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Forums - Gaming - 3DS vs Vita 3rd Party Sales and Support

DanneSandin on 17 January 2014
lucidium said:

It's simply a matter of contrast, it's all very well comparing the game sales directly, but in comparison to how many potential customers can actually buy the software, what we see is the following.

3DS
Monster Hunter 4 - 3.23 - 1 out of 13 owners bought
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance - 1.28 - 1 out of 33 owners bought
Dragon Quest VII - 1.24 - 1 out of 34 owners bought
Puzzle & Dragons - 1.16 - 1 out of 36 owners bought
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - 1.07 - 1 out of 40 owners bought
Super Street Fighter IV: 3D Edition - 1.01 - 1 out of 42 owners bought
Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland 3D - 0.96 - 1 out of 44 owners bought
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars - 0.89 - 1 out of 48 owners bought
Sonic Generations - 0.83 - 1 out of 51 owners bought
Resident Evil: Revelations - 0.76 - 1 out of 56 owners bought
Professor Layton and the Legacy of Civilization A - 0.64 - 1 out of 66 owners bought

Variance - 1 in 13 to 1 in 66

Vita
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation - 0.89 - 1 out of 8 owners bought
Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified - 0.87 - 1 out of 8 owners bought
Persona 4: The Golden - 0.60 - 1 out of 12 owners bought
Need for Speed: Most Wanted - A Criterion Game - 0.56 - 1 out of 13 owners bought
FIFA Soccer - 0.47 - 1 out of 16 owners bought
Mortal Kombat - 0.42 - 1 out of 17 owners bought
Rayman Origins - 0.40 - 1 out of 18 owners bought
God Eater 2 - 0.38 - 1 out of 19 owners bought
Ragnarok Odyssey - 0.32 - 1 out of 23 owners bought
FIFA Soccer 13 - 0.30 - 1 out of 24 owners bought

Variance - 1 in 8 to 1 in 24

As you can see, while sales are indeed higher across the board for 3DS, relative to actual hardware ownership, Vita owners have a much tighter grouping and a higher margin of owners buying each piece of software.

So, the question you ask is, why do third parties support the Vita?, because vita owners buy games, and comparatively, a third party title on the vita is bought at a higher ratio too.

Not in higher numbers of course, because theres an obvious and large difference in overall install bases, that said, based on the install base it has, the sales performance versus install base is very similar (actually, slightly higher) than the 3DS.

Sorry to piss on your parade.

I don't understand how that's pissing on my "parade". Fact is, 3rd party developers makes far more money on the 3DS than they do on Vita. The 3DS is a more profitable platform for publishers. And in the end, THAT'S what matters. The original Xbox had the highest tie ratio of any console, and I think GC was close behind. You gonna tell me THAT mattered in the end?



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DanneSandin on 17 January 2014
the_dengle said:
DanneSandin said:

Well, as the lists shows you, there's way more profits to be made on the 3DS, even if you have to compete with Mario. If you've read the whole OP you should be aware that 3rd parties are selling better on the 3DS than on Vita, you can't spin that.

Not trying to spin it. :P

But for some publishers, for some games, I can understand why the Vita would seem like the better choice. Though I think all of those games would benefit greatly from being multiplatform.

GAME                        3DS            VITA

Rayman Origins          0.07           0.40

FIFA 13                      0.22           0.30

FIFA 14                      0.14           0.21

Batman: Blackgate      0.10           0.19

LEGO LOTR                0.23          0.17

LEGO Marvel              0.29          0.16

Sega All-star Racing   0.20           0.15

LEGO Batman 2         0.30           0.13

LEGO Harry Potter     0.29          0.11

F1 2011                    0.12          0.09

Multiplats



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

the_dengle on 17 January 2014
DanneSandin said:
the_dengle said:

Not trying to spin it. :P

But for some publishers, for some games, I can understand why the Vita would seem like the better choice. Though I think all of those games would benefit greatly from being multiplatform.

GAME                        3DS            VITA

Rayman Origins          0.07           0.40

FIFA 13                      0.22           0.30

FIFA 14                      0.14           0.21

Batman: Blackgate      0.10           0.19

LEGO LOTR                0.23          0.17

LEGO Marvel              0.29          0.16

Sega All-star Racing   0.20           0.15

LEGO Batman 2         0.30           0.13

LEGO Harry Potter     0.29          0.11

F1 2011                    0.12          0.09

Multiplats

As I said. I think you're confused as to whose side I'm on here.



DanneSandin on 17 January 2014
lucidium said:
DanneSandin said:

You are wrong. Vita has about 4 multiplat games that's performed on Vita:

 

GAME                        3DS            VITA

Rayman Origins          0.07           0.40

FIFA 13                      0.22           0.30

FIFA 14                      0.14           0.21

Batman: Blackgate      0.10           0.19

LEGO LOTR                0.23          0.17

LEGO Marvel              0.29          0.16

Sega All-star Racing   0.20           0.15

LEGO Batman 2         0.30           0.13

LEGO Harry Potter     0.29          0.11

F1 2011                    0.12          0.09

How I came about this: I looked at the top selling Vita chart, right here at VGC, klicked on every 3rd party published game on that list, and compared the Top 10 Best selling multiplat games on the VITA with their counterparts on the 3DS. So this means, the list above are the 10 best selling multiplat on Vita, and NOT the 3ds. I couldn't be bothered making a Top 10 Best selling multiplat games on the 3DS. But still, it's quite apparent even multiplat titles sell better on 3DS, as a general rule.

