January NPD thread of year of PS3 (take 5) starts slowly

[Bocsius]

Liberally grabbed from that other board over on a different internet.

Software (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)
01. Call of Duty: Black Ops* (360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard (750K) (wonders if is console only)
02. Just Dance 2 (WII) Ubisoft
03. Dead Space 2* (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts (452K) (jaffray says 441K? could be 441 on consoles, 11 on PC? don't know)
04. Little Big Planet 2* (PS3) Sony (353K)
05. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (WII, 360, PS3) Majesco (>300K)
06. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC) Take 2 Interactive
07. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood* (360, PS3) Ubisoft
08. Dance Central (360) MTV Games
09. Michael Jackson The Experience* (WII, DS, PSP) Ubisoft
10. DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You* (PS3, PC) Sony  (195K)

Covers 1/2/11 through 1/29/2011

Numbers:

Dead Space 2 -- 452K
Little Big Planet 2 -- 353K
DC Universe Online -- 195K


Xbox 360 - 381K (+15% YOY)
Wii - 319K (-32%)
PS3 - 267K (-3%)

New information trickling out from NPD's monthly game industry report shows sales of both Wii and PS3 hardware declining in January, with the month's top-selling Call of Duty: Black Ops reaching 750,000 sales for the month.

Wedbush Morgan Analyst Michael Pachter told Computer and Video Games that NPD reported 319,000 Wii units sold in January, down 31 percent from the same month in 2010. The PS3 reportedly sold 267,000 units in the month, down 3 percent year-over-year.

Yesterday, Microsoft revealed its Xbox 360 was the only home console to see a year-over-year hardware sales increase in January, with 381,000 units sold representing a 14.4 percent increase over January 2010.

Overall, 10 percent fewer home consoles were sold in January 2011 than the year before, though the distribution of those sales means revenue from hardware sales was only down 4 percent from 2010.

Meanwhile, research notes from Wedbush and Piper Jaffray confirm sales of 750,000 units for January's top-selling Call of Duty: Black Ops, besting last January's top seller, New Super Mario Bros. Wii by roughly 100,000 units

Third-selling Dead Space 2 sold 441,000 units, according to Jaffray, while fifth-selling Zumba Fitness sold "over 300,000" units according to Wedbush.

Outside of the top 10, Jaffray said THQ's uDraw Studio and tablet bundle sold only 26,000 units for the month, this after shipping 1.2 million units to retailers in the last two months of 2010.

Wedbush reports 22 games sold over 100,000 new retail units for the month, beating 18 such titles last January. Despite this increase, overall software revenues for the month were down five percent from 2010

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/33127/Wii_PS3_Sales_Fall_Black_Ops_Sells_750000_In_January.php

Under one-fifth of PS3 sales included bundles with Sony’s Move controller, suggesting another modest month (we have chosen not to subscribe to peripheral data). Just under three-fifths of Xbox 360 sales included bundles with Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, as Xbox 360 Kinect console bundles again outsold PS3 Move console bundles by almost 5:1. We note that the top selling Kinect software titles easily outsold their Move counterparts.

Combined next generation home console (PS3, 360, Wii) hardware unit sales were down 10% year-over-year, and handheld hardware unit sales were down 29%, driving overall hardware unit sales down 17% for the month. There were 319,000 Wiis sold (down 31% y-o-y) vs. our 320,000 estimate, 381,000 Xbox 360s sold (up 15% y-o-y) compared to our 380,000 estimate, and 267,000 PS3s sold (down 3% y-o-y) vs. our 240,000 estimate.

Current generation (PS3, Wii, 360, PSP, DS) software sales were $572 million, $52 million above our estimate, while legacy software sales were $4 million, $6 million below our estimate. Wii software sales were $179 million (down 20% y-o-y), Xbox 360 sales were $170 million (up 8%), and PS3 sales were $141 million (up 24%). DS software sales were $72 million (down 13%), while PSP software sales were $10 million (down 37%). The increases in sales for the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms have become the norm, and declines for the other consoles have also become the norm. Over the next year, we expect Wii and DS software sales to continue the negative trend, but anticipate strong sales for Nintendo’s 3DS that should spur overall handheld software sales back into positive territory. We expect PS3 software sales to spike when several high profile releases launch in the coming months, and believe that overall PS3 software sales would benefit immensely from a hardware price cut, expected in June.

[Trent Dole]

[Beezy]

*right click, save image as*

[Great Rumbler]

Nice to see DC Universe Online make the list.

