August NPD

[Purple Filth]

well DQ at 18 so Himu gets a victory somewhat.

You guys do realize that DQIX came out in July, right? That it already charted last month, sold about 130k. Or was everybody hoping that it was going to become a perennial powerhouse like NSMB DS and still be in the Top 10 after 5 years?

I know that already 

It was Himuro hoping and praying it would stick around for this NPD, i didn't give a shit

[Sho Nuff]

Gah. I seriously wonder if anyone is making money at this point. Time to bail out of the industry!

[Stoney Mason]

While I agree times may not be great at the moment for the industry that's really not much different than the general economy. Also there is a big whole missing amount of money via digital distribution that isn't being take into account at all. Not just on PC's but on consoles via XBLA, PSN.

Some of those summer of Arcade titles sold hundreds of thousands of copies and none of that gets accounted for in NPD reports.

[Great Rumbler]

Also there is a big whole missing amount of money via digital distribution that isn't being take into account at all. Not just on PC's but on consoles via XBLA, PSN.

http://www.conceivablytech.com/1926/business/us-digital-game-sales-almost-at-parity-with-physical-purchases/

[Stoney Mason]

Also there is a big whole missing amount of money via digital distribution that isn't being take into account at all. Not just on PC's but on consoles via XBLA, PSN.

http://www.conceivablytech.com/1926/business/us-digital-game-sales-almost-at-parity-with-physical-purchases/

Yeah when people same game revenue is down its probably much more accurate to say game revenue is being redistributed in lots of different venues. And some of those venues are not recorded very accurately at the moment in an accurate manner so you are getting an incomplete picture of the game industry. It's like comparing television as it switched from a 3 network operation to a 500 hundred channel operation. You have facebook, idevices, etc.

Limbo sold at least 300k
Monday Night Combat has nearly 200k on its leaderboards.
Dead Rising Case Zero sold 300k in a week.

So we definitely aren't getting the complete picture and that's only increasing every day.

[Purple Filth]

Gah. I seriously wonder if anyone is making money at this point. Time to bail out of the industry!

only 6 games making  >100k units is crazy

[The Fake Shemp]

It is just the calm before the storm that is HALO REACH.

[Great Rumbler]

It is just the calm before the storm that is TWO WORLDS II.

Fixed.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

It is just the calm before the storm that is HALO REACH.

is anyone looking forward to HALO: Reacharound? I'm getting a very THPS5 vibe from this one

[Brehvolution]

+1 Civ 5 for Sept. NPD.

[Stoney Mason]

It is just the calm before the storm that is HALO REACH.

is anyone looking forward to HALO: Reacharound?

Among jaded forum posters...probably not.  (not a diss)
Among "regular people". Yes.

It will do gangbusters next month. Not mw 2 numbers but gangbusters nevertheless.

[Eel O'Brian]

i am looking forward to that gamefly email on monday

[Stoney Mason]

A friend of mine who isn't a messageboard nerd at all was telling me "why don't they just make Halo 4 instead another Halo 3 expansion."

Anecdotal, sure, but it's a bit telling how ODST damaged the brand.

ODST was crap but alot of the "regular people" I know on xbox live are very hyped about Reach. Halo 3 has suddenly appeared on my friends playlists a lot more frequently in the last few weeks. Halo is the Mario of the xbox brand. I think its nearly impossible to damage that brand to any significant degree this gen at least.

[Eel O'Brian]

calling it Halo 4 would piss off the casually unaware when they see that there is no master chief

[Eel O'Brian]

true, plus there's like a dozen master chiefs in this one, isn't there?

[Eel O'Brian]

even i'm thinking about buying black ops, and i am not interested in any call of duty which does not involve me shooting at bad german accents

[Eel O'Brian]

damn your stealth edit

[Stoney Mason]

I think that crown has to go to CoD this gen.

WW2 again?  I'm thinking Call of Duty is done. (Millions of sales)

Every year?  I think Call of Duty is done (More millions)

Treyarch?  (More Millions)

WW2 in the Pacific?  This Franchise has run its course (12 milion+ sales)

There is no doubt Call of Duty is the biggest franchise of this gen outside of something like World of Warcraft or Wii play or the Mario Franchise as a whole. Black Ops will sell big but I don't think it will outsell MW 2. But Halo is nothing to sneeze at. It's a mammoth franchise on its own. The name alone garners million.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I just feel like ODST really took a huge crap all over the brand. everyone played Halo 3, less than everyone played ODST, and no one at work seems excited about Reach - the reaction is more "oh, God, more Halo."

everything about Reach looks like furious backpedalling to make it a "return to our roots" which is usually the line you start trotting out when a band/artist/brand is so creatively stagnated that nobody knows what to do with it anymore but by God, you need to keep pumping out content.

