NPD June 2018

[Silent_Buddha]

Taking a break from Yakuza 0.

https://venturebeat.com/2018/08/01/...nnis-aces-serves-up-a-smash-hit-for-nintendo/

• PS4 top console for the month and year (revenue).
• XBO is up almost 100% YoY (revenue).
• NSW is up more than 50% YoY (revenue).
• NES classic sold the most consoles for the month. (unit sales. PS4 had higher sales revenue.)

“This is the first time a Nintendo Entertainment System console has led in monthly unit sales since NPD tracking began in 1995,” said Piscatella.

Obviously referring to the NES classic as Nintendo has previously led monthly console unit sales with the Wii.

I don't go to Resetera, I'm sure they probably have more accurate numbers than what's in the VentureBeat article.

Software

1. Mario Tennis Aces*
2. God of War 2018
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. The Crew 2
5. Far Cry 5
6. Mario Kart 8*
7. LEGO Incredibles
8. FIFA 18**
9. Crash Bandicoot: N. Sane Trilogy
10. Detroit: Become Human
11. Super Mario Odyssey*
12. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*
13. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege
14. NBA 2K18
15. Call of Duty: WWII
16. MLB 18: The Show
17. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
18. Vampyr*
19. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze*
20. State of Decay 2

Nintendo was again the top software publisher for the month even without digital sales being tracked. And the NSW was the only platform to see YoY growth in software sales.

“Nintendo Switch was the only platform that produced software sales growth in June, with dollar sales more than doubling those of June 2017,” said Piscatella. “Year-to-date software sales on Nintendo Switch are also more than double those of a year ago.”

Best selling games of 2018

1. Far Cry 5
2. God of War 2018
3. Monster Hunter: World
4. Call of Duty: WWII
5. Dragon Ball: Fighterz
6. Grand Theft Auto V
7. Mario Kart 8*
8. NBA 2K18
9. MLB 18: The Show
10. Super Mario Odyssey*

Best selling games of the past 12 months.

1. Call of Duty: WWII
2. NBA 2K18
3. Destiny 2**
4. Madden NFL 18
5. Super Mario Odyssey*
6. Far Cry 5
7. Star Wars: Battlefront II 2017**
8. Grand Theft Auto V
9. Assassin’s Creed: Origins
10. God of War 2018

GoW 2018 continues to perform very well, and has now cracked the top 10 of the past 12 months. Well deserved. I imagine it should stay there for a while and will likely climb a few more spots.

Game cards hit all-time high sales...

Likely a side effect or indicator that more and more people are moving to buying their titles digitally. Also, probably benefiting from Fortnite's popularity.

Regards,
SB

 

[Shifty Geezer]

NES Classic is more a toy than a console. Don't feel it should be grouped with the other, real, consoles

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

That's like saying whatever crappy movie that happened to be a big hit shouldn't be counted in the stats.

The (s)NES mini is a console. And it's not like other consoles are anything more than a toy. It's entertainment, not bringing world piece.

Anyway Nintendo must laughing their ass of they manage to sell so much of them. The % of profit must be huge on them.

Good to see switch and it's software is selling well too.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

That's like saying whatever crappy movie that happened to be a big hit shouldn't be counted in the stats.

No, because a crappy movie is still a movie by the same definition. The consoles that make up the industry consist of a base unit and ongoing software sales, which these S/NES devices don't. Ergo, they shouldn't be classified as the same thing, otherwise all these are consoles too, and Amazon has them listed in the wrong place (electronic games) instead of alongside Switch in the PC and Video Games department...



These NPD numbers are going to be compared year-on-year to see if the console industry is growing or not. Unless one believes NES Classic sales eat into part of the market (money is diverted from video game and PS4/XB1/NSW sales), they are supplementary to and shouldn't be included in YOY comparisons.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Maybe they are. According to the dictionary a game console is a device who's primary function is to play games.

All those devices match that definition.

Anyway this is a pointless discuss so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I'm not talking dictionary definition - I'm talking meaningful business definition when trying to report on the size of the market. If for five years we have consecutive 8% YOY growth for XB, PS and NintendoWhatever, and then one year console units sales jump up 40% because of a $40 Chinese nicknack selling lots, and then next year we see a slump of >30% because that nicknack was a once off, the stats become polluted. You then have to start filtering them in forming reports. They should be filtered in the data gathering stage to keep them consistent and meaningful.

