no real point, noone wants that.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: DAaaMan64 on June 14, 2009, 02:53:55 PM
Thats BS I love that game.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Mop it up on June 14, 2009, 02:54:19 PM
Game companies want games to be multi-million sellers within the first month so that they can get their money faster.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Ymeegod on June 15, 2009, 11:59:37 AM
That's not really the case. Sure there are exceptions but sales generally only improve when the retailers put the title on the barginbin table (that's how No More Heroes ended up selling). GTA CTW was already $20 like a month after launch and Madworld's MIA at most retailers (making it kinda hard to buy).
M rated games simply don't sell that well on Nintendo products.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Ian Sane on June 15, 2009, 01:11:45 PM
If you think about it the first month is just one sample of data. Are you going to make a prediction based on one sample? You can't see a trend based on just one month. At least if you had two months you could see if the sales were rising, falling or staying the same.
And I maintain my opinion that Madworld would not have sold well on ANY console. It's like an arthouse game. It's just a little too "out there" to have big sales. This is like a record label that makes classical music and wants to expand into the rock market and their first album is a death metal album and they come to the conclusion that their audience isn't interested in rock music. At least go with something that's more marketable before you come to conclusions like that.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on June 15, 2009, 01:44:07 PM
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: TJ Spyke on June 15, 2009, 02:12:02 PM
What the hell is Iwata holding? Obviously not a real sandwich, at least one McDonald's serves in the US (it's about 3X or 4X bigger than their biggest sandwich).
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on June 15, 2009, 02:23:07 PM
Iwata's packin' meat.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: KDR_11k on June 15, 2009, 03:18:14 PM
It looks like plastic or something. The other guy doesn't look as happy as Iwata either.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Stratos on June 15, 2009, 03:52:47 PM
I'm pretty sure that other person is Mr. Yamauchi (sp?) the majority owner and former president of Nintendo. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's the regional director of McDonalds in Japan.
The only problem with leaning on the long burning sales is that retailers have finite shelve space so if the game isn't a big seller right off the bat they will not order more nor give it ANY shelve space. One of my local Fred Meyers had a few copies of Zack and Wiki that were shoved in the lower right corner of the Wii shelve (since Z is at the end of the alphabet) and no one notices the games there. I couldn't find it multiple times because of how hard it is to see down there. I pointed some new Wii owners to it once.
Agreed that Madworld is an artsy game. It was bound to sell average at best. Over the top gratuitous violence plus only being 8 hours long did not bode well for the title. Now, I'll bet if it were longer and/or rated higher overall it might have sold better. Also the disgusting scandal of the PAL version probably killed half or more of the sales it could have gotten there.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on June 15, 2009, 03:56:00 PM
You are complete wrong.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Chozo Ghost on June 15, 2009, 04:05:27 PM
Looks like Iwata sold out to "the man" (whoever that is).
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: TJ Spyke on June 15, 2009, 04:09:36 PM
After a little Google search, it looks like the other guy is Eiko Harada. He is the president and vice-chairman of McDonald's Japan.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Chozo Ghost on June 15, 2009, 04:11:07 PM
So Iwata just sold his company over to McDonalds of Japan in exchange for a cheeseburger?
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Stratos on June 15, 2009, 04:14:48 PM
Well, wasn't there a deal where Nintendo DS' could connect to free wi-fi at McDonalds? Maybe this was the press confrence where they announced that.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: TJ Spyke on June 15, 2009, 04:24:20 PM
Startos is correct. Last year Nintendo and McDonald's announced a deal where select McDonald's in the Tokyo area would offer free Wi-Fi for the DS. Last month they announced that this deal was expanding to include every McDonald's in Japan.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Stratos on June 15, 2009, 04:27:12 PM
Nintendo sure seems to really like McDonalds. They did the N64 stations there as well. Kind of ironic that the company responsible for getting players to move and get healthy while playing games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit partner up with a junk food/fast food place.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: EasyCure on June 15, 2009, 04:29:08 PM
Nintendo sure seems to really like McDonalds. They did the N64 stations there as well. Kind of ironic that the company responsible for getting players to move and get healthy while playing games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit partner up with a junk food/fast food place.
no its not. Who do you think bred the fat hardcore gamers of yesterday into the lapsed casual fit-concious gamers of today!?
