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Desroko on 24 August 2007
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sharky said:
reverie said:
Thanks Erik, Thanks KruzeS! This needs to be pointed out.

But remembering the nasty E-Mails ioi received from NPD, I think it's not beyond those NPD guys to skew their numbers just enough to make VGChartz look bad. Over the years NPD have probably published almost as many corrections to their numbers as they have published original sales reports which gave me the impression that their own numbers are not sacred to them as they should be. Every month that VGChartz sticks around will put pressure on NPD to improve their quality.

Heh, sometimes I wonder about that. And also whether system biases ever creep in at NPD. For example, if there is ever say, a big fanboy who directly works the numbers at NPD, why couldn't he skew the numbers for his favorite up?

Anddo you ever see a number very close to 100k up or down, say 199k or 200k, and wonder if somebody pushed the number just a little bit one way or another, to make that system look good or bad? Like, maybe it was 199k, and somebody just pushed it up that little bit to make the so much better looking 200k? Or the reverse if they didnt like the system in question?

We just have to trust that they are professionals. I think they are.


Personally, I'm always a little skeptical of firms that seem to have little to no competition in their field. Nielsen in the US is a good example - their methods for measuring TV viewership are archaic, but due to a symbiotic relationship with the television industry, they have virtually no competition. There's been very little pressure on them to change with the times. 

All in all, VGChartz is a performing a great service if for no other reason than it forces NPD to self-improve- their move to track online sales is a great example. I wish there was another company, or someone in the media like Famitsu in Japan, that would do the same thing. More sources never hurt.