Monthly Visitor - NPD Game Sales for April

[Queasy]

Gamasutra - I think we can legitimately say that the lack of games for the month of April hurt sales because there literally wasn't much if anything released. It was worse than March.

Guitar Hero Aerosmith showing up at #9 is kind of funny though. That's because it was $9.99 at Gamestop.

Hardware

DS: 1.04 million
Wii: 340,000
Xbox 360: 175,000
PS2: 172,000
PS3: 127,000
PSP: 116,000

Software

1. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board, Nintendo, 471,000 (Wii)
2. Pokemon Platinum, Nintendo, 433,000 (DS)
3. Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel, Nintendo, 210,000 (Wii)
4. Wii Play w/ Remote, Nintendo, 170,000 (Wii)
5. The Godfather II, EA, 155,000 (Xbox 360)
6. Resident Evil 5, Capcom, 122,000 (Xbox 360)
7. New Super Mario Bros. , Nintendo, 119,000 (DS)
8. Mario Kart DS, Nintendo, 112,000 (DS)
9. Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Activision, 110,000 (Xbox 360)
10. The Godfather II, EA, 91,000 (PlayStation 3)

 

[Sheep]

Looks like the recession finally caught up with the video game consoles.

Sony will give their typical "PlayStation family" spin, Nintendo will tout the DS, and I have no clue how Microsoft will spin this.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Guitar Hero Aerosmith showing up at #9 is kind of funny though. That's because it was $9.99 at Gamestop.

Best Buy has it for the same price right now (at least they had it earlier this week) in case anyone missed out on that.

Edit: Damn, PS2 almost beat Xbox 360.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: mugs
Edit: Damn, PS2 almost beat Xbox 360.

price drop to $99.

April really was a crappy month for games. You had GTA: Chinatown Wars, Riddick, Godfather II, Ninja Blade, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Velvet Assassin (edit: actually these two may not have even made it into April) at the end of the month. None of those games made it to the top 10....

Compare that to last April when GTAIV, SSBB, and Mario Kart Wii was released.

 

[chuckywang]

How is New Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart DS still selling so well? Those games are 3 years old. Is it because of the DSi?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: chuckywang
How is New Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart DS still selling so well? Those games are 3 years old. Is it because of the DSi?

Probably. The DSi sold like 850k out of the total 1 million DSs sold/

 

[Kabob]

I'm still flabberghasted by how well the DS and games sell. Admittedly I've never played one but good grief! Even with the new DSi that's a huge lead over their nearest competition...which is also Nintendo made.

 

[Genx87]

Nintendo is setting themselves up for a huge letdown next generation

And the 9 year old PS2 outselling PS3? I thought they ceased making that platform?

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Genx87
And the 9 year old PS2 outselling PS3? I thought they ceased making that platform?

Nope. They dropped the price of the PS2 to $99.99 in April.

 

[Ackmed]

I dont know why people think this is due to a "recession". It happens every year, about this time. This isnt a time for game releases, obviously sales will be down. Its common sense.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: chuckywang
How is New Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart DS still selling so well? Those games are 3 years old. Is it because of the DSi?

Theyre excellent games with wide appeal, from familiar franchises with a history of quality games, containing familiar characters associated with quality games, developed by a familiar company with a history of releasing polished, quality games in each franchise every few years.

The only other company with that kind of record is blizzard, and their games tend to stick around on the charts for years as well.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Queasy
Guitar Hero Aerosmith showing up at #9 is kind of funny though. That's because it was $9.99 at Gamestop.

Best Buy has it for the same price right now (at least they had it earlier this week) in case anyone missed out on that.

Edit: Damn, PS2 almost beat Xbox 360.

I thought NPD measured quantity shipped to retailers, so if GH aerosmith went on firesale, shouldnt it not be represented, because no way in hell theyre reordering more of something that didnt sell?

 

[Sheep]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
I dont know why people think this is due to a "recession". It happens every year, about this time. This isnt a time for game releases, obviously sales will be down. Its common sense.

