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[Mithos Yggdrasill]

MediaCreate-Ranking
http://www.m-create.com/ranking/

DSL 87,445
PSP 86,895
Wii 20,704
PS3 10,822
PS2 10,446
Xbox360 1,547
GBASP 195
GC 109
DS 90
GBM 47
GBA 0

TOP50
NDS:23
PS2:10
Wii:7
PSP:6
PS3:3
XBOX360:1

As predicted, DS > PSP. Wii drop again, but Mario Galaxy is very near now.

 

[BishopLamont]

Fixed. PS3 hasn't killed any franchises yet, actually Bandai-Namco has had more success on the PS3 than Wii. I'm sure Koei will as well, though Opoona could be big, I see it all over the place on 2ch.

360 is dead on arrival, I don't think any publisher will release any successful sequel on it. With the PS3 it's still possible third party will risk it. Again, I'm talking about successful franchises not New IPs.

Edit: Caught your stealth edit, you can not change history now, if Opoona flops I'll blame it on you.

That's also true. 2008 is wildly unknown for anyone, but Nintendo's fallen way back into that Mario extravaganza shit. We'll probably see Tennis and Golf come back as well as Animal Crossing and Pikmin and all the safe bets. Music and Fit will probably wind up being the big new IPs.

I voiced a little disappointment and worry a couple months ago when the Wii began taking off, and I wasn't joking around. It's pretty much a continuation of the GC's life (except EAD's now back in form), and it looked like everyone was caught with their pants down.



I'm just looking at release lists. The DS is the biggest surefire bet for a nice little profit now the PS2 is fading away, and if you're a third party, there's a chance your big 3D game might get some good sales on the PSP too.

Yeah Iwata talked about how they won't delay games, nomore arrogant attitude from Nintendo etc etc is just complete bullshit now. They got caught up in Wii's success and now they're goin back to their old ways. Fucking shameful

 

[Jonnyram]

I've been walking around Tokyo game stores a lot lately and the DS areas have been seriously quiet lately. PSP is more often than not sold out, but the DS seems to have lost its spotlight and are sitting packed high in used game shops. I used to see a few DS systems being played most anytime I got on a busy train, but nowadays I at times see more PSPs and only older women and men playing the DS. I was talking to a high school student the other day and he was actually ashamed he had a DS and not a PSP. Of course it's only one kid, and in the market share where the PSP is really going strong, but it somewhat telling of the current atmosphere.

My theory is that the DS trend is starting to die out in Tokyo but may still be going strong in other areas of Japan. Trends tend to swell and fade in Tokyo before they can even fully take hold in other regions. I'm not saying that means it will totally fail, but just that maybe its days as the stand-out king are beginning to end.

Weird... this totally contradicts what I've seen in and around Shibuya.

 

[Lobster]

Bandai-Namco is one company dude, didn't you get the memo?

Yeah but what have they released on Wii other then Tamagotchi Wii?

 

[Saint10118]

Third parties fucked up software-wise, but Nintendo massively fucked up here, too (and not just in failing to push and prod and pay out for more strong third party support out of the gate). I'll be frank, all the problems the Wii is seeing right now are Nintendo's fault.

The company essentially ceased GameCube development in late 2004 to mid 2005, and from the moment the Wii was unveiled Iwata and his cronies were hyping up its potential for easier, quicker development due to the similarity (lol) architecturally to the GameCube. They had well over a year with which to devote their vast first and second party dev resources (not to mention using some of the cha-ching to fund some outside stuff) in order to prepare for the Wii's launch... but in the end, they had practically zilch to show for that.

Now another year has passed (meaning it's now been three years since the GameCube was killed off) and... what? We've gotten Mario Party, Mario Strikers, and the just-announced Mario Baseball, and precious little else. They could have, and should have had a pretty damned impressive lineup of games over the past year and a fairly hefty lineup ready to go for 2008, but it hasn't been the case at all. It's been a pretty pathetic performance all around.

