Nintendo Business/Sales Discussion

[Will]

I've just looked at the attach rates for the best selling PS2 games compared to the best selling Wii games. As far as games like Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii are concerned the attach rates are much higher than that of the best selling PS2 software.

 

Based on a like-for-like period of time or just current figures? It isn't necessarily a good thing to have 1 or 2 games with high attach rates if it's to the detriment of other software.

 

Looking at Dante's figures they don't add up at all, at a guess: European ones are some sort of software calculation, US are Hardware of some sort and I've no idea on the Japanese ones as I don't deal with that area. Where are the figures taken from?

[Zechs Merquise]

Based on a like-for-like period of time or just current figures? It isn't necessarily a good thing to have 1 or 2 games with high attach rates if it's to the detriment of other software.

 

Looking at Dante's figures they don't add up at all' date=' at a guess: European ones are some sort of software calculation, US are Hardware of some sort and I've no idea on the Japanese ones as I don't deal with that area. Where are the figures taken from?[/quote']

 

Well that's where you're wrong, the Wii has had 42 games sell over 1 million copies! The 360 has had 63 and the PS3 just 25. So really for a console with such mass market penetration that apparently no one plays after a week of owning it, software sales aren't too bad

 

What's more, certain big franchises like Guitar Hero WT and Sonic Unleashed have sold better on the Wii than on the 360/PS3.

[darksnowman]

Well that's where you're wrong, the Wii has had 42 games sell over 1 million copies!

 

List wars are annoying, but I don't suppose you could list those 42 games? You've got me curious! Or even post a link to your source or something.

[jammy2211]

He got them off of VGChartz if you go to the million sellers list for the 'world'.

 

The list is a sorry sight for third parties lol. Albeit it does hold some hope.

[darksnowman]

Thanks man, I'm looking at it now.

[Hero-of-Time]

Here's the link for those who want a look.

 

http://www.vgchartz.com/worldtotals.php?name=&console=Wii&publisher=&sort=Total

[Will]

Well that's where you're wrong

 

About what?

 

Looking at those million seller lists is interesting but it highlights the Nintendo dominance on both Wii and DS, which goes some way to highlight 3rd party reluctance to back the system as much as many people on here would like.

 

It doesn't help that we're using VGChartz for this, their figures are absolute rubbish.

[Zechs Merquise]

He got them off of VGChartz if you go to the million sellers list for the 'world'.

 

The list is a sorry sight for third parties lol. Albeit it does hold some hope.

 

About what?

 

Looking at those million seller lists is interesting but it highlights the Nintendo dominance on both Wii and DS' date=' which goes some way to highlight 3rd party reluctance to back the system as much as many people on here would like.

 

It doesn't help that we're using VGChartz for this, their figures are absolute rubbish.[/quote']

 

Well, yes and no. There are 25 million sellers (more than half) from third parties. So it ain't all bad.

 

What's more, there are mature games in there, and guess what - they're the ones that have been advertised. Games like MP3, RE4, REUC and Red Steel were all advetised by Nintendo. Hence they sold! Some games disappear on the Wii, but a lot of that is down to a lack of promotion - people ain't going t buy what they don't know exists!

[Shino]

About what?

 

Looking at those million seller lists is interesting but it highlights the Nintendo dominance on both Wii and DS' date=' which goes some way to highlight 3rd party reluctance to back the system as much as many people on here would like.

 

It doesn't help that we're using VGChartz for this, their figures are absolute rubbish.[/quote']

 

Ok, I don't get that comparison, why would anyone compare to Nintendo on its own console? Not only are they one of the best developers in the entire gaming industry, its they're own damn system, everyone knows what Nintendo is and that it equaly to games. Its like those people saying that PC gaming is dying but then you look at Blizzard or Valve and they're swimming in money, there's developers and there's Developers.

[jammy2211]

Well, yes and no. There are 25 million sellers (more than half) from third parties. So it ain't all bad.

 

What's more, there are mature games in there, and guess what - they're the ones that have been advertised. Games like MP3, RE4, REUC and Red Steel were all advetised by Nintendo. Hence they sold! Some games disappear on the Wii, but a lot of that is down to a lack of promotion - people ain't going t buy what they don't know exists!

 

To me it shows that third parties need recogniseable brands on the Wii - Sonic, Resdient Evil, Star Wars, High School Musical, Sims etc. They're all household names, and it would appear that most the Wii userbase will only buy what it can recognise.

 

Advertising is important but if you're going to advertise a game like Nintendo do a million sales isn't really a good return for the risk you're putting in, and it seems most third parties will struggle to go beyond that. Equally if it allows you to make a recogniseable brand but not get strong profits initially then it's worth it - See what EA are doing with the MySims brand.

 

I'm eagerly anticipating to see how the major publishers will tackle the Wii in the upcoming years, from what I've seen the best approach for the big publishers is get a strong brand and then milk it for all it's worth. Sonic says hi.

