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NPD Sales Results for March 2016

hawk2025

Member
Based on what? The Division is #46 & #56 on Amazon April list. R&C is #2, has Amazon been wrong so much before? I guess it is three platforms to one, but the Division has no legs, no good word of mouth.

Yes it has, especially with larger games.

Specific niches tend to do much better at Amazon.
 

Jigorath

Banned
Informative stuff Square2015

I'm amazed that Twisted Metal 2 sold over 1.5m copies in the US. That franchise used to be really popular.
 

Welfare

Member
'Bout to drop this weekly average comparison to April from March like it's fire. Proof reading now.

I'm not "using it", I'm suggesting the Division has no legs and this is evidence.

Just like Hardline PS4 was below FF Typo and Bloodborne, or that the MCC was ahead of both CoD AW skus.
 

Welfare

Member
Hey, it’s that time of the month again! This wall of numbers will be comparing the weekly average of March and April. This is when it is beneficial to compare weekly averages and not just simple month to month, because March is a 5 week month while April is only 4. I’ve also taken a bit of time to gather software sales and potential hardware deals to give a bigger scope of how and why the drop to April might be severe or maybe even less so.

Code:
2010

Xbox 360 March: 338K / 5 = 67,600
Xbox 360 April: 185K / 4 = 46,250

Weekly average down 32%

PS3 March: 314K / 5 = 62,800
PS3 April: 181K / 4 = 45,250

Weekly average down 28%

Wii March: 558K / 5 = 111,600
Wii April: 277K / 4 = 69,250

Weekly average down 38%

Code:
Notable Releases in April

[u]Xbox 360[/u]
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction [486,100]
Super Street Fighter IV [108,000]

[u]PS3[/u]
Super Street Fighter IV [143,000]

[u]Wii[/u]
Monster Hunter Tri [126,000]

Code:
2011

Xbox 360 March: 433K / 5 = 86,600
Xbox 360 April: 297K / 4 = 74,250

Weekly average down 16%

PS3 March: 365K / 5 = 73,000
PS3 April: 204K / 4 = 51,000

Weekly average down 30%

Wii March: 290K / 5 = 58,000
Wii April: 172K / 4 = 43,000

Weekly average down 26%

Code:
Notable Releases in April

[u]Xbox 360[/u]
Mortal Kombat 
Portal 2
Michael Jackson: The Experience

[u]PS3[/u]
SOCOM 4
Mortal Kombat
Portal 2
Michael Jackson: The Experience

[u]Wii[/u]
Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort + Wii Remote Plus Black model bundle $169


Code:
2012

Xbox 360 March: 371K / 5 = 74,200
Xbox 360 April: 236K / 4 = 59,000

Weekly average down 20%

PS3 March: 337K / 5 = 67,400
PS3 April: 172K / 4 = 43,000

Weekly average down 36%

Wii March: 175K / 5 = 35,000
Wii April: 91K / 4 = 22,750

Weekly average down 35%

Code:
Notable Releases in April

[u]Xbox 360[/u]
Kinect Star Wars 320GB Bundle $449

[u]PS3[/u]
N/A

[u]Wii[/u]
N/A

Code:
2013

Xbox 360 March: 261K / 5 = 52,200
Xbox 360 April: 130K / 4 = 32,500

Weekly average down 38%

PS3 March: 211K / 5 = 42,200
PS3 April: 102K / 4 = 25,500

Weekly average down 40%

Wii March: 91K / 5 = 18,200
Wii April: 44K / 4 = 11,000

Weekly average down 40%

Wii U March: 67K / 5 = 13,400
Wii U April: 36K / 4 = 9,000 (so close)

