Video Game Industry Thread: movin' on to another thread

cloudeagle

Hi! Welcome to the sales thread. Here we talk about how games have sold, marketing, PR comments, analysis of analysts and all kinds of other business-related stuff. Occasionally we make poop jokes.

Here's a summary of what you missed since last time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMSHvgaUWc8

And now, November's info. Yes, game sales are combined across systems now. Yes, we aren't getting concrete console sales now. Yes, it sucks.

5- week month; reporting period 10/31/10 through 11/27/10

Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)

01. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, PC, NDS) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD ** - 8.4 Million
02. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (360, PS3) UBISOFT ** - 1.14 Million
03. Just Dance 2 (Wii) UBISOFT
04. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP) ELECTRONIC ARTS
05. Fable III (360) MICROSOFT**
06. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) NINTENDO - 430.5K
07. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (PS3, 360, Wii, PC) ELECTRONIC ARTS
08. Gran Turismo 5 (PS3) SONY** - 400K
09. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP,PC) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
10. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) NINTENDO**

*NPD's monthly point-of-sale data reports on U.S. Games Industry Sales occurring from new physical purchases at retail which is the largest channel for games sales, but it does not represent 100% of industry sales; it does not account for consumer purchases made via digital distribution, used game sales, subscriptions, mobile game apps, rentals, or social network games.

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

Hardware:

Nintendo DS: 1.5 Million (-11.8%)
Xbox 360: 1.37 Million (+68%)
Wii: 1.27 Million (+0.8%)
PS3: 530k (-25%)

Originally Posted by NPD's Anita Frazier wrote:

Overall

"November sales represent the best November on record in terms of new physical retail sales. It bests November 2008 by roughly $30 million, and that time frame was at the height of the music/dance genre sales."

"All categories were up over last year with the exception of portable hardware and software."

"The 360 platform accounted for over 40% of total industry sales driven by the successful launch of Microsoft's Kinect. Xbox 360 accessories accounted for 60% of that categories' dollar sales this month."

"Based on typical seasonality trends, new physical retail sales should come in between $18.8B-$19.6B. The higher end of that range would essentially be flat to last year. Gains in November offset a good portion of the year-to-date declines."

"Remember that this data set represents new physical retail sales only. We have begun to report on sales realized through other channels such as used game sales, digital distribution and mobile apps among others. In the first half of 2010, new physical retail sales at the total industry level accounted for approximately 70% of the total consumer spend against the industry, and while that is likely to change when full year results are tabulated, it gives some context with which to evaluate the portion that new physical retail sales represents."

Software

"Black Ops debuted as the best-selling game in its launch month (in history) with black ops selling 8.4 million units at retail in the U.S. With only one month of sales, it has become the 7th best-selling game of all time, life-to-date."

"Black Ops accounted for 25% of all video game software units sold in the month of November."

"The Music/Dance genre increased 38% in unit sales over last November fueled by Just Dance 2 and Dance Central."

"We are now reporting sales at the total platform level instead of the SKU level but if we were reporting the top 10 SKU's, Halo: Reach would have been #10 this month."



Hardware

"The Xbox 360 was the best-selling console hardware system for the month, realizing an incredible 68% increase over last November."

"The best-selling system overall was the Nintendo DS. It was a high/low story for the DS this month with the new red SKU providing the most sales and the white, lower-priced SKU being #2. It appears the DS attracted two pockets of consumers: those looking for a unique limited-edition product and those looking for value."

"We expect a big jump in sales in November due to seasonality and the influence of holiday, but the change this November over October is bigger across most platforms than it was last November. This could point to the impact of aggressive retail promotions during the critical Black Friday week."

Accessories

"The Xbox 360 Kinect was the best-selling accessory item in November. With one month of sales, it's the top-selling accessory item in terms of dollar sales on a year-to-date basis."

"The Xbox 360 platform contributed five of the top ten accessory items for the month."

cloudeagle

Or maybe there's some news after all.

On 4 November 2010, Microsoft launched Kinect, its camera-based controller-less system for the Xbox 360. Consumers could obtain Kinect either as a standalone package for $150 or bundled with a 4GB or 250GB console ($300 and $400, respectively).

Along with the redesigned Xbox 360 S Model (introduced in June) and a reported $500 million promotion budget, the launch of Kinect has been likened to a relaunch of the console itself.