[Dante]

Gamasutra's December 2008 US NPD Article

 

[in a Gamasutra-exclusive analysis, we analyze U.S. game hardware and software numbers for the whole of 2008, discovering surprising multi-year growth comparisons and marketshare changes.]

 

The United States videogame market grew to $21.3 billion in 2008 according to industry figures released by the NPD Group on Thursday of last week. That marks a nearly 19% increase over the previous record of $18.0 billion set in 2007 and a doubling of annual revenue since 2005.

 

Yet, as industry analyst Anita Frazier noted in comments which accompanied the NPD Group's release, “This is not a case of the rising tide lifting all boats.”

 

As the figures detailed below will demonstrate, “the increases are not being enjoyed equally by all manufacturers and publishers.”

Hardware Unit Sales

 

For yet another month Nintendo's two platforms – the Wii console and the Nintendo DS handheld – dominated hardware sales.

 

While the 2.15 million Wii systems sold in December was well below many analyst estimates, it was still far ahead of the competition and up 59% year-on-year. For the year, Wii system sales increased to 10.2 million, up from 6.3 million in 2007.

 

Over 3 million Nintendo DS handhelds were sold during December, and annual DS sales are now as follows:

 

 

Nintendo's December DS tally was an industry record for monthly sales of a system in a single month and a 23% year-on-year increase from December 2007. (The previous single-month hardware sales record was 2.7 million systems by Sony's PlayStation 2 in December 2002.)

 

As for the competition, Sony controls two consoles, the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, as well as a handheld, the PlayStation Portable.

 

During its eighth full calendar year on the market, 2.5 million PS2 systems were sold, down 36% from 3.9 million in the prior year. Monthly sales in December 2008 fell an even sharper 63% to 410,000.

 

Here's Gamasutra's specially compiled yearly hardware sales for all systems for 2007 and 2008:

 

 

Conversely, the PS3 increased its annual sales from 2.6 million systems to 3.5 million for 2008, somewhat offsetting the loss of PS2 sales. However, PS3 sales for the final month of the year were actually down from 798,000 units in 2007 to 726,000 units in 2008.

 

Sales of the PSP handheld were flat year-on-year at 3.8 million units, making it the best selling of all three PlayStation systems in 2008.

 

The third platform holder, Microsoft, saw sales of its Xbox 360 console jump over 14% year-on-year for the month of December, from 1.26 million systems to 1.44 million systems.

 

However the Xbox 360 was only up from 4.6 million units during calendar year 2007 to 4.7 million during 2008. Without the dramatic increase in sales after Microsoft's August 2008 price drops, the system might well have recorded lower sales in 2008 than in 2007.

 

According to Sony, over $2.5 billion in PlayStation hardware (PSP, PS2, and PS3) was sold in 2008, or around 32% of all hardware dollars for the year in the U.S..

 

With the drop in PlayStation 2 hardware sales and a drop in the average sale price (ASP) of PlayStation 3 hardware, it is possible that this dollar figure represents very modest increase from 2007 -- albeit a drop in percentage of marketshare.

 

By comparison, Nintendo sold nearly $2.5 billion in Wii hardware alone during 2008, with another $1.3 billion coming from the Nintendo DS.

 

Together, those platforms would account for almost 50% of all dollars spent on hardware for the year. Moreover, Nintendo hardware sales brought in at least $1 billion more in 2008 than in 2007.

 

As detailed in previous months, cuts in Xbox 360 hardware prices during August have significantly reduced the average sale price for the system.

 

We still estimate that the Xbox 360 accounted for more than $1.4 billion in hardware sales during 2008, and now averages around $275 at retail.

 

Given that the average sale price for the Xbox 360, lifetime to date through mid-2008, was over $375, Microsoft appears to have seen higher revenue from hardware in 2007.

Software Unit Sales

 

According to figures released by Michael Pachter, analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities, around 268 million units of console and handheld software were sold during 2008, up 15% from the prior year. On average, 8.5 units of software were sold per second in 2008.

 

 

Nintendo revealed in a recent press release that 132 million units of software were sold for its systems during the year, or just over 49% of all software units sold in 2008. Of that 132 million, we estimate that over 70 million were for the Nintendo Wii, and most of the remaining 60 million were on the Nintendo DS -- with a million or so on the Game Boy Advance.

 

The Wii software tie ratio appears to be approaching 6.0 games per system. Incidentally, Mr. Pachter noted that the Wii accounted for 37% of all software dollars in December 2008, surpassing the record set by the PlayStation 2 in December 2003.

 

Here's a look at the overall game sales by unit totals, split by hardware manufacturer in 2008, as compiled by Gamasutra from the above information:

 

 

Interestingly, Microsoft has often touted the Xbox 360 software tie ratio in its press releases, but declined to do so for December 2008.

