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NPD Sales Results for January 2014 [Up3: PS4/XB1 #1/#2 best selling; Poke/SM3DW/ALBW]

LOLWHAT?

Jesus.

Well 900k in the channel at the end of last quarter, 140k sold in Jan in the strongest region, which gives an optimistic 300k global sell through. That requires a January shipment of just 400k globally to have a million unsold units in the channel, additionally, unlike Sony for their Japan launch next week, MS won't be setting units aside from production for launches in tier two countries. Though arguably they should be given the poor rate of sell through in their currently released markets.
 

SeanR1221

Member
I'm starting to think that Apple are better off not taking gaming seriously. They're making out like bandits as it is. The 'traditional' sector doesn't look able to support the current entrants, let alone a new one.

I bet they're keeping a close eye on Amazon though.

You're probably right. I wouldn't be surprised if there comes a time when the iPad can put out xbox 360/ps3 graphics easily and they just throw an official controller at it. Let's talk like 3-4 years from now. 256gb iPad?

I heard FIFA was exactly the same on both :p

But to be honest, I think things would mostly be the same even if the PS4 didn't have an advantage for multiplats due to heaper price + releasing at the same time as the competition.

Probably but I know for me I wouldn't have been persuaded as easily if the hardware was the same. I actually like the voice control and tv stuff.
 

narton

Member
I'm really curious how the regular Wii sold that month. If Aqua didn't want to post the Vita numbers and considered it dead, along with the NDS, are Wii and DS sub 10,000? Sub 5,000?
 

Amir0x

Banned
wow somehow i missed 3DS numbers. Gaming dedicated handheld hardware needs a miracle next gen imo.

(and that's before we get into Vita, christ)
 

Ty4on

Member
PS4 cannot save the industry by itself. Whats the 1% figure people are throwing around? If thats true then things are not looking bad at all but quite good considering the big money pubs are making with DLC.

I think one doing well instead of three doing poorly is preferable if the market has shrunk. That'd make it much easier for third parties and gamers who can't afford two or more consoles.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
Considering this is the US thread now, I think it's good to post the parts of my usual Amazon comparison between PS4 and One specifically for the US

US, @ 11:37 GMT

PS4 - 1st (still over 999)

Titanfall - 7th

One - 15th

Call of Duty: Ghosts
PS4 ($47.89) - 21st
One ($49.13) - 73rd (sold by third party; only 4 left in stock)

Battlefield 4
PS4 ($48.99) - 23rd
One ($49.99) - 111st

Killzone: Shadow Fall ($43.01) - 24th

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
PS4 ($49.73) - 26th
One ($49.45) - 121st

NBA 2K14
PS4 ($51.87) - 28th
One ($59.96) - 232nd (sold by a third party; only 5 left in stock)

FIFA 14
PS4 ($59.99) - 38th
One ($48.98) - 206th

inFAMOUS: Second Son ($59.96) - 39th

Thief
PS4 ($59.96) - 40th
One ($59.96) - 54th

Need for Speed Rivals
PS4 ($49.99) - 47th
One ($48.99) - 379th

Madden NFL 25
PS4 ($48.96) - 48th
One ($42.62) - 147th

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
PS4 ($19.99 per 45 minutes) - 62nd
One ($19.99 per 45 minutes) - 508th

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
PS4 | Standard ($59.99) - 76th / Art Book Packaging - 896th (currently unavailable)
One | Art Book Packaging ($59.99) - 386th / Standard ($59.96) - 1,349th

Note: Lego Movie excluded due to the following part dedicated to all the SKUs

The battle inside Square-Enix

Bravely Default | Standard ($39.99) 6th / Collector's - 371st (available from other sellers; no price reported)

Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
PS3 ($59.99) - 31st
360 ($59.99) - 131st

This comparison is...awesome! The Lego Movie Videogame: all SKUs

US, @ 11:54 GMT

360 ($53.51) - 53rd One (sold by third party with a markup; only 7 left in stock)
Wii U ($50) - 75th (sold by third party; only 13 left in stock)
3DS ($29.99) - 85th
One ($50.89) - 149th
PS3 ($49.99) - 171st
PS4 ($59.96) - 226th
Vita ($29.96) - 1,162nd

Definitive version V.S. definitive version in US

Rayman Legends
PS4 ($39.96) - 373rd
One (£39.99) - 692nd

The situation the last time (February 12nd)

http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=100486370&postcount=71

In the link, you can find what was the situation two days ago for US as well.