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 15, 2009, 04:30:49 PM
Where else would you feel like moving around so much after eating than McDonalds? That stuff makes my blood feel thick.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: TJ Spyke on June 15, 2009, 04:32:36 PM
McDonald's does have healthy kids meals now and a healthy adult meal (which includes bottled water and a pedometer). I am not defending McDonalds, and I think both Burger King and Wendy's have much better tasting food, but they are not as bad as they used to be. The Whopper from McDonald's and the Triple Classic from Wendy's are MUCH better than the Big Mac from McDonald's (and I still don't get why McDonald's puts so much lettuce on the Big Mac, the little box is basically filled with lettuce overflowing from it).
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Stratos on June 15, 2009, 04:38:11 PM
Maybe they overflow with lettuce because it psychologically makes people feel they are either eating healthier or that McDs tops their burgers generously.
Yeah, they've changed, but Super Size Me opened my eyes to a lot of things about fast food in general. After watching that I didn't go to McDs for over a year.
Wendy's>Burger King>McDonalds when it comes to burgers.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Mop it up on June 15, 2009, 05:11:24 PM
Homemade salad > all fast food.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on June 15, 2009, 05:21:33 PM
Burger = salad
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Ian Sane on June 15, 2009, 05:39:43 PM
I feel the fast food gets a bad rap. No one forces anyone to eat it. You CHOOSE to and for those that like it, it tastes pretty damn good. Alcohol also destroys your body but nobody really shits on it probably because "classy" drinks like wine exist while fast food is low class. And alcohol actually affects behaviour and people are against drinking and driving but few villianize alcohol itself, just alcoholism or drunkeness in certain situations. Smoking meanwhile doesn't affect your behaviour at all but due to its health risks it's like the world's greatest evil. The whole thing is very inconsistent and hypocritical.
I eat a lot of fast food. I'm not overweight or unhealthy because I eat normal sized portions, pay some attention to my diet and get regular exercise. I find it very annoying that any time fast food comes up there is always someone who looks down on me and goes on a mini-rant about how horrible it is. I tell the same person I got so ****-faced drunk last night I peed in my briefcase they think it's awesome. Say "want to go the pub?" and they're SO THERE and then down a few beers and eat a greasy burger and fries but say "want to get some lunch at McDonald's?" and they go off on how unhealthy it is when they clogged their arteries up even more at the pub.
Pretty lame that Iwata gets a fake hamburger. Seriously he gives the other guy a fucking DS and he doesn't even get REAL food back? Lame. :)
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Chozo Ghost on June 15, 2009, 06:26:23 PM
Ian, alcohol does have some redeeming qualities in that if you drink it in moderation it is good for your heart. As for fast food, I doubt it has any redeeming qualities except that its fast, cheap, and tastes good. I'm not against fast food at all and I don't think it should be crusaded against the way it is, but with that said I can't help but acknowledge that it probably isn't the best thing for you to eat health wise.... but that choice should be for everyone to decide for themselves.
Then again, with the eliminating of most trans fat in that sort of stuff Fast food really isn't as bad as it used to be. It is still bad though, but you know.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: EasyCure on June 16, 2009, 11:12:10 AM
I'm kinda like Ian, with this one. I don't demonize fast food and i don't put people down who eat it, and yes on occasion i do stop into a McD's or a BK for a burger when its convenient. Like he said, you have a choice in the matter so if you know its unhealthy for you just don't eat it, and don't go running your mouth about it when others do.
Title: where the heck did this response come from?
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 16, 2009, 12:11:30 PM
Me or anybody else for that matter running their mouth about their opinion towards someone else doing something that they don't approve or agre with is out god given right though.
Me poking fun at someone for liking McDonalds or fast food in general is no different than everyone poking fun at Kairon for liking weird cheap 3rd party games & is no different than Ian bitching about how Nintendo has lost their mind in regards to this, Nintendo has lost respect for doing that.
People bitch, people criticize, people poke fun. You like fast food, good for you(who ever you may be), but everybody has their thing, and they have every right to express themselves about it.
*this post is not directed at anybody, but is in response to Easycure's post*
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: EasyCure on June 16, 2009, 12:54:55 PM
Me or anybody else for that matter running their mouth about their opinion towards someone else doing something that they don't approve or agre with is out god given right though.
Me poking fun at someone for liking McDonalds or fast food in general is no different than everyone poking fun at Kairon for liking weird cheap 3rd party games & is no different than Ian bitching about how Nintendo has lost their mind in regards to this, Nintendo has lost respect for doing that.
People bitch, people criticize, people poke fun. You like fast food, good for you(who ever you may be), but everybody has their thing, and they have every right to express themselves about it.
*this post is not directed at anybody, but is in response to Easycure's post*
uhm ok?
Obviously its all our god given right to bitch about anything we want, but its also my god given right to point out how annoying it is for someone to run their mouth when no one cares.