Weekly average down 33%

Code:
Notable Releases in April

[u]Xbox 360[/u]
Injustice: Gods Among Us

[u]PS3[/u]
Injustice: Gods Among Us

[u]Wii[/u]
N/A

[u]Wii U[/u]
Injustice: Gods Among Us

Code:
2014

Xbox 360 March: 111K / 5 = 22,200
Xbox 360 April: 71K / 4 = 17,750

Weekly average down 20%

Xbox One March: 311K / 5 = 62,200
Xbox One April: 115K / 4 = 28,750

Weekly average down 54%

PS3 March: 68K / 5 = 13,600
PS3 April: 35K / 4 = 8,750

Weekly average down 36%

PS4 March: 371K / 5 = 74,200
PS4 April: 199K / 4 = 49,750

Weekly average down 33%

Wii March: 28K / 5 = 5,600
Wii April: 18K / 4 = 4,500

Weekly average down 20%

Wii U March: 70K / 5 = 14,000
Wii U April: 48K / 4 = 12,000

Weekly average down 14%

Code:
Notable Releases in April

[u]Xbox 360[/u]
Titanfall [483,000]

[u]Xbox One[/u]
N/A

[u]PS3[/u]
N/A

[u]PS4[/u]
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn

[u]Wii[/u]
N/A

[u]Wii U[/u]
N/A

Code:
2015

Xbox 360/PS3/Wii = Basically dead (and no numbers were leaked for most of 2015) 

Xbox One March: 229K / 5 = 45,800
Xbox One April: 187K / 4 = 46,750

Weekly average up 2%

PS4 March: 330K / 5 = 66,000
PS4 April: 174K / 4 = 43,500

Weekly average down 34%

Wii U March: 83K / 5 = 16,600
Wii U April: 43K / 4 = 10,750

Weekly average down 35%

Code:
Notable Releases in April

[u]Xbox 360[/u]
N/A

[u]Xbox One[/u]
Mortal Kombat X [>516k]

[3 weeks] Gamestop Deal - Trade in Last Gen console and get $125 towards Xbox One. [$225]

[1 week] Best Buy Deal - Trade in Last Gen console and get $175 towards Xbox One [$175]

[u]PS3[/u]
N/A

[u]PS4[/u]
Mortal Kombat X [>734k]

[u]Wii[/u]
N/A

[u]Wii U[/u]
N/A

Code:
2016 March Weekly averages

Xbox One: 242K / 5 = 48,400
PS4: 330K / 5 = 66,000 (Or one full month of Wii U sales lol)
Wii U: 66K / 5 = 13,200

Some notes:

- Summer months are ahead, boys and girls, so school finals and going outside are about to ramp up, meaning fewer consoles to be bought.

- Before we get to the weekly average fall for each brand, software releases have little to no effect on slowing the drop. Only a change in the hardware (bundle, price drop) will have an effect in April.

- The average weekly drop from March to April is strange to account for Xbox. During the 360 era (looking at 2010 - 14), the average drop is ~25%, with a high of -38% in 2013, and as low as -14% in 2011. Removing these as though they were outliers, the average is still ~25%.

Looking at Xbox One, it’s kinda crazy. Within the span of a year, it goes from dropping a whopping 54% in 2014, to going UP 2% in 2015. UP IN WEEKLY AVERAGE GOING FROM MARCH TO APRIL. Last time that ever happened was the Wii back in April 2008. In fact, this has only happened 7 times throughout the past 15 years. (Post on these 7 instances here.) What’s funny is that using those 2 for an “average”, it’s a drop of ~26%. Consistency I guess?

Using that link, and if you have read the numbers up top, the XB1 got a boost thanks to not software, but hardware deals. Price cuts that started in March had a big impact on April’s sales, and even though a price cut has not happened in the first half of the year in the past 5 years (2010-2015), we do know price cuts spike sales to a ridiculous high before dropping. Look at the link above, and even look to Holiday 2014 where the Xbox One got a significant boost thanks to a $50 price drop.

This month, not only is the XB1 temporally available for $50 less nationwide (promotional price cut that started March 20th and is ending right at the end of April), yet again Gamestop has a deal that lasts 3 weeks in the month that lets someone purchase a 500GB XB1 for $199 or a 1TB for $249. More attractive than last years deal, combined with better bundles than the MCC one in 2015 like the 500GB Gears of War UE bundle or even the Gamestop exclusive $349 (Actually $399, but made available during the price cut) 1TB Spring bundle which comes with retail copies of Halo 5: Guardians, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Rare Replay, and a download code for Ori and the Blind Forest, the effects of this deal should produce better results than April 2015’s boost. Key word being “should”.