I think there are many possible talking points, like the sudden rise of most of PS4 titles just when PS4 was back in stock, the difference between PS4 and One SKUs Lighting Returns dropping so fast, Bravely Default staying strong ahead of everything (even if I think, later, Titanfall will surpass it), especially in perspective for next month's NPDs.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Western 3rd psrty support would be a great start.

i dont think it could do anything. The problem is elsewhere. The consumer has moved onto a different brand of portable that doesn't just play games, and since the majority of them don't care about games like we do, they don't want to carry around yet another device.

It's just going to get worse. You could probably put half the top sellers of the world on a gaming dedicated gaming handheld next-gen and it'll probably still fail to rocket.
 

Ty4on

Member
Western 3rd psrty support would be a great start.

To the console with a 3.5 attach rate or the one with zero sales? In Japan some third party games even sell better on the Vita than 3DS. In Japan Puzzle and Dragons Z sold really well on the 3DS, but:
http://www.gungho.co.jp/ir/uploads/irs20140204.pdf

Some people were wondering how did the sales of Puzzle & Dragons Z (the blue in the rightmost column) compare to the smartphone game:

puzzledragonszows1a.png

The purple columns are the monthly revenue of GungHo mobile consumer segment (?).


P&DZ has 1.3 million shipped + downloads as of Jan 31st.
 
You can't compare 2001 to 2014. Dev costs have rised so much that in its current form the devs and pubs won't make it. Haven't you seen the publisher's cries how 3-4 million sales are barely enough to break even? The dev costs have gone UP since then.

Then the devs have to reduce costs and maybe... I don't know release fewer bloated games?

I just tried AC4 recently and the word bloated repeatedly crossed my mind.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
This comparison is...awesome! The Lego Movie Videogame: all SKUs

US, @ 11:54 GMT

360 ($53.51) - 53rd One (sold by third party with a markup; only 7 left in stock)
Wii U ($50) - 75th (sold by third party; only 13 left in stock)
3DS ($29.99) - 85th
One ($50.89) - 149th
PS3 ($49.99) - 171st
PS4 ($59.96) - 226th
Vita ($29.96) - 1,162nd

Doesn't this kind of show part of the problem with the industry? Have publishers just overestimated the amount of money people think is reasonable to pay for a game?

3DS software isn't bad--it's too expensive. Vita isn't bad--it's memory system and games are too expensive. For the most part, the market seems to be saying that $60 is too much for people to spend on console games now.

I think there's a market for a much cheaper Wii-like console in the industry next round and I honestly wonder if that's where Nintendo heads.
 
Once 3rd parties start churning out next-gen exclusives (and stop making cross gen games) then I think we'll start seeing much higher monthly numbers for both the PS4/XB1.

There are still a great amount of core gamers that are not getting next-gen consoles because games like South Park SOT and Dark Souls 2 are only on current gen and games like AC4 and CoD: Ghosts are on PS3/360/PC

The moment CoD, Assassin's Creed, GTA, and Battlefield are ONLY available on next-gen platforms is the moment that next-gen sales will increase even higher than they are now.
 

Mpl90

Two copies sold? That's not a bomb guys, stop trolling!!!
A little tidbit about 3DS. Last year, it sold around 3,800,000 for the whole year.

If the weekly sales drop stay around 17%, it would sell 3 millions again this year: more precisely 3,154,000.

I doubt the YOY drop will still be so contained, though (especially for months like June - when Animal Crossin released - and October, when Pokémon released, and then there's the whole Holiday season to see).
 

Ty4on

Member
Doesn't this kind of show part of the problem with the industry? Have publishers just overestimated the amount of money people think is reasonable to pay for a game?

