Topic: Official DS Sales Thread

[vudu]

Japanese software sales July 24- 30

1. (DS, Bandai) Tamagotchi no Puchi Puchi Omisetchi Gohiikini - 192,458
2. (PS2, Capcom) Sengoku Basara 2 - 135,850
3. (DS, Nintendo) New Super Mario Bros - 114,225 / 2,516,190
4. (DS, Nintendo) Mario Basket 3 on 3- 110,708
5. (PS2, Atlus) Kamaitachi no Yoru 3 - 97,315
6. (DS, Nintendo) Shaberu! Oryouri Nabi - 61,326 / 187,856
7. (DS, Nintendo) More Brain Age - 53,103 / 2,877,641
8. (PSP, Enterbrain) Derby Stallion P - 49,206
9. (DS, Nintendo) Brain Age - 32,419 / 2,616,839
10. (DS, Sega) Mushiking Greatest Champion e no Michi 2 - 31,763

Mario Hoops didn't do as well as I had expected.

EDIT:  Damnit BnM!  You beat me by a minute.

[couchmonkey]

Looking at those worldwide games sales on the previous page, I was surprised to see Animal Crossing in second place instead of Mario Kart.  The series is now cemented as a major Nintendo franchise.

Japanese numbers...I know the hardware is not official, but it's interesting to see PSP get a bit of a boost.  Is it this new horse racing game?  Or maybe just a blip due to people that were angry that they couldn't find a pink DS Lite?

[Chozo Ghost]

I wonder how well the Opera web browser for DS has sold. The sales chart seems to have no mention of it...

[Louieturkey]

Isn't this the first time Animal Crossing WW has not been in the top 10?
The world is crashing.

[Athrun Zala]

Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
Looking at those worldwide games sales on the previous page, I was surprised to see Animal Crossing in second place instead of Mario Kart.  The series is now cemented as a major Nintendo franchise.

given the fact that 3mill of those 4.6mill were sold in Japan, I wouldn't say that just yet.....(obviously, it's cemented in Japan, but not anywhere else)

[BranDonk Kong]

From what I gather, the Opera Browser sucks. It comes with essentially a "blank" GBA cart to use as RAM, and loads incredibly slowly. I thought it was gonna be cool...

[31 Flavas]

Really? I heard reports just the opposite. Guess we need some actual reviews of it to know for sure...

Edit: ... Omg! Xbox makes a triumphant return! 11 units sold!

[Hocotate]

I bet those 11 Xbox's sold were to people who saw the "0" in the last figures we got. They decided to buy one just to see a "1 unit sold" in the next weeks charts :p

[Ceric]

Thats a good point.  PGC we need an import review of the Opera DS Browser.

[Neodymium]

Ugh, PSP. Just when LocoRobo gets buried, we get some game that's about horses(?) tainting the charts with its PSP.

My question is why the most talented Japanese devs like Capcom, Konami, and Namco are so adamantly supporting such a platform that they have failed on time and time again.  

[vudu]

Who says they're failing?  Just because a game doesn't sell 100K copies in it's first week doesn't make it a failure.  If the game has a low development cost (such as a quick and dirty PS2 port or basic upgraded sequel) or if the publisher earns revenue on the project in other ways (Sony kickbacks) then the platform can be perfectly viable for certain types of games.

But have you really seen any brand new games from third parties that would require an obscene amount of time and money?  

[Neodymium]

Quote
Originally posted by: vudu
Who says they're failing?  Just because a game doesn't sell 100K copies in it's first week doesn't make it a failure.  If the game has a low development cost (such as a quick and dirty PS2 port or basic upgraded sequel) or if the publisher earns revenue on the project in other ways (Sony kickbacks) then the platform can be perfectly viable for certain types of games.

But have you really seen any brand new games from third parties that would require an obscene amount of time and money?

