NPD December 2007

[patsu]

It comes down to how you play it and if you enjoy that kind of game. I happened to love it, I certainly had way more fun with AC than R&C and Uncharted demos. I don't think it's a big mystery why it sold so well.

Looking at its first day sale, it seems that AC sold really well initially based on its concept, artwork and marketing (There is no AC demo). I think many gamers are attracted to open gameplay, macho game characters, and aggressive theme (assassination). AC doesn't have any online mode; it was also criticized by some for being short but that didn't stop it from making the chart.

 

[Vic]

depends on how you look at it i guess. if you're looking at the PS3 numbers with the strong PS2 numbers in mind, way back when it was the console king, then yeah, the PS3 numbers are a huge disappointment. but for a lot of us, were past all of that... we've accepted the fact there is much stronger competition now, and our expectations for PS3 sales were met. relative to its direct competition though (the 360), i wouldn't say the PS3 did too bad. as for software sales, specifically Sony exclusive software sales, yeah they are a little disappointing. but i wouldn't call it a "disaster", but to each his own.

PS3 sales are not good, but they're not a 'disaster'.

As someone mentioned, the disappointing thing has been the delays. After seeing KZ2 IN 2005, I would have expected to see it by now, and the same goes with GT. As it is, we're waiting till September and March respectively. Having said that, Sony has room to improve its US position in way I dont see possible for the 360 in Europe and Japan. Devil May Cry will make a big impact in Japan, and likewise with GT in Europe, while MGS4 should help both markets. I do think Sony has struggled with making 'US-centric' games which is partly why it has struggled. Lets hope they hurry with Resistance 2, KZ2 and SOCOM! Having said that, I dont see the console flopping Gamecube style, because it has too many exclusives from what, 15 internal studio's?

 

[betan]

If 360 owners ate RPGs for breakfast, wouldn't Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon, etc have done a lot better?

Well, to be honest I had WRPGs in mind (and unfortunately the only one I know is Oblivion).
Fortunately though those two aren't considered AAA by most (save Scooby ), so it may very well be RPG in general.

You also seem to forget that Mass Effect had a LOT of competition for gaming dollars on the 360.

I also forgot to play the totally useless "busiest month" card...
You, however, seem to forget we are comparing to Uncharted so only differences matter.

Anyway, if it wasn't clear I don't think any of them bombed, certainly not Mass Effect.
I'm merely pointing out the bias of some's perception filters when it comes to PS3 software sales expectations.

And of course it has nothing to do with poor hardware sales (and relatedly poor total software sales).

 

[Asher]

I also forgot to play the totally useless "busiest month" card...
You, however, seem to forget we are comparing to Uncharted so only differences matter.

You don't think the competition from other games on the PS3 differs greatly from the competition from other games on the 360 in Fall/Winter 07?

 

[Arwin]

Your 1-4 would be way off-base for me, however, your Crackdown assertion would be accurate in my case, I love Crackdown and I hate Assassins Creed. But really, Crackdown, no marketing push, it had the Halo 3 beta in it and a little bird told me that Halo 3 might be a popular game

Ok, so it was pushed to people who wanted to get into the Halo 3 beta. And sure enough, that put the game on the map somewhat. But that also meant that a lot of people who bought Crackdown weren't even primarily interested in Crackdown. On the other hand, one of my colleagues bought a PS3 because he couldn't wait for the PC version of Assassin's Creed. For AC, the marketing push was all for the game as the main feature.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

The performance of the PS3 is not disastrous

It's been on the market for more than a year. Right now the hardware is still making a loss. This loss should be offset by profits from 1st and 3rd party software - however, most 1st party games are also making a loss right now. This results in the console making huge losses altogether, 1 year into its lifetime, with the smallest install base that's increasing at a very slow rate.

We also know that the PS3 has to cover the investment in Cell, and most of the investment in Bluray.

I don't know what else you can call this, but a disaster...

Edit: OK, it could be worse.

 

[AlNom]

Anyway, if it wasn't clear I don't think any of them bombed, certainly not Mass Effect.
I'm merely pointing out the bias of some's perception filters when it comes to PS3 software sales expectations.

Thank you for clarifying, I was just about to say... at least Mass Effect is a lot closer to recouping development costs if it hasn't already.

(in the first two weeks of sales, ME was pegged at about 1M sales world wide. It's probably closer to 2M by now WW.)

 

[Carl B]

It was the holiday season and tonights MC is the first post holiday season. Everyone is down the PS3 is back to 38k again. Also the PS3 puts hardly and games in the top 30 let alone top 10 of the MC. Until the PS3 starts moving software in japan it is basically meaningless except for WW number padding.

my source for MC numbers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228836

Christmas is not the 'holiday season' in Japan per se; it's a holiday season, but their big spending-related holiday is in May.

That said, when you say "back" to 38k/week, that's still ~160k/month, which is still IMO pretty good for the island nation.

Is that apologizing ? The game was launched on Dec 11th...

Seriously; all this "making excuses" talk is a little annoying. Frankly I think these explanations not only are valid, certainly no one is trying to refute them either, save to wave them off. There are ery real reasons for why these games don't catch fire, and I would point again to the performance vs the PC to draw that distinction. I haven't read anyone here making excuses for why 360 sales are so good, right? Which in my mind would be something occurring on the PS3 side if folk were in denial or the stages of grief.