[The Sceneman]

good to see Zumba doing so well

[MyNameIsMethodis]

PS3 software outselling 360 software

[Bocsius]

Freshly grabbed dater

Dead Space 2 -- 452K
Little Big Planet 2 -- 353K
DC Universe Online -- 195K

[maxy]

oh some numbers

more please

[pilonv1]

january is such a useless month. who cares

[The Sceneman]

they are better because dancing skill transfers to real life situations, as opposed to fiddling around with plastic instruments

[pilonv1]

but you also have the fad within a fad of Zumba

[Bocsius]

From Gamasutra

The NPD Group has announced its tracking results for new U.S. retail video game sales in January, showing overall revenues for the industry dropping 5 percent compared to the same month last year.

New retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories totaled $1.16 billion for the month. With PC sales excluded, the industry drew a total of $1.14 billion in revenue, down 4 percent from the year before.

Over half of that total came from software sales of $576 million, down 5 percent from January 2009. Overall video game hardware sales of $324 million were off 8 percent from the previous January.

Video game accessories were the only subsegment to see year-over-year revenue growth, increasing 6 percent to $235.1 million for the month. In previous months this sector of the industry has been driven by strong interest in the PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect camera-based controllers.

NPD no longer provides specific breakdowns for hardware or software or accessory unit sales to the press.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/33046/NPD_Results_January_2011_Industry_Down_5_As_Black_Ops_Maintains_Sales_Lead.php

[The Sceneman]

but you also have the fad within a fad of Zumba

21st century gaming baybee. It's all meta

[pilonv1]

Over half of that total came from software sales of $576 million, down 5 percent from January 2009. Overall video game hardware sales of $324 million were off 8 percent from the previous January.

Everyone goes on about rah rah digital sales when software isn't declining as much as hardware is. People are just moving to other devices for gaming now.

[Bocsius]

Riding the momentum of its biggest year ever, Xbox 360 continued to drive strong console and software sales in the first month of the new year. Sustained consumer demand for Kinect helped propel Xbox 360 as the top selling console in January.

January NPD highlights include:
· Xbox 360 sold 381,000 units in January, up 48,000 units year-over-year. (Source: NPD Group, January 2011)

· Xbox 360 is the only console platform to show year-over-year growth in January at 15 percent. (Source: NPD Group, January 2011)

· Total retail spend on Xbox 360 topped $551 million, making it the top selling console platform for the 10th month in a row. (Source: NPD Group, January 2011)

· During the month of January, four of the top ten console game titles were for Xbox 360 including: “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” “Dead Space 2,”“Dance Central,” and “Kinect Sports.” (Source: NPD Group, January 2011)

Some lingering supply constraints coupled with high consumer demand led to continued pockets of shortages at retail. Microsoft anticipates this trend to improve through February, but will continue to work with retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments

[Stoney Mason]

Dead Space 2

I think it had a decent sell in to retailers but its tough to perform big numbers in Jan unless you're a really big game. For the quality level though yeah its a bit ashame it didn't do better although its a clear improvement from the first sales wise.

I recommended it to nearly everybody I game with but for some reason none of them were interested. I doubt I will play a better sp game in the first half of the year outside of maybe Dragon Age.   

They should have made Mirrors Edge 2, instead of Dead Space 2.

So they could sell a fraction of that?

[pilonv1]

all those angry mothers stopped their 15 year olds from buying it

[Bebpo]

Littlebigplanet 2 did pretty good for a Sony game.  Should at least sell a million over time and pack-ins.

I'm happy  

[Bebpo]

Dead Space 2 isn't as bad as you guys are making it out to be.  It'll do a million+

[Stoney Mason]

Well for starters I love Mirrors Edge

Dead Space is so unappealing somehow

Mirror's Edge is certainly a very popular forum game (I don't really care for it) but that game has very little mass appeal. I doubt they will bring that back this gen if indeed they ever do.

[Bocsius]

What type of game is the Dead Space anyway?

[ManaByte]

Well for starters I love Mirrors Edge

Dead Space is so unappealing somehow

Mirror's Edge is certainly a very popular forum game (I don't really care for it) but that game has very little mass appeal. I doubt they will bring that back this gen if indeed they ever do.

DICE showed a Mirror's Edge 2 concept to EA. EA rejected it and told them to focus on Battlefield.

[ManaByte]

What type of game is the Dead Space anyway?

The best Alien game ever made.

[The Sceneman]

What type of game is the Dead Space anyway?

third person shooter/horror. Plays similar to Resident Evil 4/5 if you've played those.

[Stoney Mason]

What type of game is the Dead Space anyway?

The best Alien game ever made.

Pretty much.


Wish they would go ahead and just put in the motion tracker thingy just to complete the effect.


[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

 

[Mr. Gundam]

The best Alien game ever made.

yeah, DS1 was more like Alien and DS2 is more like Aliens and i would JIMP if they were given an Alien franchise title to work on.

YES YES YES.

[Bocsius]

Sounds like it.