In fact, while Xbox 360 hardware sales in the June-October period were up a very strong 63 percent over 2009, Microsoft actually bested that rate in November: sales were up 68 percent over November 2009.

Perhaps more importantly for Microsoft, when comparing average weekly rates, November 2010 was the best month the system has ever had. The previous record was 288,000 units per week in December 2008; November's set the new high bar at 344,000 units per week.

It seems all but certain that November's record of 1.37 million units will stand until next month, when the December data is released. Just maintaining the rate from November would give Microsoft its first 1.7 million-system Christmas.

While Microsoft has been dominating software for most of the year (the Xbox 360 has led in software revenue every month since April), it did exceptionally well in November.

Stitching together figures and proportions provided in the comments of Michael Pachter (analyst for Wedbush Securities), Anita Frazier (analyst for the NPD Group), and in Microsoft's own press release, we have what we believe is a reasonable picture of the Xbox 360's strong showing last month.

We wish to raise a few points about the details in this graph. First, note that the Xbox 360 is handily dominating each segment. In the case of hardware and accessories, this is directly attributable to the launch of Kinect.

For example, looking just at the effect of hardware bundle sales, we believe that Microsoft's average price for an Xbox 360 sold in November was around $290, which is more than $40 more than last month's average. Moreover, Wedbush's Pachter commented in his notes to investors that one half of all Xbox 360 systems sold in November were bundled with Kinect.

In the software segment, those 4.9 million copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops are the main cause for Microsoft's dominance, but it certainly did not hurt that six of the top 10 best-selling games in November were available on the Xbox 360. (In fact, as has traditionally been the case, the Xbox 360 version was probably the top-seller within each of those tiles.)

If we are on the cusp (or even past) the transition from the Wii to Xbox 360 as market leader, then 2011 will be a telling year for the market. Whereas Nintendo has had image problems and some notable failures for third-party software, Microsoft prides itself on its third-party software relations.

If Microsoft can make those third-parties successful on Kinect in ways that Nintendo has not on the Wii, then this temporary dominance for the Xbox 360 could continue well through 2011.

And, we should note, Microsoft still hasn't played its next big ace: a true price drop. They're long overdue, and we expect to see one sometime in mid-2011, especially if Xbox Kinect sales remain robust through the spring.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/31985/Analysis_Kinect_Could_Drive_Xbox_360_To_17M_US_Sales_This_December.php

Capt Howdy

Ahhh Christmas sales, smells like......money.

Beltaine

Cue the Alvin & the Chipmunks christmas tune.

fragglefart

Wonder who will cut their price / add more 'value' / release a new bundle / revise hardware first next year?

ArcSyn

Considering they all just did exactly that, I don't know if any of them will.

Turkey

fragglefart wrote: »

Wonder who will cut their price / add more 'value' / release a new bundle / revise hardware first next year?

My bet is on MS releasing a different Kinect bundle by Summer.

Opty

I agree, I think Microsoft has the easiest position to do bundle cost manipulation from, with how the Kinect could probably be sold at $100 with them still making profit.

Skull2185

cloudeagle wrote: »

Or maybe there's some news after all.



http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/31985/Analysis_Kinect_Could_Drive_Xbox_360_To_17M_US_Sales_This_December.php

That accessories chart shocked me. I was like "What the fuck accessories does the 360 have?!"

Derp Derp...

Sheep

Really weird way of saying that MS is dooooooomed.

Casually Hardcore

Whatever happened to the Wii sales?

Then again, who am I kidding? As soon as everyone 40+ gotten the Wii and Wii Resort, they have no reason to buy any other game. Fucking bowling, I'm so sick of being forced to play Wii bowling every time I go to visit....

Warlock82

Skull2185 wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Or maybe there's some news after all.



http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/31985/Analysis_Kinect_Could_Drive_Xbox_360_To_17M_US_Sales_This_December.php

That accessories chart shocked me. I was like "What the fuck accessories does the 360 have?!"

Derp Derp...

Wow, Move looks like it completely bombed there. And I'll be curious to see how much staying power Kinect actually has. I think it's going to depend quite a bit on future software.

fragglefart

ArcSyn wrote: »

Considering they all just did exactly that, I don't know if any of them will.

Well, one (if not all) of them probably will, just a matter of when.