I don't doubt it'll still sell very well (of course) but I think it will come in significantly under 3 and even a bit under ODST

[Stoney Mason]

I just feel like ODST really took a huge crap all over the brand. everyone played Halo 3, less than everyone played ODST, and no one at work seems excited about Reach - the reaction is more "oh, God, more Halo."

everything about Reach looks like furious backpedalling to make it a "return to our roots" which is usually the line you start trotting out when a band/artist/brand is so creatively stagnated that nobody knows what to do with it anymore but by God, you need to keep pumping out content.

I don't doubt it'll still sell very well (of course) but I think it will come in significantly under 3 and even a bit under ODST

I think it will outdo odst pretty comfortably. As far as Halo 3, I'm not sure. That was the highwater mark probably for Halo interest in general but then the userbase is much bigger than it was back then. I would guess it would either be close or surpass it since this will essentially probably be the penultimate version of Halo for this gen.

Reach certainly seems like essentially a greatest hits version of the Halo franchise but then without pushing forward into the lore of it truly being Halo 4 then that's pretty much all it could have been. It looks and feels like what Halo 3 should have been. Which is probably exciting for some people and not so exciting for others.

[Eel O'Brian]

i was interested in halo when i heard the gearbox rumor (even though i have my problems with gearbox)

a brothers in arms style squad based tactical shooter with a halo skin over it would have made a much more interesting odst

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I just feel like ODST really took a huge crap all over the brand. everyone played Halo 3, less than everyone played ODST, and no one at work seems excited about Reach - the reaction is more "oh, God, more Halo."

everything about Reach looks like furious backpedalling to make it a "return to our roots" which is usually the line you start trotting out when a band/artist/brand is so creatively stagnated that nobody knows what to do with it anymore but by God, you need to keep pumping out content.

I don't doubt it'll still sell very well (of course) but I think it will come in significantly under 3 and even a bit under ODST

I think it will outdo odst pretty comfortably. As far as Halo 3, I'm not sure. That was the highwater mark probably for Halo interest in general but then the userbase is much bigger than it was back then. I would guess it would either be close or surpass it since this will essentially probably be the penultimate version of Halo for this gen.

That means "next-to-last"; not sure that's what you meant.

No way it outsells Halo 3. I also sincerely doubt it outsells ODST, but I guess we'll know in a month!

[Joe Molotov]

A friend of mine who isn't a messageboard nerd at all was telling me "why don't they just make Halo 4 instead another Halo 3 expansion."

Anecdotal, sure, but it's a bit telling how ODST damaged the brand.

ODST was crap but alot of the "regular people" I know on xbox live are very hyped about Reach.

Yeah, my sister's boyfriend hated ODST, but he's still like OMGOMGOMGREACHOMG. I totally blew his mind when he asked if I was getting Reach, and I was like "mmmm.....nah".

[Stoney Mason]

i was interested in halo when i heard the gearbox rumor (even though i have my problems with gearbox)

a brothers in arms style squad based tactical shooter with a halo skin over it would have made a much more interesting odst

I was very into reach early on when I thought it was going to be a real classed based shooter. But it turns out that really wasn't the case. And I've always had a secret desire for halo to sort of turn into a battlefield style game because I think the universe is expansive enough and interesting enough to support that kind of game.

But as I've seen more video my interest mostly rose based on a mix of Nostalgia of playing older Halo games and just the fact that it honestly sort of looks like an improved version of Halo 3.

[Stoney Mason]

That means "next-to-last"; not sure that's what you meant.

I'm dumb.
 :'(

[Eel O'Brian]

i'd really dig a halo battlefield, now that you mention it

i tend to enjoy all battlefield type games

[Stoney Mason]

i'd really dig a halo battlefield, now that you mention it

i tend to enjoy all battlefield type games

I think you could make a really good battlefield game out of Halo. Hell the game has essentially turned into a br or sniper game anyway as the battle engagement distance keeps getting pushed out. And it already has the vehicles. Just split it off into a different franchise and alternate between that and traditional halo games so you don't alienate the current audience.