 

While it is often logically dubious to base a conclusion on a lack of information, the absence of a comment from Microsoft and the constant 8.1 tie ratio from September through November leads one to suspect that the system's tie ratio may have remained constant or even dropped slightly in December.

 

Assuming that the tie ratio did remain constant, Microsoft would have sold around 12 million units of software in December, and in the neighborhood of 48-49 million units of Xbox 360 software for all of 2008, up from around 41 million units in 2007.

 

According to software sales figures from Sony, it appears that more than 27 million PS3 software units were sold in 2008, or more than double the 12.5 million PS3 software units we estimate they sold in 2007.

 

With approximately 41 million units of software launch-to-date (LTD), an average 6.0 units of software have been sold per PlayStation 3 system. The remaining 57 million units of software are primarily for the PlayStation 2, with some lesser fraction for the PSP.

 

According to NPD figures, U.S. consumers spent $10.9 billion on software for consoles and handhelds in 2008, an increase of 26% from the previous year.

 

Sony has stated that $3.2 billion of software for PlayStation-branded systems was sold during the 2008. Moreover, Microsoft's figures suggest that around $2.7 billion was sold for its Xbox 360 during 2008.

 

Those figures therefore suggest that Nintendo sold around $4.8-$4.9 billion in software during 2008.

 

The numbers are consistent with Wii software having an average selling price between $40 and $50 and Nintendo DS software having an average selling price between $20 and $30.

 

Here are Gamasutra's estimated game sales for each manufacturer, by dollar amount, for the entirity of 2008.

 

As in the previous chart, this includes both first and third-party game sales:

 

Total Marketshare: Nintendo Wins

 

In January of 2008, a Nintendo press release claimed that Nintendo platforms were responsible for 60% of the industry's 43% growth rate from 2006 to 2007. Given that the industry had grown nearly $5.5 billion in that period, Nintendo was claiming about $3.3 billion year-on-year growth.

 

Last week Nintendo made a similar claim, and stated that it was responsible for 99% – or about $3.3 billion – of the industry's revenue growth in 2008. The claim about 2007 was remarkable, but to have produced 99% of the entire industry's growth the following year is just short of incredible.

 

Using data provided by Sony and Microsoft and Nintendo, we can begin to stitch together a full picture of just how the marketshare has changed from 2007 to 2008. The graphs tell the story, although the gory details are provided below.

 

First, here's the Gamasutra-compiled graph for the 2007 marketshare -- of the game hardware plus first and third party software plus first and third party accessories -- per platform owner.

 

(Remember that Nintendo's marketshare includes Wii, DS, and trace amounts of Game Boy Advance, Sony's includes PS2, PS3, and PSP, and Microsoft's includes Xbox 360 and trace amounts of Xbox):

 

Next, here is the graph for the 2008 U.S. marketshare, so we can see some of the notable changes occurring thanks to Nintendo's blockbuster year:

Here's the justification behind these numbers. According to Sony, its platforms accounted for $6.4 billion in all of 2008.

 

Moreover, for the January through November 2007 period, its platforms accounted for about $4.6 billion of industry revenue, with $1.5 billion more in hardware and software in December 2007. That makes for approximately $6.2 billion in revenue for 2007 after sales of accessories are factored in.

 

According to Microsoft, the Xbox 360 accounted for $4.8 billion in 2007, and after allowing for software sales for the original Xbox, we estimate it produced $5.1 billion in all of 2007.

 

Finally, using the known industry totals from 2007 and 2008 ($17.97 billion and $21.33 billion, respectively) we can estimate that Nintendo accounted for $6.7 billion in 2007 and Microsoft accounted for $4.9 billion in 2008.

 

The key observation here is that Microsoft's marketshare, both in dollars and in percentage, contracted marginally. While Sony's dollar share increased slightly, the total increase in the size of the industry actually resulted in a decrease in its percentage of the market.

 

All of that lost share, of course, has shifted to Nintendo's column, and the company now appears headed for a nearly 50% share of the market in terms of its own hardware and game sales, plus third parties selling merchandise for it.

 

Software Charts in Detail

 

Along with the industry revenue figures, the NPD Group also released two important charts: the top 10 games for December 2008 and the top 10 games for all of 2008.

 

To begin with we will examine December's top 10. Five familiar Nintendo Wii titles dominate leading software: Wii Play (#1), Wii Fit (#3), Mario Kart (#4), Guitar Hero: World Tour (#5), and Animal Crossing: City Folk (#10).

 

This marks Wii Play's 23rd straight month in the top 10 and, amazingly, its first appearance as the #1 selling title for any of those months. Wii Fit has been on the chart since May of this year and Mario Kart since April.

 

Guitar Hero: World Tour for the Wii debuted at #12 on the chart in October, but climbed into the top 10 in November and December. Animal Crossing makes its first appearance in the top 10 after just missing the list the previous month.