3DS software isn't bad--it's too expensive. Vita isn't bad--it's memory system and games are too expensive. For the most part, the market seems to be saying that $60 is too much for people to spend on console games now.

I think there's a market for a much cheaper Wii-like console in the industry next round and I honestly wonder if that's where Nintendo heads.

Definitively agree with this. It really bothered me when Nintendo talked about price that they didn't have a good plan on it. Apple now makes OS updates, iLife and iWork free for Mac/iOS users because they make a decent margin on HW. Why can't Nintendo do something similar instead of desperately trying to get the same insane profits they had during the Wii/DS era. The WiiU bundles in Japan seemingly had a much bigger effect than Mario 3D World.
 

Drek

Member
PS4 cannot save the industry by itself.

Why can't it? That 271k is likely a pretty supply limited number given how quickly it sells out when back in stock at various retailers, online and B&M.

So the handheld market is being devoured into the smart devices market, the meat of the handheld demographic (casuals and kids <13) where never the core demographic of the PS1, PS2, or the PS360 duo.

A return to a single dominant platform would likely only help the industry to flourish. A few reasons why:
1. A single target console, no additional port fees that publishers eat to reach the same number of consumers.
2. Greater cross-market competition into other regions, as the risk of releasing Japan-centric content in the U.S. is greatly reduced when the focus can be on a single platform with a massive audience versus multiple fractured user-bases.
3. Greater sharing of in-house tech between projects. With every team working on the same default target the basic tools of game development will be much more universally applicable.
4. Greater familiarity across the industry with a single hardware format. Familiarity creates efficiency.
5. Lower cost middleware/licensed engine R&D which can be in turn passed on to more competitive middleware/licensed engine pricing. More middleware/engine providers in the same pool drives cost down, but their overhead would already be reduced by no longer having to support as broad a hardware base.
6. With the advent of digital market places a single dominant console would allow for that marketplace to employ more Steam-like pricing, maximizing long term sales of every software release. B&M would have less muscle in preventing this as a PS2 level success with a PS3/360/Steam level digital storefront would likely be the biggest games retailer on the planet.
 

Sandfox

Member
Definitively agree with this. It really bothered me when Nintendo talked about price that they didn't have a good plan on it. Apple now makes OS updates, iLife and iWork free for Mac/iOS users because they make a decent margin on HW. Why can't Nintendo do something similar instead of desperately trying to get the same insane profits they had during the Wii/DS era. The WiiU bundles in Japan seemingly had a much bigger effect than Mario 3D World.

Shouldn't that be expected?

Also, I'm guessing the differences are the amount of money Nintendo makes off their SW and the fact that they aren't selling as much product as Apple as well as having way lower margins(I'm assuming).
 
A little tidbit about 3DS. Last year, it sold around 3,800,000 for the whole year.

If the weekly sales drop stay around 17%, it would sell 3 millions again this year: more precisely 3,154,000.

I doubt the YOY drop will still be so contained, though (especially for months like June - when Animal Crossin released - and October, when Pokémon released, and then there's the whole Holiday season to see).
It's worth considering though the NDS sold about half a million last year as well, and it's now dead dead.

The PSV will be lucky to sell like half what it sold in 2013 (which was also about half a million). The PSP is gone.

That 3M or whatever the 3DS sells now represents the entirety of the handheld market.
I think there's a market for a much cheaper Wii-like console in the industry next round and I honestly wonder if that's where Nintendo heads.
You can't get cheaper than "thing I already own."
 

geordiemp

Member
Doesn't this kind of show part of the problem with the industry? Have publishers just overestimated the amount of money people think is reasonable to pay for a game?

3DS software isn't bad--it's too expensive. Vita isn't bad--it's memory system and games are too expensive. For the most part, the market seems to be saying that $60 is too much for people to spend on console games now.

I think there's a market for a much cheaper Wii-like console in the industry next round and I honestly wonder if that's where Nintendo heads.

Try the UK where many of those prices are in GBP £.....

I would buy more games (Ac4,Ghosts,Tomb Raider Ps4) and PS+ games but would like to buy BF4, last Lego game etc.

