By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Teeqoz on 30 October 2015
Edit Thread
GribbleGrunger said:
Teeqoz said:


Nope, it hasn't been about which console has the top SKU. It's just that nearly everytime, the top SKU was so far ahead of the others that it didn't matter. In the close calls, like april, where the PS4 had the top SKU, but the XBO had two SKUs, one was literally one place behind, while the other was about 10 more places behind. And, lo and behold; the XBO won april NPD. I think this month is looking similar (in fact I'd say this month, the PS4 lead suggested by Amazon is bigger than the XBO lead suggested by Amazon in April) *however* part of that is changed by the XBO Halo 5 bundle's preorders, so they'll be very close either way. However claiming that it's just about which console gets the top SKU is just wrong.

Yes it is. It was just the simple idea that whoever won the monthlies won the month. People like to speculate around that idea but it all boils down to that in the end. When people talk about the Amazon record they're talking about which console is at the top, not how many consoles are in the top 100 with varying places. The difference in April (and May) was 7k if I remember correctly, so it was basically a toss up for April.


But that simple idea was proven wrong.... Doesn't matter if it was a small gap, those are the months that are hard to predict. I could've, and would've,  said that the PS4 would've won january to september NPD without using Amazon, and I would've been correct for all but april, which was the toss-up, and, as a result, the month where Amazon was the most useful.

 

I mean, if the Halo bundle was at #10, and the PS4 had SKUs through #11 to #20 (meaning all those places), would you say Amazon predicted an XBO win? I mean, sure, there's a theoretical possibility that #10 sold more than #11, #12 .....#20 combined, but common sense would suggest it didn't. Of cpurse, that's taking it to the extreme, but it's to illustrate my point. This month, the XBO's and the PS4's top SKUs will be neck in neck, regardless of which one ends up ahead, however the places below that suggests that the PS4 is ahead. Halo bundle pre-orders make this a bit harder, but even factoring those in, I think Amazon is suggesting a (slim) PS4 win.

 

Of course, we only have rankings, not hard numbers, so it's all up for your own interpretation how you'll weigh rankings against wachother, but that doesn't mean you should disregard everything except the top SKU.