http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164195
1UP contacted NPD Group PR representative David Riley, who expressed some shock over how many were upset over the upcoming change. "I had no idea this would be so ill-received. Honestly, I know this sounds ignorant but I really was taken aback when I started hearing/reading about this. It was unexpected," he said.
Riley explained their organization decided to start releasing hardware numbers when all three next-generation consoles were coming into the market in November 2006. The NPD Group had been receiving a monstrous amount of requests for the numbers and consulted with the hardware manufacturers on temporarily changing their policy to accommodate them. "There was no push back [from Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony]," said Riley. "However, it's been a year, so we decided to pull this monthly feed and leave it up to the mftcr. as to whether or not they wanted that sales information released to media."
At the same time, the numbers leaked before and will inevitably leak again, though this time without the verification we've come to expect every month. Riley anticipates the industry policing itself in these situations and even blasts some of the 3rd party groups. "Regarding rogue sites that actively use existing data from market research firms, combine that data with estimates and then claim the data as their own -- it's true I'm no fan of sociopathic behavior and, as such, have real issues with sites like these but this has nothing to do with the change, either," he said. "The best way to approach this issue is to let the industry police it, or to simply wait and let the truth come out in the end. It always does."
Despite protest, however, it doesn't seem as though the NPD Group will be changing its position -- but here's to hoping they do.