Microsoft cetainly have room to maneuver. Kinect is selling well at full price, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a cut at some point. Their recent shift to the S model has been successful, but could still get a price cut at some point. Either of those would also affect the price of their Kinect & S 4G / 250G bundles. Microsoft are looking a bit thin on the ground for software going into 2011. While I'm sure there are games to be announced, they could do with some more high-profile retail releases on the cards. Although we should probably expect a mountain of Kinect shovelware doing it's best to bury the gems.

Sony are behind in sales, the PS3 still has the image as the most expensive console. PS3 sales would probably benefit most with a price cut. Or a new Move package bundled with a couple of games and a hefty discount. I mean, I've wanted one for ages, but (as a heavily invested 360 owner) the price isn't right. Sony certainly have a healthy software line-up for 2011, will that be enough?

Nintendo, well they have been busy successfully releasing new colours / bundles, but they have maintained a comparatively high price point since release due to the popularity of the Wii. With Kinect and Move on the scene, and the recent year on year growth from Microsoft, maybe Nintendo will shift further towards a lower price point? Will the Wii continue to sell steadily or will Nintendo release another must-have piece of software to dive sales?

Not to mention, by the end of 2011, will we start to feel the lure of the next gen on the horizon? And who will push towards it first? Will some of the streaming or DD services impact the console scene?

Going to be an interesting year!

Brainiac 8

Casually Hardcore wrote: »

Whatever happened to the Wii sales?

Then again, who am I kidding? As soon as everyone 40+ gotten the Wii and Wii Resort, they have no reason to buy any other game. Fucking bowling, I'm so sick of being forced to play Wii bowling every time I go to visit....

I know, right. Now that only the old folks and soccer moms already have Wiis, no one else will buy them evah!

Nothing really crazy has happened to the Wii sales....they are now to a normal level, rather than the crazy levels it had previously been at. That spells doom apparently. :?

Plus they had a rather awesome November.

cloudeagle

Apparently Sony's doing a Home media blitz thing.

Two years after its debut, Sony’s Home online virtual world for PlayStation gamers has hit 17 million users worldwide. The virtual community has now grown into a gathering place where gamers can play hundreds of games, attend droves of events, and buy lots of virtual goods. The multi-year effort is becoming Sony’s big play in the digital online marketplace for video game fans.

Along with user growth, Home’s revenues have also begun to take off, said Jack Buser (pictured below), director of PlayStation Home at Sony, in an interview today. Home is a virtual world on the PlayStation Network where you can create a realistic animated avatar and wander among virtual sites such as shopping malls, movie theaters, or game arcades. Back in the summer, when Sony launched a new indie game effort in Home, it had 14 million users.

A lot of virtual worlds have failed in the past year. Linden Lab’s Second Life has seen its own turmoil as it parted ways with both its chief executive and its founder. But at two years, Buser says Home is thriving because it is all about “games, games, games.” Gamers who own PlayStation 3 consoles are the only ones who log into Home, and Home’s fans tend to be the hardcore among the hardcore. They’re willing to spend a lot of hours in home, with the average session time at 70 minutes. And they also spend a lot of money. The engagement level with Home is thus likely far higher than the engagement in simple social games or generic virtual worlds.

During the past year in particular, Sony has ratcheted up its emphasis on providing free-to-play games within the virtual environment of Home. There are now 236 games in Home, compared to 9 games in 2008. There are also 7,000 virtual items, available either for free or purchase, compared to 114 two years ago. And Home has staged 600 community events, compared to 25 in 2008. Buser says all of that suggests that Home is gaining momentum and its monetization is getting better and better.

Citing company policy, Buser declined to say whether Home is profitable. But he said the virtual goods and micro-transaction model makes it easy for Sony to make money. On top of that, Home is a testing ground for other kinds of business models, such as in-game advertising, sponsorships, and other models. Sony did disclose that, in the first quarter of 2010, revenues were three times greater than the year before.

“To be able to understand and participate in this kind of emerging business is a huge competitive advantage for Sony,” Buser said. “In 2011, you’ll see these business models become more mature. We are showing that you can fuse the models of the console business with the digital business.”

As an example of an attractive virtual goods game, Buser pointed to Midway, where you buy tickets and use them to play carnival games. The cost of the game play is about 2 cents per session, Buser said. Compared to other paid games, that’s a pretty good value. And after a while, with 17 million gamers on Home, those pennies start adding up, Buser said.

