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NPD December 2012 Sales Results [Up2: Xbox 360, All Nintendo Hardware, NSMB Wii U]

This year is going to be the real test for Nintendo. For over 15 years now Pokemon has been THE killer app for Nintendo handhelds. The DS didn't reach its peak until after Diamond/Pearl was out. If Pokemon X/Y fails to push the 3DS in a real way Nintendo will have to accept the new marketplace.
 
For a console that had next to nothing for the holiday season, you think it's bad?
The market has consolidated around one handheld, and the volumes are still significantly declined from the past. I wouldn't go so far as to say that handhelds are done, but I think they'll progressively decline and become more of a niche product.

Apple and Google happened.
 

antonz

Member
3DS is not doing great. It's under-performing its predecessor by a considerable gap, unless I am mistaken. But at least it's not effectively dead.

3DS is selling more than DS at this point in both handhelds lifetimes and the DS launched during the holiday blitz. DS will soon start to pull ahead depending on how momentum goes for 3DS
 

jcm

Member
For a console that had next to nothing for the holiday season, you think it's bad?

You're explaining why it's bad, which is fine. I'm just saying it is bad. 1.7M for the holiday isn't good. Add the laughable vita sales and you see a market in free fall.
 
It's going to be interesting to see if Animal Crossing 3DS does well. Those type of gamers probably moved onto to phone and Facebook stuff, but with the giant sales in Japan, I wouldn't count it out.

But it's not really like those people have games similar to animal crossing to play on mobile/facebook.
 
3DS is selling more than DS at this point in both handhelds lifetimes and the DS launched during the holiday blitz. DS will soon start to pull ahead depending on how momentum goes for 3DS

Fire Emblem + Animal Crossing + Pokemon + Luigi's Mansion + Brain Training (LOL) may help to ease some of the gap, but it will begin to fall behind the DS very soon indeed.
 
You're explaining why it's bad, which is fine. I'm just saying it is bad. 1.7M for the holiday isn't good.

Maybe you should reevaluate what is good/bad for handhelds differently, now that tablets and phones are pulling more and more people away from console/handheld gaming.
 

antonz

Member
Fire Emblem + Animal Crossing + Pokemon + Luigi's Mansion + Brain Training (LOL) may help to ease some of the gap, but it will begin to fall behind the DS very soon indeed.

Yeah I see them releasing the pokemon news etc. so early as an attempt to get people to buy early instead of waiting until pokemon is out. Assure them its indeed coming soon and maybe they will bite early and sample what's out now
 
While they will get to pat themselves on the back for catching up in sales its not having near the impact on the industry that the Wii was. 360 in the lead is happening during years after year of decline while the Wiis dominance was year after year of growth for the industry.

nothing says impact like years of decline and a flopped successor. Bravo Wii
 
Good post. Handhelds are done in the US.

Not really, the 3DS sold more in Dec. 2012 than the DS did in Dec. 2005. The GBA performed better (as outgoing hardware) in Dec. 2005, than DS did in Dec. 2012...though in the aging DS's case, the GBA was nowhere near as long in tooth, at that time, as the DS is now (8+ years).

Vita, well....I'd argue it's a more premium device (vs. PSP), skewed at an older demographic (evidenced by the library), which is a harder sell.
 

BriBri

Member
You're explaining why it's bad, which is fine. I'm just saying it is bad. 1.7M for the holiday isn't good. Add the laughable vita sales and you see a market in free fall.
Trying to spin the 3DS numbers as not good considering all factors is as bad as trying to spin the Wii U numbers as good.
 

A Human Becoming

More than a Member
3DS is selling more than DS at this point in both handhelds lifetimes and the DS launched during the holiday blitz. DS will soon start to pull ahead depending on how momentum goes for 3DS
The PSP managed to rebound after a second year decline, but < 1 mil increase the following year. It repeated the same sales in its fourth year than declined again. Nintendo better have a good strategy or it's sales with stagnate or worse decline.
 
It's not "doom mongering", it's simply the appropriate realization that if the Wii U continues selling like this, nobody will support it and Nintendo will have to wake up. You're shielding yourself behind the idea of profit as if that really changes anything in my scenario. Gamecube was profitable too, but the reason it was a great system is because Nintendo developed games as if they were behind and they came up with some of their best ideas that weren't also tied to some gimmick, and the lasting impact was a generation that was easily one of Nintendo's best. Yet few people would call the Gamecube a successful system in terms of its performance; it's part of what prompted Nintendo to change course.

They sold a trillion units of Wii, and that's "successful", and as far as I'm concerned it was completely the wrong direction I want out of Nintendo as a gamer and it had the least games of any successful console that were interesting. I only care about games, I don't give half a shit about sales, so you won't find me caring whether or not they are not in the red - you'll only find me caring what the poor performance will do for Nintendo as a company who develops games. And for me, when Nintendo is behind is when they do their best work. That is why I hope that occurs, because I feel like Nintendo will begin to focus on the people who put them their in the first place.

The main problem with the whole "Panic Mode Nintendo" line of thinking is that any game that enters development in response to poor launch sales is unlikely to ship before Q3 of next year at the earliest, and likely not until 2015.
 

Bulk_Rate

Member
I know that it launched in November, but do we have any sales numbers for Sonic and Sega Racing Transformed? My kids and I love the game and it deserves to do well.
 