Nintendo averages a drop of ~30% going into April, and Playstation around 35%.

TL;DR Xbox drops ~25%, Nintendo drops ~30%, and Playstation drops ~35%

If we take these values and applied them to the March 2016 averages above, April 2016 would look like

Xbox One: 48,400 * 0.75 * 4 = 145,200
PS4: 66,000 * 0.65 * 4 = 171,600
Wii U: 13,200 * 0.7 * 4 = 36,960

The only one that wouldn’t have a similar performance to the above is the XB1. The Xbox One has too big of a deal for it to have an “average” drop. To have an average drop would actually be unprecedented with a price cut in effect. While the PS4 would be under YoY, there isn’t anything this month that could boost it much besides Dark Souls 3, which is a part of a series that already has 2 other games Souls fans would’ve bought a console for (Bloodborne and DS2: SotFS), and Ratchet and Clank. Only being up 338 in March 2016 from March 2015 is already a sign of the price drop effect wanning. It being essentially flat (-1%) YoY would still be a decent result.

- Strangely, the 360 in April 2011 actually saw the exact same (rounded) sales in April that the Original Xbox saw in 2004 after the March price drop to $149. 297k seems to be a tradition for Xbox, since the XB1 sold that much in June 2015, with the launch of the $399 1TB sku, and looking a bit closer, 1,297,000 in November 2014. Quite possibly a sign of passing on the torch, the PS4 is the only other console (within the 6th, 7th, and 8th gen) to sell 297k units in a month, and that was in October 2014. Coincidence? Quite possibly. Still, funny to see. Don’t expect a 297k result for any console this month.

- The biggest April ever recorded between the 7th and 8th gen was the Wii with 714k back in 2008. Second biggest? Wii again with 360k back in 2007.
 

cakely

Member
Based on what? The Division is #46 & #56 on Amazon April list. R&C is #2, has Amazon been wrong so much before? I guess it is three platforms to one, but the Division has no legs, no good word of mouth.

Amazon software has historically been a very poor predictor of NPD results.
 

noobie

Member
- The biggest April ever recorded between the 7th and 8th gen was the Wii with 714k back in 2008. Second biggest? Wii again with 360k back in 2007.
These are some insane numbers. Slowest month of the year has more sales than many of PS3 holiday months numbers. I dont think PS3 ever did >700k in October.
 

Welfare

Member
These are some insane numbers. Slowest month of the year has more sales than many of PS3 holiday months numbers. I dont think PS3 ever did >700k in October.

May is actually slower(!) and the Wii was still in "selling out" mode. Won't ever see that again, just like most of the Wii's high months.
 

Ryng_tolu

Banned
Based on what? The Division is #46 & #56 on Amazon April list. R&C is #2, has Amazon been wrong so much before? I guess it is three platforms to one, but the Division has no legs, no good word of mouth.

Dudes seriusly, stop with Amazon.

These are some insane numbers. Slowest month of the year has more sales than many of PS3 holiday months numbers. I dont think PS3 ever did >700k in October.

Now that i think so... Ganna post all holidays months of Gen 7 which are not as big as Wii in April 2008, just for fun. :D

360, Nov 2005 - 326,000
360, Dec 2005 - 281,000
360, Nov 2006 - 511,000
PS3, Nov 2006 - 197,000
PS3, Dec 2006 - 491,000
PS3, Nov 2007 - 466,000
PS3, Nov 2008 - 378,000
PS3, Nov 2009 - 710,000
PS3, Nov 2010 - 530,000
PS3, Dec 2012 - 625,000
360, Nov 2013 - 647,000
PS3, Nov 2013 - 424,000
360, Dec 2013 - 643,000
PS3, Dec 2013 - 299,000

...After 2013 doesn't make sense cause XBO / PS4 release. 14 holidays months of PS3 and 360 which are not as big as Wii during Mario Kart month. Yup, this is insane.
And there are A LOT of other console which have never sold that much in a holidays month, but the list is so long that maybe is better stop here...
 