Sony’s partners within Home include 30 big brands, including Disney, Turner, Paramount, Ubisoft, Square Enix, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive’s 2K label and RockStar Games, Konami and Fox. Rather than simple mini games, Home is now host to full-length games developed by prominent indie developers.

“We came from humble beginnings but we are seeing incredible momentum,” Buser said.

Today, Sony also introduced more new games for the PlayStation Home platform. The new games include Novus Prime from Hellfire Games (pictured at top); Midway 2 (pictured above) from Mass Media; Conspiracy from Jet Set Games (coming early 2011); and Sodium 2 (racing game pictured above) from Outso, coming in the spring of 2011. Outso launched Sodium One a year ago. Buser said the fact that indie game developers are creating sequels to Home games shows that the platform is an attractive one.

In contrast to simpler web-based games, Sony Home games have cool 3D graphics and are often more like console-quality games. They are more expensive to develop, but they can be a lot more engaging than simpler titles.

http://venturebeat.com/2010/12/10/sonys-home-virtual-world-hits-17m-users-and-finds-a-business-model-in-virtual-goods/

I swear, Home is like Two and a Half men--you and everyone you know think it's terrible, yet craploads of people somehow watch it.

Also, Sony did an indie game effort in Home? Man, they sure did a crap job of letting us know about it.

Cameron_Talley

I think the Move is dead in the water. Everyone and their mother is talking about the Kinect this Holiday Season (TM), but nobody is mentioning the Move.

Santa Claustrophobia

cloudeagle wrote: »

Apparently Sony's doing a Home media blitz thing.

Two years after its debut, Sony’s Home online virtual world for PlayStation gamers has hit 17 million users worldwide.

[...]

Back in the summer, when Sony launched a new indie game effort in Home, it had 14 million users.

Also, Sony did an indie game effort in Home? Man, they sure did a crap job of letting us know about it.

Apparently you didn't notice the part where adding the indie initiative added three million users.

1. Launch something.
2. ???
3. PROFIT!

cloudeagle

"You know, that whole big breasts thing is so over. You know who we should appeal to? Filth fetishists."

Unco-ordinated

Warlock82 wrote: »

Wow, Move looks like it completely bombed there. And I'll be curious to see how much staying power Kinect actually has. I think it's going to depend quite a bit on future software.

Hard to tell when we don't have graphs from previous months. I can't imagine the PS3's accessory sales have beaten the Wii's very often though.

As for Microsoft's accessories, they've had one of the best selling accessories on the market for a couple of years now. XBLA Point Cards. Add Kinect (at its price) and yeah, I don't think it's too surprising that they dominated the accessory revenue as much as they did.

Santa Claustrophobia

Hey, people are just tired of only the game worlds looking dirty and gritty!

RainbowDespair

Mock the cover if you like, but Zelda + Horror + Tomb Raider sounds like a good combination to me.

Heleor

You know, Tomb Raidin' just ain't a clean profession.

Couscous

Sony did disclose that, in the first quarter of 2010, revenues were three times greater than the year before.

Wouldn't that be just after launch for PSHome?

Warlock82

Unco-ordinated wrote: »

Warlock82 wrote: »

Wow, Move looks like it completely bombed there. And I'll be curious to see how much staying power Kinect actually has. I think it's going to depend quite a bit on future software.

Hard to tell when we don't have graphs from previous months. I can't imagine the PS3's accessory sales have beaten the Wii's very often though.

As for Microsoft's accessories, they've had one of the best selling accessories on the market for a couple of years now. XBLA Point Cards. Add Kinect (at its price) and yeah, I don't think it's too surprising that they dominated the accessory revenue as much as they did.

Ah true! I forgot point cards count as accessories. Kind of skews any meaning you can actually find in that graph...

fragglefart

Warlock82 wrote: »

Unco-ordinated wrote: »

Warlock82 wrote: »

Wow, Move looks like it completely bombed there. And I'll be curious to see how much staying power Kinect actually has. I think it's going to depend quite a bit on future software.

Hard to tell when we don't have graphs from previous months. I can't imagine the PS3's accessory sales have beaten the Wii's very often though.

As for Microsoft's accessories, they've had one of the best selling accessories on the market for a couple of years now. XBLA Point Cards. Add Kinect (at its price) and yeah, I don't think it's too surprising that they dominated the accessory revenue as much as they did.