Low sales, but Nintendo has lots of time to pick things up. They need strong software for the next holiday season, and maybe a $50 price cut, if they're going to try to compete with the new consoles coming. Emphasis on the games thing.
 

Sandfox

Member
Yeah I see them releasing the pokemon news etc. so early as an attempt to get people to buy early instead of waiting until pokemon is out. Assure them its indeed coming soon and maybe they will bite early and sample what's out now

This is about the same time that the DS got Pokemon so its not really early.

also, nothing is ever going to match the DS or PS2 in terms of sales.
 
Low sales, but Nintendo has lots of time to pick things up. They need strong software for the next holiday season, and maybe a $50 price cut, if they're going to try to compete with the new consoles coming. Emphasis on the games thing.

This is true. Sony was able to rebound from a terrible launch to be neck and neck with MS worldwide.
 

jcm

Member
Maybe you should reevaluate what is good/bad for handhelds differently, now that tablets and phones are pulling more and more people away from console/handheld gaming.

I agree that tablets and phones are at least part of thereason the handheld market in the us is so bad. That doesn't change the fact that it is bad.

I mean, if someone says that I'm a slow runner, I don't tell them to reevaluate fast/slow because I'm old and have bad knees. I am slow. That's life.
 

jeremy1456

Junior Member
Anyone who says the Wii U is a bigger bomb than the Vita is either stupid or completely delusional.

This is the first holiday for both systems. I don't understand exactly how it can be spun that the Wii U is doing worse than the Vita.
 

Kangi

Member
Anyone who says the Wii U is a bigger bomb than the Vita is either stupid or completely delusional.

This is the first holiday for both systems. I don't understand exactly how it can be spun that the Wii U is doing worse than the Vita.

Higher expectations for the Wii U at this point.
 
Yeah I see them releasing the pokemon news etc. so early as an attempt to get people to buy early instead of waiting until pokemon is out. Assure them its indeed coming soon and maybe they will bite early and sample what's out now

Exactly what I thought.

I think it's a brilliant, and necessary, step, on their part - especially since NSMB2 and the XL probably didn't turn things around as much as they hoped. Having the first fully polygonal Pokemon out for next Christmas could be huge if they can manufacture enough carts.

This is also, their last big playing card that they have in terms of historical sales on a handheld. If this doesn't turn it around for them in the US/EU, then probably nothing will.
 
Panic Mode Nintendo does not exist. Besides the price drop, everything Nintendo did with the 3DS was going to happen anyway. I mean how the hell was 3D Land and MK7 panic mode when those were pushed to come out in 2011 before we even knew 3DS sales.
 
Nintendo is worried about it now with the Wii U and the impending neXtBox. If they don't find a way to attract casuals and core gamers back, they're going to get destroyed.

Depends on what happens this year, but so far it doesn't paint a good picture. There doesn't seem to be much interest in the wii-u with casuals and this is after a holiday season, price and such with the buying public sure are big factor in all this.

Its remarkable just how massive MS's growth from the Xbox to the 360 has been. Not that it means anything, but crazy to see Microsoft take over as the leading console from the Wii later this year.
The amount of marketshare Sony lost this gen is nothing but a blindsided sideswipe. In 2005, looking at xbox and PS2, if you said this you'd probably be laughed at and banned.
 

Derrick01

Banned
Anyone who says the Wii U is a bigger bomb than the Vita is either stupid or completely delusional.

This is the first holiday for both systems. I don't understand exactly how it can be spun that the Wii U is doing worse than the Vita.

Does it matter if it's doing worse than the Vita or not when it's still doing pretty poorly? Is the benchmark now everything succeeded if it sold more than Vita?
 

big youth

Member
Panic Mode Nintendo does not exist. Besides the price drop, everything Nintendo did with the 3DS was going to happen anyway. I mean how the hell was 3D Land and MK7 panic mode when those were pushed to come out in 2011 before we even knew 3DS sales.

it's completely debatable, but I feel like Nintendo does their best work when their back's are against the wall. look at the seminal games they released on N64 and GC. imo their quality dipped with the Wii because they rested on their laurels. and I do think they fast tracked Mario Kart 7 and other 3DS games.
 

jeremy1456

Junior Member
Does it matter if it's doing worse than the Vita or not when it's still doing pretty poorly? Is the benchmark now everything succeeded if it sold more than Vita?

No, apparently the Wii set the benchmark. Every Nintendo system that doesn't sell as we'll as it did is dead.

Wii U pulled decent, but far from great numbers.
 
It'll be nice when we reach the point at which the DS Lite was released and never have to hear the "doing as well as the DS did at this time" spin anymore.

This is slightly jumping the gun...

He's extrapolating off current trends. It's not uncommon to do. People get paid lots of money to do it. Not sure why people feel the need to jump on him for doing it.
 

MisterNoisy

Member
Low sales, but Nintendo has lots of time to pick things up. They need strong software for the next holiday season, and maybe a $50 price cut, if they're going to try to compete with the new consoles coming. Emphasis on the games thing.

This is the only year Nintendo will have technical parity, assuming MS launches later this year as many are presuming. I have to imagine that unless something really strange happens, the WiiU will ultimately fare even more poorly than the GC did in it's day.
 
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