 

[Eel O'Brian]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/10/halo-reach-will-outsell-call-of-duty-black-ops-mcgill-says/

[SantaC]

halo fanboys will always continue to buy halo games even if it was just a turd in a box.

[Great Rumbler]

halo fanboys will always continue to buy halo games even if it was just a turd in a box.

It isn't already?

[SantaC]

halo fanboys will always continue to buy halo games even if it was just a turd in a box.

It isn't already?

Well you got me there.

[Stoney Mason]

I like Halo. I think its a fun series. Always have. Halo 3 didn't hook me but overall I really like the series. I like how bungie treats their community. Halo fanboys are very annoying but I think the actual game is good.

[The Fake Shemp]

I thought Halo 3 was a great multiplayer game that had a lot of great features for a console game, but ODST was fucking awful. I'm looking forward to Reach and Black Ops, but everyone knows I'm a Call of Duty junkie. I played Modern Warfare all year, then World at War all year, I play Modern Warfare 2 pretty much daily and I'm sure I'll gobble up Black Ops.

[cool breeze]

ODST didn't have proper multiplayer.  The multiplayer for ODST was Halo 3 + maps thrown onto a DVD.  The only thing that was original was horde firefight and it felt rush.  It would be like releasing a CoD game this year that was the campaign and spec ops.  Considering how popular the Halo games are on live, I'd imagine the lack of any real multiplayer was enough to keep people away from ODST.  I'm someone that likes the campaigns more so I thought ODST was good; the campaign was better than Halo 3 or 2.

Even if you just read the box, Reach is a new full game.  Whether or not ODST damaged whatever credibility the brand had, we'll see.

It is funny how both Halo and Pokemon games are trying to recapture the spirit of the old games.  So far we know the Pokemon Black/White was successful because the highly credible and trustworthy Famitsu gave it a perfect score.

I think everyone is forgetting the real big hit this year: Medal of Honor.  It has the power of Linkin Park and will soar higher than Transformers 2.

[Beezy]

I'm not sure about Black Ops yet, but I'm happy to see that its killstreaks don't seem ass annoying or cheesy as MW2's.

[Eel O'Brian]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/09/10/halo-reach-will-outsell-call-of-duty-black-ops-mcgill-says/

halo is coming off two back to back poorly received titles, CoD is coming off 3 extremely well received titles.

what makes it especially funny is "our game which is available exclusively on our console will DEFINITELY outsell this other game which is available on every electronic device across god's green earth"

[Robo]

 

[Bocsius]

Don't care about Reach, haven't been following it. Will eventually get it, but certainly not day one or month one.

Love Halo, particularly CE. Hated the lack of creativity in the storytelling with 2 and 3. Just plain hated ODST.

Hopefully they can hit the reset button and reveal more of a sinister plot than just "lolz, religious doomsday cult, gon blow up yer galaxy." But I don't have much hope for Bungie's ability on that. Maybe they'll surprise me. Someday.

[Phoenix Dark]

Freedom Fighters was really, really fun

[AdmiralViscen]

There is no way in hell Reach doesn't top ODSTq

[maxy]

We do people get such insane ideas?

It will probably sell more in a day than ODST in lifetime...this is a true Halo title,fully action packed...story is lol,Reach will fall,fight fight fight

[Sho Nuff]

But Reach doesn't have hunky Nathan Fillion

[maxy]

Nathan who?

Anyway,finished it on Legendary and now replaying it in co-op...much more fun as usual,much easier...not sure if people know,but you are not replacing anyone,just adding extra Spartans to the fight

Now something interesting

According to the 2010 International Games Survey by market research firm Newzoo, there are 40.1 million people in the U.S. who play games on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. The total number of gamers in the U.S. on Nintendo DS and DSi consoles was 41 million. (For reference, Sony’s PSP has a mere 18 million players). Basically, you have the same number of people playing games on iOS devices as on Nintendo DS consoles.

http://blogs.forbes.com/oliverchiang/2010/09/10/study-apple-now-has-nearly-as-many-portable-gamers-as-nintendo/

[maxy]

They are Noble 6...you can fully customize them of course

[maxy]

Everybody sees their own Spartan in cutscenes,a nice touch
.
.
.
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From Forbes article

Warman is betting on touch winning the day. “I think even Apple didn’t realize how many parents would be handing their iPhones and iPod touch devices to their kids to play games. The new generation is finding games on them so intuitive that they will have a hard time getting back to gaming on the computer or on the DS. They will only accept a minimal amount of button-pushing.”

gaming had a good run

[iconoclast]

I am looking forward to Reach mostly because the multiplayer looks like it'll be the best in the series since Halo 1. I am SO glad Bungie finally realized they were incapable of recapturing former glory, so they hired a former FASA guy to lead Reach's multiplayer. Shadowrun is the best FPS on consoles since the original Halo, so if they can top that, I am 100% back on board with the Halo franchise.

