Why Madden sells the way it does

[NightDragon83]

johnlucas said:

NightDragon83 said:
The leading current gen console in America always sells the most copies of Madden... DUH!

Last gen it was always PS2>Xbox>GC and before that it was PS>N64>Sat for madden sales... SNES and Gen were neck and neck though sports titles sold better on Genesis overall.

And before you go and say "Wait a minute NightDragon... Wii is the best selling current gen console, so why the lackluster sales?"

Glad you asked... because 360 is the leading console in America this generation for GAMERS. People who own 360s and PS3s are the ones who are most inclined to camp out and pick up madden its opening week. Then you got PS2 which continues to sell well and has an installed base of 50 bajillion so of course its still gonna sell well (plus its a cheap alternative than making the jump to next gen).

Then there's Wii, whose audience is more concerned with repetitive mini-games than a serious football simulation. Madden Wii sales are still strong nevertheless... more than double last years effort, and it will continue to sell well because of its long legs, unlike the HD consoles whose audiences pick up games in the first week or 2 of release.

The leading current gen (7th gen) console in America didn't sell the most copies of Madden in 2006 (part of the 7th gen).

See here:

American Chart for Week Ending 26th August 2006

http://vgchartz.com/aweekly.php?date=38956&console=&maker=&boxartz=1

John Lucas

 

That's because PS2 was still the "leading current-gen console" back in summer of '06... it was still outselling the 360 on a weekly basis and there were only 2.5 million 360s on the market at the time vs almost 40 million PS2s... plus most "core gamers" and "madden fans" were still gaming on their PS2s at the time. Still that makes 360's numbers even MORE impressive for that week because, according to the sales data, 24% of 360 owners purchased madden in just its first week alone!

I don't consider this current generation to have officially started until all three consoles were on the market, which is Q4 of '06... since then the 360 has been the leading "core gamers" console this generation, which is why Madden has sold the most on it the past 2 years and will continue to for the forseable future. Just like mrstickball said, it's demographics that drive sales of Madden, which is why it was PS1, then PS2, and now 360 that were the leaders in Madden sales, and all just happen to be the top selling "core gamer" consoles of their respective generations.

 

Edit:  post #200!   Movin' on up!