Currently, the PSP's bestseller is GTA: LCS. Now compare the sales of this to GTA III, Vice City, or San Andreas on Ps2 or even Xbox. And considering PSP's installed base is very similar to that of those two consoles at the time of those games coming out, you can see that the sales weren't too flattering. At that, had it been such a big success it probably wouldn't have been ported to PS2.

Similarly, some of the only good PSP games include Loco Roco, Valkyrie Profile remake, and Mega Man Powered Up.  None of these three take particularly great advantage of PSP's power. Somehow I think all three of these could have been done on DS and would have sold much, much better.

What are we even seeing from the big four Japanese devs on DS? Konami gives us our Castlevania, but other than that I'm not seeing much. Capcom hasn't done much other than Pheonix Wright (which got such a damned small run) and a few ports of Mega Man Battle Network. Namco hasn't done a damn thing other than Pac-Man sparkling innovations and the obiligitory Ridge Racer port. And Sega? They've given us another stale Sonic game and a few cel-shaded minigame collections. Not that these games were necessariyl bad, but all of these devs are supporting PSP much, much more with games that aren't really selling or getting much critical acclaim. Maybe they need to support the fanbase that wants them?

[Darkheart]

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Konami gives us our Castlevania, but other than that I'm not seeing much.

True but we are getting one brand new Castlevania per year of the DS and they are solidly made.

Quote
Capcom hasn't done much other than Pheonix Wright (which got such a damned small run) and a few ports of Mega Man Battle Network.

We are having TWO Phenoix Wright games and as far as Mega Man goes yeah we got the port of a GBA game but we are getting a BRAND NEW EXE series and the ZX title which I am sure both will turn into series.  Realize the PSP has NO exclusive Megaman series on it just ports.

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Namco hasn't done a damn thing other than Pac-Man sparkling innovations and the obiligitory Ridge Racer port.

True but we are getting Tales of the Tempest, an exclusive Tales Rpg to the Ds and if I may add one of the best looking Ds games we have out there at the moment next to FFIII.  The PSP has had only one tales game already and it was a cheapo Ps2 port.

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And Sega? They've given us another stale Sonic game and a few cel-shaded minigame collections.

Sonic Rush is NOT stale most of the people here on the forums will probably tell you that they rate that game one the best 2d Sonic games made.  I had more fun with that game then most present Sonic titles.  The last one I enjoyed prior to Sonic Rush trail back to the Genesis days.  AND Feel the Magic was something new and different from Sega.  I really supported both titles which were almost unapporpriate at times lol.  I dont know, for some reason mini games about rubbing a girls legs and helping her take off her clothes seems very non nintendo to me.   I clap my hands at Sega for trying something different than another rehashed port.

So all in all, are devs supporting Psp more?  Yes!   BUT seriously most are just straight ports.  Ds is getting all of the new exclusives which brings me to my next point.  The Ds is a hard system to port anything to.  Most devs have to create ORIGINAL content to actually make something sellable ::GASP GASP::

So all in all would I like to see more attention tossed at the DS? YES!   Do I think what they are doing is acceptable?  EH Meh. . . .  They could do better but I am happy with what they are bringing to the table.  It is far better then what they are doing for PSP.  

[pirateluigi]

I agree, Sonic Rush is anything but a stale rush job.  It may very well be the best Sonic game ever (it certainly blows away any of the 3d Sonics thus far) and is, next to Mario Kart, my favorite game to grab when I just need to kill a few minutes.

[Kairon]

Quote
Originally posted by: Neodymium
Ugh, PSP. Just when LocoRobo gets buring, we get some game that's about horses(?) tainting the charts with its PSP.

Maybe now PGCers won't write off Final Furlong so quickly, eh?

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com  

[Neodymium]

Quote
Originally posted by: darkheart
So all in all, are devs supporting Psp more?  Yes!   BUT seriously most are just straight ports.  Ds is getting all of the new exclusives which brings me to my next point.  The Ds is a hard system to port anything to.  Most devs have to create ORIGINAL content to actually make something sellable ::GASP GASP::

So all in all would I like to see more attention tossed at the DS? YES!   Do I think what they are doing is acceptable?  EH Meh. . . .  They could do better but I am happy with what they are bringing to the table.  It is far better then what they are doing for PSP.