April 2009 numbers reposted for an easier comparison:

DS: 1.04 million
Wii: 340,000
Xbox 360: 175,000
PS2: 172,000
PS3: 127,000
PSP: 116,000

April 2008 numbers:

DS 414.8K
Wii 714.2K
Xbox 360 188.0K
PS2 124.4K
PS3 187.1K
PSP 192.7K

While the DS is going strong on the release of the DSi and the PS2 is coasting along on its price drop, every other system is down pretty sharply from last year's numbers.

 

[BenSkywalker]

I thought NPD measured quantity shipped to retailers

Nope, they never have either. They measure the sales that are given to them by a sampling of certain retailers. Gamestop is one of the chains that does report to NPD, WalMart does not. NPD is a lot like poll numbers, not going to be supremely accurate, but gives you a good general idea.

The only other company with that kind of record is blizzard, and their games tend to stick around on the charts for years as well.

That is a staggering stretch to say the least. Blizzard has released all of 5 games that were better then mediocre. They have horrific support at best, spit on their customers on a regular basis and are given their clout by their, without a doubt, poorest game's mass market success which has taken a sharp nose dive in quality and is starting to bleed subscriptions at a faster rate then any MMO in history. Blizzard is going to hell to put it nicely.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker


That is a staggering stretch to say the least. Blizzard has released all of 5 games that were better then mediocre. They have horrific support at best, spit on their customers on a regular basis and are given their clout by their, without a doubt, poorest game's mass market success which has taken a sharp nose dive in quality and is starting to bleed subscriptions at a faster rate then any MMO in history. Blizzard is going to hell to put it nicely.

LOL no.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

I thought NPD measured quantity shipped to retailers

Nope, they never have either. They measure the sales that are given to them by a sampling of certain retailers. Gamestop is one of the chains that does report to NPD, WalMart does not. NPD is a lot like poll numbers, not going to be supremely accurate, but gives you a good general idea.

The only other company with that kind of record is blizzard, and their games tend to stick around on the charts for years as well.

That is a staggering stretch to say the least. Blizzard has released all of 5 games that were better then mediocre. They have horrific support at best, spit on their customers on a regular basis and are given their clout by their, without a doubt, poorest game's mass market success which has taken a sharp nose dive in quality and is starting to bleed subscriptions at a faster rate then any MMO in history. Blizzard is going to hell to put it nicely.

Sounds like you have a personal problem.

 

[BenSkywalker]

LOL no.

Sounds like you have a personal problem.

Warcraft 3 came out in 2002, that was the last better then mediocre product Blizzard released. If you would all like to get into WoW, I have a current account, one toon through Ulduar. Blizzard was a premier developer back in the day, today they demonstrate far more in common with AOL- milk as much money as possible, do as little as possible and screw the customer in every way possible- who cares about gameplay. If you have reasoned discussions to the contrary I'd love to hear them, but if Blizzard continues with the part they have taken for the last several years the best that can be said of them is they make big time sinks. Two year in the making expansion pack and a whopping two whole new raid bosses, give me a break. Blizzard is a shell compared to what it once was.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

LOL no.

Sounds like you have a personal problem.

Warcraft 3 came out in 2002, that was the last better then mediocre product Blizzard released. If you would all like to get into WoW, I have a current account, one toon through Ulduar. Blizzard was a premier developer back in the day, today they demonstrate far more in common with AOL- milk as much money as possible, do as little as possible and screw the customer in every way possible- who cares about gameplay. If you have reasoned discussions to the contrary I'd love to hear them, but if Blizzard continues with the part they have taken for the last several years the best that can be said of them is they make big time sinks. Two year in the making expansion pack and a whopping two whole new raid bosses, give me a break. Blizzard is a shell compared to what it once was.

Millions of people disagree with you on WoW. So do most critics. I thought it was pretty fun for a time as well.

Not to mention blizzcon tickets apparently sold out in seconds.

Although you're talking as if you've got the definitive stance on this issue, you're most certainly in the minority.

 

[BenSkywalker]

Millions of people disagree with you on WoW. So do most critics.

They are bleeding customers faster then any MMO in history by a long shot atm, subs are down 1.5Million in the last quarter, and it seems they are trying to accelerate it. As far as critics go, the only thing I have seen them say positive about WoW in a long time is that the new leveling content is better then their previous rather sad efforts, that doesn't take much.

I thought it was pretty fun for a time as well.