[Eel O'Brian]

i enjoyed the tension more in the first dead space, and the story a lot more (the more i learn about the "big picture" or whatever the stupider it sounds), but once i let that go i enjoyed dead space 2 for what it really is, a set piece shooter with some great eye candy

probably didn't help that i started ds2 immediately after i'd finished ds1

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i hope they kill isaac out of the blue at some point in ds3 and have you play as someone else from then on

[close]

[Bocsius]

Some Sony PR

http://www.industrygamers.com/news/sony-we-have-industrys-strongest-content-lineup/

"January’s NPD numbers, reflecting a 25% increase in PS3 software sales, demonstrate continued momentum for the PlayStation ecosystem. As the only system with both stereoscopic 3D and precision motion controlled gaming, PlayStation is delivering a new era of immersive entertainment fueled by the industry’s strongest content lineup. Next week, with the arrival of one of the most anticipated titles of the year, Killzone 3, consumers’ expectations for exhilarating 3D graphics and fast-paced PlayStation Move action will be further elevated in living rooms around the world," said Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications at SCEA.

No numbers because of, well, pride, I guess.

I didn't realize Killzone 3 had been announced. Oh well. I suppose it will be "big."

[The Sceneman]

KZ3 wont break 300k in its first month and won't chart in the second

[Stoney Mason]

Mirror's Edge would have been cool as a 2 hour downloadable game, not the bloated mess it turned out to be.

I couldn't agree more.

[The Sceneman]

same here. When I first started it I was blown away by the presentation and sound design. Then you have to go through the same square levels fighting the same 3 enemies for the next 8 hours

edit: damn you Stoney  I'm talking about Dead Space btw. Mirror'e Edge is a masterpiece

[Stoney Mason]

same here. When I first started it I was blown away by the presentation and sound design. Then you have to go through the same square levels fighting the same 3 enemies for the next 8 hours

edit: damn you Stoney  I'm talking about Dead Space btw. Mirror'e Edge is a masterpiece

Gotcha bitch!  

Hey people have different taste. Dead Space 1 and 2 are two of the best games of this gen for me. No matter how strongly I feel about that its not like I can convince somebody else how awesome those two games are and vice versa they won't be able to convince me to like a game that I didn't like. It's all opinions.

[The Sceneman]

*high five for being reasonable*

[Eel O'Brian]

they could have cut out two hours from the first one and made it a better game, that's for sure

second game kind of has the same problem - they just throw waves of legmonsters at you for 10 hours and desensitize you to any of the horror elements (but at least the locations are varied)

i played the first game with my plasma cutter drawn the whole time and creeping around corners, whereas i just ran straight towards the body part army in this one firing the whole time

with the exception of the first ten minutes

spoiler (click to show/hide)

neat set piece where you're running around defenseless trapped in a straight jacket during the initial outbreak

[close]

and a later level

spoiler (click to show/hide)

where - surprise! - you're back on the ship from ds1

[close]

i didn't find this one the least bit scary

[pilonv1]

DCU's numbers don't bode well for its future.

I would say "the PC sales may be ok" but then the PC version was never going to do well.

[archie4208]

At least DCUO can fall back on the F2P model in 9 months.

[EmCeeGrammar]

The sony fans didn't have stupid high expectations for LBP2 this time around did they?  I was reminiscing about how the internet was proclaiming the first as the second coming of christ.

Where the hell are the hardware numbers for nintendo, I'm so unsatisfied.

[Sho Nuff]

Damn right there's not gonna be a Mirror's Edge 2, they never paid me for the first one (that game is the story of my life)

[maxy]

still no numbers,what a shitty NPD

Sony PR didn't even mention LBP2,lol

[Shaka Khan]

Dead Space 2 hit a little softer than I expected.

How is it tracking compared to the first? I can't remember anything about DS1's numbers other than hitting A LOT softer than everyone expected.

I hope it does, even though I think it packs a softer punch compared to the first, I still think it is by far the better game.

[The Sceneman]

The first game wiped a lot of haters' buttcracks sales wise, as far as new IPs go it was a smash hit

[maxy]

Dead Space 2 hit a little softer than I expected.

How is it tracking compared to the first? I can't remember anything about DS1's numbers other than hitting A LOT softer than everyone expected.

I hope it does, even though I think it packs a softer punch compared to the first, I still think it is by far the better game.

From EA

Speaking at an investor call today, EA chief operating office John Schappert boasted that the sequel, released last week, "is approaching two million units sold in – double the sell through of the original Dead Space."

DS is 2 million shipped i believe

[maxy]

I expect you will see the PS3 and Wii hardware figures today. (Not from me.)

npd

[tiesto]

Mirror's Edge 1 was an amazing proof of concept, burdened with a few problems (like an unnecessary storyline and frustrating combat). A sequel that fixes the flaws would be legendary.

[Great Rumbler]

Mirror's Edge 1 was an amazing proof of concept, burdened with a few problems (like an unnecessary storyline and frustrating combat). A sequel that fixes the flaws would be legendary.