That seems a bit overly cynical given the subpar performance of the GC to begin with - that's not to say that I disagree that Nintendo shouldn't bear some of the blame for significant software generation and marketing problems but for as much a people on both sides like to put the spotlight on Nintendo's 1st party games (whether as a boon or detriment) the fact remains that 3rd party support is essential to a consoles success and there is no way that anyone could have predicted the reception that the Wii recieved upon its release.

Without implying that you opinion is indicative of this example I would like to point out that given Sony's stellar performance with the PS2 one would think that the PS3 (especially in Japan) would have far and away more games released than the Wii at this present time and that the result of ease of development for the Wii has since resulted in both positives (few) and negatives (many) due to a vast majority of supar software which from 3rd parties.

 

[Jcgamer60]

That makes NO sense!

Looks like the J release is typically 3 to 6 months after NA release. How interesting. Hopefully it will provide a boost in Q1.

FPS games are useless in japan.

 

[DCharlie]

I've been walking around Tokyo game stores a lot lately and the DS areas have been seriously quiet lately. PSP is more often than not sold out, but the DS seems to have lost its spotlight and are sitting packed high in used game shops.

err... not to be a dick but... what? are you sure???

 

[tehbear]

The third party fuckup battle is between the PS3 and the Wii progressing at an unamusing pace. God I thought the PS2 would be dead by now... how many more years is this shit going to last?

 

[EDarkness]

What has Namco released on the Wii?

I'm curious about this as well. I can't think of anything they've actually released on the Wii right now. As for Koei, well, I went to pick up a copy of Romance, but it's $90 on the Wii. Thanks, but no thanks. The Katana game had almost no advertising around here and I've spoken to people who didn't even know it was out. Let's face it, it's not compelling software.

If I remember correctly, the Gundam game on the Wii didn't turn out too bad.

 

[ethelred]

That seems a bit overly cynical given the subpar performance of the GC to begin with - that's not to say that I disagree that Nintendo shouldn't bear some of the blame for significant software generation and marketing problems but for as much a people on both sides like to put the spotlight on Nintendo's 1st party games (whether as a boon or detriment) the fact remains that 3rd party support is essential to a consoles success and there is no way that anyone could have predicted the reception that the Wii recieved upon its release.

Without implying that you opinion is indicative of this example I would like to point out that given Sony's stellar performance with the PS2 one would think that the PS3 (especially in Japan) would have far and away more games released than the Wii at this present time and that the result of ease of development for the Wii has since resulted in both positives (few) and negatives (many) due to a vast majority of supar software which from 3rd parties.

I wasn't offering a rousing defense of Sony. Sony fucked up even more masssively than Nintendo did -- and that's really saying something. But Sony's screw ups don't excuse those made by Nintendo, and they unquestionably have seriously dropped the ball in terms of software development over the past three years.

And I'm not excusing third parties, either. With the success the DS was seeing, they should've been all over it with some pretty major games, but most of them just dicked around with low budget shovelware. Oh well.

 

[marvelharvey]

Weird... this totally contradicts what I've seen in and around Shibuya.

and Osaka.

 

[jj984jj]

360 is dead on arrival, I don't think any publisher will release any successful sequel on it. With the PS3 it's still possible third party will risk it. Again, I'm talking about successful franchises not New IPs.

Edit: Caught your stealth edit, you can not change history now, if Opoona flops I'll blame it on you.

I just moved that bit to my new post.

Doesn't change the fact that some 3rd parties are having more success on PS3 than on Wii.

Yeah but what have they released on Wii other then Tamagotchi Wii?

Dragon Ball, Gundam, Tatsujin, etc.

 

[Lobster]

err... not to be a dick but... what? are you sure???

Sounds like the usual-

"I told my friend about this and they said it sucks balls"

 

[ivysaur12]

Are Mario Kart Wii and Mario Baseball Wii supposed to be buffers until the rest of 2008? I hope so. In any case, Nintendo really should be putting more development support into the Wii. They have too many teams dedicated to DS development, and not enough to handle a constant flow of titles. It's really frustrating, and I hope they have bigger and more ambitious titles in the woodwork for the rest of 2008.