 

Here's the full countdown:

 

Note that all five of these Wii titles are closely associated with a peripheral pack-in. In the case of Guitar Hero and Wii Fit, the cost of that hardware also increases the price of the title significantly. (Critics will argue the same for Wii Play, which is admittedly an interesting case of bundling.)

 

Three of the remaining titles are for the Xbox 360 and also appeared in November's top 10: Call of Duty: World at War (#2), Gears of War 2 (#6), and Left 4 Dead (#7).

 

While the first two of those titles saw drops in sales going into December, the last one – Valve's Left 4 Dead – actually saw an increase of 116,000 units from its November figure.

 

The lone PlayStation 3 title in the top 10 (and, in fact, in the top 20) was Call of Duty: World at War. Regrettably for Sony's lead platform, sales for the PS3 version dropped more than the Xbox 360 version going from November to December.

 

Finally, it must be pointed out that Mario Kart for the Nintendo DS has returned to the top 10 chart at the #8 spot more than three years after it launched. According to Nintendo, the handheld racing title has thus far sold 4.3 million units in the United States alone.

 

Some well-known games did not make the top 10 or even the top 20 for December. In particular, Ubisoft's Prince of Persia did break into the individual platform top 10 lists for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. But it did not sell well enough on a single platform to crack the all-format top 20. (According to Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan, the game performed nearly twice as well as his 250,000 unit expectations for the month.)

 

Additionally, Tomb Raider: Underworld does not appear to have performed up to expectations. Moreover, neither Sony's Resistance 2 nor LittleBigPlanet cracked the top 20. Microsoft's Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts also appears to have missed the mark.

Top Software for 2008

 

According to the NPD Group, the top selling games (by units) were the following:

 

Several of the same titles which appeared on December's top 10 have also ranked as a top 10 selling games for the entire year.

 

Wii Play took the #1 spot and sold more copies in 2008 than it did in 2007. (Notably, its attach rate compared to Wii consoles is still higher than 50%, at least parly thanks to the packed-in Wiimote.) Follow Wii Play were Mario Kart for the Wii at #2, Wii Fit at #3, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl at #4.

 

The next nearest game, Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360, sold almost 900,000 copies fewer than Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Rounding out the top 10 were Call of Duty: World at War for the Xbox 360 (#6), Gears of War 2 (#7), the PlayStation 3 version of GTA4 (#8), Madden NFL 09 on the Xbox 360 (#9), and finally (and astoundingly) the relatively old Mario Kart for the Nintendo DS.

 

Even when these games are ranked by dollars generated, the top four titles (all for the Wii) will remain clustered as a group, with Wii Fit moving to the #1 spot, thanks to its premium pricing.

 

Conclusion: Historic Annual Industry Revenue

 

The industry has grown a tremendous amount in the past three years. It's true that the final total in 2008 did not reach the heights of $22-25 billion that many had thought possible.

 

But it must be stressed that the industry is still experiencing double digit growth, and has reason to be optimistic about the coming year.

 

This is even despite Gamasutra's additional analysis of 2008 numbers that shows only 10% year on year growth in the second half of 2008, the slowest since the first half of 2006.

 

To conclude, here's our in-depth graphical look at how the industry has grown from 2005 to 2008, with color-coded bars for each month.

 

It's easy to see the rapid growth of the industry via the following diagram:

 

 

At the end of 2008, the total installed base of current-generation consoles exceeded 38 million. That works out to roughly one console for each eight persons in the United States.

 

With that kind of penetration, the industry has a solid base on which to build future software sales - but not such a large penetration yet that growth might start becoming problematic.

 

To end, here's a Gamasutra-compiled graph showing the historical U.S. game industry revenues since 1997, plotted yearly:

 

As recently as 2004, the entire video game business in the United States was worth only $9.9 billion annually. Within four years, that figure has doubled.

 

While the industry may not break $25 billion in annual sales for 2009, given current economic conditions, it seems quite likely that it will do so by the end of 2010.

[Will]

Ok, I don't get that comparison, why would anyone compare to Nintendo on its own console? Not only are they one of the best developers in the entire gaming industry, its they're own damn system, everyone knows what Nintendo is and that it equaly to games. Its like those people saying that PC gaming is dying but then you look at Blizzard or Valve and they're swimming in money, there's developers and there's Developers.

 

Well that's kind of the point, once Nintendo take their share of sales there isn't much left to go round the 3rd parties. Add in the fact that cheap party games are working well on the system and its no surprise big budget games aren't really appearing.

 

The top top end of the PC market is fine, it's everythng else that causes concern.

