Topic: New North American (NPD) Sales Thread

[GaimeGuy]

"I think that way because of declining sales numbers in North America each of the last two generations for Nintendo. If sales continue to decline, the "oodles" of cash as you call it will follow suit. I also wonder just how much of Nintendo's NA profit comes from the GBA versus the cube (consoles). I would guess that the GBA accounts for the bulk of NA profits."


Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't  the N64   sell something like 20 million   in  North America?   The  markets that it didn't do so well in were Japan and Europe,  from my understanding

[ruby_onix]

Quote
Originally posted by: AMac2002

Quote
Originally posted by: cubiot
"(I don't have XBox Live or anything, but that's just how I heard it worked. So don't blame me if I'm wrong.)"

Why comment on something you don't have then? I have never had a problem on live with connection.

Same here, I've never been randomly kicked off Xbox Live...

I'm guessing that you're not trying to "trick" your way into meeting the "broadband" requirements of XBox Live by connecting your XBox to a 56k modem by way of a router, now are you?

That is what I was talking about (even though it's been straying off the topic of "sales figures" for a while now).

AFAIK (again, I'm not an expert, but I haven't seen anyone say this isn't true, except for some people who are oddly offended by it) this is how it works. Let's say you have two broadband providers in your area. And you move up from the crappy one to the good one. You may find that there are suddenly twice as many people playing XBox Live. And the other way around, if you switch from the good ISP to the sucky one, you may find that there are apparently half as many people online.

It's because XBox Live demands good connections, so if you have crappy broadband, it may essentially boot you from the system (just a little bit), restrict you to playing with a few of your nearby neighbors, and basically tell you (or rather, "not tell you") that good chunk of the world doesn't exist. It's probably even set up to be more restrictive on the initial logon than it needs to be, so that it wouldn't normally have to boot you from any active games. You don't notice, because Microsoft sees no reason to tell you about it.

If you tried to sneak on with a 56k, it'd probably drop you into a little "bubble" world, so far outside the view of the other happy XBox Live customers, you'd be the only person in existence.

[KDR_11k]

Now, what happens once you try to fill up your buddy list (or already did that)?

[nitsu niflheim]

Quote
Originally posted by: AMac2002

Quote
Originally posted by: nitsu niflheim Also online only games have a major flaw that I don't like, you have to be online to play, you can't play offline, I mean just look at the new PStwo, you can't even play Final Fantasy XI on it because the HDD isn't compatible with the system, and that is an online only game.

Well, it's not really a flaw, it's essential to the game, it's not just some random whim the developers got. The point is that everyone is a real person. They're not intending to block out people, it's just the way the game is supposed to be played.

It's not an intentional flaw, no, but if I spend 50 dollars on a game, I want to be able to play it when I want to play it, not when the servers or whatever allow.  Besides, why should I spend 50 dollars for a game, or 100 for Final Fantasy XI for PS2, that in five year I might not be able to play because 1) my PS2 will most likely break and I will have to get a new one, and the only model I can get is the PStwo which does not support the HDD making FFXI a completely useless game, and/or 2) Square-Enix shuts down the servers thus making the game completely useless and unplayable because the game can only be played on line.  It can not be that difficult for developers to add a simple offline mode that can make their game playable even after servers are shut down or server hiccups, like when FFXI launched in Japan and all the hell that happened.

[KDR_11k]

Except for games about social interaction (i.e. glorified chatrooms with little gameplay thrown in aka MMORPGs) online-only is merely an excuse for not developing a proper AI. There's no reason for a game to be online-only. Sure, all the online players are now going to scream "but an AI will never come close to other players!" but that's not an excuse. Even a bad AI is still better than no AI at all (unless you're a reviewer).

[DrZoidberg]

Bad AI is better than a good majority of online players also

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Many online players are only capable of "dance-strafing" in games that are meant to look "mature" and "realistic."

[Renny]

In compuper terms it's used that way. And like any other inconsistency in English, I don't need to know why. :¬]

Look at the 'jargon' entry

Bunny-hopping is an ultra-realistic military tactic. They teach it in MOUT.

[AMac2002]

Quote
Originally posted by: nitsu niflheim

Quote
Originally posted by: AMac2002

Quote
Originally posted by: nitsu niflheim Also online only games have a major flaw that I don't like, you have to be online to play, you can't play offline, I mean just look at the new PStwo, you can't even play Final Fantasy XI on it because the HDD isn't compatible with the system, and that is an online only game.

Well, it's not really a flaw, it's essential to the game, it's not just some random whim the developers got. The point is that everyone is a real person. They're not intending to block out people, it's just the way the game is supposed to be played.