It becomes even more important when there are no numbers and only relative statements. Imagine the statement "MS had the most console unit sales this year" without clarifying whether that was their XBox line of consoles or their $15 Halo LCD handheld that comes with exclusive DLC unlocks in Halo Infinity.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Stats don't become polluted. Not if you are using anything other than a basic Excel sheet anyway. It's really not a problem to enrich your data at ingestion and later on easily filter between various types of consoles, companies, etc.

If any having more sales data is only better because it will give you access to various statistics such as do these "non consoles" grow the market, take away from the "real" consoles, do they continue to sell well or do they have a short life span etc.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

What does that matter to software developers if they can't release software on these boxes? As closed systems, they are more akin to a game sale or compendium than a console. A sale of Zelda nets Nintendo $40 or whatever. A sale of a Switch console nets hundreds of dollars over several years due to ongoing software sales. A sale of a Switch represents one more console user for publishers to target. A sale of a NES Classic nets Nintendo $40 or whatever and doesn't grow their long-term income or the software market for devs.

I'm not against reporting the data, but it doesn't fit in with the other systems. It's clearly a different animal. If you go this route, you'd have to include Smart TVs and STBs capable of playing games as consoles sold.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I'm not against reporting the data, but it doesn't fit in with the other systems. It's clearly a different animal. If you go this route, you'd have to include Smart TVs and STBs capable of playing games as consoles sold.

I get your argument on the worthiness of whether a one off console without ongoing game sales should be included or not.

However, the quoted statement doesn't support that unless those Smart TVs and STBs are purchased and marketed as primarily a gaming device.

PC's would be a closer analog, but those aren't included in NPD hardware sales as they aren't marketed primarily as a gaming console (or device). IE - many PCs can play games, but most PCs aren't purchased in order to play games.

Hence PC game sales are tracked (purely gaming industry related) but PCs aren't tracked.

The devices from this post of yours...

View attachment 2640

Might be tracked, but their sales are likely so low as to not be worth mentioning in a public NPD release. In the purchased NPD reports, they are likely grouped and reported as "Other".​

Regards,
SB

 

[Rangers]

Final solid hardware estimates in (it appears our NPD leaker is MIA for now, so back to parametrics) https://www.resetera.com/threads/np...box-switch-up-yoy.59326/page-35#post-11278412

Here are the results I've gotten from parametric analysis of the prediction league for June's hardware. Please keep in mind that these numbers are not based on any access to the actual NPD results, so they should in no way be taken as definitive. It should be noted that this month the range of possible values is much more tightly constrained than normal. So the probable accuracy of these parametric estimations is unusually high. But they remain estimations, and other values are possible.

For June, Switch was between 320 and 324k, with the upper end more likely due to constraints stated outside the parametric. Xbox One was between 256 and 260k, but this is not free to vary; the higher Switch is, the lower Xbox should be. A result at the bottom end is thus likely, given our assumption of a high Switch. PS4 was between 375 and 379k, with even probability distribution. Therefore, what I'd suggest as the most grounded estimate is this:

June 2018 NPD
PS4: 377k
SWI: 323k
XB1: 256k

Gen over gen comparison is getting really tough for One vs 360 right now as this is where 360 really started to shine. Did ~452k in June 2010. One's total gen over gen lead is now just ~953,000 (by what imperfect NPD we have anyway).

It's getting more likely locked in where 360 will finally overtake One gen over gen, it's strongly looking like December or even November this year. As there are several upcoming months where 360 could gain 200,000+. Such as July where 360 did over 400k again and One likely wont come close to that.

 

[Nesh]

That's like saying whatever crappy movie that happened to be a big hit shouldn't be counted in the stats.

The (s)NES mini is a console. And it's not like other consoles are anything more than a toy. It's entertainment, not bringing world piece.

Anyway Nintendo must laughing their ass of they manage to sell so much of them. The % of profit must be huge on them.

Good to see switch and it's software is selling well too.

Do we really believe that a NES mini is considered a competitor to PSs, XBOXs, PCs or a replacement to Switch?
If that was the case Nintendo would have thought twice about rereleasing SNES and NES as they would have cannibalized their other efforts that bring in the bigger money and ensure the longevity of the brand and guarantee investment in future products. The NES and SNES mini can be brought in to the discussion as unique cases but it is not useful to compare and contrast. The major importance of the NPD discussion is how the major competitors share the market pie and how they expand that specific market.
The NES and SNES re releases exist in their own bubble.