Welfare

Member
Now that i think so... Ganna post all holidays months of Gen 7 which are not as big as Wii in April 2008, just for fun. :D

360, Nov 2005 - 326,000
360, Dec 2005 - 281,000
360, Nov 2006 - 511,000
PS3, Nov 2006 - 197,000
PS3, Dec 2006 - 491,000
PS3, Nov 2007 - 466,000
PS3, Nov 2008 - 378,000
PS3, Nov 2009 - 710,000
PS3, Nov 2010 - 530,000
PS3, Dec 2012 - 625,000
360, Nov 2013 - 647,000
PS3, Nov 2013 - 424,000
360, Dec 2013 - 643,000
PS3, Dec 2013 - 299,000

Looking at all the PS3's holiday months, those are embarrassing. Really shows how much Sony has benefited from gaining the majority of the US mindshare.

For reference, not counting launch period, the PS4 has sold 5,017,000 units in holiday 2014+2015. PS3 sold 4,438,000 in its first 3 holiday periods combined (07, 08, 09).
 

Square2015

Member
Alright I'm continuing the Classic Sales-Age historical report. I apologize for missing the last few months but as promised the chart is expanded and even included handhelds from the GBA era onward. (These are the complete charts I actually made years ago.)

Previously I compared the past cycles with the WiiU, focusing on Nintendo consoles but as the WiiU loses relevancy and the dominant consoles reign I want to make comparisons with the leading consoles and this corresponds to years: 2009, 2004, 1999, 1994 (1989?)

Check out what we were buying during the past cycles AKA "teh good ole days":

MARCH SALES Past Four Cycles
2Lescym.png


My writeup from last year (Nintendo focused):
MARCH 2009 - Wii
This is the month of Resident Evil 5's release (at #1 and #4) on the HD consoles and Pokemon Platinum (#2) on DS. Oh and Halo Wars.
Surprisingly there are no major releases for the typically heavy, big-name Nintendo month of March...but there's really no need is there? with dat momentum.
Wii Fit (at #5) sells another half a million (541,000), one of its slower months :p the megahit from last Spring now sits in 6.5m American homes (and retirement centers), after just under a year on the market! The next Wii titles Wii Play (#8) and Mario Kart Wii (#9) at over a quarter million each continue into unknown 10 million+ territory while Mario Kart speeds pass the 5.7m mark].

Wii sells another incredible 600,000 this month, this may be the final month of shortages. We will see sales drop to a more "normal" pace after this month. Supply is able to reach the insane demand three years after launch.

MARCH 2004 - GC
GameCube is coming off of the price drop to $99 last fall which gave the system a powerful boost over the second place rival XBOX. XB outsold it by about a mere 13,000 this month though. GC LTD sits at 7.2m to XB 8.0m (and PS2 23m).

Pokémon Coliseum was the big March release (at #2) with 343,000 sold, just under Ninja Gaiden (#1) which is the first XB release to make #1. If GAF memory serves, the NPD report this month mentioned sales for Coliseum were a disappointment. This could be because its predecessor, Stadium, moved a million in March alone just four years earlier.
The Metal Gear Solid next-gen "remaster" Twin Snakes debuted (#7) with 122,000. Is this a disappointment? ...Given how popular the series had become (just the the two installments up to this point) and given the level of acclaim the first had received is this to be expected?
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! the big Christmas hit at #19 this month passed the 1.5m mark by the end of March.
Harvest Moon: another world (#20) debuted nicely with 68,000. The previous two Harvest Moons debuted poorly and largely unnoticed. The original HM on SNES sold no greater than 20,000 total while its N64 sequel was able to sell 10x as much.

