Is VG Chartz credible without downloadable game sales?

[hanafuda]

mrstickball said:

hanafuda said:

Before anyone gets frisky, this doesn't only apply to VG Chartz - it applies to most sources that log this kind of data for a living. However, seen as game charts are the main purpose of this site, I think it is a valid discussion to have here.

Over the last week or so I have spent most of my console gaming time playing PixelJunk Eden, Warhawk, Bionic Commando Rearmed, and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue - all of which are either download only or users have the option to download them as opposed to buying the boxed product.

I'm sure I'm not the only person in this situation. The Wii, 360, and PS3 all have some kind of service for the sale of downloadable games.

However, no data for downloadable games is tracked by this site.

Every now and again someone will post news about dowload figures for Xbox Live titles, but even so these figures aren't added into the main sales charts. Why not?

Now I know that actually getting the sales data for such downloadable games is probably very difficult without going via the hardware manufacturers themselves, but at the same time it's not as if the figures for boxed product games are 100% accurate either - they are just estimates based on data samples from vendors in the supply chain. If you can't get the figures direct from the manufacturers, surely they could be estimated via some other method? For example, most of these games have online ranking, so you should be able to tell the number of players with the game based on the ranking data.

So, the question is, how much longer is it before we start to see data from download games in the charts here?

 

Go check the news articles. I've been posting XBLA sales numbers for almost a year now. VGC is the ONLY place in the entire world, aside from MS HQ that your going to get any XBLA numbers.

Digital download sales are virtually impossible to track unless you are an insider at every studio that sells games, and you get to see their finances, or work with the DD service itself, and work either as an exec, or sales team member.

Outside of that, no one has numbers. No one. Ever seen a Steam sales chart with numbers? Stardock? PSN? It's rare that companies would give out this information, since their rivals may use it against them. Most use vague numbers and figures that lack any hard data to explain how certain titles are doing 'Steam goes over 15 million members' 'Nintendo says 10 million VC titles sold' - Figures like that, that have no real weight in the world of sales analysis, since there's no data for individual games, or statements made over a specific time period.

NPD, GTK, Chart Track, nor anyone else actually has access to these numbers. They're virtually powerless, since there is no retail store that can give them sales numbers - there is only 1 retail store per distribution point, and it's owned and operated by whomever runs the service (Valve, MS, Nintendo, Sony, ect).

 

Heck, I'll give you an easy one: Go find sales data for InstantAction.com, which is a browser based DD service that I work for. I'll give you $20 if you can find ANY quotes about actual sales for the service. Chances are, your not going to get my $20.

Is reading comprehension a big problem for members here? I know the XBLA figures are posted, which is why i specifically referred to it. Why are those figures not incorporated into the charts? Also, if VG Chartz has exclusivity on this, why can the same method not be used for Nintendo and Sony? Finally, if the only way to get the data IS by dealing direct with the big 3, then surely negotiations could be made to get the figures directly.