So good you won't even play it anymore. Really, is there anything I could say that is more demonstrative that you won't play anything Blizz has released in the last seven years anymore? Is there really a more damning comment that could be said?

Although you're talking as if you've got the definitive stance on this issue, you're most certainly in the minority.

Over 5 billion people don't play WoW, I wouldn't say I'm in the minority. This comment does make it very clear that you haven't played WoW in quite a while though, simply talk to people still playing the game, Blizzard has gone to hell. It is a timesink for most people at this point, nothing more. Someone bought me game time so I still play, but to insinuate WoW is better then mediocre at this point demonstrates you haven't played in a while. Blizzard isn't top tier or even good at this point- they focus their efforst on mini games with broken mechanics that Yahoo games would be embarassed to put on their site.

 

[abaez]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker

Millions of people disagree with you on WoW. So do most critics.

They are bleeding customers faster then any MMO in history by a long shot atm, subs are down 1.5Million in the last quarter, and it seems they are trying to accelerate it. As far as critics go, the only thing I have seen them say positive about WoW in a long time is that the new leveling content is better then their previous rather sad efforts, that doesn't take much.

You're delusional. Here are the reviews for Wrath: http://www.gamerankings.com/pc...e-lich-king/index.html

I don't see any review lower than 90% there.

And ask ANY company if they'd like more than a million subscribers. 1.5 million when there are 5 million people left playing is nothing. It's also been out for years, so of course the game will eventually decline and die out.

Although you're talking as if you've got the definitive stance on this issue, you're most certainly in the minority.

Over 5 billion people don't play WoW, I wouldn't say I'm in the minority. This comment does make it very clear that you haven't played WoW in quite a while though, simply talk to people still playing the game, Blizzard has gone to hell. It is a timesink for most people at this point, nothing more. Someone bought me game time so I still play, but to insinuate WoW is better then mediocre at this point demonstrates you haven't played in a while. Blizzard isn't top tier or even good at this point- they focus their efforst on mini games with broken mechanics that Yahoo games would be embarassed to put on their site.

I have to agree that the game declined and I played for three years (but no longer play). Sure the game is probably dying out, but WoW did so many things right (just look at the UI's of all mmo's coming out nowadays). To deny it's influence on the MMO genre would just be silly.

 

[mugs]

One mention of Blizzard and we have a guy who never posts in Console Gaming debating PC games. :laugh: Do they have some kind of Bat-signal for this?

 

[magomago]

I kind of agree with Skywalker. If anyone follows closely what happens with WOW patches its amazing what is going on. Now I thought WOTLK is a good expansion (lol...I went from 70-74 soley through borean tundra and running uk/vh/nexus/azol nerub, etc. etc.) but I'm pretty sure that things are not radically differnet. The quests are definitely more varied and they try to get you to do several things. They've diversified dailies so healers don't necessarily have to kill shit and spend 100 gold respecinng to shadow. Of course they introduced dual specs which totally fixed the problem in my opinion (In two weeks or so I probably switched specs 40 times). However, its still the same old shit. I'm interested because I still haven't hit 80, play casually and have fun healing raids, and am interested in getting to tank (although I realllly need to work on that pally). But I cannot understate how many guys I come across that are levelling their 5th+ 80; I ask them why and half the time it is a 'goal to get a level 80 of each class [which also means constantly pursuing new gear...pvp or pve or both ]), and the other half of the time it is 'I'm bored...just grinding for the sake of grinding'.
But the BIG problem is arena - it messes up a lot of the game mechanics. Arena for a long time was just 'buff the shit out of one class while nerfing the others'. Classes essentially took turns being over powered. It still isn't fixed imo - look at all the massive reworking DKs went through even though Blizzard had plenty of time between expansions to decide how to define this class. Anytime any non-dk/pally gets competitive in arena, 1/3rd of the base (cause that is how many pallys/dks there are lol) bitches and we see things like the priest nerf after 2 weeks of patch time (I don't play arena so I don't bother..) because Blizzard does not want to screw over the base that provides the bulk of $$$$$. Of course sometimes they try to balance PVP and end up screwing up PVE (*cough* paladin healing *cough*)
I'll probably pick up it up later because I'm really interested in exploring the other lands in the games....but Skywalker has a pointy y0


to stay on topic...dayum ps3 sales x_x I want one, but not if it won't get games

 