Third parties really don't know what to do. Their crap doesn't sell on the Wii like it did on the PS2, and they have to actually put effort into their titles to have them sell well. But what about Dewy and Eelebits, original efforts for the Wii that bombed? I'm sure Zack & Wiki won't do well, either. But then third parties see Resident Evil 4 Wii heading to a million copies. What message does this send? That only existing franchises with effort put into them can sell well on the Wii? That's what it looks like to me. We're going to be seeing more efforts like Monster Hunter 3 and less like Zack & Wiki, for better or worse.

And then there's the issue of poor sales for consoles. Yeah, the Wii is slowing down, but that's sort of expected. There are: a) no games for gamers to buy, and b) no non-games to market for non-gamers. Wii Sports is a game that can be played at other people's houses, but Wii Fit is a game that you have to buy a Wii for yourself. Even then, Nintendo, as Iwata says, now needs traditional gamers to continue to fuel the console. Every time Nintendo makes a 'Wii' game, they should be producing at least 3 or 4 high quality hardcore games to fuel console sales until the next big spike.

 

[jj984jj]

Are Mario Kart Wii and Mario Baseball Wii supposed to be buffers until the rest of 2008? I hope so. In any case, Nintendo really should be putting more development support into the Wii. They have too many teams dedicated to DS development, and not enough to handle a constant flow of titles. It's really frustrating, and I hope they have bigger and more ambitious titles in the woodwork for the rest of 2008.

What? This isn't true at all, have you taken a look at the holiday line-up for DS in Japan?

 

[Vinnk]

Weird... this totally contradicts what I've seen in and around Shibuya.

Same with where I live (small city): Where you shopping at biocat?

 

[BishopLamont]

I wasn't offering a rousing defense of Sony. Sony fucked up even more masssively than Nintendo did -- and that's really saying something. But Sony's screw ups don't excuse those made by Nintendo, and they unquestionably have seriously dropped the ball in terms of software development over the past three years.

And I'm not excusing third parties, either. With the success the DS was seeing, they should've been all over it with some pretty major games, but most of them just dicked around with low budget shovelware. Oh well.

I think Wii software lacking is due to the increased development of DS games and non-games. Next year will give us a clear picture on whether it's still same old Nintendo or not.

 

[outunderthestars]

Ouch, Wii continuing to drop... (NOT GOOD), PS3 continuing to flatline, who knows what the future will bring

Sega's new console? Released just in time to reclaim their place in the market!!!


go go dreamcast 2!

 

[ethelred]

I think Wii software lacking is due to the increased development of DS games and non-games. Next year will give us a clear picture on whether it's still same old Nintendo or not.

What increased development of DS games?

 

[biocat]

Weird... this totally contradicts what I've seen in and around Shibuya.

You didn't see the stacked high used DS systems in Shibuya Tsutaya then? If you haven't noticed that there are just as many people playing PSP as DS now, and that most people actually playing DS are usually older and either playing Animal Crossing or NSMB, I guess you're not being observant enough.

 

[EDarkness]

err... not to be a dick but... what? are you sure???

I know it's not that way where I live (Fujisawa). You can find PSP lites everywhere in whatever color you want. My roommate has been wanting a dark blue DS for weeks, but everytime we go to look for one we can't find them, or we see someone buying the last one. Kinda sucks for him. Heh, heh.

 

[ivysaur12]

What? This isn't true at all, have you taken a look at the holiday line-up for DS in Japan?

It still doesn't excuse the fact that Nintendo has been putting significantly more resources in DS development. Yeah, we got MP3, Galaxy, and Brawl, but that doesn't excuse the fact that the DS is Nintendo's prime system at this point. They should route their efforts to the Wii and go lighter on DS development in 2008.

 

[Jonnyram]

You didn't see the stacked high used DS systems in Shibuya Tsutaya then? If you haven't noticed that there are just as many people playing PSP as DS now, and that most people actually playing DS are usually older and either playing Animal Crossing or NSMB, I guess you're not being observant enough.

DS is sold out today. Maybe you just went on shipping day? Or maybe you just noticed things during a dry period. Things are picking up again this week until the start of next year. And actually most of the people I see playing DS on the trains nowadays are businessmen playing Super Robot Wars! Of course there are also lots of hot office ladies playing NSMB, which is fine with me... but there hasn't been much else out recently. I guess DQIV and FFIV will be popular as hell.