It's not an intentional flaw, no, but if I spend 50 dollars on a game, I want to be able to play it when I want to play it, not when the servers or whatever allow.  Besides, why should I spend 50 dollars for a game, or 100 for Final Fantasy XI for PS2, that in five year I might not be able to play because 1) my PS2 will most likely break and I will have to get a new one, and the only model I can get is the PStwo which does not support the HDD making FFXI a completely useless game, and/or 2) Square-Enix shuts down the servers thus making the game completely useless and unplayable because the game can only be played on line.  It can not be that difficult for developers to add a simple offline mode that can make their game playable even after servers are shut down or server hiccups, like when FFXI launched in Japan and all the hell that happened.

Hey man, I'm with ya, I definetly wouldn't down my money for that, I was just saying it sounded like you that it was an unintentional flaw. No, I agree, I'm not gonna put down my money for that stuff.

[Mario]

Another month has gone by, and the sales figures are in.

October 2004 Hardware Sales

PS2: 289,000
Xbox: 217,000
GCN: 110,000
GBA: 464,000

Top 25 Software Titles

Rank/Title/Publisher

1 PS2 GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS Take 2 Interactive
2 PS2 NBA LIVE 2005 Electronic Arts
3 PS2 MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTN Midway
4 PS2 TONY HAWK UNDERGRND 2 Activision
5 XBX MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTN Midway
6 GCN PAPER MARIO: THOUSAND Nintendo
7 PS2 MADDEN NFL 2005 Electronic Arts
8 PS2 X-MEN: LEGENDS Activision
9 PS2 SW: BATTLEFRONT LucasArts
10 XBX FABLE Microsoft
11 XBX SW: BATTLEFRONT LucasArts
12 XBX NBA LIVE 2005 Electronic Arts
13 XBX X-MEN: LEGENDS Activision
14 XBX TONY HAWK UNDERGRND 2 Activision
15 PS2 ESPN NBA 2K5 Take 2 Interactive
16 PS2 TIGER WOODS PGA 2005 Electronic Arts
17 GBA POKEMON FIRERED W/ADP Nintendo
18 PS2 FIFA SOCCER 2005 Electronic Arts
19 GBA POKEMON LEAFGRN W/ADP Nintendo
20 PS2 DEF JAM: FIGHT FOR NY Electronic Arts
21 XBX ESPN NBA 2K5 Take 2 Interactive
22 GCN DONKEY KONGA W/BONGOS Nintendo
23 XBX MADDEN NFL 2005 Electronic Arts
24 PS2 ACE COMBAT 5: UNSUNG Namco
25 XBX TIGER WOODS PGA 2005 Electronic Arts


PS2

1 GRAND THEFT: ANDREAS Take-Two Interactive - 2,053,983
2 NBA LIVE 2005 Electronic Arts - 347,594
3 MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTN Midway Games - 261,022
4 TONY HAWK UNDERGRND 2 Activision - 245,461
5 MADDEN NFL 2005 Electronic Arts - 178,187

Xbox

1 MORTAL KOMBAT: DECEPTN Midway Games - 218,023
2 FABLE Microsoft - 116,001
3 SW: BATTLEFRONT LucasArts - 112,352
4 NBA LIVE 2005 Electronic Arts - 138,237
5 X-MEN: LEGENDS Activision - 107,761

GC

1 PAPER MARIO: THOUSAND Nintendo - 189,703
2 DONKEY KONGA W/BONGOS Nintendo- 72,051
3 TONY HAWK UNDERGRND 2 Activision - 50,491
4 X-MEN: LEGENDS Activision - 43,703
5 NBA LIVE 2005 Electronic Arts - 36,629

GBA

1 POKEMON FIRERED W/ADP Nintendo - 142,514
2 POKEMON LEAFGRN W/ADP Nintendo - 129,665
3 SHARK TALE Activision - 85,720
4 MARIO PINBALL LAND Nintendo - 69,149
5 KIRBY AMAZING MIRROR Nintendo - 55,979

Only the numbers of the top five are available now for some reason, i'll edit the rest in later.

[Deguello]

GO GBA GO!

[AMac2002]

Hmm, I thought they came out on the 18th. Oh well, good stuff, thanks.

[mjbd]

Bummer, Gamecube beat in sales pretty badly by X-box.  Hopefully the holiday season goes a little better for gamecube.  I know they are going to have a Mario Kart DD bundle, not to mention the Metroid Prime bundle, so that may be a good selling point for nintendo.  The GBA really is kicking butt, but I dont like to see gamecube that far behind in sales.

[MaleficentOgre]

Gamecube sales aren't going to get any better.  Look at it realistically, anyone that ever reads about video games all they're going to read is that HALO 2 is your new god and its only on xbox.  People will read that and go I need to worship at the shrine of my post is a train wreck.  Xbox sales will scyrocket past even that of PS2 (that's more because everyone and their mom already has one)

[Renny]

I've read the PS2 Mini is having drive issues as well, so I'm sure sales will keep at a nice clip. But yes, the GameCube has no chance of breaking out of its 'secondary' status.

C'est la vie. Viva la Revolution! And such.

