General Gaming Sales/Charts Discussion

[Dcubed]

I was under the impression that Nintendo had been doing very well in the UK for nearly a decade with the DS and Wii and its only the Wii U that has seen these awful sales for Hardware and Software?

 

The UK has always been Nintendo's weakest market, even during those days of Wii/DS though...

 

PS4 software was always going to drop in Germany. The console is sold out and and at launch people tend to pick up there titles in week 1 with a new console

 

Strange that games for both new consoles seem to be sticking around at the upper end of the UK charts, but not the German ones. I would imagine that shipments wouldn't really be that skewed in favour of the UK, considering that Germany is Europe's biggest individual game market...

[Sheikah]

Maybe they just have more sense not to drop money on standard launch software that costs full RRP.

 

The question isn't 'Why aren't Germany buying Knack', it should be 'Why on Earth did anyone buy it on the first place'. People might have needed a new game for their console but it still seems to be crap.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Sheikah

[dazzybee]

I don't know who things differ in France, but since I've come here I've had the tele on onthe background all day to help with the language. And there are LOADS of nintendo adverts - 3ds and Pokemon mainly, but a lot of mario 3d world too, never saw anything in uk.

[liger05]

I don't know who things differ in France, but since I've come here I've had the tele on onthe background all day to help with the language. And there are LOADS of nintendo adverts - 3ds and Pokemon mainly, but a lot of mario 3d world too, never saw anything in uk.

 

Not a surprise. The 3DS is really strong in France and it’s a key market for Nintendo.

[Serebii]

I don't know who things differ in France, but since I've come here I've had the tele on onthe background all day to help with the language. And there are LOADS of nintendo adverts - 3ds and Pokemon mainly, but a lot of mario 3d world too, never saw anything in uk.

It's actually the same here in the UK atm.

 

I have seen far more Pokémon and Mario adverts than PS4 and Xbox One ones in recent weeks.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Serebii

[Helmsly]

The UK has always been Nintendo's weakest market, even during those days of Wii/DS though...

 

But no where near as low as the Wii U has been doing. I mean I'm just saying I don't quite buy the idea that the uk hate Nintendo especially when these same people had no problem buying the Wii, DS and 3DS. A lot of gamers in the UK own Nintendo consoles but haven't bought the Wii U and I don't think its simply a case of they just hate the company, I think they just are not impressed enough with the console to think its worth buying.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Helmsly

[Hero-of-Time]

But no where near as low as the Wii U has been doing. I mean I'm just saying I don't quite buy the idea that the uk hate Nintendo especially when these same people had no problem buying the Wii, DS and 3DS. A lot of gamers in the UK own Nintendo consoles but haven't bought the Wii U and I don't think its a case of they just hate the company, I think they just are not impressed enough with the console to think its worth buying.

 

Hate is defineyly the wrong word. Preference is a far better word to describe the situation. Back in the day the UK market preferred Sega over Nintendo. Then it was the Playstation over Nintendo and then last generation it was the 360 over Nintendo/Playstation.

 

For whatever reason, Nintendo has never appealed to UK gamers.

[Phube]

To many 'chavs' only wanting what is perceived to be the 'in' thing at the time...

And not wanting to be seen playing a 'kiddy' console.

[Retro_Link]

The UK has always hated Nintendo really. The rest of Europe is pretty much alright with it, loving it when they do stuff right, but the UK...

Didn't you tell someone off for hyperbole the other day? ;p

[Helmsly]

Hate is defineyly the wrong word. Preference is a far better word to describe the situation. Back in the day the UK market preferred Sega over Nintendo. Then it was the Playstation over Nintendo and then last generation it was the 360 over Nintendo/Playstation.

 

For whatever reason, Nintendo has never appealed to UK gamers.

 

I think overall with those eras, the preference is understandable because Nintendo had never really made a good effort in the UK when it came to promoting their consoles or games.

 

But all that said, the Wii, DS and now 3DS have all shown that there are a lot more people in the UK that prefer Nintendo games and consoles so I'm not sure that what happened 15-20 years ago can be blamed on whats happening with the Wii U.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Helmsly

[Hero-of-Time]

I think overall with those eras, the preference is understandable because Nintendo had never really made a good effort in the UK when it came to promoting their consoles or games.

 

But all that said, the Wii, DS and now 3DS have all shown that there are a lot more people in the UK that prefer Nintendo games and consoles so I'm not sure that what happened 15-20 years ago can be blamed on whats happening with the Wii U.

 

The success of the Wii and DS were due to the expanded market. It was lightning in a bottle. With those expanded audience out of the picture we are once again seeing the trend of Nintendo consoles selling less and less, even more so in the UK. From the NES all the way to the Cube the number of Nintendo consoles sold were in decline.

[Dcubed]

I think overall with those eras, the preference is understandable because Nintendo had never really made a good effort in the UK when it came to promoting their consoles or games.

 

But all that said, the Wii, DS and now 3DS have all shown that there are a lot more people in the UK that prefer Nintendo games and consoles so I'm not sure that what happened 15-20 years ago can be blamed on whats happening with the Wii U.

 

You're right in saying that Nintendo's brand means more to the Brits now than before, but it's also true that it's still their weakest market (reletive to marketshare and population size).

 

Culturally, the UK is an outlier amongst the rest of Europe, we're much closer to the US than anyone else really. The Xbox brand is also much more popular in the UK than mainland Europe (and the same seems to be true for the Xbone).

 

The Wii U has been doing poorly everywhere, it's just that their reletive unpopularity in the UK is making the situation even worse.