[Dante]

Famitsu 2008 Sales

 

Top 100

01. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom) 2,452,111

02. [NDS] Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon) 2,187,337

03. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 2,149,131 / 2,967,297

04. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) 2,003,315

05. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) 1,747,113

06. [NDS] Rhythm Heaven (Nintendo) 1,350,671

07. [NDS] Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (Square Enix) 1,176,082

08. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) 895,302

09. [NDS] Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo) 855,427

10. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo) 841,736 / 3,306,470

 

11. [PS3] Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami) 686,254

12. [PSP] Dissidia: Final Fantasy (Square Enix) 660,262

13. [NDS] Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia (Pokemon) 636,777

14. [PSP] Phantasy Star Portable (Sega) 633,954

15. [NDS] Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) 628,143

16. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (Nintendo) 621,890 / 3,317,318

17. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo) 602,625 / 2,593,294

18. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) 599,621 / 1,832,265

19. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girl's Mode (Nintendo) 549,348

20. [PS2] Super Robot Taisen Z (Bandai Namco) 480,093

 

21. [NDS] Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken (Bandai Namco) 444,133

22. [NDS] Chrono Trigger (Square Enix) 433,988

23. [NDS] DS Bimoji Training (Nintendo) 425,272

24. [NDS] Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (Nintendo) 424,477

25. [PS2] Warriors Orochi 2 (Koei) 411,019

26. [NDS] New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo) 377,034 / 5,372,187

27. [NDS] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) 376,632

28. [PSP] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Gundam vs. Gundam (Bandai Namco) 357,783

29. [NDS] Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo) 338,531 / 4,852,053

30. [WII] Wii Music (Nintendo) 323,882

 

31. [PS3] Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom) 310,012

32. [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami) 297,896

33. [PS2] Persona 4 (Atlus) 294,214

34. [PSP] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 3 (Konami) 286,901

35. [NDS] Derby Stallion DS (Enterbrain) 286,682

36. [PS2] Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (Bandai Namco) 277,182

37. [PS3] Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! (Sega) 270,438

38. [WII] Mario Party 8 (Nintendo) 256,832 / 1,310,766

39. [NDS] Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (Nintendo) 252,309

40. [PSP] Gundam Battle Universe (Bandai Namco) 252,092

 

41. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Bandai Namco) 251,083

42. [NDS] Professor Layton and the Devil's Box (Level 5) 250,616 / 865,954

43. [NDS] Taiko no Tatsujin DS: Touch de Dokodon! (Bandai Namco) 245,829 / 524,827

44. [WII] Deca Sports (Hudson) 241,701

45. [NDS] Bokura wa Kaseki Holder (Nintendo) 240,176

46. [NDS] Little Magicians Magic Adventure (Konami) 233,449

47. [WII] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) 231,056 / 594,157

48. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2 (Capcom) 230,499 / 1,720,397

49. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven (Level 5) 229,011

50. [WII] Link's Crossbow Training (Nintendo) 227,621

 

51. [NDS] Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (Pokemon) 227,226 / 5,624,430

52. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue: Spec III (SCE) 223,837

53. [PS2] Dynasty Warriors 6 (Koei) 223,328 / 555,496

54. [NDS] Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness (Pokemon) 223,328 / 1,479,844

55. [PS2] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 15 (Konami) 213,551

56. [NDS] Tokoton Kanji Brain (IE Institute) 213,088 / 324,351

57. [WII] Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World (Bandai Namco) 212,408

58. [NDS] Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day (Nintendo) 209,812 / 939,125

59. [PS3] Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 (Bandai Namco) 206,438

60. [WII] Mario Super Sluggers (Nintendo) 204,553

 

61. [PS3] White Knight Chronicles (SCE) 203,033

62. [PS2] Pro Yakyuu Spirits 5 (Konami) 199,789

63. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, PSP the Best (Capcom) 199,117

64. [WII] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) 197,422 / 945,106

65. [PS2] J-League Winning Eleven 2008 Club Championship (Konami) 196,788

66. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom) 195,779

67. [PSP] Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (Konami) 190,140

68. [NDS] Dragon Ball DS (Bandai Namco) 185,229

69. [NDS] Brain Age 2 (Nintendo) 184,560 / 4,967,131

70. [NDS] Ganbaru Watashi no Kakei Diary (Nintendo) 180,563 / 550,022

 

71. [NDS] Tottadoo! Yoiko no Mujintou Seikatsu (Bandai Namco) 179,007

72. [NDS] Tales of Hearts: CG Movie Edition/Anime Movie Edition (Bandai Namco) 176,526

73. [NDS] Quiz Magic Academy (Konami) 175,636

74. [NDS] Final Fantasy IV (Square Enix) 175,388 / 622,475

75. [NDS] Ryuusei no RockMan 3: Black Ace/Red Joker (Capcom) 174,426

76. [PSP] Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui (Bandai Namco) 174,107

77. [PSP] Super Robot Taisen A Portable (Bandai Namco) 171,475

78. [PS3] Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (Bandai Namco) 163,010

79. [NDS] Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Level 5) 162,839 / 928,597

80. [PSP] Warriors Orochi (Koei) 162,403

 

81. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (Square Enix) 161,783 / 1,214,610

