Apparently such sources of information as VGC drawing attention of reps not without a reason. Free and uncontrollable information harm their business, regardless of how accurate it exactly, or how good or bad it makes them look, it's still uncontrollable. Tendencies to manipulate investors and public opinion regarding videogame business (like Mr.Pachter) have strengthened after recent NPD statement, which have a few conspiracy theories behind it btw. So I'll only welcome any new source of information.

To all those wondering how Greenburg can know how many Kinect units are sold:

Xbox 360: Hai

Xbox Live: Hai

Xbox Live: You are now connected. Have anything to report?

Xbox 360: Any updates that I need?

Xbox Live: Nah. All is up to date. Any user data to report?

Xbox 360: Yeah, just got a few more achievements for Fable 3 to report. Oh by the way I have Kinect connected also.

Xbox Live: Data recieved.

Dude do you think the site is a joke and if you do then leave. lol damn im a member of other sites but i use vgchartz the most because the community is great and i like sales numbers. But when i mention vgchartzs sales numbers to people they usually say oh their pretty good or they dont really know about the site yet. So you saying a large number of people mock the site is a joke to me.

I remember I think 2 NPDs ago VGC had the number of 360s sold with maybe a few hundreds difference from NPD numbers. I wonder how Greenberg would explain this happened "without source or science"?

Will be funny when November numbers roll around and VGC is off by 10 or 15%. Will love to see him eat crow.

I am not going to delve into whose numbers are right argument of Microsoft's official shipment data vs. VGChartz estimates.

Looking at this: http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/82684/initial-kinect-sales-revealed/

It is a sloppy piece of work, plain and simple. Not in the way the numbers were found, but in the way it was COMMUNICATED. I apologize for the caps, but caps get points across.

There is a paragraph followed by the numbers ended by a "Stay tuned..."

Where is the explanation paragraph from Brett Walton on how they arrived at these numbers. And don't site the "Methodologies" page because it is a weak argument. Let's go over the "sales estimates" on the methodology page:

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

• 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

http://www.vgchartz.com/methodology.php

1. What end users are you polling and when and where?

2. Who are your retail partners for the Americas, Japan, and the EMEAA?

All very basic questions that the "Methodology" page does not answer, nor are they brought up in the article.

Kinect has just been released and if you are putting out the numbers before Microsoft then each reader, laymen on up to Greenberg, should know exactly each and every source of how you arrived at your estimates. Just linking the "Methodologies" page creates distrust between the reader and site because we all know VGChartz is not some massive corporation with an "Industry Relations Department" where they can get the initial sales data the first week in.

VGChartz is estimating and they need to be up front and honest IN THE ARTICLE when they put the numbers out. Otherwise, for all Greenberg knows, the numbers can be pulled out of your ass.

I don't mean to come off as a hater, but I am a hater of sloppy communication. Trust requires communication and this situation with the reaction from Greenberg conveys to layest of laymen that there is a lack of trust between VGChartz and Greenberg at the moment.

 Vgchartz is very accurate, wassup haters!!!

Actually we didn't hear anything from MS concerning slim sales until a month after its launch , we only heard about a vague "200 million $ on the first day " number about Reach and we haven't heard anything about fable 3 sales even though it seems to be doing quite good.

Good to know that Greenburg reads Vgchartz. My guess is its too early for Microsoft to put out hard data so even if our figures are within 2% of Kinect's actual performance, he is doubting that numbers could be in more than the fact that the figures are valid or invalid.

Microsoft is the least transparent with its figures of the big three, never totalling software shipments, splits by region, no projections are ever issued, and all figures are American-centric at a time when Southern and Central Europe and Latin America are the fastest growing markets. I'd reckon if Kinect shipments were already over 1m, we'd have a press-release detailing that. Anything under 1m would look poor, given the massive Wii base, and even the 2.5m Move pieces shipped to the West since September. Given 5m is the goal by the end of 2010, and that there are roughly 9 weeks in the year for Kinect, they've likely only shipped 600,000-700,000 Kinect's for the period Brett is speaking of, and so any press release we do get won't be until next week.

Exactly!  The whole industry is watching.

Even if MS complains about VGC's MS numbers, I wouldn't doubt that they're using VGC to get weekly estimates for Nintendo and Sony and everybody else.  Everybody in the industry does it.  VGChartz is pretty much the easiest way to keep your finger on the pulse of the whole console and handheld gaming markets, and anybody in the business of selling video games wants to know how games, genres, and platforms are selling.