[KDR_11k]

I've read the PS2 Mini is having drive issues as well

Which is why I'm glad my country has a 2 year mandatory warranty if you can prove the defect was already there when you bought it. With Sony that should be easy.

[couchmonkey]

I think Paper Mario sales should have been much higher, but Nintendo didn't seem to hype the game that much.  The GameCube sales are disappointing, but not surprising.  Selling half as many as the others still isn't _that_ bad, that would give Nintendo 20% of the market, which I think is significantly more than it actually has at this point.  It's kind of reassuring that Sony regained first place for a month...it makes me feel like things haven't gone topsy-turvy.

[MaleficentOgre]

that won't last long.  HALO 2.  pstwo cant stop that juggernaut.  just wait for next mont.  xbox doubles the sales of cube and ps2 combined but comes two units short of GBA

[Hova]

I was wondering where/how you compile your figures for the sales. Thanks.

[odifiend]

Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
I think Paper Mario sales should have been much higher, but Nintendo didn't seem to hype the game that much.  

Yeah, I'm actually suprised that Paper Mario did that well.  I haven't played it yet, but i can say it is pretty low on my priority list.

[mjbd]

Thats pretty good sales for Paper Mario, and I would expect the sales should stay strong through the holiday season.  I played Paper Mario on N64, and it was very enjoyable.  However, its not a game your gonna want to play over and over; most people wont play it through more than a few times.  

[Mario]

It's that time of the month, the November sales are in.

Rank/Title/Revenue/Unit Sales

1 XBX HALO 2 / $87,669,050/ 1,777,697
2 XBX HALO 2 LIMITED ED / $81,269,580 / 1,489,406
3 PS2 GRAND THEFT: ANDREAS / $76,126,580 / 1,536,301
4 PS2 NEED SPEED:UNDRGRND 2 / $21,155,680 / 427,724
5 PS2 WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW / $17,734,720 / 361,544
6 PS2 METAL GEAR3:SNAKE EAT / $14,379,330 / 290,376
7 XBX NEED SPEED:UNDRGRND 2 / $11,319,100 / 229,611
8 PS2 MADDEN NFL 2005 / $10,411,060 / 334,824
9 GCN METROID PRIME 2: ECHO / $9,483,345 / 192,332
10 PS2 DRAGONBALL Z:BUDOKAI3 / $8,449,652 / 178,034
11 PS2 RATCHET & CLANK: UP / $8,191,299 / 207,518
12 PS2 TONY HAWK UNDERGRND 2 / $7,737,766 / 168,201
13 PS2 JAK 3 / $7,006,415 / 177,335
14 GCN PAPER MARIO: THOUSAND /$6,699,387 / 143,399
15 PS2 CALL OF DUTY: FINEST / $6,683,578 / 135,234
16 PS2 NBA LIVE 2005 / $6,062,586 / 187,346
17 PS2 KILLZONE / $5,388,861 / 109,297
18 PS2 ACE COMBAT 5: UNSUNG / $5,340,555 / 111,493
19 GCN MARIO POWER TENNIS / $4,824,762 / 98,100
20 XBX T.CLANCY GHOST RECON2 / $4,787,044 / 96,224

Hardware

GBA: 1,100,000
XBX: 708,000
PS2: 694,000
NDS: 479,000
NGC: 350,000

More numbers coming soon...  

[zelos_rules]

Metroid didnt do to well. It was a bad time to release it I think due to all the other big name games coming out. Same applies to Killzone. Halo 2 cleaned up as expected. Paper Mario didnt do too bad. Im pretty suprised by Metal Gear Solid which did pretty badly for the franchise.

[Mario]

Yeah Paper Mario 2 is actually doing decent, combine those sales with last month and it's actually the second highest selling GC game this year (Pokemon Colloseum is first..), if i'm not mistaken.

I'm slowly getting more software numbers...

Quote
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
PS2 - 135,234
XBX - 75,529
GCN - 17,267

Need for Speed Underground 2
PS2 - 427,724
XBX - 229,611
GCN - 58,000

Tony Hawk Underground 2
PS2 - 168,000
GBA - 74,000
XBX - 47,000
GCN - 40,000

Quote
Year over year percentages
PS2: -18.3
XBX: +44.2
GCN: -53.6%
GBA: -16.9%
DS: +Undefined%

Consoles down 16.3% year over year.

Portable sales up 19.35%.

Console+Portable unit sales down 2.5%.

Xbox's lead over GCN increases to 2.46 million, or 29.4%.

PS2's lead over GBA decreases to 711K, or 2.8%.

Lifetime console share for PS2/XBX/GCN goes from 58.13/23.36/18.51 to 57.41/24.03/18.57.

Nintendo's share of monthly hardware sales among the three systems was 57.91%, bringing their share of total hardware sales among the current five to 48.1%.

Nintendo's share of the revenue of monthly hardware sales (using MSRP for all) is 48.1%.

Looking for DS software numbers and more GC numbers....  

[mantidor]

do you have the top software sales for GBA?