82. [360] Tales of Vesperia (Bandai Namco) 161,070

83. [NDS] SimCity DS 2: Kodai kara Mirai e Tsuduku Machi (EA) 159,245

84. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (Konami) 154,987

85. [NDS] Tamagotchi Kira Kira Omisecchi (Bandai Namco) 154,939

86. [NDS] Bokujou Monogatari: Kira Kira Taiyou to Nakama Tachi (Marvelous) 154,525

87. [PSP] Macross Ace Frontier (Bandai Namco) 149,131

88. [PSP] Yuusha no Namaikida 2 (SCE) 146,767

89. [NDS] Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard (Atlus) 145,421

90. [PSP] Star Ocean 2: Second Evolution (Square Enix) 143,424

 

91. [NDS] Nintendogs (Nintendo) 142,591 / 1,850,984

92. [PS2] Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut (Bandai Namco) 142,301

93. [PS3] Valkyria Chronicles (Sega) 141,589

94. [NDS] Brain Age (Nintendo 140,992 / 3,750,890

95. [PS2] Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi (Bandai Namco) 139,425

96. [NDS] Saka-Tsuku DS: Touch and Direct (Sega) 137,051

97. [NDS] Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume (Square Enix) 136,948

98. [PS2] Ryu ga Gotoku 2, PlayStation 2 the Best (Sega) 136,809 / 201,866

99. [NDS] Zaidan Houjin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kyoukai Kounin: KanKen DS 2 + Jouyou Kanji Jiten (Rocket Company) 136,750 / 297 873

100. [PS2] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami) 135,128 / 680,152

 

DS 47

Wii 15

PSP 15

PS3 10

PS2 12

360 1

 

DS - 26 third party games (Rocket Company, Square Enix, Konami, Bandai Namco, Level 5, Sega, Atlus, Marvelous, EA, Capcom, Enterbrain, IE Institute) - 21 Nintendo

PSP - 14 third party games (Capcom, Square Enix, Koei, Konami, Sega, Bandai Namco) - 1 SCEJ

PS2 - 12 third party games (Bandai Namco, Koei, Atlus, Konami, Sega) - 0 SCEJ

PS3 - 8 third party games (Capcom, Konami, Sega, Bandai Namco)- 2 SCEJ

Wii - 3 third party games (Hudson, Bandai Namco)- 12 Nintendo

360 - 1 third party game (Bandai Namco) - 0 MGS

 

Hardware Sales

Hardware |    2008    |    2007    |    LTD  
NDS      |  4,029,804 |  7,130,228 | 25,135,276
PSP      |  3,543,171 |  3,022,659 | 11,078,484
Wii      |  2,908,342 |  3,629,361 |  7,526,821
PS3      |    991,303 |  1,206,347 |  2,664,366
PS2      |    480,664 |    816,419 | 21,547,802
360      |    317,859 |    257,841 |    866,167
-----------------------------------------------
DSi      |  1,280,092 |            |
PSP-3000 |    788,764 |            |

Software Sales

Hardware |    2008    |    2007
NDS      | 28,260,498 | 39,130,595
PSP      |  9,745,758 |  6,750,169
Wii      | 13,802,220 | 11,665,679
PS3      |  5,155,082 |  2,951,390
PS2      |  7,111,971 | 13,262,872
360      |  1,770,034 |  1,480,551
Other    |    210,100 |    612,905

TOP 5 Publishers

              |    2008    |    2007
Nintendo       | 19,100,000 | 23,520,000
Bandai Namco   |  8,550,000 |  7,500,000
Capcom         |  5,340,000 |  5,560,000
Konami         |  5,040,000 |  4,910,000
Square Enix    |  4,040,000 |  7,580,000

[D_prOdigy]

Symphonia 2 on Wii kind of made of lot more money than Vesperia on 360 did... didn't it?

[jammy2211]

Depends how much Microsoft paid for it's exclusivity...

 

Wow, 3 third party Wii games in the top 100 0_o.

[Dante]

Sony to post first loss in 14 years of ¥150B

 

Will take a ¥60B in 'restructuring' charges (a 200% increase from their original forecast in October.

 

The following are factors that contributed to changes in operating income (loss) forecast for each business segment for the second half of the fiscal year, compared to the October forecast.

 

(1) In the Electronics segment, operating income (loss) is expected to be approximately ¥340 billion lower than our earlier forecast. Of this, approximately ¥250 billion is due to a deterioration in the business environment brought on by the slowing global economy and an intensification of price competition, approximately ¥40 billion is due to the impact of the appreciation of the yen, approximately ¥30 billion is due to additional restructuring charges and approximately ¥20 billion is due to a deterioration in equity in net income (loss) of affiliated companies.

 

(2) In the Game segment, operating income (loss) is expected to be lower by approximately ¥30 billion. Of this, approximately ¥15 billion is due to the impact of the appreciation of the yen and approximately ¥15 billion is due to lower-than-expected sales.