Square's long anticipated return to Nintendo last month with Crystal Chronicles, the #1 seller in February (selling a quarter million), fell to #25 in March to surpass 305,000 LTD. These are great numbers IMO.
The January release of Sonic Heroes has pushed some good numbers for a Sonic spinoff on the system, totaling at over 330,000. Sega continues to do well on GC, Sonic Adventure 2 (battle) broke a million. It was a good choice to put Sonic on Nintendo continuing the popularity of the series long after its peak post-16 bit.

MARCH '99 - N64
Whoa! Mario Party [1]! After debuting #1 last month with 213,000, this month (at #2) another 245,000 sell for this new multiplayer party genre. Zelda 64 remains STRONG at #15 with close to 120,000 for the month topping 2.6m. GoldenEye sees no end, just under Zelda with 110,000 and 3.9m LTD. On down the chart, the other X'mas megahit, Rogue Squadron (#15), sells 80,000 to become a million seller this month.
January's Castlevania 64 sits under 180,000 total. The much press-curious, Beetle Adventure Racing debuts under 40,000 (#46), we'll see how it fairs next month...

The N64 HW itself sells about half of PSX. LTDs for the two look like 11m and 16m respectively.

MARCH '94 - SNES
My favorite era ;) March '94 was EXPLOSIVE, Jam-packed explosive. NBA Jam broke records with 1 million sold this month alone between the GEN and SNES (670k GEN to 410k SNES).
This is currently Genesis domination season ignited by the release of the Genesis 2 and Mortal Kombat last fall. The GEN has outsold the SNES since the release of the GEN2 last August to this month. My data estimated 3.6m sold during these critical months, the best months the GEN will see. SNES sold 2.8m during the same time frame, the weakest performance over the powerful fall-christmas-spring period for the system and a disappointment for NCL and no doubt NoA.
However the hype for Sega may be beginning to slow as new SNES pack-ins are planned (five actually!) over the next few months in addition to some games we want! Next month is Metroid 3...
A first sign of a Nintendo comeback comes in the stronger debut of NoA's new Ken Griffey title: at #5 MLB featuring Ken Griffey Jr. wins out with 45,000 sold to Sega's renown, World Series Baseball title (#9), which debuted this month with 32,000 sold.
Now guys, Mega Man X has fallen to #20 it deserves better yeah? The January release has pushed just 70,000 by the end of March. Meanwhile last month's BOOM megahit, Sonic 3 (#3 this month) is above 400,000 already LTD!

GEN HW sold 270,000 to SNES's 180,000 this month. We're looking at an incredibly close LTD: 9.8m to 9.6m !!! Aaaaah

If this goes over well maybe it would be cool to create a Classic NPD thread for each month. I don't want to give more recent info for obvious reasons, so it is minimalized to the generations before the last [wii-gen] which should be safe now.

*Bows*
reposted from next page. Should I start a new thread for this?
 

Ryng_tolu

Banned
Looking at all the PS3's holiday months, those are embarrassing. Really shows how much Sony has benefited from gaining the majority of the US mindshare.

For reference, not counting launch period, the PS4 has sold 5,017,000 units in holiday 2014+2015. PS3 sold 4,438,000 in its first 3 holiday periods combined (07, 08, 09).

What is truly scray are the 2008 sales... seriusly, that's not Wii U levels, but very close.

reposted from next page. Should I start a new thread for historical sales?

I would be happy to see it. :)
 

Welfare

Member
How much did 360/PS3 sell in U.S. during the year of 2015?

(and if possible wii but I don't know if that number exists lol but if it does post that to. :0)

We never got full info on how they sold in 2015.

January+February+March+November+December sales for the 360 are 367,000 and PS3 for the same period is 205,000. Wii sold 12,000 in January+November.
 
Why wouldn't a new Souls game take #1?

Since Souls is now just another AAA, annualized, sequel-driven franchise, basically making minor improvements on a well established formula and milking that sales cow, it belongs right up there at the top.

I kid, I kid

I mean, this is pretty much right. I say this as a fan of the series but the largest change to DS3 is the inclusion of BB style bosses. Otherwise, its a solid formula that they aren't really messing with.
 