The only problem I really had with the storyline in Mirrors Edge were the awful Esurance flash cutscenes, the "in-game" cutscenes were just fine.

[Great Rumbler]

The logical place for a game like ME to go would be to open world, which I REALLLLLLY don't want.

A minor degree of open-world could be pretty cool, as in each level has multiple paths that can be taken.

[Great Rumbler]

It already did that.

In a very, very restricted way, perhaps.

[Smooth Groove]

"January's NPD numbers, reflecting a 25 percent increase in PS3 software sales, demonstrate continued momentum for the PlayStation ecosystem," said Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications at SCEA, according to IndustryGamers.

"As the only system with both stereoscopic 3D and precision motion controlled gaming, PlayStation is delivering a new era of immersive entertainment fuelled by the industry's strongest content lineup."

He added: "Next week, with the arrival of one of the most anticipated titles of the year, Killzone 3, consumers' expectations for exhilarating 3D graphics and fast-paced PlayStation Move action will be further elevated in living rooms around the world."

Not just a family but an ecosystem

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

So in other words, Dead Space 2 is going to drop to $19.99 by this summer just like the first one. 

I guess I should've waited.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Oh yeah, Move.  Again outsold 5:1 by Kinect.

That ecosystem of theirs is getting kind of rank.

[Shaka Khan]

Ecosystem

[maxy]

Pachter 

ecosystem>family

Killzone 3 ad
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]


some numbers are popping out

Black ops: 750,000
Zumba: 300,000
Just Dance: 500,000

[Brehvolution]

3cosystem

Fixed and a missed opportunity for Sony.

[maxy]

Current generation (PS3, Wii, 360, PSP, DS) software sales were $572 million, $52 million above our estimate, while legacy software sales were $4 million, $6 million below our estimate. Wii software sales were $179 million (down 20% y-o-y), Xbox 360 sales were $170 million (up 8%), and PS3 sales were $141 million (up 24%). DS software sales were $72 million (down 13%), while PSP software sales were $10 million (down 37%). The increases in sales for the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms have become the norm, and declines for the other consoles have also become the norm. Over the next year, we expect Wii and DS software sales to continue the negative trend, but anticipate strong sales for Nintendo’s 3DS that should spur overall handheld software sales back into positive territory. We expect PS3 software sales to spike when several high profile releases launch in the coming months, and believe that overall PS3 software sales would benefit immensely from a hardware price cut, expected in June.

PSP software=$10 million

Western devs must be like...PSP2?errrrrrr,hmmm,cough cough

[maxy]

new data,thanks to Mr. RSTEIN from gaf

From Wedbush

There were 22 games that sold over 100,000 units in January, vs. our estimate of 16 games and 18 last year.

Call of Duty: Black Ops sold half of our estimate of 1.5 million units
Call of Duty: Black Ops = 0.5 x 1.5 = 750,000

Guitar Hero (and other Hero music games) sales were down 56% from last year.

Rock Band sales were down 80% to $2 million.

Zumba Fitness over 300,000 units.

Donkey Kong Country Returns roughly one-third of our estimate of 500,000 units
Donkey Kong Country Returns = 0.33 x 500,000 = 165,000
SORRY GAF EARLIER I READ THIS AS TWO-THIRDS

uDraw sold well below estimate of 300,000 units

Just Dance 2 sold over half of our estimate of 1 million units.
Just Dance 2 = 500,000 (although we don't know what "over half" means. Unsure about this one?

Piper Jaffray

Call of Duty: Black Ops sold 750k units and held the #1 position for the month

Dead Space 2 = 441k units (different than the number in the OP)

uDraw Studio & Tablet = 26k

NBA 2K11 = 261k units

Red Dead Redemption = 94k


We believe there is a 50/50 chance that GTA V will make it into the FY12 period

[MyNameIsMethodis]

that makes no sense, if anything the PS3 would be a cloud over a pond

[Stoney Mason]

Rock Band sales were down 80% to $2 million

 


I hate to be mean but all the nerd gamer hype behind 3 is kinda laughable in retrospect. Nobody even talks about that title anymore.

Edit: Also kinda shows how hypocritical the media is. That game had a crazy high metacritic score but I notice very few media outlets gave it nominations for GOTY because the genre is dying. Which kinda makes no sense as the two have no correlation to each otheer.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Killzone 3 ad
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

That Killzone 3 ad is shit.  I don't mind Kevin Butler but for a game like Killzone 3, Sony really needs to take a page out of MS/Bungie's book and learn how to make a kick ass commercial.

Compare that to this -

[youtube=560,345]JMYrKTU8Hmc[/youtube]

THAT'S how you do it.

[Smooth Groove]

[youtube=560,345]EjDuHnwrvw0[/youtube]