I just saw the latest NPD numbers and after comparing them to the VGC numbers, I am very disappointed on how off they are this month.  I don't have all the previous months' numbers handy but it seems there has been a growing disparity in the last 3-4 months between the NPD and VGC numbers.  I know some people will jump on me to say that NPD numbers aren't 100% accurate but considering they are a reputed source in the industry, I would take their numbers over VGC any day. 

Here is a side by side comparison of the numbers for February (numbers are in thousands):

As you can see, the numbers are all way off.  I haven't taken a hard look at the software numbers yet but I doubt they're much better.  If they are this off for the US which is just one country, how are we to trust their numbers for the entire "Others" region that contains dozens of countries?  I know this is a free site and we are lucky to have a site like this dedicated to numbers but I'm just saying we shouldn't always take them as gospel. 

eh, it happens, based off the data we received, it wasnt that bad. Remember we still only receive about 7 - 9% of retail data for the US while the NPD Group receives like 40%. Its easier to estimate sales when you have more data to work with.

As for Others, its even harder, due to the fact that we only receive data from maybe 3% of the entire PAL market.


Software, we normally are spot on or in reason for the first 10 weeks or so, then it becomes impossible to track most titles.

Anything within 20% is pretty respectable, I'd say. That's why there are adjustments. When the supply of the consoles is so spotty, it's going to add to the problems.

*shrug*

ign, gametrailers,gamespot,etc. are also a a reputed source in the industry. so it doesnt mean anything

How about this -

NPD just lost credibility for not being close to VGC numbers.


Or are NPD now 100% accurate on everything? :/

Meh. Its a free service that gets adjusted anyway.

It doesn't matter that much in the long term.

lol, so are you saying you trust Vgchartz, a 4 year old startup, over NPD, a leading market research company that's been around for over 40 years?   I'm not trying to bash the site but you are blind to think that they are more credible and reliable than an established institution like NPD. 

shxt happens, it could be alot worse

I think it is a hard thankless task VGC do and deserve a lot of respect for what they do. We are not paying to be here.

But i did say over the previous month after the last NPD that for some reason this site seems to not be tracking 360 aswell as it had been. For a fair few months now it has under-tracked it. It does not seem to reflect the actual popularity of the console which for this month at least is 1st. Only the 2nd time ever a console has beaten the Wii for a month since its release. That is a big achivement. Especially when you consider nothing was released for it. It makes me wonder if in "others" the 360 is having the same thing. I had mentioned my logic behind the MAG sales and with this months figures i have been proved right, i took a lot of stick for questioning those numbers.

My point is for the 2nd NPD of this year the 360 has done a lot better then it has been credited for. For the 2 months combined VGC has been nearly 200k out, that is an average of 25k a week. To the gap that makes a lot of difference because it would put 360 and PS3 pretty much neck and neck worldwide.

But you can't be right all the time and everyone makes mistakes. I appreciate what these guys do, i would not want to do it that is for sure.

Yeah I understand it's tough to nail down all the data but it's just alarming when there's such a big discrepancy.  Keep up the good work!