 

[BishopLamont]

What increased development of DS games?

Something about more DS games released then any previous Nintendo console.

 

[Square2005]

EVERYONE: We have entered the slowest season for gaming sales in Japan: October-November.
So don't be surprsied to see sales continue to fall week over week.
The Japanese are in school bizzy studying right now; classes always begin September 1st and since then sales have been steadily dropping.

So don't freak out; it's not the death of gaming in Japan! it's only seasonal. This happens every year around this time. I've observed this year after year.

 

[Saint10118]

I wasn't offering a rousing defense of Sony. Sony fucked up even more masssively than Nintendo did -- and that's really saying something. But Sony's screw ups don't excuse those made by Nintendo, and they unquestionably have seriously dropped the ball in terms of software development over the past three years.

And I'm not excusing third parties, either. With the success the DS was seeing, they should've been all over it with some pretty major games, but most of them just dicked around with low budget shovelware. Oh well.

as I said in my post I wasn't implying directly or otherwise that defending sony was your intent - I am well aware of your stances within these threads to know you are hardly SDF.

Further, I never meant to excuse nintendo by looking at sony's mistakes which extend to far more than my statement addressed only that Nintendo's ease of development hasn't played into its benefit in regards to 3rd party software development given that it appears clear that the Wii unilateraly caught developers off guard and that deficits in 1st party efforts seem to me to be greatly underscored by the sheer lack of 3rd party effort.

 

[biocat]

err... not to be a dick but... what? are you sure???

Look at it this way, it used to be really hard to find a DS and you could actually sell back a used DS at a profit or at least retail price to most stores. Now it's like night and day. There are lots of used DS systems on shelves and the DS aisle is not the once bustling it used to be. Add to that the new PSP performance and Tokyo's portable market is a much different place than it used to be. I can't speak for other cities.

 

[cvxfreak]

I didn't see stacks of used DS at Shibuya Tsutaya myself... but I know they do have them.

For the record, I think Galaxy is going to be absolutely huge. Equivalent to NSMB relative to the system's positions at each game's launches.

 

[jj984jj]

It still doesn't excuse the fact that Nintendo has been putting significantly more resources in DS development. Yeah, we got MP3, Galaxy, and Brawl, but that doesn't excuse the fact that the DS is Nintendo's prime system at this point. They should route their efforts to the Wii and go lighter on DS development in 2008.

What the heck are you talking about? This isn't true at all, it hasn't been for the past year, aside from 3 or 4 games (with Zelda being the only big game), Nintendo has only published 3rd party developed titles for the DS. IntSys seems to be focused on the DS during early next year but they released both Super Paper Mario and Fire Emblem for Wii this year, Retro just finished making a Wii game, EAD will release Super Mario Galaxy this year and is making Mario Kart Wii as well as Animal Crossing Wii, and Sakurai is making Smash Bros. Who am I missing? NST and the Zelda:TP team are the only ones being silent right now but I do think they are also making Wii games as do I think Retro's new game will be a Wii game.

 

[ivysaur12]

What the heck are you talking about? This isn't true at all, it hasn't been for the past year, aside from 3 or 4 games (with Zelda being the only big game), Nintendo has only published 3rd party developed titles for the DS. IntSys seems to be focused on the DS during next year but they released both Super Paper Mario and Fire Emblem for Wii this year, Retro just finished making a Wii game, EAD will release Super Mario Galaxy this year and is making Mario Kart Wii as well as Animal Crossing Wii, and Sakurai is making Smash Bros. Who am I missing? NST and the Zelda team are the only ones being silent right now but I do think they are also making Wii games as do I think Retro's new game will be a Wii game.

Yeah, I was just looking over release schedules from this year. My bad. For some reason it seems like Nintendo hasn't put as much effort into their Wii titles as they have their DS titles.

 

[marvelharvey]

For the record, I think Galaxy is going to be absolutely huge.

I can't believe that retailers have only ordered 700k of Galaxy, I'd imagine they'd be quite a shortage for the first couple of weeks. Many of my Wii-owning-friends are are 30yr old O.L types, Wii being their first console and Wii Sports being their only game... all of them are chomping at the bit for Galaxy and Fit.