Considering the massive delta in potential buyers between the Vita and 3DS, those 3DS numbers are atrocious.

True, but still a more profitable system for publishers than Vita.



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

DanneSandin on 17 January 2014
the_dengle said:
DanneSandin said:
the_dengle said:
DanneSandin said:

Well, as the lists shows you, there's way more profits to be made on the 3DS, even if you have to compete with Mario. If you've read the whole OP you should be aware that 3rd parties are selling better on the 3DS than on Vita, you can't spin that.

Not trying to spin it. :P

But for some publishers, for some games, I can understand why the Vita would seem like the better choice. Though I think all of those games would benefit greatly from being multiplatform.

GAME                        3DS            VITA

Rayman Origins          0.07           0.40

FIFA 13                      0.22           0.30

FIFA 14                      0.14           0.21

Batman: Blackgate      0.10           0.19

LEGO LOTR                0.23          0.17

LEGO Marvel              0.29          0.16

Sega All-star Racing   0.20           0.15

LEGO Batman 2         0.30           0.13

LEGO Harry Potter     0.29          0.11

F1 2011                    0.12          0.09

Multiplats

As I said. I think you're confused as to whose side I'm on here.

Oh no, I know you're a Nintendo fan =) I just don't think there's any reason at all to publish a game on the Vita while ignoring the 3DS.



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

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Tom3k on 17 January 2014
Rogerioandrade said:

Exactely.  Content that you can´t find in a different device. Some people will just prefer to buy the home console version, specially when the Vita version is inferior, like the case of Rayman Legends

ROFL Did you actually play the game? In what aspect is the game "inferior"?

If developers could seamlessly port "PS360" games to 3DS don't you think they would?



lucidium on 17 January 2014
DanneSandin said:

I don't understand how that's pissing on my "parade". Fact is, 3rd party developers makes far more money on the 3DS than they do on Vita. The 3DS is a more profitable platform for publishers. And in the end, THAT'S what matters. The original Xbox had the highest tie ratio of any console, and I think GC was close behind. You gonna tell me THAT mattered in the end?

Nintendo also take much higher percentages and charge higher licensing which puts off smaller developers and publishers.

And you seem to forget, there was a time when 3DS sales were poor too, developers and publishers support the platform from a standpoint that it has potential to grow, and those that buy in to the platform become potential buyers for future software, and conversely, older software too.

And quite frankly,  the profit margins of releasing games on xbox live and psn are better, and the SDKs used to actually make the games gives much better support for networking and infrastructure options, all in all a lot of the lost revenue in sales due to a smaller install base are ofset by the money saved developing, advertising, and publishing with playstation over nintendo.

For many it's simply a matter of having more control over things, and not having to bleed money to nintendo for the sake of releasing on the 3DS.

You are clearly a Nintendo fan however, so I'm not too sure you'll be able to swallow that.



the_dengle on 17 January 2014
DanneSandin said:

Oh no, I know you're a Nintendo fan =) I just don't think there's any reason at all to publish a game on the Vita while ignoring the 3DS.

Perhaps not. But just because Capcom and Square-Enix can make loads of money on the 3DS doesn't mean that indie developers and smaller publishers are guaranteed greater profits on that platform simply by virtue of its install base.

I still think multiplatform is the way to go for indies and smaller publishers. Even in the examples where the Vita versions of multiplats outsold the 3DS versions, the sales were usually pretty close, showing that if you've got a smaller title on your hands, releasing on both platforms is an effective way to double your sales.



the_dengle on 17 January 2014
lucidium said:

Nintendo also take much higher percentages and charge higher licensing which puts off smaller developers and publishers.

Would love a source supporting this statement. That would be pretty good.

Preferably not something from 2010 or earlier, if you please.



DanneSandin on 17 January 2014
lucidium said:
DanneSandin said:

I don't understand how that's pissing on my "parade". Fact is, 3rd party developers makes far more money on the 3DS than they do on Vita. The 3DS is a more profitable platform for publishers. And in the end, THAT'S what matters. The original Xbox had the highest tie ratio of any console, and I think GC was close behind. You gonna tell me THAT mattered in the end?

Nintendo also take much higher percentages and charge higher licensing which puts off smaller developers and publishers.

And you seem to forget, there was a time when 3DS sales were poor too, developers and publishers support the platform from a standpoint that it has potential to grow, and those that buy in to the platform become potential buyers for future software, and conversely, older software too.

And quite frankly,  the profit margins of releasing games on xbox live and psn are better, and the SDKs used to actually make the games gives much better support for networking and infrastructure options, all in all a lot of the lost revenue in sales due to a smaller install base are ofset by the money saved developing, advertising, and publishing with playstation over nintendo.

For many it's simply a matter of having more control over things, and not having to bleed money to nintendo for the sake of releasing on the 3DS.

You are clearly a Nintendo fan however, so I'm not too sure you'll be able to swallow that.

Well, I can't adress your first point, since I know nothing about that. You could very well be right. Although, I will say this, Nintendo has recently allowed 3rd parties to set their own prices on the eShop, and even have sales independently. This should mean that 3rd parties has a rather big influence in how much money they'll make from their software.

The 3DS were doing poorly for 8 months, not 2 years. I understand why developers supports a new console, but the Vita isn't new anymore. And besides, I think that is besides THIS point.

I don't understand why you're even mentioning xbl; this is a comparison between the 3DS and the Vita, and how well 3rd parties are doing on them respectively.

While I am a Nintendo fan, I have no problems critizising them, nor am I unwilling to learn new things and convinced that my current point of view is wrong.



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.