We also know that the PS3 has to cover the investment in Cell, and most of the investment in Bluray.

Well, you're incorrect to bring those two into it though. The business segments are silo'd off from one another; SCE needs only to worry about its own losses and profitability. It's up to semiconductors and optical to worry about themselves. Investments in business are made from ongoing operations - the expense of Cell and BD development was long ago, and as far as BD goes I think PS3 has already fulfilled its intended purpose.

 

[valioso]

Mass Effect sold 1M in the US Uncharted has sold 200k, why are those games being compared?

this thread is about USA sales isn't it?

 

[JardeL]

Right now the hardware is still making a loss.

I don't think 40GB version's making a loss at the moment in PAL regions , 400 Euros = $585 ...

 

[AlNom]

Mass Effect sold 1M in the US Uncharted has sold 200k, why are those games being compared?

Both are/were
1) New IP
2) Platform Exclusives, published by respective console companies
3) Released during the same time period.

 

[Mboojigga]

we all knew the games that were coming for the PS3 and that a new 40GB SKU was coming... but who honestly thought the PS3 would outsell the 360 this holiday season, especially in the US... by far MS' strongest market? again, i'm not saying this was a successful holiday season... i'm just saying that Sony did all they could, and it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. their numbers aren't particularly good, but they aren't terrible imo.

i know Japan isn't nearly as significant as US and PAL... thats why i listed it last. my point was, combined ww holiday sales are probably not far from the 360's. but i guess thats getting OT.

What is surprising to me is that with all the price cuts, 40 gig sku that they didn't beat Dec 06 360 sales of 1.1 million.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I don't think 40GB version's making a loss at the moment in PAL regions , 400 Euros = $585 ...

It probably means that EU is a loss, but US is an even bigger loss - for all manufacturers...

 

[iceberg187]

What is surprising to me is that with all the price cuts, 40 gig sku that they didn't beat Dec 06 360 sales of 1.1 million.

I work in marketing. This is what I've been able to surmise about the 80GB/40GB situation. Backwards compatibility may be trivial for some people and as a product gets older, we are used to it getting cheaper, more efficient and normally with more bells and whistles than the people who purchased it around launch date. When I upgraded to this generation, I kept 2 Xbox games, 4 Gamecube games, and 11 PS2 games.. Just the novelty of putting a PS2 game in from time to time is nice. When you remove a functionality that has always been considered a given, it makes people pause. You all should seriously see the look of horror on someone's face when they first find out the 40GB does not play PS2 games.

Also, Crackdown sold 1.5 million and only 750k entered the beta, so at least 750k bought it for it's own merits.

 

[Crossbar]

Having said that, I dont see the console flopping Gamecube style, because it has too many exclusives from what, 15 internal studio's?

Yeah, the comparison to the GamaCube situation is flawed on so many level, so I honestly can´t understand that people keep bringing it up.
The price has of the PS3 has for most of the time been more than 50 % above the competition, the feature set is different as well with standard harddrive and hd media among other things.
The GameCube was a different beast compared to its competition, it didn´t even have DVD playback.

 

[iceberg187]

Looking at its first day sale, it seems that AC sold really well initially based on its concept, artwork and marketing (There is no AC demo). I think many gamers are attracted to open gameplay, macho game characters, and aggressive theme (assassination). AC doesn't have any online mode; it was also criticized by some for being short but that didn't stop it from making the chart.

That's because UBI pulled off of the best marketing strategies ever in gaming. Not talking about the commercials because those were brilliant as well, but just parading Jade out there as PR was very smart.

 

[Arwin]

It probably means that EU is a loss, but US is an even bigger loss - for all manufacturers...

The 40GB supposedly costs 399 to make (some hints of that in a recent article again on drop of costs from 800 to 400). Do you have any better figures? Any reasons to believe that it's way higher than 399?

 

[Dr. Nick]

Demos can prove to be destructive. If you have doubt that your game will sell then it makes sense to release one but if you do it better be good. Even then you are taking a risk. I can see why a big IP for the company would not have one. There are exceptions like the Halo 3 beta and COD4 beta but those are both from tried and true franchises.

 

[fearsomepirate]

I remember the stages of grief with Gamecube:

1. Denial - "Nintendo's just waiting to unveil its online plan. It'll bounce back when RE0 hits. The drop to $99 will surely bring back Square! Etc."
2. Anger - "#*@! 3rd parties! Release a #*@! decent game, and maybe it will sell! $#*@ Nintendo! Why did you wait so long to release the Platinum model and kill off the Network Adapter?"
3. Bargaining - "Guys, let's start an online petition to bring MGS3 to Cube!"
4. Depression - "I wish I'd never bought a Gamecube. I wasted so much money on this thing when I should have bought a PS2 all along."
5. Acceptance - "Well, it pretty much bombed, but we had some good times."

Playstation fans will get there eventually.

 

[Arwin]

Funny, for a moment there I thought you described the Wii, except that's selling by the truckloads. It just goes to show, it's hard to draw meaningful paralels.