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Forums - Sales Discussion - Anyone have magazines before 1994 that have monthly best sellers charts?

Square07 on 27 May 2008
konnichiwa said:
Well I really can't tell if they have nes chartz because this is the first time I looked to the chartz in the magazine.

I had to make it bold but if you look to what I typed you see two dates July 1984 and October 1990 => After the date the chartz of the month.. I think it are American charts but again the magazine doesn't say it is or isn't (UK magazine).

Well Retro gamer always recap two game months in history it is pretty interesting, especially if you into retro gaming. The chartz maybe interesting for you but maybe also the magazine :).

Okay, yeah I see the dates now.

You say it's a UK magazine so they're probably UK charts:(  (Maybe ioi could use them). It' s odd they don't have NES charts considering it was at the peak its popularity in Europe at that time (1990).

Well even they are UK charts I'm interested in the Mega Drive/Genesis sales back then b/c US tastes and UK tastes were probably pretty similar back then (mostly action and sports oriented) and probably still today so what was selling in the UK was likely selling in the States. As long as Britain received the same titles at abou the same time as the States then I'm interested in these charts. But not so much the Atari SP, Amiga, PC, etc.

Thanks man, have anymore (for Sega)?

 



"The next time someone tells you Compact Discs are the wave of the future, tell them the future doesn't belong to snails!" - Nintendo Power, April 1994

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damkira on 27 May 2008

It would really be interesting to see what old Odyssey and 2600 games sold like.

 



brute on 27 May 2008

i dont have any but it seems cool,how did sega dominate that chart



tag:"reviews only matter for the real hardcore gamer"

Square07 on 27 May 2008

Konnichiwa! I just looked up the release date of the Mega Drive in Europe (Wikipedia) and it was NOVEMBER 1990! Your data is from the previous month. That throws into question whether those charts can be UK they'd have to be US! The Genesis launched in Aug-Sept the previous year in the States and those are sales charts correct? They must be American charts or am I missing something...?



"The next time someone tells you Compact Discs are the wave of the future, tell them the future doesn't belong to snails!" - Nintendo Power, April 1994

BKK2 on 27 May 2008

Clearly UK charts, which should be from Gallup as they used to do the UK charts prior to Chart-Track.

But, as Dorian Block, Director of Chart Track, the independent company that officially monitors and compiles all videogame sales data across the U.K., explains, the videogame Christmas No. 1 is far from a recent invention: "The first ever videogame Christmas number was, technically, 'Commando' published by Elite on the Spectrum and Commodore 64, in 1985. This was the first year that a videogame chart was ever compiled by a company called Gallup. Chart Track was formed in March 1996 after a management buy-out from Gallup. The current Chart Track directors all worked at Gallup and have decades of experience in the music, video and games markets, in terms of retail tracking."


Link

However, Gallup didn't start compiling UK charts until 1985, so I'm not sure where they get the July 1984 chart from.

Anyway, thanks for those konnichiwa.

@Square07

I have tons of UK magazines and even a few EGMs from the early 90's back in the UK. Unfortunately I'm not planning on visiting there anytime soon, so you'll have to be very patient until I can post those.



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BKK2 on 27 May 2008

@Square07

I had a launch model that Christmas. I remember it came out just before, but not which month. Anyway, a quick Google seems to agree that it was November.

I'm not sure where these charts are from, I wouldn't expect to see Spectrum or BBC charts from the US, but maybe they were more popular there than I thought.



Square07 on 27 May 2008
BKK2 said:
@Square07

I had a launch model that Christmas. I remember it came out just before, but not which month. Anyway, a quick Google seems to agree that it was November.

I'm not sure where these charts are from, I wouldn't expect to see Spectrum or BBC charts from the US, but maybe they were more popular there than I thought.

I was just looking those up. The BBC and Spectrum weren't released in the US (i had never heard of them until now). Thanks for the info about that. I wish we could get info about the history of US sales tracking. Was it always the NPD Group and where are all those charts?  Videogame titles have been selling since 1977; who tracked them? 

Still Mega Drive sales charts that far back would be interesting; they're probably fairly similar on the other side of the pond minus all the football (er, American football that is), basketball, and baseball titles.

Yeah, don't forget to pick those up when you have the chance; we may still be waiting...



"The next time someone tells you Compact Discs are the wave of the future, tell them the future doesn't belong to snails!" - Nintendo Power, April 1994

BKK2 on 27 May 2008

I've found the first copy of UK console mag Mean Machines from October 1990. They don't give a source for their charts. Presumably the Sega (Master System) and Nintendo (NES) charts are UK ones. Mega Drive charts could be either Japanese, US, or possibly even UK imports. It doesn't say which period the charts cover either, but probably September or August.

Still Mega Drive sales charts that far back would be interesting; they're probably fairly similar on the other side of the pond minus all the football (er, American football that is), basketball, and baseball titles.

Actually Madden was pretty popular on Mega Drive in UK too, until EA released FIFA at least. Me and my friends used to play it all the time. 



BKK2 on 27 May 2008

Check this site out:

http://www.retromags.com/forums/index.php?autocom=downloads



BKK2 on 27 May 2008

EGM:

#1 May 89

#33 Apr 92 part 1
#33 Apr 92 part 2

#34 May 92 part 1
#34 May 92 part 2

#37 Aug 92 part 1
#37 Aug 92 part 2

#38 Sep 92 part 1
#38 Sep 92 part 2

#49 Aug 93 part 1
#49 Aug 93 part 2

#51 Oct 93 part 1
#51 Oct 93 part 2

#57 Apr 94 part 1
#57 Apr 94 part 2

#68 Mar 95 part 1
#68 Mar 95 part 2

#69 Apr 95 part 1
#69 Apr 95 part 2

#70 May 95 part 1
#70 May 95 part 2

#72 Jul 95

#74 Sep 95

#76 Nov 95 part 1
#76 Nov 95 part 2