Looking at this week's Chart-Track numbers one game in particular stood out to me, Just Dance. Looking at the individual formats (units) chart below it would seem that when game sales are broken down by individual platforms Just Dance is doing better than Assassin's Creed II (not taking combined multplatform sales into account since this discussion is only about sales broken down by platform).
| 1 |  |
1 | WII SPORTS RESORT | WII | NINTENDO |
| 2 | |
2 | WII FIT PLUS | WII | NINTENDO |
| 13 |  |
3 | JUST DANCE | WII | UBISOFT |
| 3 |  |
4 | NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII | WII | NINTENDO |
| 4 | |
5 | CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 | XB360 | ACTIVISION |
| 5 | |
6 | MARIO & SONIC AT OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES | WII | SEGA |
| 9 | |
7 | MARIO KART WII | WII | NINTENDO |
| 8 | |
8 | ASSASSIN'S CREED II | XB360 | UBISOFT |
| 10 | |
9 | FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 | XB360 | MICROSOFT |
| 7 | |
10 | CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 | PS3 | ACTIVISION |
| 11 | |
11 | ASSASSIN'S CREED II | PS3 | UBISOFT |
Now compare that to the individual formats (value) chart:
| 1 | |
1 | CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 | XB360 | ACTIVISION |
| 2 | |
2 | NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII | WII | NINTENDO |
| 4 | |
3 | ASSASSIN'S CREED II | XB360 | UBISOFT |
| 3 | |
4 | CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2 | PS3 | ACTIVISION |
| 6 | |
5 | WII SPORTS RESORT | WII | NINTENDO |
| 9 | |
6 | FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 | XB360 | MICROSOFT |
| 7 | |
7 | WII FIT PLUS | WII | NINTENDO |
| 5 | |
8 | MARIO & SONIC AT OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES | WII | SEGA |
| 8 | |
9 | ASSASSIN'S CREED II | PS3 | UBISOFT |
| 11 | |
10 | MARIO KART WII | WII | NINTENDO |
| 15 | |
11 | JUST DANCE | WII | UBISOFT |
By that measure both versions of Assassin's Creed II are doing better saleswise than Just Dance. I don't want this thread to get into any kind of discussion about game development or advertising budgets since that's not the point of this thread and is just going off topic. The point is which measure is a better measure of sales success? Movie box office sales for example are based on revenue (so cheaper afternoon matinee ticket don't carry the same weight as nighttime showings).
What's your opinion, do you think simply looking at sales by units is a flawed way of comparing the sales success of games?
Essay Pro