Ah true! I forgot point cards count as accessories. Kind of skews any meaning you can actually find in that graph...

Not to mention, Xbox Live Subscription cards.

Couscous

I think that one of the MS point card SKUs actually outsold the individual Move SKUs in October.

Santa Claustrophobia

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Mock the cover if you like, but Zelda + Horror + Tomb Raider sounds like a good combination to me.

Wait, wait, wait...

Why does she have a bow? Is there going to be forced stealth?

Unco-ordinated

cloudeagle wrote: »

"You know, that whole big breasts thing is so over. You know who we should appeal to? Filth fetishists."

So you think she should be perfectly tidy, with nice clean clothes and makeup on? I think you're being ridiculous. She'll probably start out fairly clean and get dirtier as the game goes on because she's shipwrecked on a fucked up island.

This is the first Tomb Raider I've ever actually been interested in playing, the others I just played because they were there and I was bored.

Couscous

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101213005498/en

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft®: Cataclysm™, the third expansion for the critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), sold through more than 3.3 million copies as of its first 24 hours of release, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time.* This milestone eclipses the previous record of more than 2.8 million copies sold in 24 hours, set in November 2008 by Blizzard’s second World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King®.

cloudeagle

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Mock the cover if you like, but Zelda + Horror + Tomb Raider sounds like a good combination to me.

Wait, wait, wait...

Why does she have a bow? Is there going to be forced stealth?

Probably. She gets marooned on an island and has to fend for herself and junk.

And while I don't mind grubbiness, this is a little over the top and feels oddly sexualized.

Edit: Because this made my brain hurt and I want to spread the pain: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1944470

Santa Claustrophobia

cloudeagle wrote: »

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Mock the cover if you like, but Zelda + Horror + Tomb Raider sounds like a good combination to me.

Wait, wait, wait...

Why does she have a bow? Is there going to be forced stealth?

Probably. She gets marooned on an island and has to fend for herself and junk.

And while I don't mind grubbiness, this is a little over the top and feels oddly sexualized.

But a bow and arrow? You want range? Get a rifle.

And anyway, Lara Croft will always be sexualised. Though I think the filth fetishists aren't in that great a number. I expect they're probably going for that thing in Uncharted where getting wet would stay wet for a while. (Tomb Raider already 'borrowed' that too, right?) Making her get progressively dirty is just another bullet point to sell.

Couscous

It should be Tomb Raider + Survival Kids.

fragglefart

Man, seems like every other day a sales record is being broken!

Unco-ordinated

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

But a bow and arrow? You want range? Get a rifle.

And anyway, Lara Croft will always be sexualised. Though I think the filth fetishists aren't in that great a number. I expect they're probably going for that thing in Uncharted where getting wet would stay wet for a while. (Tomb Raider already 'borrowed' that too, right?) Making her get progressively dirty is just another bullet point to sell.

She's shipwrecked on an island, I assume bullets are in short supply. At least I hope they are, it'd be pretty bloody stupid if they weren't.

Couscous

Unco-ordinated wrote: »

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

But a bow and arrow? You want range? Get a rifle.

And anyway, Lara Croft will always be sexualised. Though I think the filth fetishists aren't in that great a number. I expect they're probably going for that thing in Uncharted where getting wet would stay wet for a while. (Tomb Raider already 'borrowed' that too, right?) Making her get progressively dirty is just another bullet point to sell.

She's shipwrecked on an island, I assume bullets are in short supply. At least I hope they are, it'd be pretty bloody stupid if they weren't.

Didn't stop the previous Tomb Raider games from having perfectly good ammo thrown about.

Guy who won't shut up won't shut up.
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/42205/House-Camera-only-gaming-is-limited

PlayStation’s EU chief says Move can work with many genres, giving it an edge over Kinect

SCEE chief Andrew House claims Microsoft will ‘hit a wall’ when creating new games for Kinect.

He says Sony learnt from the EyeToy that only a limited number of experiences can be had with cameras, adding that this isn’t a problem he has with Move.

“We pioneered camera-based gaming with EyeToy,” he told MCV.

“We learnt from that experience that there are limitations around a camera-only solution. It does work well and lend itself to certain genres, but you do tend to hit a bit of a wall when trying to support it with the broadest range of content available. That’s not the sort of problem we have with Move.