How the heck did the PS3 beat the 360 in March NPD 2015?

We never got full info on how they sold in 2015.

January+February+March+November+December sales for the 360 are 367,000 and PS3 for the same period is 205,000. Wii sold 12,000 in January+November.

Hmm, WIi is pretty much dead. Judging from those sales for 360/PS3 that's not bad for a lack of a price drop for both. I'm assuming so far in 2016 the 360 and PS3 are probably wayyy down?
 

Welfare

Member
How the heck did the PS3 beat the 360 in March NPD 2015?

Hmm, WIi is pretty much dead. Judging from those sales for 360/PS3 that's not bad for a lack of a price drop for both. I'm assuming so far in 2016 the 360 and PS3 are probably wayyy down?

February+March 2015

360: 117k
PS3: 119k

February+March 2016

360: 58k (-50%)
PS3: 6k (-95%)

Sony has clearly abandoned the PS3 some time last year.
 

Ryng_tolu

Banned
February+March 2015

360: 117k
PS3: 119k

February+March 2016

360: 58k (-50%)
PS3: 6k (-95%)

Sony has clearly abandoned the PS3 some time last year.

Worth of notes i think is separe February and March sales as well:

February 2016: 360 33k; PS3 4k
March 2016: 360 24k, PS3 2k

EDIT: Rounded for thousent.
 

Ryng_tolu

Banned
PS3 in the US is on a level with XboxOne in Japan then...

2,000 for month are 500 at week... XB1 in Japan is < 200 almost always, so nope, not yet. :p

Though in April should sell half or close to in March, soooooo... yeah around here.

Of course, PS3 is a 10 years old console VS XB1 which is released in less than 2 years in Japan, so not really a fair comparation lol.
 
2,000 for month are 500 at week... XB1 in Japan is < 200 almost always, so nope, not yet. :p

Though in April should sell half or close to in March, soooooo... yeah around here.

Of course, PS3 is a 10 years old console VS XB1 which is released in less than 2 years in Japan, so not really a fair comparation lol.
US market is bigger. So it's about right.
 

Fady K

Member
You are going to enjoy it. Important thing is, the critical acclaim with not only critics, but gamers everywhere just shows these games are not 'dead'. I hope this spells great things for the series, as well as encourages other IP holders to dip their toes back in.

Indeed! Here's hoping this improves our chances of playing more platformers like this. I'm still dreaming about a brand new Crash Bandocoot game in the coming years.
 
Man Ninja Gaiden getting 360K ... Am I right in thinking it would be seriously lucky to get those sales these days? I'm not sure how NG Sigma, NG2 and NG3/RE performed, but I get the feeling the brand has shrunk.

Let's hope NiOh can open to a similar figure for Team Ninja.

Ninja gaiden was the Souls of its time. if you return to it on the harder levels, alot of princples that make the souls games good also apply.

NiOh has the potential to be a breakout hit for team ninja, far eclispsing NG. Long as they keep some of the NG Dna, but add drips of souls flavour instead of copying it outright, its going to be amazing.

Cant wait for next week to find out.
 
Ninja gaiden was the Souls of its time. if you return to it on the harder levels, alot of princples that make the souls games good also apply.

NiOh has the potential to be a breakout hit for team ninja, far eclispsing NG. Long as they keep some of the NG Dna, but add drips of souls flavour instead of copying it outright, its going to be amazing.

Cant wait for next week to find out.

As a fan of both, I never thought of it that way but I agree. That one devil king arena (?) part used to give me nightmares and I almost broke my OG Duke controller because of it.

I hope Nioh has that level of difficulty as well. DS games just aren't as difficult, despite made to be more punishing.

Edit: R&C is gonna be higher then DS3.
PS4 only
 
There was a thread were a Zhuge guy posted the PS1 and PS2 best sellers for the U.S., and other posted Xbox, Genesis, N64, Gamecube, Dreamcast, Sat, Jaguar, 3DO, and the Tg16, but it seems all those posts were removed from that thread.

Do we still have those charts?
 
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