 

[jj984jj]

Yeah, I was just looking over release schedules from this year. My bad. For some reason it seems like Nintendo hasn't put as much effort into their Wii titles as they have their DS titles.

It's certainly much better than the first year for the DS I think, even if there is no Kirby.

 

[Dash Kappei]

Metroid was big in Japan. FPSroid is not.

Zero Mission and Fusion on GBA say Hi!.

Prime sold 80k copies and was indeed a flop even for GC, but was expected after all.

 

[biocat]

DS is sold out today. Maybe you just went on shipping day? Or maybe you just noticed things during a dry period. Things are picking up again this week until the start of next year. And actually most of the people I see playing DS on the trains nowadays are businessmen playing Super Robot Wars! Of course there are also lots of hot office ladies playing NSMB, which is fine with me... but there hasn't been much else out recently. I guess DQIV and FFIV will be popular as hell.

Could be. I was in Akihabara on Tuesday and PSPs were largely sold out while DSs were in stock. Same thing the week before. I'll check some stores today while I'm in Ikebukuro out of curiosity. I also haven't seen many people playing Super Robot Wars lately - maybe only one or two this week? What lines do you ride?

 

[biocat]

I didn't see stacks of used DS at Shibuya Tsutaya myself... but I know they do have them.

For the record, I think Galaxy is going to be absolutely huge. Equivalent to NSMB relative to the system's positions at each game's launches.

Galaxy will rock Japan for sure. It's a great game.

 

[Brak]

Zero Mission and Fusion on GBA say Hi!.

Prime sold 80k copies and was indeed a flop even for GC, but was expected after all.

Isn't that what he just said?

 

[Lightning]

Hmm.... the 360 got a boost from Halo 3 for only 1 week and then back to normal... I wonder why MS bother doing Japanese translations and releasing games there with this constantly happening.

And does anyone who lives in Japan know if/when the PS3 price drop kicks in? It's rather stupid to announce a price drop 5weeks before it happens...

 

[Brofist]

My theory is that the DS trend is starting to die out in Tokyo but may still be going strong in other areas of Japan. Trends tend to swell and fade in Tokyo before they can even fully take hold in other regions. I'm not saying that means it will totally fail, but just that maybe its days as the stand-out king are beginning to end.

Just wondering, where did you get this theory from? Does the stock of DS in a Tsutaya location give you some insight into the sales trend in the whole country?

 

[biocat]

Just wondering, where did you get this theory from? Does the stock of DS in a Tsutaya location give you some insight into the sales trend in the whole country?

I'm giving my impressions of Tokyo's situation which can have very different trends than that of the rest of the country which tends to trail behind. This comes from browsing various stores in Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Yuurakucho, and other places.

 

[DCharlie]

Could be. I was in Akihabara on Tuesday and PSPs were largely sold out while DSs were in stock. Same thing the week before. I'll check some stores today while I'm in Ikebukuro out of curiosity. I also haven't seen many people playing Super Robot Wars lately - maybe only one or two this week? What lines do you ride?

What? i'm sorry - no.... this is not true surely?

I was in Aki on Monday - and EVERYWHERE had PSPs. EVERYWHERE. I was there until late. So i`m pretty sure that they didn`t suddenly all sell out overnight.

On day of PSP lite release i bought two units, and a further two the weekend after. And i had a number of places to chose from.

Sorry : "The data on the mig is inacurate".

 

[biocat]

What? i'm sorry - no.... this is not true surely?

I was in Aki on Monday - and EVERYWHERE had PSPs. EVERYWHERE. I was there until late. So i`m pretty sure that they didn`t suddenly all sell out overnight.

On day of PSP lite release i bought two units, and a further two the weekend after. And i had a number of places to chose from.

Sorry : "The data on the mig is inacurate".

Sorry, I saw them sold out in a number of stores. Not much more to it than that. Being sold out anywhere is frankly better than the PSP has done since its launch.