All of my casual friends are in the same boat too. But then again they realize ODST was a throwaway expansion and that Reach is the next real installment.

[Third]

Nice to see how Wii's sales are plummeting. 

X360 is doing great. MS will murder competition next month with Halo Reach.
Ps3 is doing ok.

The difference in Madden between the X360 and Ps3 has drastically changed since last year, in favor of the Ps3. 

[Great Rumbler]

Nice to see how Wii's sales are plummeting. 

It dropped 12% from last August, when it had the first full month of Wii Sports Resort. Do you know what game came out for the Wii this July/August? Nothing.

[cool breeze]

I just now realized that Reach was coming out next week.  I didn't realize the playstation waggle stuff was next week too.  I thought the only game I'd be getting was Gladiator Begins (not to say I'm getting the move)

[magus]

it's really sad when you think the wii might gets back to the top of the chart when wii party hits

[cool breeze]

Probably.  The people who want Wii Party are the ones who buy video games.  Most people who play games like Metroid on the system pirate it and complain about the lack of support for the system.  In terms of video games, there is Goldeneye, Epic Mickey, Kirby, and Donkey Kong.  You know Goldeneye will be pirated big time because it is trying to appeal to the 'hardcore gamer'.  Kirby and Donkey Kong might be more like Wario Land where they don't do too well.  Epic Mickey might appeal to people who spend money on video games.

[Stoney Mason]

I didn't realize the playstation waggle stuff was next week too.

I wonder if we will get actual numbers on that stuff or have to rely on sony spin. I have a feeling that thing is gonna tank.

[cool breeze]

It's a bit of a mess with how they're releasing everything.

You can get the Move alone
or
with PS3 Sports, and the camera
or
with PS3 Sports, the camera, and a PS3

but you can get PS3 Sports alone for $40 and the camera alone for $30

the entire thing is a mess

[AdmiralViscen]

Why the hell would you want PS3 Sports without the controller??

[Stoney Mason]

I didn't realize the playstation waggle stuff was next week too.

I wonder if we will get actual numbers on that stuff or have to rely on sony spin. I have a feeling that thing is gonna tank.

We should get actual software numbers, right? I mean, most of the software seems to be out right now.

Yeah but I'm more curious about the hardware since that is what counts. I don't expect much of the software to do well. But the way they bundle the hardware skus will confuse the numbers anyway.

[Phoenix Dark]

I didn't realize the playstation waggle stuff was next week too.

I wonder if we will get actual numbers on that stuff or have to rely on sony spin. I have a feeling that thing is gonna tank.

I think it could sell well during the holidays especially if the Wii has shortages, but the cost won't be appealing to most audiences in September/October.

[drew]

hey methodis you lost

how does it feel to be a loser

[Bebpo]

I just now realized that Reach was coming out next week.  I didn't realize the playstation waggle stuff was next week too.  I thought the only game I'd be getting was Gladiator Begins (not to say I'm getting the move)

Yeah, Reach is the 2nd "big" game in a row I've been completely unhyped about (Metroid: Other M, which I still haven't played beyond the tutorial).

It's not like ODST even did anything to hurt the franchise for me.  I thought ODST had a great campaign and that's the only reason I play Halo.  I never touch the multiplayer really.  I think it's just the advertising for Reach has always come across as too "bro" for me.  I always liked Halo because I thought it had a nice mass appeal angle like Mario and Star Wars.  I've only seen the initial Reach trailers but they were like "YO, GRAB YOUR BROS AND GO SHOOT SOME COVENANT FUCKERS!!!" while parading around with suits with skull emblems and shit.  It was like Hillbilly Halo, which just turned turned me off.

Still getting it because it's not going to drop below $40 for a long while, so might as well get it day 1 (same reason I bought Other M day 1), but couldn't care less about playing it.  Will do the first chapter or two on tuesday and see if it clicks.

[demi]

Would you prefer it if it had  a song from a famous pop star, and they were a merry band of warriors off to save the world?

[Stoney Mason]

Would you prefer it if it had  a song from a famous pop star, and they were a merry band of warriors off to save the world?

I loled.