By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Sales Discussion - The Official NPD April 2008 Thread

azrm2k on 15 May 2008
HappySqurriel said:

To bring back an old argument ...

(Roughly) 80% of all videogame consoles in the previous generation were sold at a price of $200 or less, and I think it is likely that there is a strict limit on the number of people who are really willing to spend $300 or more on a console regardless of what games are available for it. What these numbers could really be demonstrating is that the PS3 and XBox 360 are hitting a point where (practically) everyone who wants an XBox 360 or PS3 and is willing to spend more than $300 already owns a PS3 or XBox 360. If this is true, without further (and rapid) price reductions the PS3 and XBox 360 could see stagnant sales rates or declining sales.


 The problem with that, if true, is that it seems increasing likely with recent events that neither MS or Sony are too eager to do price cuts right now.  Hopefully this NPD report changes minds but lately it seems they've both just started shooting for profitability alone, ignoring the "console wars".



Around the Network
macross on 15 May 2008

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/npd-gta-iv-mario-kart-drive-us-game-industry-sales-to-123-billion-in-april/?biz=1



Poor PS3 Sales Means Smaller Losses

"Actually, because the number of units sold was not as high as we hoped, the loss was better than our original expectation," Quotes from Sony’s CFO Nobuyuki Oneda.

BKK2 on 15 May 2008

Well, Take Two released the press release eight days after launch. It says week one, they don't specify days, but I don't see why they'd only count 5 days when they can count seven and announce even higher numbers.

New York, NY – May 7, 2008 – Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), said today that Grand Theft Auto IV has surpassed all-time entertainment records for day one and week one sales by dollar value. Released on Tuesday, April 29th, Grand Theft Auto IV, the critically acclaimed video game, has sold through to consumers approximately 6 million units globally with an estimated retail value of more than $500 million in the first week. Grand Theft Auto IV sold approximately 3.6 million units on its opening day with a retail value of approximately $310 million globally.


Link

Plenty of news reports say seven days, not that this is necessarily correct, but the only reports I can find about five days are UK sales, which makes sense as Chart-Track weeks end Saturdays.

Grand Theft Auto IV has claimed two entertainment industry sales records, posting the best ever single-day and seven-day sales totals for a computer game.

The highly-anticipated, and highly-controversial, game is the latest instalment in Rockstar Games' flagship franchise.

Take Two Interactive, which owns Rockstar, said that GTA IV sold more than 3.6 million copies on its first day of availability, garnering $310m in sales.

Over the course of the first week, that total grew to six million units and $500m in sales.


vnunet

Grand Theft Auto IV hits record of $500m sales in first week

By Stephen Foley in New York
Thursday, 8 May 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest edition of the "shoot-em-up" video game, had sales of $500m (£260m) in its first seven days in the shops, beating records not just for games titles but for DVD and music releases as well.


The Independant



fkusumot on 15 May 2008

 

Well, the Wii had a good run. ~  

 



I Blame Wii Fit!

celine on 15 May 2008


 “In the entertainment business, there are only heaven and hell, and nothing in between and as soon as our customers bore of our products, we will crash.”  Hiroshi Yamauchi

TAG:  Like a Yamauchi pimp slap delivered by Il Maelstrom; serving it up with style.

Around the Network
celine on 15 May 2008

BIZ: With all the talk about GTA IV driving increased sales of PS3 and 360 hardware, I was surprised to see both systems under 200K, while the Wii (sans GTA) just blew them out of the water. What happened?

[NPD]Frazier: If there was one thing that surprised me about the sales results, this would be it. I had expected greater hardware sales for both platforms as well, and my hunch is that with only 5 days of GTA IV sales captured in this data set, we may see that lift when the May data is released. It could be that many of those that went to buy the game in its first 5 days at retail were already owners of one or both of the systems and that down the road game sales may spur hardware sales.



 “In the entertainment business, there are only heaven and hell, and nothing in between and as soon as our customers bore of our products, we will crash.”  Hiroshi Yamauchi

TAG:  Like a Yamauchi pimp slap delivered by Il Maelstrom; serving it up with style.

ckmlb on 15 May 2008

@Zenfoldor VGI:

What is there to expand on? Both other companies will copy what Nintendo did next generation, they won't push the hardware much to keep the price low and their main focus will be casual and/or family friendly fare.



Thanks to Blacksaber for the sig!

DOATS1 on 15 May 2008
celine said:
BIZ: With all the talk about GTA IV driving increased sales of PS3 and 360 hardware, I was surprised to see both systems under 200K, while the Wii (sans GTA) just blew them out of the water. What happened?

[NPD]Frazier: If there was one thing that surprised me about the sales results, this would be it. I had expected greater hardware sales for both platforms as well, and my hunch is that with only 5 days of GTA IV sales captured in this data set, we may see that lift when the May data is released. It could be that many of those that went to buy the game in its first 5 days at retail were already owners of one or both of the systems and that down the road game sales may spur hardware sales.

still doesn't explain the hard drop in numbers in my opinion.




cookingyourmama on 15 May 2008
ZenfoldorVGI said:
cookingyourmama said:
 
What?? It's not my opinion that nintendo have released no new AAA or AA hardcore ip's on the wii it's a fact. The other fact is comparing the wii's line up to the gamecubes line up of games their is very little difference between the two. Last gen the gamecube finished 3rd and most people agreed that was because the software wasn't good enough. This generation the wii is dominating and the only difference in software is wii sports, wii play and wii fit, all of which are casual games that have scored badly and hardcore gamers generally don't like them. The wii sells the most because it is the most popular console not because it is the best.

 


I'm curious as to how classifying games as casual and writing reviews of them based on opinion is a "fact."

Anyway, now your talking about Nintendo software development, not the Wii as a piece of hardware.

3rd parties have released AAA hardcore titles on the Wii, like Zack and Wiki, and No More Heroes.

Just keep your facts to yourself, if you feel like presenting an argument from now on, give us your opinions and we'll respect them, but don't act like we're dumb for not agreeing with you.


No i haven't changed the subject at all, a poster was trying to claim that nintendo can't be critised for releasing the same old games when sony and mircosoft are just as bad, i posted all the new aaa and aa new ip's sony and microsoft have released this gen that disprove that. Now your changing the subject to third parties releasing new aaa and aa games on the wii and really bringing up that point is so stupid when the amount of new aaa and aa 3rd party games released on the 360 and ps3 crush the wii. Reviews are an indication of how good a game is but since wii games generally review poorly im guessing your one of these people who don't care about reviews. I'll say it again, just because something is the most popular thing doesnt make it the best.



ckmlb on 15 May 2008
FishyJoe said:
Good luck with the PC, hasn't the Mac been gaining market share

We got a regular Jerry Seinfeld here.

Thanks to Blacksaber for the sig!