But many games are still lurking around £ 50
 

Dunlop

Member
Why can't it? That 271k is likely a pretty supply limited number given how quickly it sells out when back in stock at various retailers, online and B&M.

So the handheld market is being devoured into the smart devices market, the meat of the handheld demographic (casuals and kids <13) where never the core demographic of the PS1, PS2, or the PS360 duo.

A return to a single dominant platform would likely only help the industry to flourish. A few reasons why:
1. A single target console, no additional port fees that publishers eat to reach the same number of consumers.
2. Greater cross-market competition into other regions, as the risk of releasing Japan-centric content in the U.S. is greatly reduced when the focus can be on a single platform with a massive audience versus multiple fractured user-bases.
3. Greater sharing of in-house tech between projects. With every team working on the same default target the basic tools of game development will be much more universally applicable.
4. Greater familiarity across the industry with a single hardware format. Familiarity creates efficiency.
5. Lower cost middleware/licensed engine R&D which can be in turn passed on to more competitive middleware/licensed engine pricing. More middleware/engine providers in the same pool drives cost down, but their overhead would already be reduced by no longer having to support as broad a hardware base.
6. With the advent of digital market places a single dominant console would allow for that marketplace to employ more Steam-like pricing, maximizing long term sales of every software release. B&M would have less muscle in preventing this as a PS2 level success with a PS3/360/Steam level digital storefront would likely be the biggest games retailer on the planet.
Sony is a company that is in desperate need of money, without a strong competitor keep them in check it could be very bad for consumers
 

Ty4on

Member
Edit: ^^^^^^ If these numbers weren't a fluke they already have that without the Xbox One or WiiU.
Shouldn't that be expected?

Also, I'm guessing the differences are the amount of money Nintendo makes off their SW and the fact that they aren't selling as much product as Apple as well as having way lower margins(I'm assuming).

New Mac OS X versions weren't free before Mavericks. Leopard was 129$ and a Windows license is still 100$. New OS' being free is a new thing we've seen in mobile just like games not being 60$.

Nintendo hasn't really gotten any margins on their HW now (which is a seperate issue), but they need to get people to buy their consoles and making the value seem higher with games bundled and cheaper titles could do just that. It would be hard at the moment because unlike Apple they haven't got great HW consumers are willing to pay a lot for. It's no big secret that iPhones and iPads cost maybe half of what they are sold for to make.
 

vulcanM3CH_187

Neo Member
As a PS4 owner (I only ever owned Sony consoles in previous gens), I'm happy to see them succeed and get back to the top of the industry. Happy to have stuck in there during the difficult PS3 days. Amazing how they have been able to turn this around. There's something that the PS4 will always have, even if MS drops the price, Sony's console now has an intangible quality. The spirit of goodwill that surrounds the product is something I think MS cannot counter. You can see it in the passion of the Sony execs, they know they are on to something and they've executed brilliantly since the fabled "20th of Feb" to convey that vision.
 
without a strong competitor keep them in check could very consumers
Good god, I hate this flawed argument. If Sony gets drunk with some non-existent power and start doing abhorrent things then consumers will spend their entertainment dollars elsewhere.

The idea of competition is that companies compete for consumers with their different value propositions, and the best one will attract more consumers. Not this weird "everyone's a winner" mentality.
 
3DS numbers are horrible. And the only card they have left to play are pricecuts and new models which would only be a quick boost. I still can't believe Nintendo thinks they can charge 169 dollars for the original 3DS even if it is on sales a lot. The pricing structure should be 2DS-99 3DS-129 XL-150, but they need the 3DS to subsidize the rest of the company. Nintendo is probably going to have another loss this fiscal year.



Also the core market is going to decline. Whether that is huge enough to be a cause concern is yet to really be seen, but there is no denying that the core dedicated console market will decline even if you throw out wii numbers which makes it looks even worse.
 

NekoFever

Member
Damn at all those numbers.

Meanwhile the iPad sells how much ;)

Jk....sort of. If Apple took gaming seriously...

