Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild rises to #1 selling game this year

[TheBlackNaruto]

VideoGameAccountant said:

TheBlackNaruto said:

 

Wait so HZD comes out....alon g with other 1st party Sony exclusives and they actually have thier best start of any year the PS4 has came out and you come to the conclusion that customers aren't rushing out to get the PS4? I mean HZD and BoTW both came out around the end of Feb and sales have been up YOY for PS4 so something is driving sales.....

I mean I know yous aid HZD in particular but we can't say for sure if it is or isn't driving sales. Being at over 3.4mil at the end of April according to reports is great. Maybe not as great as BoTW but still amazing for a new IP. So combine the sales witht he YOY growth and that can definitely be seen as driving install base. So we can't say for sure that your last line is true.....

Let's look at NPD sales for that period 

Feb: Hardware: $204 million (down 30 percent from $292.2 million in February 2016)

March: Hardware: $485 million (up 91 percent from $235 million in March 2017)

Now, the Switch launched in March. According to Nintendo, the system sold 1.2 million in the month of March. If you take that and multiple it by $300, then you have profits of $360 million. Subtract that from the original amount, and you have spending of $125 million. The actual number may be a bit high as some stores may not have been tracked, or 3DS and Wii U sales fell off enough to make a difference. Similar to February before it, hardware sales are not increasing, and PS4 is likely declining in America. 

So back to what we said about Horizon. At least in America, the game wasn't moving systems. It didn't chart in February and it was below Zelda in March. Since March, the game has fallen out of the top 10 for the most part (was 10 in June). So did HZD push systems. Not really. Now, compare this to June. Crash was 4th in the charts (and likely the best selling single SKU for the month). PS4 sales saw a significant increase for that month. So third party games can sell Playstations but Sony can't.

And again, consider the sales of HZD to Zelda. Zelda remains in the top 10 every month and has outsold HZD since its been out in the US. In Japan, it is consistently in the top 20 (if not top 10). Zelda is pushing Switches. HZD, despite being able to sell to 60 million customers, cant move near as many units and it isn't increasing sales of the PS4. Maybe it's different in some European countries, but its not the norm globally.  And this is Sony's biggest weaknesses. They rely on third parties to push their system. Every game they make, outside of cinamatic walking games, is a weaker version of another game. Horizon is a good game I'm sure, but so is the Witcher, Zelda, Fallout and Skyrim. You have a lot of options here and Sony games are bad at establishing their own unique identity. 

Links:https://venturebeat.com/2017/03/16/february-2017-npd-for-honor-and-resident-evil-7-top-another-month-of-lower-revenues/

https://venturebeat.com/2017/04/20/march-2017-npd-zelda-and-tom-clancy-have-a-big-month/

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2017/170427e.pdf

Well since HZD came out Feb 28th I am sure it didn't chart in Feb seeing as NPD for Feb was from Jan29th- Feb 25th lol. And yes HZD was below Zelda in March but was still number 4 lol. Still in the top 15 in April and we don't know HZD sales for May(or I just can't find them) but in Feb the PS4 was basically flat compared to 2016 then in March and April PS4 was up YOY oddly the two months that HZD sold its best and would have been up over May but seeing as May had UC4 last year it is understandable as to why it wasn't. So again you can't say that HZD was not pushing or did not push sales. 

I am not even sure if you are really following sales or not because you have once again said PS4 is on the decline yet it was Flat in Feb, up in March, up in April, Falt in May and up in June and Up overall YOY so why do you consistently say the PS4 is on the decline when ALL signs and sales numbers point to the exact oppoosite? Then you give Zelda the it is always in the top 10 if not top 20 for Japan but HZD being always in the top 20 in the US since release is not mentioned like it just fell off all together or something. HZD is usually always in the top 10 in Europe so yes the game is selling well and clearly a helping cause in moving systems. 

So you think Sony games don't move systems? And you say it is a weakness? I am sure games like HZD, UC, GOW, TLOU, Gran Turismo etc move systems. And because Sony gets help from havign great 3rd party support you are acting like that is some kind of weakness lol. I will never understand that logic....having great 3rd party support AND great 1st/2nd part software is what moves Sony systems and is why they always have such good sales every gen. They have balance....every game that they make outside of cinematic walking games is a weaker version of another game wow that's a deep statement but to each his/her own I guess. Your issue is you are looking for 1 or 2 specific games but the strength of Sony has ALWAYS been in their diversity with games. HZD, NIOH, Persona 5, Nier, Crash etc these games all together push the systems and help drive the sales. That is the identiy of Sony their diversity....