“Consumers have understood Move is something that could impact a wide range of games. This is opposed to what I think may dog the competition to a degree, which is basing it solidly around just a family experience – and one that is harder to adapt into traditional game genres.”

House was responding to criticism over Sony’s quieter marketing push for Move compared to Microsoft’s multi-million pound campaign for Kinect. He told MCV advertising can only take a device so far, and content will result in long-term success.

“I don’t think it was quieter,” he said. “We know a marketing push is important around a launch window, but what will really drive adoption of new technology is going to be great content.

“We’ve got a whole range of experiences that serve the broadest audience and that is a far better long-term bet. You can only sustain a certain amount of momentum just based on trying to ram product at people based on a strong marketing push. It really will be content that defines it.”

House added that consumer demand for Move is ‘in excess’ of projections.

[citation required]

Couscous

UK

13/Dec/2010

Only one week to go until the official Entertainment Software Christmas Chart and ‘Call Of Duty: Black Ops’ (+2%) puts newcomer ‘World of Warcraft: Cataclysm’ in the shade by holding on to the top spot.

Activision-Blizzard are denied the top 2 places by a strong showing from EA’s ‘FIFA 11’ (+15%) which also holds on to its position, a non-mover at No2. The highly anticipated expansion to ‘World of Warcraft’ has to settle for a debut at No3 with the biggest launch for a PC title this year. It is the first time a World of Warcraft expansion has been available at launch as both a digital download and official retail release. Ubisoft’s ‘Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’ (-3%) and Sony’s ‘Gran Turismo 5’ (-2%) both make way for Warcraft, dropping one place to Nos 4 and 5 respectively. Ubisoft’s ‘Just Dance 2’ (+22%) hasn’t lost its groove, despite falling one place to No6, ahead of EA’s ‘Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit’ (+46%) which holds on to No7.

Nintendo occupy the last 3 places in the Top 10 as this week’s biggest climber ‘Donkey Kong Country Returns’ (+68%) bounds into the Top 10, up 5 places to No8, becoming Nintendo’s biggest selling title this week, ahead of ‘Professor Layton and the Lost Future’ (+27%) at No9 and ‘Wii Fit Plus’ (+22%) at No10.

Week 49, 2010 - Individual Formats (Units)

01 (__) PC World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm (Activision Blizzard)
02 (01) PS3 Gran Turismo 5 (Sony Computer Ent.)
03 (03) WII Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft)
04 (02) 360 Call Of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard)
05 (14) WII Donkey Kong Country Returns (Nintendo)
06 (06) PS3 Call Of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard)
07 (05) 360 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
08 (10) NDS Professor Layton And The Lost Future (Nintendo)
09 (09) WII Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo)
10 (04) WII Michael Jackson: The Experience (Ubisoft)
11 (08) 360 Fifa 11 (Electronic Arts)
12 (07) WII Wii Party (Nintendo)
13 (13) PS3 Fifa 11 (Electronic Arts)
14 (16) 360 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (Electronic Arts)
15 (12) WII Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
16 (11) PS3 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft)
17 (20) PS3 Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit (Electronic Arts)
18 (18) 360 Kinect Sports (Microsoft)
19 (15) NDS Art Academy (Nintendo)
20 (17) NDS New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
21 (25) WII Just Dance (Ubisoft)
22 (21) WII New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo)
23 (32) 360 Halo: Reach (Microsoft)
24 (27) PS3 Medal Of Honor (Electronic Arts)
25 (26) 360 Medal Of Honor (Electronic Arts)
26 (23) WII Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo)
27 (24) 360 Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (Take 2)
28 (22) WII Super Mario All-stars 25th Anniversary (Nintendo)
29 (35) 360 Fable Iii (Microsoft)
30 (28) 360 Dance Central (Microsoft)
31 (30) WII Goldeneye 007 (Activision Blizzard)
32 (19) 360 Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks)
33 (29) PC Football Manager 2011 (Sega)
34 (33) WII Sonic Colours (Sega)
35 (38) WII Disney Epic Mickey (Disney Interactive Studios)
36 (31) PS3 Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (Take 2)
37 (36) NDS Sonic Colours (Sega)
38 (37) WII Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo)
39 (__) WII Fifa 11 (Electronic Arts)
40 (__) NDS Mario Kart Ds (Nintendo)

Cade

So no crazy mention for what's going on with the newest Mortal Kombat game? Yeah we know, Kratos in PS3 version blah blah.

