What a misleading thread title, but anyway...

^Yeah ioi I wanted more people to be aware that NPD have to make estimates as well that's why I posted this article.

I never knew this. However, I dont understand how VGCHARTZ was even able to figure out the increase in Xbox sales during the 100$ promotion period. The promotion was only for the two untracked retailers by NPD.

I can tell you that Amazon would make a big difference for PS3 since PS3 has been in top 20 since the launch of PS3 slim. While Xbox was not even in top 50 on Amazon except for the week of the 100$ promotion. It will be interesting to see the NPD for November, I believe it will be way off Vgchartz numbers.

Then the Wii sold a lot more considering that WalMart is the biggest Wii retailer

Umm, I'm not sure this article is legit. The site looks pretty small/dodgy, but the main thing is that NPD said, a couple years ago I believe, that they specifically DO cover Amazon.

Also in discussing Wal Mart, NPD would probably note they had a prior relationship with Wal Mart that helps them estimate, etc.

Not saying 100% this article is fake but it seems fishy.

 

Here is a small blurb I could find online, it's not a very reputable site either but I didn't search too hard. Around the same time NPD lost Toys R Us they gained Amazon and some others, I remember this very clearly.

 

http://www.360plex.com/news/view/189599/

NPD: loss of numbers from Toys R Us nothing major
 After Pacific Crest Securities expressed their opinion why October's NPD sales data scored lower than expected - they believe that the numbers were skewered due to Toys "R" Us not submitting video game sales data to NPD - NPD released a statement to defend the integrity of their data, through their vice president Martin Zargosek.Zargosek explained that the NPD typically lose data from one or two retailers in any given period, and get new data from retailers whose numbers were not taken into account in previous data collection periods. "This year both the adds (e.g. amazon.com) and the losses (Toys "R " Us) were a bit larger than usual, but overall our market coverage has not changed very much compared to last year," he added.Zargosek also commented that the new retailers they added were increasing in importance. "We feel that our data accuracy may improve rather than deteriorate due to these changes," he said. The addition of data from new entries, such as Amazon, will eventually offset the loss of numbers from retailers such as Toys "R" Us.

 

Nothing fishy about the general point the article makes though. NPD doesn't track 100% of brick and mortar stores and tracks even less in the digital realm and thus anything they say is just an educated extrapolation exactly the same as VGchartz is.

The difference lies in the fact that their sample size is much larger and thus they are in general more accurate. But hey, you can't complain when the numbers here are free and easily searchable and cover the whole globe instead of just one country.

I'm wondering why Toy 'r' Us pulled out from NPD tracking pool?

buzzard said: Then the Wii sold a lot more considering that WalMart is the biggest Wii retailer

This statement is bogus since we don't get Walmart data to support it. They are the biggest retailer overall but not necessarily when it comes to the Wii.

dolemit3 said: buzzard said: Then the Wii sold a lot more considering that WalMart is the biggest Wii retailer This statement is bogus since we don't get Walmart data to support it. They are the biggest retailer overall but not necessarily when it comes to the Wii.

I don't think it's unfair to guess that the most mainstream retailer would tend to favor the most mainstream console in sales.  We can't say conclusively obviously, but leaning in this direction is logical.

 

The most worrying revelation I've heard about NPDs Wal-mart multipliers is that they're basically standard up/down across consoles.  Now I'm not sure where I read this though, anyone else see it?