Why would they? They're making tons of money and clearly having an effect on the dedicated portable gaming market (see: 3DS and Vita sales) as it is, presumably taking the casual audience that bought a DS for Brain Training, etc. So you want them to throw money at a core audience that is indifferent at best, hostile at worst to mobile/tablet gaming and so is never going to care anyway?
 

Jack cw

Member
Good god, I hate this flawed argument. If Sony gets drunk with some non-existent power and start doing abhorrent things then consumers will spend their entertainment dollars elsewhere.

The idea of competition is that companies compete for consumers with their different value propositions, and the best one will attract more consumers. Not this weird "everyone's a winner" mentality.
We should really put that in every NPD thread as first post.
 
3DS numbers are horrible. And the only card they have left to play are pricecuts and new models which would only be a quick boost. I still can't believe Nintendo thinks they can charge 169 dollars for the original 3DS even if it is on sales a lot. The pricing structure should be 2DS-99 3DS-129 XL-150, but they need the 3DS to subsidize the rest of the company. Nintendo is probably going to have another loss this fiscal year.

A new model wouldn't do anything at this point. We've already gone through two hardware revisions. Not even a price drop would significantly move the dial at this point, the 2DS proved that already as its a total flop.
 

jvm

Gamasutra.
So, one of the old chestnuts of Sales-GAF discussions has been "when will the Xbox 360 overtake the Wii in the U.S.?"

As you may know, that happened last summer in the UK.

But the gap between the two in the U.S. now stands at approximately 500,000 units.

Now, look at what happened to sales this month and ask yourself: Is it still possible for the Xbox 360 to overtake the Wii in the U.S.?

:|
 

kinoki

Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey.
Sony is a company that is in desperate need of money, without a strong competitor keep them in check it could be very bad for consumers

It has proven to do them good in the PS3/360 era. That competition led to the PS4. Now the consumers have a beast of a machine that's good for publishers, developers and consumers alike. Don't worry about competition. Google, Samsung, Apple and Amazon are waiting for their turn. Sony will have to beat them too in order to keep their consumers in the next bout. Microsoft and Nintendo failed due to competition. Like good competition should. It's in noone's best intrest to see the Xbone succeed on these terms.
 
So, one of the old chestnuts of Sales-GAF discussions has been "when will the Xbox 360 overtake the Wii in the U.S.?"

As you may know, that happened last summer in the UK.

But the gap between the two in the U.S. now stands at approximately 500,000 units.

Now, look at what happened to sales this month and ask yourself: Is it still possible for the Xbox 360 to overtake the Wii in the U.S.?

:|

Let's be serious here - it might crawl to do it but X360 will sell more than 500k this year in USA.
 

Into

Member
Are we seriously going to go through this "The game industry is massively contracting" every generation? We had the same doom sayers last gen as well.

I see it for what it is: a sad attempt at making the Wii U look slightly like a less of a failure than it really is. Because that is all it is, because that is all this "doom" talk ever was.

There was no way to portray the Dreamcast like sales of the Wii U as anything but terrible, so a attempt was made to cast doubt over the Xbox and PlayStation.

Both consoles did very well at launch, and PS4 even set records in US and UK, two markets where PlayStation suffered last generation to Nintendo and MS. And now PS4 has slightly outsold PS3, 360 and PS2 in its first January.
 
I think one doing well instead of three doing poorly is preferable if the market has shrunk. That'd make it much easier for third parties and gamers who can't afford two or more consoles.
If XBONE doesn't do well in the US for lifetime sales it is worrisome for the xbox brand. PS4 will do gangbusters- these sales figures mean nothing about the overall health of the industry and more about how two companies completely misread the market.

Mattrick and Iwata done and shit the bed.
 

SmokyDave

Member
So, one of the old chestnuts of Sales-GAF discussions has been "when will the Xbox 360 overtake the Wii in the U.S.?"

As you may know, that happened last summer in the UK.

But the gap between the two in the U.S. now stands at approximately 500,000 units.

Now, look at what happened to sales this month and ask yourself: Is it still possible for the Xbox 360 to overtake the Wii in the U.S.?

:|
When the $109.99 Titanfall bundle drops.

Eh, I've no idea to be honest. I doubt the 360 has less than half a million units left in it though.
 
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