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kitler53 on 16 May 2014
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vivster said:
kitler53 said:
vivster said:

To say that there is no brand allegiance is just as ignorant as calling US Xbox country.

As of my understanding VGC uses the same methodology NPD does, just with a lot less data points, which makes extrapolating the numbers a gamble. I dare say NPD doesn't even track half of the actual sales numbers and is extrapolating and trend checking as well.

It might be the most acurate numbers we have but they're definitely not absolute numbers and subject to errors. It's sad that there aren't multiple sales trackers. If we had, opinion about NPD might change when the rival tracker shows slightly different numbers. And yes I know that the companies are using NPD but it's not like they have a choice.


no they don't.  it's very very different:

VGChartz Methodology

Data-Collection Methodology

All sales estimates on VGChartz are arrived at via a number of proprietrary and ever-developing methods:

  • Passively polling end users to find out what games they are currently purchasing and playing
  • Polling retail partners to find out what games and hardware they are selling
  • Using statistical trend fitting and historical data for similar games
  • Studying resell prices to determine consumer demand and inventory levels
  • Consulting with publishers and manufacturers to find out how many units they are introducing into the channel

All data is regularly checked against manufacturer shipments and data released publicly from other tracking firms to ensure accuracy. VGChartz holds no responsibility for the use of our data – any business decisions made are made at your own risk.

bold - This sounds pretty much like direct sales data from real retailers.

This I got from the NPD site:

The estimates are published in NPD’s report, Games Market Dynamics:  U.S. (formerly known as the Games Industry:  Total Consumer Spend) –released by The NPD Group quarterly - and are derived leveraging NPD’s portfolio of physical POS tracking (Retail Tracking Service) and consumer research including the Games Acquisition Monitor, Video Game and PC Game Subscriptions Report and Consumer Tracking Service. It also incorporates consumer spend estimation provided by NPD retail and publisher partners, and calibration with third-party sources.

It sounds a lot fancier but ultimately the same to me.


retail tracking is raw sales data.  retail polling is calling up your local gamestop and asking "what's hot?"