[imported_Imp]

I haven't bought anything since Empires: Total War on PC. Nothing for my PS3 since November of last year. Nothing really interesting me, and the ones that do are $70, so screw that, wait for a price drop.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
They are bleeding customers faster then any MMO in history by a long shot atm, subs are down 1.5Million in the last quarter, and it seems they are trying to accelerate it. As far as critics go, the only thing I have seen them say positive about WoW in a long time is that the new leveling content is better then their previous rather sad efforts, that doesn't take much.

And they've also had more subs than any other MMO in history. No game lasts forever.

So good you won't even play it anymore. Really, is there anything I could say that is more demonstrative that you won't play anything Blizz has released in the last seven years anymore? Is there really a more damning comment that could be said?

I have a shelf full of games that I dont play anymore. Just like every other game, I had my fun with it, and I moved on. I played WoW for months, more than practically any other game I've ever owned. What kind of ridiculous perspective is this anyway, that a company is terrible because they release a game that doesnt become the one and only game you ever play? It's one game among thousands.

Over 5 billion people don't play WoW, I wouldn't say I'm in the minority.

Thats absurd, and you know it.

This comment does make it very clear that you haven't played WoW in quite a while though, simply talk to people still playing the game, Blizzard has gone to hell. It is a timesink for most people at this point, nothing more. Someone bought me game time so I still play, but to insinuate WoW is better then mediocre at this point demonstrates you haven't played in a while. Blizzard isn't top tier or even good at this point- they focus their efforst on mini games with broken mechanics that Yahoo games would be embarassed to put on their site.

I think it's time you got another game.

Remember, blizzard makes more than just WoW. SC2 and Diablo 3 are on the horizon, and they look great. Thats the problem with blizzard - they take so damn long to make games, but when they come out, it's magic.

 

[BenSkywalker]

You're delusional.

I have to agree that the game declined and I played for three years (but no longer play).

Maybe you'd like to debate yourself on this one?

And they've also had more subs than any other MMO in history. No game lasts forever.

They just launched their much hyped expansion and are bleeding subscriptions faster then any company has managed to in history. No MMO has lost customers as fast as WoW is losing them right now- and they don't even have any new competition in this timeframe. This isn't a better/newer MMO hitting the market, this is Blizzard making their game suck so much people don't want to play anymore. I find it interesting that the people who still do play all seem to agree, only those that don't are on the other side

What kind of ridiculous perspective is this anyway, that a company is terrible because they release a game that doesnt become the one and only game you ever play?

Huh? I have purchased every console released this generation, have a decent sized library built up on top of keeping up with PC releases, all while I was an active WoW subscriber. Never have I insinuated in any way whatsoever that it should be the only game people play, just pointing out that it is a rather extremely poor one for what it is.

Thats absurd, and you know it.

What I know is absurd is a bunch of people that haven't touched anything Blizzard has done for a long time trying to defend them to people who are still Blizzard customers and still playing their latest. I haven't argued that Blizzard didn't used to be great, but they certainly have been sucking for quite a while. Of course, you will argue the point- but not seriously enough to actually pay for their current products.

Remember, blizzard makes more than just WoW. SC2 and Diablo 3 are on the horizon, and they look great.

Blizzard can make almost anything look great, they have always had a good PR department. I assume they gave them all huge raises and fired everyone in their company that knew how to make a decent game based on what they have been pushing out lately though. Seriously, Blizzard is now in the business of making horrificly bad mini games. I have been seriously tempted to buy them a copy of Mario Party and mail it to their corporate HQ so maybe they could at least copy someone who had a clue on how to do it decently, not that these arcade style mini games have any place or make any sense in a MMO, but at least good ones would be bearable while what Blizz is currently doing certainly isn't. I would like to critique them more seriously then that, but alas, that is about all they have put any effort into for some time. You may have high hopes for SC2 and D3, hell maybe they took everyone who knew anything about making games off of WoW and put them on to those, but as a paying Blizzard customer those titles both went from must have to absolutely zero interest. Blizzard has certainly proven as of late that they belong with Activision.