October NPDs: Good News for PS3 Fans Who Like Bad News

HW Results

Wii 519K
Nintendo DS 458K
Xbox 360 366K
PSP 286K
PlayStation 2 184K
PlayStation 3 121K

Top 10 SW
Rank # Units
360 HALO 3 * MICROSOFT (CORP) SEP 2007 MATURE (M) 1 433.8K
360 GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK W/ GUITACTIVISION (CORP) OCT 2007 TEEN (T) 2 383.2K
WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK W/ GUITACTIVISION (CORP) OCT 2007 TEEN (T) 3 286.3K
PS2 GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK W/ GUITACTIVISION (CORP) OCT 2007 TEEN (T) 4 271.1K
NDS LEGEND OF ZELDA: PHANTOM HOURGLASS NINTENDO OF AMERICA SEP 2007 EVERYONE (E) 5 262.8K
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA FEB 2007 EVERYONE (E) 6 239.7K
360 HALF LIFE 2: EPISODE 2 THE ORANGE BOX ELECTRONIC ARTS OCT 2007 MATURE (M) 7 238.4K
PS2 GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK ACTIVISION (CORP) OCT 2007 TEEN (T) 8 231.7K
PS2 FIFA SOCCER 08 ELECTRONIC ARTS OCT 2007 EVERYONE (E) 9 129.7K
NDS BRAIN AGE 2: MORE TRAINING IN MINUTES A NINTENDO OF AMERICA AUG 2007 EVERYONE (E) 10 116.9K

More SW:

NR Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS3) 105,800
NR Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP) 98,100
NR Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) 74,500
NR Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360) 38,300
[360 Ace Combat 6] = 92.5K
[360 Guitar Hero III] = 490.9K
[360 Halo 3] = 394.5K
[360 The Orange Box] = 238.4K
[NDS Zelda: Phantom Hourglass] = 262.8K
[PS2 Guitar Hero III] = 502.7K
[PS3 Ratchet & Clank Future] = 74.5K
[PS3 Guitar Hero III] = 105.8K
[WII Guitar Hero III] = 286.3K
[WII Metroid Prime 3] = 45.2K

As you can see, a very interesting month and a great one for the industry. Hardware sales are up 73% over this point last year and software sales are up 45%. Hardware-wise, The Wii posted higher than expected numbers and knocked Microsoft off it's one month stay at the top. The 360 continues to post some very solid Halo-fueled numbers. The PS3? Eh....not so much. A couple days ago CEO Howard Stringer said that PS3 sold more than 100k in the last month of October. Given that they only sold 120k all month long, these claims appear to have been proven false, giving spectators reason to believe that the 40 gig hit retail with a thud. Another worrying fact for Sony is that PS2 is finally starting to die down, only 186k in a key shopping month, down from the 250k it was routinely getting earlier this year.

Software-wise, Halo 3 remained the statistical number one, but let there be no doubt that Guitar Hero III was the big winner this month. The Rock Band folks have to be really nervous that this market has been exhausted given Guitar Hero's blockbuster sales. Interestingly, but not surprisingly at this point, 360 got the lion's share of the Guitar Hero sales. PS2 got second (taking into account bundles + stand alone sales), Wii got a very respectable third considering there were no stand alone sales for the system and their bundle was the second best selling.

Other big winners this month include Orange Box which did *much* better than I thought it would, considering the outrageous competition. PSP FF Tactics and 360 Ace Combat also did very respectably and slightly better than I anticipated.

The big losers on the software side are, well, Sony. Guitar Hero III only sold a little over 100k on the PS3, and the biggest disappointment of all was the massively hyped Ratchet and Clank Future, which only pushed 75,000 units. Given that Japanese sales have only been about 100k lifetime and this was a million seller franchise on PS2, Sony is going to lose a ton of money on this title. One has to ponder what the chances of an untested new IP like Uncharted are in this kind of a sales environment. I have to wonder if a lot of PS3 owners are just using their system as a Blu Ray player since these are some god awful sales for a really good game that deserved much better.

Microsoft wasn't immune to "big bomb" syndrome even with it's generally outstanding software sales. Project Gotham Racing 4 sold only an abysmal 38k units, tracking far below the launch title PGR 3. I would chalk this up to releasing PGR so close to the release of other high quality racing games like Forza 2, Dirt, and Need for Speed Pro Street. It is definitely a disappointment for one of Microsoft's high profile first party offerings.

