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NPD May 2012 Sales Results [Up4: Max Payne 3, Dragon's Dogma, Ghost Recon]

They still haven't recouped their losses on 360 yet, have they? I thought we already had this discussion weeks ago. They had a great year last year, though, which is good news for them going forward.

It probably has. The 360 has had to prop up multiple losing ventures such as the Zune and the kin and even then the division turned a profit. They haven't recouped their losses from XB1 but they wrote it off as a business expense so the division shows the 360 as having turned a profit.
 

Miles X

Member
It probably has. The 360 has had to prop up multiple losing ventures such as the Zune and the kin and even then the division turned a profit. They haven't recouped their losses from XB1 but they wrote it off as a business expense so the division shows the 360 as having turned a profit.

This. I have it at a 100k profit since Mid 2005, 5 months before 360's release. This includes Kin losses and Nokia pay outs, and not many non gaming money spinners. (Also includes RROD for those wondering)

When all is said and done 360 will have made MS north of 1 bill profit, probably higher.
 

Piano

Banned
That's not criticism, that's heckling. There is a difference.
Is pointing out the games horrendous technical problems a "fair" point of criticism? Its what kept me away from the game. I would have been there day 1 for a POLISHED console game or a PC version.
 

Clear

Member
Piano said:
Is pointing out the games horrendous technical problems a "fair" point of criticism? Its what kept me away from the game. I would have been there day 1 for a POLISHED console game or a PC version.

Because polish is all that counts, right?

Me, I'm more interested in whether a game is FUN, and for how many hours. Also, replayability, mechanical depth/innovation, aesthetics (audio/visual), memorability, "personality", intelligence, etc.

You know, stuff that actually matters.
 
So isn't this the 3rd month in a row Sony has been quiet on Vita sales? We have no idea how it's doing!!! Given 3DS's low sales, i wouldn't be surprised if Vita outsold 3DS this month.
 
So isn't this the 3rd month in a row Sony has been quiet on Vita sales? We have no idea how it's doing!!! Given 3DS's low sales, i wouldn't be surprised if Vita outsold 3DS this month.

We already had word that it sold less than half what 3DS did this month but more than 50k, so somewhere between 50k and 56.8k
 
I knew Max Payne 3 would bomb. And not because d3 released on the same day, i knew it before the d3 release date was announced. It's just not that popular of a franchise after all these years. I dunno what they were thinking investing all that money into this, what a bomb.
 

Bladenic

Member
HOLY SHIT Dragon's Dogma is a huge flop. Hope nobody was expecting a sequel or a series because it ain't happening.

And so is Max Payne. In fact this whole month is one giant flop.
 

mujun

Member
Because polish is all that counts, right?

Me, I'm more interested in whether a game is FUN, and for how many hours. Also, replayability, mechanical depth/innovation, aesthetics (audio/visual), memorability, "personality", intelligence, etc.

You know, stuff that actually matters.

Seems clear to me that the poster you quoted meant that polish is important on top of all the other things that he or she finds important.
 

Dupy

"it is in giving that we receive"
So isn't this the 3rd month in a row Sony has been quiet on Vita sales? We have no idea how it's doing!!! Given 3DS's low sales, i wouldn't be surprised if Vita outsold 3DS this month.

You think if Vita outsold the 3DS Sony wouldn't have mentioned it?
 

coldfoot

Banned
This. I have it at a 100k profit since Mid 2005, 5 months before 360's release. This includes Kin losses and Nokia pay outs, and not many non gaming money spinners. (Also includes RROD for those wondering)

When all is said and done 360 will have made MS north of 1 bill profit, probably higher.
It also includes Office for Mac revenues though, I doubt they are huge, but I think enough to make up for the Kin...
 

wages

Banned
Because polish is all that counts, right?

Me, I'm more interested in whether a game is FUN, and for how many hours. Also, replayability, mechanical depth/innovation, aesthetics (audio/visual), memorability, "personality", intelligence, etc.

You know, stuff that actually matters.

I think that is what he's saying. I always took the meaning of a "polished" game, as one having all the attributes that you described above.
 

bomma_man

Member
I knew Max Payne 3 would bomb. And not because d3 released on the same day, i knew it before the d3 release date was announced. It's just not that popular of a franchise after all these years. I dunno what they were thinking investing all that money into this, what a bomb.

The '3' in the title was probably a bad idea. They should've Red Dead Redemption-ed it.
 
Well videogames 6 & 7 year old consoles, you had a good run.

Depressing month, but 2012 has been a terrible year so far for games.

Fixed that for you.