 

(3) In the Pictures segment, operating income is expected to be lower by approximately ¥13 billion due to restructuring charges, a decline in revenue as a result of the economic

slowdown and the impact of the appreciation of the yen.

 

(4) In the Financial Services segment, operating income (loss) is expected to be lower by approximately ¥65 billion mainly due to a deterioration in earnings at Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. resulting from a significant decline in the Japanese stock market. This is based on the assumption that the equity markets will remain at the December 31, 2008 level until March 31, 2009. As is our policy, the effects of gains and losses on investments due to market fluctuations since January 1, 2009 are not incorporated within our forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. Accordingly, market fluctuations could further impact the revised forecast.

 

(5) Operating income within All Other is expected to be lower by approximately ¥11 billion due to lower-than-expected sales and additional restructuring charges in the music business which constitutes a majority of the sales of All Other.

[Zechs Merquise]

Sony to post first loss in 14 years of ¥150B

 

Will take a ¥60B in 'restructuring' charges (a 200% increase from their original forecast in October.

 

The following are factors that contributed to changes in operating income (loss) forecast for each business segment for the second half of the fiscal year, compared to the October forecast.

 

(1) In the Electronics segment, operating income (loss) is expected to be approximately ¥340 billion lower than our earlier forecast. Of this, approximately ¥250 billion is due to a deterioration in the business environment brought on by the slowing global economy and an intensification of price competition, approximately ¥40 billion is due to the impact of the appreciation of the yen, approximately ¥30 billion is due to additional restructuring charges and approximately ¥20 billion is due to a deterioration in equity in net income (loss) of affiliated companies.

 

(2) In the Game segment, operating income (loss) is expected to be lower by approximately ¥30 billion. Of this, approximately ¥15 billion is due to the impact of the appreciation of the yen and approximately ¥15 billion is due to lower-than-expected sales.

 

(3) In the Pictures segment, operating income is expected to be lower by approximately ¥13 billion due to restructuring charges, a decline in revenue as a result of the economic

slowdown and the impact of the appreciation of the yen.

 

(4) In the Financial Services segment, operating income (loss) is expected to be lower by approximately ¥65 billion mainly due to a deterioration in earnings at Sony Life Insurance Co., Ltd. resulting from a significant decline in the Japanese stock market. This is based on the assumption that the equity markets will remain at the December 31, 2008 level until March 31, 2009. As is our policy, the effects of gains and losses on investments due to market fluctuations since January 1, 2009 are not incorporated within our forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009. Accordingly, market fluctuations could further impact the revised forecast.

 

(5) Operating income within All Other is expected to be lower by approximately ¥11 billion due to lower-than-expected sales and additional restructuring charges in the music business which constitutes a majority of the sales of All Other.

 

That translates to a $2.5 billion annual loss. The problem that SONY is facing is that in the PS2 days the gaming division was their most profitable area and had kept them afloat often helping to subsidise the growing loses they were making to the cheaper end of the electronics market.

 

Now SCE has made such catastrophic loses it's compounded an otherwise bad situation.

 

I shall with hold my joy at the request of one of the mods

[jammy2211]

While SCE's terrible management of the gaming division hasn't help the real problem is the global recession combined with the stupidly strong Yen. That's going to hurt any company, even Toyota are posting a loss I think.

 

Sony have been heading to problems anyway but it was never going to hit them that hard unless it was extreme circumstances, like it is now lol.

[Hero-of-Time]

I shall with hold my joy at the request of one of the mods

 

Well done, Zechs!

 

*hands over cookie*

[Zechs Merquise]

While SCE's terrible management of the gaming division hasn't help the real problem is the global recession combined with the stupidly strong Yen. That's going to hurt any company, even Toyota are posting a loss I think.

 

Sony have been heading to problems anyway but it was never going to hit them that hard unless it was extreme circumstances, like it is now lol.

 

SONY's major problem has been the under performance of it's premium electronic ranges. Whilst otehr brands like LG has popped up and produced TVs, DVD players etc for a fraction of the price SONY have tried to maintain their price points and it has hurt them.

 

What's more one of the main selling points of the PS3 was meant to be the Blu Ray player - however you can now get a Wii or and XBOX arcade and a cheap Blu Ray player for the saem price as a PS3.

[Goron_3]

SONY's major problem has been the under performance of it's premium electronic ranges. Whilst otehr brands like LG has popped up and produced TVs, DVD players etc for a fraction of the price SONY have tried to maintain their price points and it has hurt them.

 

What's more one of the main selling points of the PS3 was meant to be the Blu Ray player - however you can now get a Wii or and XBOX arcade and a cheap Blu Ray player for the saem price as a PS3.

