oups double post. sorry

Well, that's a good explanation, but it would be great if you can really reveal how you come up with the data unless that is some proprietory thing.

Another thing, I sugges you add some sort of disclaimer on the figures that is ahead of the NPD ones to tell people that the data is still provisional and is likely to change. Like what you used to do with the Japanese numbers just so people don't whine/grovel/bitch when the figures do change, which is quite likely at this early a stage. Actually, this sort of disclaimer should be used on all the figures on the site just to save you future headaches since errors do occur.

Later today should be the first test of this new method.

so difficult to satisfy...

Make the charts with a weekly and monthly filter for North America, Japan and Others - that way everyone's happy.

"As for disclaimers and so on what exactly do you want us to disclaim? All data on this site is open to readjustment in light of new information - such is the nature of how we work - we don't publish or sell regular figures or charts. You should approach all data on this site (and indeed all data anywhere) with a certain amount of caution - they are all just estimates at the end of the day. Ours are a bit less reliable than from official agencies (for which you literally pay $100,000s for) but they should serve the purpose of this site - to give a good, up to date indication of the relative performance of consoles and software titles around the world. We don't aim to and never will be able to compete with NPD, Chart Track, GFK, Media Create. They are multi-million pound organisations and anyone after respected and reliable figures should subscribe to their services."

ioi,  perhaps you can put that on the home page and that'd be it?

Wow... massive changes and I feel a little less 'confident' i suppose with the numbers, however I'm sure the NPD numbers will appear SOMEWHERE around the web... 

I don't really mind about all of the software as the Hardware is what matters to me.  Overall if the past March information is accurate the PS3 really has a  troubled time ahead of itself.  Motorstorm flunked BIG TIME, and i'll believe it too....

I don't see the point to monthly numbers either, I mean monthly is just that way because it's all that NPD did, if we can have a weekly number that corresponds with the rest of the world's weekly releases that is MUCH better... especially keeping up to date and not having fanboys saying 'wait until the March NPD numbers the PS3's domination will appear then' and stuff like that.

I ask - will the historical America data be returned?

Can something like this method be done for the UK? 

I don't mind both of them, but this is more accurate. Your plan sounds great, the middle way is mostly the best way.

Give it a few weeks and everybody is used to it. Sometimes changes can be a bit difficult in the beginning.

@Origin, for the UK? How about Europe or Pal region. It's not like sales in the UK would show the sales throughout whole Europe as it can differ per country, cultural and therefore also by interest in games. That's probably the most difficult part about getting accurate figures from out of Europe or from the entire Pal region.

I understand your point about the general understandable caution on any information, but still, a sort of disclaimer will probably quell the usual "vgcharts lolz" meme on the internets and just general whinineness that pops up from time to time(im guilty of doing the latter :p).

Why are these guys so protective of sales figures becoming public knowledge?

We know how much box office movies bring in & how many ratings a TV show brings in. Why not the same for something as benign as game sales?

I love Japan's philosophy on this. Put your money where your mouth is. No hype and no BS. The numbers speak for themselves and all get to see good or bad. No hoodwinking of the public and no woolpulls over people's eyes. Let's see results. I like that attitude.

This is not government secrets I'm sorry. This ain't classified national security information here. It's just game sales for God's sakes! Protecting the egos of the companies perhaps?

Sell to retailers means 'sheets' to me. Stuff in warehouses means 'dick bupkus' to me (like that pun?).

The ONLY NUMBER THAT *EVER* MATTERED is SELL THROUGH: The stuff in the buyer/user's hands. The customers. 10 million sold or shipped by Microsoft in January? STILL at 9 million something in April. That stuff is still on the shelves, on the docks, and in the warehouses. How many people HAVE them and are PLAYING them? NOT STOCKING them. PLAYING them. OWNING them. USING them.

And people wonder why I dig Nintendo so much. I like straight shooters in all facets of life. Keep it real and not Dave Chappelle's Keep It Real when Keepin' It Real Goes Wrong but keep it REAL. Factual. Actual. Legit. Is that so hard?

I trust this site over Next Gen Wars because it seems you pay closer attention to sell-through numbers by digging through archives of facts instead of taking companies' words for it.
When the hard figures aren't there you use educated market reading to fill in the gaps to come to a reasonable estimate. I find you are the closest games sales tracker online & that's why I joined up on the forum and put this site on my favorites.

Until these commerce data companies get off their high horses you guys will be the go-to team. I guess it really comes down to money. These guys want to be the middleman of sales tracking and selling the results is better than giving it away. They're not like media who want the story exposed for the public good; they want control over information flow so as to lock people into buying from them. Pathetic.

Hopefully one day you guys will get as big as Japan's Media Create and you can report worldwide sales like they do down to the letter. I'm rooting for you! Sales charts help you focus and make smarter decisions for purchasing. Very needed.

John Lucas

This I wish that for the site as well. There is an obvious demand for such numbers, and the site can really capitalize on that. Ads for data, instead of the old business model of NPD(where they earn profit by selling the data to big organization). Especially now that Nintendo aims to legitimize videogaming to the mainstream, something akin to those blockbuster movie websites could prove lucrative. This is a nice start.