Actually you can extend it to dedicated gaming hardware in general. PCs & phones & tablets will be going strong for a while.
 

Fabrik

Banned
After E3 (Save for 5/6 games), I almost want this industry to crash and burn. They're doing everything that needs to be done for that. Next-gen consoles are going to be a total flop. The same stuff in HD+ isn't going to be appealing to a lot of people.
 
We need the iPhone model for home consoles. $199 + $10/month 2-year commitment, new hardware every year. Architecture doesn't change, just add more CPU/GPU/memory every year along with new OS features that won't work with older hardware. PC gaming would be in serious trouble if this happened.
While Microsoft would like to try it, it doesn't seem likely that anything but the mobile phone market can get away with it.
 

LuchaShaq

Banned
People like you are why we don't get better videogame criticism. Every negative review pisses off thousands of ranting fanboys.


Have to agree completely here.

Gaf official threads have become a complete cesspool due to that attitude. A game gets 7-8s on a scale that says 7-8s are good/fun/not perfect? Get ready for a dozen pages of personal attacks on the reviewers usually with insane conspiracy theories. Also god forbid you post in there that you were excited to try it but bummed out by the end product. Insinuating you didn't enjoy the game someone else purchased on gaf might as well be the same thing as spamming the thread with gore/offensive images with the way people react.

"You just don't get it man! Busted mechanic/feature X is amazing!"
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
Nothing speaks volumes about Nintendo of America's lack of awareness on a lot of things right now than an emulated NES version of Donkey Kong Jr. being priced at $4.99 in 2012.
Even the most diehard Nintendo apologists can't consider that to be a fundamentally sound pricing strategy.

That's bad, but I still say a $40 3ds version of Madden that is inferior to the $10 iOS version is worse.
 

Clear

Member
wages said:
I think that is what he's saying. I always took the meaning of a "polished" game, as one having all the attributes that you described above.

Polish is by definition superficial; its like saying a shaped and polished piece of quartz is more valuable than a rough diamond - appearance and intrinsic value don't always tally.

Sorry my reply (to Piano) was a bit snarkier than I'd like, very late (and very tired) when I wrote it.

My complaint is basically the superficiality of a lot of reviews. Its understandable that pandering to the lowest-common-deniminator (i.e. most superficial) wants and demands of consumers is the most direct route to mass-market sales, but when the enthusiast press colludes with this in order to maximize their revenues (circulation/page-hits) they are actively enabling a culture of safe mediocrity.

This works great in the short-term, but over a longer time-span the sort of malaise we're seeing with NPD's like these starts creeping in.
 
I hate cod for so many reasons.. but because it's sales records I feel set a new standard

there was a time when 440,000 units would be deemed as well sold :/
 

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
HOLY SHIT Dragon's Dogma is a huge flop. Hope nobody was expecting a sequel or a series because it ain't happening.

It sold pretty damn well in Japan. There have only been a handful of new IPs this gen that have sold as well as Dragon's Dogma did in Japan.

I'd bet on a sequel but only on handhelds. And I wouldn't blame Capcom at all, I'd give up on America too after the way DD sadly bombed here.
 
It sold pretty damn well in Japan. There have only been a handful of new IPs this gen that have sold as well as Dragon's Dogma did in Japan.

I'd bet on a sequel but only on handhelds. And I wouldn't blame Capcom at all, I'd give up on America too after the way DD sadly bombed here.

It did sell well in Japan but considering the huge budget that won't come anywhere near making up for it failing in the western markets.

I also don't understand why you would expect a sequel on handhelds. Isn't one of the big appeals of the game supposed to be being like a monster hunter of sorts on the HD consoles?

I think a sequel may get made because they have already invested in the assets and whilst it wasn't a huge success they now have an established fan base to build from (particularly in Japan). Whether or not it will get a budget anywher near as big as DD is another thing.
 
It did sell well in Japan but considering the huge budget that won't come anywhere near making up for it failing in the western markets.

But it didn't sell well in Japan. Their claimed estimation was for a million units sold in Japan alone, and 500K elsewhere. Looks to me like the 500k is possible between America and Europe, but the million in Japan ain't happening. At least not for a long time. It's funny that people are bashing the US for not buying the poorly advertised 60 dollar game with the awful demo with day 1 on-disc DLC that got an average score in the 70s, when in fact Japan didn't show up for the game as Capcom knew they would (the devs claimed before release that they were "promised a million sales in Japan").
 
But it didn't sell well in Japan. Their claimed estimation was for a million units sold in Japan alone, and 500K elsewhere. Looks to me like the 500k is possible between America and Europe, but the million in Japan ain't happening. At least not for a long time.