The things you point out are right, this is a paradigm shift underway. I think PSP is going to see the N64 effect even more quickly in its lifetime than did N64 or especially GCN, and fewer and fewer games will be announced for it.

I will also agree that they're not making as much quality stuff on PSP, but I see it as a waste of thier resources when they could be making more stellar DS games for a huge and ever-expanding fanbase.

I think my problem is that they haven't done it fast enough.

Edit: Kairon, I never wrote off a good game that's unusual. It's the PSP-ness that I condemn.

[Smash_Brother]

As long as the PSP's software tie-in ratio sucks balls and continues to suck balls, devs are going to keep moving away from it. Any dev still making games is either porting games for dirt cheap or having money hats tossed at them by Sony.

Also, I can't help but believe that the PSP's poor performance is likewise making potential PS3 devs have second thoughts: Sony is pushing both consoles as "multipurpose entertainment devices" instead of game machines, which should make any developer a little leery given that they're trying to make games for the thing.

[IceCold]

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They've given us another stale Sonic game

Like the others, I take issue with what. If you don't like Rush, you don't like Sonic..

[BranDonk Kong]

Sony's going to lose publishers like Activision and THQ in favor of publishers like...Columbia Pictures and Geffen Records...trading games for movies and music, I thought I was going somewhere.

[Smash_Brother]

Quote
Originally posted by: Brandogg
Sony's going to lose publishers like Activision and THQ in favor of publishers like...Columbia Pictures and Geffen Records...trading games for movies and music, I thought I was going somewhere.

Er, maybe, but if the PSP is any indicator of what will happen, they'll lose those publishers, too.

Some studios scaled back but most axed UMD support entirely, saying the discs just weren't selling at all and as such they couldn't justify even bothering to make them anymore. Likewise, major retailers are either scaling back or dropping UMD, with Wal-Mart dropping them completely.

I don't see why BluRay will be any different as both BluRay and UMD have just about everything in common: they both only work on a system no one owns, they both have questionable support (and UMD support was actually better), and they're both unnecessary.

[Neodymium]

Quote
Originally posted by: Smash_Brother

Quote
Originally posted by: Brandogg
Sony's going to lose publishers like Activision and THQ in favor of publishers like...Columbia Pictures and Geffen Records...trading games for movies and music, I thought I was going somewhere.

Er, maybe, but if the PSP is any indicator of what will happen, they'll lose those publishers, too.

Some studios scaled back but most axed UMD support entirely, saying the discs just weren't selling at all and as such they couldn't justify even bothering to make them anymore. Likewise, major retailers are either scaling back or dropping UMD, with Wal-Mart dropping them completely.

I don't see why BluRay will be any different as both BluRay and UMD have just about everything in common: they both only work on a system no one owns, they both have questionable support (and UMD support was actually better), and they're both unnecessary.

Blu-Ray is in even worse shape than Betamax was. At least Beta had better quality than did VHS, but BluRay costs more and has worse quality than HD-DVD. HD-DVD may have less room, but how many yottabytes does one movie need?

[Requiem]

Actually, the more the merrier. Compressions actually downgrades the quality of the video. Here's an example. You know MP3's right? Same situation.

Once terabyte DVD's come out, compression will be a thing of the past.  

[Ceric]

Nah.  Without compression you couldn't have all of your special features.  Not to mention they'll find a new way to record that will use all that space and more.  Why?  Because Analog has infinite number of pixels.

[SixthAngel]

Compression may technically reduce quality but if my eyes can't tell why should I care.

[Smash_Brother]

Quote
Originally posted by: SixthAngel
Compression may technically reduce quality but if my eyes can't tell why should I care.

Very true.

I believe the resolution on the human eye needs to be factored into the equation here.