The fatty eating the mcdonalds burger as well as the skinny guy eating the same burger BOTH know its not the healthiest food to be eating, but they chose it anyway. So to anyone who sees them enjoying themselves and decides to go on a rant about how unhealthy is is, how much fat and calories it has and even go to extremes as bringing up their mortality is just rude and annoying and they can STFU.
There's a time and a place for everything, and there's certain times when you just shouldn't open your mouth. Sure you have every right to say want but its still rude to insult someone over their food choices. We're all talking about this in a broad sense here, so its ok to state our opinions in the matter (some here like fast food from time to time, some love it, some don't touch the stuff) but the point of my post is that personal attacks against someones choice is just stupid. Yeah you can still do it, but it doesn't mean its the right thing to do and the fact is you can rant and rave about how bad a bic mac is for your health, you're not gonna ever convince anyone to give it up cold turkey.
As far as comparing poking fun* of peoples choice of 3rd party software or borderline paranoid view of an entertainment companies policy, this really isn't the same because its a on a more personal level. If i wanted to say Kai is a weirdo for ever buying We Cheer, thats one thing, but if i ever said something like "kai is a lard ass for eating a mcgriddle" i would not in the slightest be surprised if he (or any weight conscious posters who felt offended) hit the "report to mod" button and felt it was a personal attack.
*By the way, this is here is important. Read my post again, i never said we can't 'poke fun' at anyone cuz we do it here all the time. I know i'm guilty of it, but thats what we do here as a community (especially the funhouse! ;D) but how often do any of us turn to another poster and try to make them feel bad for their choice in games or their views on a particular subject? That was the whole point of my post.
*this post IS directed at BnM who i felt might of taken my post the wrong way. This particular line here is me poking fun at him :P*
haha you went and made me get all serious on the internets, damn you!
So back to first month sales?
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Stratos on June 16, 2009, 01:19:34 PM
Ian, alcohol does have some redeeming qualities in that if you drink it in moderation it is good for your heart.
Depends on what kind. Wine is healthy in moderation (comes from grapes). I'm pretty sure beer has no health quality aside from helping you unwinde from a hard day at work ;)
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: NinGurl69 *huggles on June 16, 2009, 01:52:30 PM
"Pro Daisy, it looks like Ronald McDonald derailed the thread."
I agree, Pro Daisy. I knew Iwata and his meaty patties were up to no-good.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: BlackNMild2k1 on June 16, 2009, 02:03:53 PM
*this post IS directed at BnM who i felt might of taken my post the wrong way. This particular line here is me poking fun at him :P*
haha you went and made me get all serious on the internets, damn you!
I don't think I took our post the wrong way, as I wasn't responding to you personally. Just the idea of what was in your post brought forth that response. I think it had to do with starting work at a new spot today, not getting a good nights sleep & responding to your post before actually being fully awake.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Stratos on June 16, 2009, 02:04:41 PM
Ian, alcohol does have some redeeming qualities in that if you drink it in moderation it is good for your heart.
Depends on what kind. Wine is healthy in moderation (comes from grapes). I'm pretty sure beer has no health quality aside from helping you unwinde from a hard day at work ;)
The Hops in beer are highly beneficial.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Stratos on June 16, 2009, 03:37:14 PM
Ian, alcohol does have some redeeming qualities in that if you drink it in moderation it is good for your heart.
Depends on what kind. Wine is healthy in moderation (comes from grapes). I'm pretty sure beer has no health quality aside from helping you unwinde from a hard day at work ;)
The Hops in beer are highly beneficial.
Really? Never knew that. Now I have a justification ;D Too bad I'm not a fan of beers with a lot of hops.
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: EasyCure on June 16, 2009, 05:31:34 PM
*this post IS directed at BnM who i felt might of taken my post the wrong way. This particular line here is me poking fun at him :P*
haha you went and made me get all serious on the internets, damn you!
I don't think I took our post the wrong way, as I wasn't responding to you personally. Just the idea of what was in your post brought forth that response. I think it had to do with starting work at a new spot today, not getting a good nights sleep & responding to your post before actually being fully awake.
We're both sleep deprived! It happens ;)
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: Luigi Dude on June 16, 2009, 06:12:09 PM
It should be no surprise to anyone that's Nintendo and McDonalds are teaming up. They're both controlled by the same evil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P_BvrtuxAI
Title: Re: Reggie says "First-Month" sales don't matter for Nintendo Hardware
Post by: EasyCure on June 16, 2009, 07:13:07 PM