But this is how crazy pre ordering business is getting:

Gamestop: Customers who pre-order their copy of Mortal Kombat at Gamestop will get exclusive access to the Klassic Scorpion Playable Character Skin and the original Scorpion Fatality.

Best Buy: Customers who pre-order their copy of Mortal Kombat at Best Buy will get exclusive access to the Klassic Sub-Zero Playable Character Skin and the original Sub-Zero Fatality.

Amazon: Customers who pre-order their copy of Mortal Kombat on Amazon.com will get exclusive access to the Klassic Reptile Playable Character Skin and the original Reptile Fatality.

Warlock82

Couscous wrote: »

Unco-ordinated wrote: »

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

But a bow and arrow? You want range? Get a rifle.

And anyway, Lara Croft will always be sexualised. Though I think the filth fetishists aren't in that great a number. I expect they're probably going for that thing in Uncharted where getting wet would stay wet for a while. (Tomb Raider already 'borrowed' that too, right?) Making her get progressively dirty is just another bullet point to sell.

She's shipwrecked on an island, I assume bullets are in short supply. At least I hope they are, it'd be pretty bloody stupid if they weren't.

Didn't stop the previous Tomb Raider games from having perfectly good ammo thrown about.

Lara Croft has Infinite Pistols, she don't need no bullets :P

slash000

fragglefart wrote: »

Warlock82 wrote: »

Unco-ordinated wrote: »

Warlock82 wrote: »

Wow, Move looks like it completely bombed there. And I'll be curious to see how much staying power Kinect actually has. I think it's going to depend quite a bit on future software.

Hard to tell when we don't have graphs from previous months. I can't imagine the PS3's accessory sales have beaten the Wii's very often though.

As for Microsoft's accessories, they've had one of the best selling accessories on the market for a couple of years now. XBLA Point Cards. Add Kinect (at its price) and yeah, I don't think it's too surprising that they dominated the accessory revenue as much as they did.

Ah true! I forgot point cards count as accessories. Kind of skews any meaning you can actually find in that graph...

Not to mention, Xbox Live Subscription cards.

It doesn't really surprise me any more, but Xbox Live Points cards routinely reach the top of the "accessories" sales.

Spoit

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

cloudeagle wrote: »

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

RainbowDespair wrote: »

Mock the cover if you like, but Zelda + Horror + Tomb Raider sounds like a good combination to me.

Wait, wait, wait...

Why does she have a bow? Is there going to be forced stealth?

Probably. She gets marooned on an island and has to fend for herself and junk.

And while I don't mind grubbiness, this is a little over the top and feels oddly sexualized.

But a bow and arrow? You want range? Get a rifle.

And anyway, Lara Croft will always be sexualised. Though I think the filth fetishists aren't in that great a number. I expect they're probably going for that thing in Uncharted where getting wet would stay wet for a while. (Tomb Raider already 'borrowed' that too, right?) Making her get progressively dirty is just another bullet point to sell.

It worked well in Batman

plufim

Sony's Move marketing was terrible. To claim content is going to market it further requires there to be actual content, and the vast majority of upcoming Move games I am aware of do not require Move, are only enhanced by it. That's not going to get many gamers picking it up.

Interesting to see Sonic Colours just holding on, perhaps it'll be a slow burner. After all, can't blame people for not buying a new sonic game in the launch window these days, but with word of mouth spreading that it is actually good...

Cade wrote: »

So no crazy mention for what's going on with the newest Mortal Kombat game? Yeah we know, Kratos in PS3 version blah blah.

But this is how crazy pre ordering business is getting:

Gamestop: Customers who pre-order their copy of Mortal Kombat at Gamestop will get exclusive access to the Klassic Scorpion Playable Character Skin and the original Scorpion Fatality.

Best Buy: Customers who pre-order their copy of Mortal Kombat at Best Buy will get exclusive access to the Klassic Sub-Zero Playable Character Skin and the original Sub-Zero Fatality.

Amazon: Customers who pre-order their copy of Mortal Kombat on Amazon.com will get exclusive access to the Klassic Reptile Playable Character Skin and the original Reptile Fatality.

Preorder store specific exclusives are my most hated trend of this generation.