NPD July 2007

[RobertR1]

Doh! You should have know as Madden has always been a social game. I love to invite friends over to play som Madden. Given the ammount of trashing talking we do its amazing we even get through one game of it I guess what I am saying is you could have secertly played Bioshock with them not knowing about it...

haha I was kidding. I'll still be playing madden with them at their place. Also we do most of our trash talking in Fight Night. Some came close to real fights!!!

 

[Tap In]

August NA NPD preview is out

Madden 1.9M
Bioshock 600k
NCAA 300k
Guitar Hero Encore 300k
Boogie 150k
Stuntman + Moto GP 100k (combined)

Our views for console hardware sales are as follows:
Wii 420,000
PS3 150,000
Xbox 360 240,000
PS2 225,000
PSP 210,000
DS 400,000
GBA 75,000

 

[TheChefO]

August NA

Interesting.

With all the hype (well deserved) I figured Bioshock would be moving more units. I've heard they are pushing more commercials lately though so it may help push sales above the 1m mark. If any title deserves commercial success, it's Bioshock.

I figure their predicted hardware numbers are close. 360 may lag behind a bit, but with two nice games coming so close together along with the soon to be released Halo3 and the recent price drop, it may surprise and hit close to the 250k mark. I'm thinking somewhere between 200 and 250k.

ps3 I figure to be right around the 140-150k mark.

Wii, impossible to tell. How many did they manage to ship?

 

[aselto]

Pachter was as much as 40% (or maybe even more) off with his predictions in past, I would wait for actual NPD numbers.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Interesting.

With all the hype (well deserved) I figured Bioshock would be moving more units. I've heard they are pushing more commercials lately though so it may help push sales above the 1m mark. If any title deserves commercial success, it's Bioshock.

The thing about Bioshock while a great game it's missing multiplayer, which X360/Live people care a lot about. There is also the fact that there is a certain creepiness to the whole game that might turn some people off. It's kind of a niche title that will sell a million + copies because it's so brilliant, but not a traditional AAA game IMO.

 

[22psi]

Interesting.

With all the hype (well deserved) I figured Bioshock would be moving more units.

In its defense it was released on Aug 21st (with a few places breaking street dates). 600k isn't bad for about 2 weeks worth of sales

 

[Laa-Yosh]

600K (if the prediction turns out to be correct...) is indeed a very good number, especially if you consider how poorly System Shock2 sold despite the critical praise.

 

[AzBat]

600K (if the prediction turns out to be correct...) is indeed a very good number, especially if you consider how poorly System Shock2 sold despite the critical praise.

Not sure where the New York Times got their number, but they're saying 2 million copies shipped. I guess we might find out Monday.

Take-Two is not expected to release sales figures until Monday, but industry estimates indicate that the company has already shipped almost two million copies of the game.

Tommy McClain

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Shipped does not equal sold; and Bioshock is clearly a game that'll be successful in all markets. People in Europe don't really buy Madden games, for example

 

[AzBat]

Shipped does not equal sold; and Bioshock is clearly a game that'll be successful in all markets. People in Europe don't really buy Madden games, for example

Agreed, but how many times do game publishers talk about shipped numbers? I thought most of the time they only talk about sold. Makes since to talk about shipped for the big 3, but not for games. Anyway, should find out Monday.

Tommy McClain

 

[thatdude90210]

Interesting, so what went right for Bioshock that went wrong for Systemshock 2, marketing wise? It definitely benefited from the XBL demo (and from being on the 360). The online buzz was amazing afterwards.

Some people who weren't interested in the game initially suddenly became interested... others who were interested suddenly didn't just want to play it, but wanted more. I'm sure I wasn't the only one that changed their pre-order from a regular edition to a collector's edition.

And the brilliant tv ad... sure it was CGI, but so well crafted to show off their world. I'm still seeing the tv ads now, almost three weeks after it's release. That usually means it's a big hit and they want to continue its momentum (I'm pretty sure they do that in the movie world - conversely, if a movie bombs, the ads pretty much stops the very weekend it's released). I remember Dead rising getting the funds for second round of ads after it became a surprise hit. So how long the ads continues might be an indication of how big a hit it is.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I'd risk to say, that its all about the graphics. SS2 hasn't been on the bleeding edge, even though it had a nice illustration-like nonphotoreal style; but Bioshock is clearly among the top 10 best looking games at the moment. Games with good graphics tend so sell well enough, if they're good games as well then it'll only boost sales even further.

And the amount of marketing may also be a factor, SS2 had virtually none.

 

[Acert93]

And the creepiness is a factor that may slow sales. Likewise no multiplayer on the 360 and PC is something that will cause many gamers to think about the purchase a little more.

 

[Arwin]

Yep. I'd like to add though that System Shock 2, being a critical success, has also added to the credibility of the game and the attention it has gotten in the press.

And yes, this is very likely a game I will never play. I like it's art style, but in general it disgusts me. Probably would have enjoyed an adventure game in this kind of environment a lot more.

 

[liolio]

When I see this this chart, I tend to think that the match in USA is mostly over.

Nintendo won and MS will be an healthy second, at this rate Sony will be marginalized soon...
This christmas we will just see how bigN and MS relate to each other (ie short lead for bigN or landslide victory, heroes anybody? )
Am I the only one?

Edit and it's not a troll... i say that for those who will try to derail this thread... I know they will...sadly...

 

[dobwal]

Agreed, but how many times do game publishers talk about shipped numbers? I thought most of the time they only talk about sold. Makes since to talk about shipped for the big 3, but not for games. Anyway, should find out Monday.

Tommy McClain

Shipped equal sold for pubs. Games aren't sold to retail on consignment.

 

[liolio]

Shipped equal sold for pubs. Games aren't sold to retail on consignment.

Are 600.000 copies for the 360 only or pc+360?

Anyway the game seems also successful in Europe.

2millions copies shipped don't seem out of this world (satriani leave my body ).

 

[AzBat]

Interesting, so what went right for Bioshock that went wrong for Systemshock 2, marketing wise? It definitely benefited from the XBL demo (and from being on the 360). The online buzz was amazing afterwards.

System Shock 2 came out during a different time and era(1999). It's success was hurt by lack of any marketing. It had great reviews, but considering it was out during the Quake 2 and Half-Life era it's not surprising it was overlooked. Add to the fact that it was more than just a simple shooter and didn't have any multiplayer to speak of(unheard of with PC FPS games at the time). Anyway, it was more of combo of RPG and shooter, so the interface was more complicated. Ken Levine mentioned that they learned some lessons from that and that's why it was more geared to playing with a gamepad. I thinking dumbing down the controls and interface helped tremendously. Having much better marketing, better visuals, different/intriguing story, great word of mouth, a kick ass demo right before it shipped and released in a lull right before Halo 3 were all major contributors to its success.

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

Forgot to add this Games Developer Magazine post-mortem article about System Shock 2.

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/19991207/chey_pfv.htm

Tommy McClain

 

[Laa-Yosh]

To be honest some of the gameplay elements of SS2 were more of an annoyance then joy. Having to constantly monitor and manage weapon wear, many different kinds of resources (nanites, upgrade modules, repair stuff, many different kinds of ammo) meant a level of complexity that's beyond even most strategy games, not to mention a shooter/rpg hybrid. Stripping them down was a good idea, gameplay depth does not require such complexity, you can rely on a few elements' complex interactions instead.