 

Yeah we sell some blue ray players for around £150 at our place. That said, the quality isn't as good as the PS3's and you have to wait about 60 seconds for the thing to load..damn cheap players. The PS3, though expensive, is a fantastic long term investment though, especially considering I only have upscaled dvd's playing at my moment on my tv via my 360.

 

As much as I hate Sony, the PS3 is bloody tempting. Shame to hear about those losses though, must be really hard for those losing their jobs...

[jammy2211]

SONY's major problem has been the under performance of it's premium electronic ranges. Whilst otehr brands like LG has popped up and produced TVs, DVD players etc for a fraction of the price SONY have tried to maintain their price points and it has hurt them.

 

What's more one of the main selling points of the PS3 was meant to be the Blu Ray player - however you can now get a Wii or and XBOX arcade and a cheap Blu Ray player for the saem price as a PS3.

 

Sony have had alot of 'problems' with management of late. The Strong Yen has hit them hardest, most of their manufacturing is in Japan, so when the Yen is high, obviously they're going to lose out. Hell, I think pretty much every company in Japan is reporting losses this year, except Nintendo.

 

Then the recession has destroyed their position as the high-end of the electronics market. Sony's problem is they didn't have a back-up plan for if people literally couldn't afford high-end products, and now they're in the shit.

 

And to be honest, at the moment, not selling the PS3 is probably the best thing for Sony :P.

[Dante]

Yesterday Microsoft announced that its Entertainment and Devices Division (EDD) saw sales increase slightly as the company sold through a record six million Xbox 360s during its holiday quarter. Profits were down, however, and the 1,400 immediate job cuts (out of a planned 5,000 at Microsoft) may have hit EDD pretty hard, according to ZDNet, which claims that the "bulk" of these cuts was on EDD.

 

The division houses the Zune, Windows Mobile and PC gaming businesses in addition to Xbox. It's unclear to what extent Xbox specifically will be affected or how the cuts might affect product development. That said, the Gamerscore blog has ceased operations and multiple members of the blog have confirmed (via Twitter) that they'd been laid off.

 

Additionally, Gamasutra has learned that a large portion of the staff at ACES Studio, which develops the Flight Simulator franchise, has been axed. The studio was also working on Microsoft Train Simulator 2 and was responsible for Microsoft ESP, a unique "visual simulation platform" based on Flight Simulator X technology. The future of these product lines remains up in the air.

 

Update: Dean Takahashi at VentureBeat has word that 30 percent of Microsoft's video game testers have been cut. And the veteran journalist states that next week the game group is expected to undergo a management restructuring. What this means for Shane Kim, Phil Spencer, Don Mattrick and others we don't yet know, but we'll be sure to bring you the news as it happens.

 

www.gamedaily.com

 

Can some mod change the change the title as sales discussion?

[Zechs Merquise]

Sony have had alot of 'problems' with management of late. The Strong Yen has hit them hardest, most of their manufacturing is in Japan, so when the Yen is high, obviously they're going to lose out. Hell, I think pretty much every company in Japan is reporting losses this year, except Nintendo.

 

Then the recession has destroyed their position as the high-end of the electronics market. Sony's problem is they didn't have a back-up plan for if people literally couldn't afford high-end products, and now they're in the shit.

 

And to be honest, at the moment, not selling the PS3 is probably the best thing for Sony :P.

 

Well yes, lets hope they don't sell any Agreed?

[Dante]

thank you mods.

 

 

NPD figures have Activision's rocker outselling Harmonix rival two-to-one in the United States last year.

 

Last week the NPD Group, the industry standard of game-industry research firms, released its US sales figures for 2008. However, the company's top 10 game rankings only tracked individual products, or SKU (Stock Keeping Units), sold at retailers in the US.

 

 

As a result, it was unclear how two of the year's biggest rivals--Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2--fared against one another. Besides being multiplatform releases, the two solidly reviewed rhythm games each came in various retail configurations, such as a la carte or with one or more instruments.

 

Now, NPD has shared the combined US sales of both World Tour and Rock Band 2 across all platforms and SKUs. The result? The first full-band (drums, guitar/bass, and vocals) installment in Activision's billion-dollar franchise sold 3.4 million copies domestically, twice as many as Rock Band 2's 1.7 million haul. Analysts had the latter game, developed by former Tony Hawk shop Neversoft, selling nearly 1 million units in November alone.

 

Though the two-to-one ratio is a blowout victory in purely dollar terms, several factors play a role in World Tour's success. For one, the Guitar Hero brand is better known than Rock Band, even though the latter series is generally better received by critics. Besides being available in more retail configurations, Guitar Hero World Tour also went on sale on all platforms--the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3--on October 26. By contrast, Rock Band 2 rolled out onto its console on a staggered schedule, hitting the 360 on September 14, the PS3 October 19, and the Wii and PlayStation 2 on December 18. That means that only 13 days' worth of sales on the two latter platforms--which have the biggest installed bases in the US--were recorded by NPD.