[liger05]

I think the whole ‘Nintendo is for kids’ is very prevalent here. Even back in the 90’s it was Sega with their own ad campaigns who called the snes a console for kids and I think that message still holds a lot of weight today. The double whammy is kids now are far more exposed to entertainment which is for an older demographic and that’s what they want. Kids want the COD, GTA, Halo and violence and Nintendo isn’t a brand they associate with that kind of entertainment.

 

I remember as a kid having Mortal Kombat on the Amiga and hearing how Nintendo removed blood from the snes version and even then as a kid I had no desire to play MK on the snes.

Edited December 12, 2013 by liger05

[Hero-of-Time]

I remember as a kid having Mortal Kombat on the Amiga and hearing how Nintendo removed blood from the snes version and even then as a kid I had no desire to play MK on the snes.

 

I always remember having this on the SNES ( got it as part of a second hand bundle with the console ) but my mate across the road had the Mega Drive version. My version never got touched.

[Sheikah]

I think the whole ‘Nintendo is for kids’ is very prevalent here. Even back in the 90’s it was Sega with their own ad campaigns who called the snes a console for kids and I think that message still holds a lot of weight today. The double whammy is kids now are far more exposed to entertainment which is for an older demographic and that’s what they want. Kids want the COD, GTA, Halo and violence and Nintendo isn’t a brand they associate with that kind of entertainment.

 

I remember as a kid having Mortal Kombat on the Amiga and hearing how Nintendo removed blood from the snes version and even then as a kid I had no desire to play MK on the snes.

 

I agree with this, most boys these days over the age of about 11/12 care mostly about Minecraft, League of Legends, COD and GTA.

[Hero-of-Time]

I agree with this, most boys these days over the age of about 11/12 care mostly about Minecraft, League of Legends, COD and GTA.

 

Yup. Just play CoD for half an hour with your headset on and you're bound to hear a bunch of kids screaming on. Of course you get the same effect when @Zechs Merquise is playing as well. :p

[Serebii]

I think the whole ‘Nintendo is for kids’ is very prevalent here. Even back in the 90’s it was Sega with their own ad campaigns who called the snes a console for kids and I think that message still holds a lot of weight today. The double whammy is kids now are far more exposed to entertainment which is for an older demographic and that’s what they want. Kids want the COD, GTA, Halo and violence and Nintendo isn’t a brand they associate with that kind of entertainment.

 

I remember as a kid having Mortal Kombat on the Amiga and hearing how Nintendo removed blood from the snes version and even then as a kid I had no desire to play MK on the snes.

 

Says it all.

[Ashley]

It says very little.

[Goron_3]

It says very little.

 

 

Neogaf is currently being slow as hell due to NPD results coming out bit by bit but so far we know:

-XBone sold 900,000K in a week, but it also had the worst selling multi-platform titles.

-PS4 sold over a million and multi-platform titles sold really well on it.

-No Mario in the top 10

 

Edit 2. Looks like XB360 did 647K and the 3DS did around 755K.

 

Those are disappointing 3DS sales now I think about, given that the 2DS has launched and so have Pokemon X & Y, though I guess many gamers got one of the newer consoles instead. It didn't even have its best November afaik...

 

November 2011 - 795k

November 2012 - 540k

November 2013 - 760k

Edited December 12, 2013 by Goron_3

[liger05]

I think the 3DS sales are not as good as they should of been. $99 2DS should of seen a number closer to 1 mil units. Wonder what wii u will be like? No Zelda or Mario in the top 10 either.

 

Twitter reports say wii u outsold t Vita so the Vita number must be shocking. Remote play isn't going to do anything for the Vita.

 

Edit

 

Wii U 220k

Mario 215k

 

Wii U is dead. Awful awful sales.

 

Looks like Zelda did 405k physical + digital which is pretty good.

 

Why is Mario so low? Again it's another example of even the current wii u install base just not buying games. Even sunshine sold more in its first month.

 

Please Nintendo do something and change as going along as they currently are is just leading to disaster. Unlike the Gamecube days where the GBA could pick up the slack the 3DS cannot. The 3DS has smartphones and tablets around its neck.

Edited December 13, 2013 by liger05

[bryanee]

So its in Dreamcast territory?

[Helmsly]

So its in Dreamcast territory?

 

Yep

 

245K (Dreamcast, November 1999)

192K (Dreamcast, November 2000)

259K (Dreamcast, November 2001)

[bryanee]

Yep

 

245K (Dreamcast, November 1999)

192K (Dreamcast, November 2000)

259K (Dreamcast, November 2001)

 

What makes that even worse is that the market is so much bigger now but I guess there is a lot more choice in consoles today.

[Wii]

Wii U has left the building. Anybody catch the exact time of death? I believe it died back in 2011.

[Debug Mode]

You've got to note that although the sales are at Dreamcast level, Nintendo has far more capital than Sega did at that point. The sales are incredibly disappointing though, Nintendo need to start throwing some money at other publishers otherwise the Wii U will remain a niche product, counter intuitive considering the adoption of Kim's Blue Ocean Business Strategy ensured absolute Nintendo dominance last generation. They no longer refer to their strategy as such, I think it's now 'Market Expansion' or something, I can't find the release of theirs that detailed it any more.

 

Come to think of it, is this why Nintendo is hitting some trouble in certain markets? The Wii U innovates with the game pad (whether or not this is an innovation the masses like looks doubtful), but has there been any expansion in the accessibility? It took them until very recently to get the successor to Wii Sports out for the Wii U, and the software line up on the Wii U in general is merely trying to reclaim existing markets available on other or older consoles (Sequels to games, ports/'remakes' of games available much earlier else where). I don't own a Wii U so if an owner could reply to this post and use some examples of what they feel to be attempts at expanding the video games market into new audiences, that'd be appreciated.