 

[DCharlie]

Sorry, I saw them sold out in a number of stores.

well, all i can say is that didn`t match what i`ve seen - the only thing i`d agree with what you said is that you can actually find Ds`s...

Which stores did you see PSP sold out in in Aki ?

Forgive me if i sound like i don`t believe this, but i`m in Aki more often than i care to think about and i have -not- seen what you are reporting.

 

[charlequin]

How does Nintendo get people to buy 3rd party games?

There are lots of ways, actually! We can look at some of the things that Sony and Microsoft have done (to great success), or that have worked for Nintendo's 1st party software. Off the top of my head:

* Cut deals with 3rd party publishers. Entice them to take that first step. Make it impossible to resist putting a slick, (relatively) high-budget title on the Wii because of all the bennies you're providing. This doesn't have to just be straight-up moneyhats -- loans/gifts of devkits, advertising support, etc. all help too. If Nintendo can get developers to risk a few top-quality games on their system, the chances would be good that all sales going forward (AAA and B+ titles alike) would improve.
* Clear space. Nintendo's been doing a much better job of this than they used to, but there's always room for improvement. Ideally they'd have done step 1 and then be working the lacunae for AAA 3rd party titles into their schedules way in advance to drive up their sales.
* Use the Nintendo marketing machine. The problem is that gamers are looking to Nintendo to see what games to buy, right? Turn that around and start pushing third-party titles with their own preview channels, big Nintendo-funded ad campaigns, etc.

Eteric Rice can cast aspersions on the quality of third-party Wii efforts as much as he wants, but the fact is that no one ever got anywhere telling an acrophobic guy to climb a ladder. Third parties have been burned before, which means it's Nintendo's responsibilty to go way above and beyond the call of duty in over-reassuring them it won't happen again if they want the development to happen for their system. I was definitely hoping to see that happen, but so far (again with the slight exception of Square-Enix, who are definitely putting at least a little heft into it) Nintendo doesn't seem interested in actually bringing third parties on board.

 

[biocat]

well, all i can say is that didn`t match what i`ve seen - the only thing i`d agree with what you said is that you can actually find Ds`s...

Which stores did you see PSP sold out in in Aki ?

Forgive me if i sound like i don`t believe this, but i`m in Aki more often than i care to think about and i have -not- seen what you are reporting.

Messe Sanoh and a few other smaller shops. I don't doubt, though, that finding a new PSP is a very easy matter.

 

[DCharlie]

Messe Sanoh and a few other smaller shops. I don't doubt, though, that finding a new PSP is a very easy matter.

okay - i guess it`s just in what you said , because when you said "largely sold out" i`d assume you meant the majority of places.

Anyways, as i said - i think the situation you paint of the DS vs PSP is somewhat flowery to say the least, though things have got better for Sony, and the DS is no longer sold out in every place

 

[ethelred]

If you haven't noticed that there are just as many people playing PSP as DS now, and that most people actually playing DS are usually older and either playing Animal Crossing or NSMB, I guess you're not being observant enough.

Hey, cool, you're the most observant person around now? I'm glad to hear your recent ocular troubles have all cleared up.

 

[Lobster]

I'm giving my impressions of Tokyo's situation which can have very different trends than that of the rest of the country which tends to trail behind. This comes from browsing various stores in Akihabara, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Yuurakucho, and other places.

You surely didn't search everywhere in Tokyo observing the situation between PSP and DS. Surely?

 

[zeroshiki]

What? i'm sorry - no.... this is not true surely?

I was in Aki on Monday - and EVERYWHERE had PSPs. EVERYWHERE. I was there until late. So i`m pretty sure that they didn`t suddenly all sell out overnight.

On day of PSP lite release i bought two units, and a further two the weekend after. And i had a number of places to chose from.

Sorry : "The data on the mig is inacurate".

I was in Shinjuku on Sunday and Aki on Monday. PSP Lites were sold out in Yodobashi Shinjuku and Don Ki Akihabara. Granted Don Ki isn't exactly known for video games, but I wasn't really game shopping and just noticed it.

The other small game shops I can't say.

 

[justjohn]

who's who?

 

[AniHawk]

so who's who?

I'm not sure, but the white pills keep ya from screaming.