Well, that's it for this month. Can Sony finally turn the corner with it's 40 gig in November? Can Microsoft challenge for the top spot in one of the year's two biggest shopping months? Will Nintendo be able to supply the quantity of units they need to to stay on top? Stay tuned!

Point/Counterpoint: Are We Paying Enough For Our Games?

I will be trying something new with this blog, I will be doing a point/counterpoint featuring the opinions of two of the posters from notorious videogame community, Neogaf.

Point: "Cheap Ass Gamers" are Ruining Gaming by Astrolad


Sometimes when I'm browsing GAF I'm a bit sickened and surprised at how many people are so downright proud to classify themselves as "cheap ass gamers." You know the type: Never buy a new game, say they'll "wait for the bargain bin" on even their most highly anticipated big-budget titles, always reselling games, renting games, and buying them used regardless of the quality of the game, etc.

IRL I never see people walking around bragging about how they got their suit at the thrift store or in some "bargain bin" of clothes Wal-Mart was about to donate to the homeless. Is there anything wrong with not being able to afford expensive clothes or wearing bargain basement clothes? Of course not, but it's something you do while you are aspiring for something greater and it's certainly not something you feel superior about or feel the need to brag about. Yet in gaming apparently it's A-OK, like some badge of honor made out of a soup can lid.

Now in my case, I have almost always bought games full price even if this meant getting fewer games. Of course if there were coupons or what have you I didn't make an attempt to pay more but I have never been one of these bargain basement dwellers. Perhaps this is a small part of the reason why some of my favorite genres (FPS and sports) have risen to the top while others--often preferred by CAGs (not a knock on the site, but a useful initialism)--have gone or are going the way of the dodo.

As we move through this gen, game development costs are increasing regardless of console. Devs are trying to bring us richer experiences, but nothing in life is free. I still remember proudly paying $80 for Phantasy Star II but now you have people whining everywhere about brilliant games with tens of thousands of hours of work and countless technological resources behind them costing $60. When CAGs complain about their favorite series or genres dying it, do they ever stop to think that maybe just maybe it had to do with the fact that they waited until the last game tanked to buy it so that they could save a measly few bucks?

The Internet has made things exponentially worse and enabled the couch potato lifestyle of "cheap ass gaming." Now people can pull all sorts of scams (and literally many of them are outright scams) to avoid paying for titles, and this doesn't even include piracy or the legalized theft that is used game sales and rentals.

Even if you don't agree with my position completely, I think there is no way to deny the detrimental effect this phenomenon has had on many genres and small developers and publishers and on gaming in general. I just think the whole thing kind of stinks (no pun intended).

Counterpoint: "Cheap Ass Gamers" are the Saviors of the Industry by vicious_killer_squirrel

The games industry is working off a completely unsustainable business model and if you want to blame consumers for not happily throwing $60 at every single game they buy to continue fueling the delusion then you've really got your priorities in the wrong place.

I disagree with paying full price on games simply because of the economics involved. The market will charge what the market will bear, after all. If you think that everyone paying full price for games is going to result in anything but higher prices for the consumer, stifling of creativity and the shrinking of the industry, you're either kidding yourself or have forgotten how people behave.

If everyone paid full price, then people would have to buy less games. People buying less games means that they'll prioritise their purchases and that the market will shrink. Do you know what this means? It means the magnum opus games will sell millions of copies at the cost of niche games and games from smaller devs. After all, if you only have a limited selection, you go for the best.

This means that in order to make decent profits, you need a hit. In this environment, to be a hit, a project has to be big, well marketed and ambitious or it will not grab anyone's attention. Unfortunately, this means that there's an enourmous amount of risk on each project, ever so much more than there is now. Now publishers (these are the guys with the money folks) want to minimise that risk. How will they accomplish that?

They do it by making safe bets. Remakes, sequels, spin-offs of tried and true franchises. They do it by NOT bankrolling midrange projects that will boast only modest returns. They do it by avoiding new IPs, since these are the most likely to fail. The end result is a lack of creativity coming out of the industry, much like what recently happened with the movie industry.

If a lack of creativity, the shrinking of the market and new ideas isn't the ruin of gaming, then I don't know what is. Just let the free market do its job, however, and the games industry will balance itself out. If dev costs are soaring and people aren't prepared to pay full price for these games, then alternatives will begin appearing in the market. You will begin to see handhelds take on a greater role as well as cheaper games with less focus on graphical horsepower.

Eventually, gaming will reach a balance. Will big, ambitious games the scope of which push boundaries still get made? Yes, but they will be made at a sustainable rate. Will most games be smaller in scope for lower prices? Yes, but they wil be cheaper and you'll be able to buy more of them. These changes are inevitable, but they will balance themselves out because of the invention of alternatives.