Well it might not have met those ridiculous expectations but overall it's still a far bigger success in Japan and i feel like its potential is far bigger in Japan.

Selling 500K in Japan is a fairly big success. Selling 100K first month in the US is abysmal and won't even leave a blip on the radar of the US market.

Edit: What Capcoms expectations were are irrelevant for how each market took to the game. Japan is a much smaller market and it sold far better there. I didn't really enjoy the game at all and i think it's capcoms fault it failed but i just disagree with your premise.

Japan definitely supported the game better than the western market despite those silly expectations. Whether or not you think the game deserved that support is another matter.
 

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
But it didn't sell well in Japan. Their claimed estimation was for a million units sold in Japan alone, and 500K elsewhere. Looks to me like the 500k is possible between America and Europe, but the million in Japan ain't happening. At least not for a long time. It's funny that people are bashing the US for not buying the poorly advertised 60 dollar game with the awful demo with day 1 on-disc DLC that got an average score in the 70s, when in fact Japan didn't show up for the game as Capcom knew they would (the devs claimed before release that they were "promised a million sales in Japan").

It sold well in Japan. It didn't live up to Capcom's completely asinine expectations that completely flew in the face of reality but it still sold well.

And being a not so hotly received $60 game didn't stop anybody from not buying RE:ORC.

It was a disaster in NA anyway you look at it.

I also don't understand why you would expect a sequel on handhelds. Isn't one of the big appeals of the game supposed to be being like a monster hunter of sorts on the HD consoles?

Because it'll sell more copies that way. They won't even, and probably shouldn't even bother, bringing it over state side if thats the route they go.
 
It sold well in Japan. It didn't live up to Capcom's completely asinine expectations that completely flew in the face of reality but it still sold well.

And being a not so hotly received $60 game didn't stop anybody from not buying RE:ORC.

It was a disaster in NA anyway you look at it.

RE was a new IP?
 

flawfuls

Member
But it didn't sell well in Japan. Their claimed estimation was for a million units sold in Japan alone, and 500K elsewhere. Looks to me like the 500k is possible between America and Europe, but the million in Japan ain't happening. At least not for a long time. It's funny that people are bashing the US for not buying the poorly advertised 60 dollar game with the awful demo with day 1 on-disc DLC that got an average score in the 70s, when in fact Japan didn't show up for the game as Capcom knew they would (the devs claimed before release that they were "promised a million sales in Japan").

They never expected 1 million in Japan. IIRC the hoping for one million thing was just a comment by someone working on the game or something not a formal expectation of the company. It would be ridiculous to expect the game to sell a million in Japan. I think the only PS3 games that have are RE5 and FFXIII.
 
Because it'll sell more copies that way. They won't even, and probably shouldn't even bother, bringing it over state side if thats the route they go.

It will? Simply moving any IP onto handhelds isn't a guarantee for more success (especially if presentation is a big part of the series). They have already laid the groundwork for the game on consoles and now have an established fan base there.

I feel like they would be better keeping the game on consoles but just make sure to keep the budget in check (the sequel shouldn't have to cost anywhere near as much). Actually advertise the game and release a demo that isn't complete ass and i could see a sequel selling a decent bit more.
 

Biggzy

Member
They never expected 1 million in Japan. IIRC the hoping for one million thing was just a comment by someone working on the game or something not a formal expectation of the company. It would be ridiculous to expect the game to sell a million in Japan. I think the only PS3 games that have are RE5 and FFXIII.

GT5 surely has sold a million in Japan?
 

LuchaShaq

Banned
RE was a new IP?


I really think RE:ORC will hurt RE:6 sales.

The only two people I know that bought it only really buy COD and then one sports game a year/one random game every few months. They both have liked RE for a long time but both of their reactions after trading it in to gamestop within a month was essentially that they assumed the new RE was going to be really bad.
 
Very surprising. You would have expected a GT title to break the 1 million barrier.

The original sold like 2.5 million i think but it has steadily lost popularity since then. Each release has sold like 700K less than its predecessor (except 3 which i think sold better than 2).

It's nowhere near the big franchise it once was in Japan. Actually same goes for the US, it has mostly become just a big franchise in europe.
 

Biggzy

Member
The original sold like 2.5 million i think but it has steadily lost popularity since then. Each release has sold like 700K less than its predecessor (except 3 which i think sold better than 2).

It's nowhere near the big franchise it once was in Japan. Actually same goes for the US, it has mostly become just a big franchise in europe.

I guess you learn something new every day.
 
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