If you don't want what happened to the comic book industry to happen to gaming, you will want lower prices across the board. Be proud to be a CAG. You're doing it for the good of the industry.

The World's Top Ten Most Expensive Videogames

This was a good read, so keep an eye out for these at your local flea markets.

PS3 Finally Gets a Victory!

1.Mario Party DS　 242,000
2.Musou PS3　176,000
3.SMG 　78,000（335,000）
4.Musou360　27000
5.FFTA 2　2,4000（235000）
6.Castlevania PSP　 20,000
7.Wii Sports　 180,00（2,091,000）
8.西村サス　 16,000（112,000）
9.Wii Play　 15,000（1,648,000）
10.Mario Kart DS　 13,000（2,528,000）

15.Ratchet & Clank Future 11,000


DSL 82000
Wii 35000
PSP 55000
PS2 9400
PS3 56000
360 7000

For the first time in, well, pretty much forever (or at least since the launch period), the PS3 has beat the Wii in weekly hardware sales in the land of glorious Nippon. For a long time PS3 has edged closer to the Wii, after once beating outsold 6 to 1, that trend reversed to less than 2 to 1 recently, and now with the new 40 gig, they have beat the Wii, and by a surprising margin. Is this a sign of a resurgent PS3? It is an interesting story, and this generation has been anything but predictable thus far. Stay tuned to monk-blog for the latest.

EA Discloses Third Party Sales by Platform

EA has released to investors details for the third quarter and they are quite interesting. Here are their sales by platform.

Xbox 360 - $218 million
PlayStation 2 - $73 million
Nintendo Wii - $59 million
Nintendo DS - $47 million
PlayStation Portable - $21 million
PlayStation 3 - $17 million

The XBOX 360 sold more than every other platform, even including the handhelds, COMBINED. Madness! I certainly didn't expect it to sell so much more than the PS2 already. The Wii number is somewhat disappointing considering the userbase size, but the PS3 number is outright despicable. EA may not consider the PS3 a viable platform for much longer if this continues.

New Super Mario 2-J Article On Slate

Long time readers will know of my fascination with Super Mario Brothers 2-J (AKA Lost Levels). Slate has a great article up that you should all check out. Here are some choice quotes:

"In most games, you trust that the designer is guiding you, through the usual signposts and landmarks, in the direction that you ought to go. In the Real Super Mario Bros. 2, you have no such faith. Here, Miyamoto is not God but the devil. Maybe he really was depressed while making it—I kept wanting to ask him, Why have you forsaken me? The online reviewer who sizes up the game as "a giant puzzle and practical joke" isn't far off. up on it right now."

"But the Real Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't just hard—it's "difficult," like a book or a movie that initially rebuffs you but becomes rewarding as you unlock its secrets. As a standalone game, it would be a disappointment, too challenging and too impenetrable. But as a reflection and inversion of one of the few titles in the gaming canon, it provides a sort of meditation on game design and player expectations, and how to flout them. I only wish I'd had a chance to play it in 1986."

N'Gai Croal and Geoff Keighley Discuss September NPDs

Yes, even though we are already into November, everyone's favorite member of the videogame intelligentsia, the luxuriously hirsute N'Gai Croal along with partner in crime Geoff Keighley discuss the most recent NPD report for September and it was worth the wait.

Men Rob Convenience Store With Zapper

According to Gamepro, some daring brigands robbed a convenience store armed only with an NES zapper, pulling off one of the greatest heists in recent memory. We all wish these brave bandits the best of luck in eluding local law enforcement, and hope their ill-gained wealth allows them to buy some rare NES game tapes.

PS3 Making a Comeback in Japan?

In some positive news for Sony fans, the system seems to be gaining momentum in Japan. There was a time not long ago where the Wii outsold the PS3 6 to 1, that lead has shrunk to 2 to 1. While clearly still not anywhere close to where Sony wants to be, this is an impressive reversal that is a result of both Sony selling more and Nintendo selling less. Time will tell if this trend continues.

Great Endings in Videogame History: Street Fighter EX Zangief

Pure genius.

Sony PS3: Now with Competent Ad Campaign!

I have to give Sony props on their latest comercial. It does a nice job of highlighting their games and their new cheaper price. It is definitely a step up over the exploding babies or whatever it was they were doing pre-launch. Check it out at Gamepro.

Awesome Bioshock Halloween Re-Enactment

Maybe Aeris and I can do something like this someday.