[Industry Thread] The most bafflingly awful collector's edition ever

cloudeagle

Hi and welcome to the Video Game Industry Thread, a place for discussing the business side of the games market. This includes sales figures, happenings with publishers and developers, goings-on with important people in the business, interesting development trends and similar things.

To keep things civil, informative and (most importantly) unlocked, here's some mod-enforced guidelines:

Stay on topic. Don't just randomly chat about your day, don't post things that are just stupid images or memes, and don't get too distracted by talking about how much you personally think Game X is awesome or sucks. Though pointing out a game sucks due to publisher mistreatment during the development process and sold horribly as a result is fair game.
No System Warzz. This includes keeping calm in the face of bad news. Just because someone points out that a system/game sells horribly doesn't mean he's saying it's poop from a butt. Sometimes great stuff doesn't sell; this is the nature of the beast.
No posting random fluff articles. We don't care about poorly thought-out lists or gaming sites doing reviews of cheezy poofs, or how awful those articles are. We're not really the general games journalism thread, except for big stuff like publications going out of business or getting sued.
Don't cite VGChartz. Ever. They literally make shit up. Read more here.

That said, have fun! We ain't stodgy accountants.

And now, December's sales figures.

Couscous wrote: »

So the December NPDs are up.

Xbox 360: 1.4M (-17.6%) ["More than double the amount of the second place console in the U.S. in the month of December."]

Gamasutra ‏@gamasutra

NPD says that fewer Wii Us were sold last month than the original Wii sold in its first December in 2006.

Outside of that, it is apparently a shit month.

It was bad news as usual for the retail video game industry in the United States last month.

Analysts at the NPD Group say that retail sales across the video game industry were down 22% in December, from $4.1 billion in 2011 to $3.21 billion this time around.

As usual, software caused the biggest hit (dollar sales were down 27%), which analyst Liam Callahan attributes to fewer releases.

"A major culprit in the decline in retail sales in 2012 was the lack of new releases with 29% less SKUs across consoles, portables, and PCs," he said in a statement.

"However, the SKUs that were released generated 8% more units per SKU and 11% more dollars per SKU."

The top-selling debut title of the month was Ubisoft's Far Cry 3, though it was Activison's November release of Call of Duty: Black Ops II that topped the overall charts.

By the Numbers
Video game hardware: $1.07B (-20%)
Video game software (console, handheld): $1.54B (-26%)
Video game software (console, handheld, and PC): $1.58B (-27%)
Video game accessories: $603M (-14%)
Total video game sales: $3.21B (-22%)

Wii U: 460K [The Wii launch was 604K]
Wii + DS + 3DS combined: 2.16M

Wii U sales are thoroughly mediocre.

SirUltimos wrote: »

More Nintendo numbers:

New Super Mario Bros. U has now sold more than 580,000 units, an attach rate of more than 65 percent.
Nintendo 3DS sold more than 1.25 million units in December and has crossed 7.7 million units sold life to date.
New Super Mario Bros. 2 became the fourth Nintendo 3DS title to surpass 1 million units sold in the U.S., and has now sold more than 1.45 million units life to date.
Nintendo 3DS continues to outpace the historic sales rate of Nintendo DS.
Wii sold nearly 475,000 units and crossed 40.8 million units sold life to date.
Ubisoft’s Just Dance 3 became the 10th Wii title to sell more than 5 million units life to date.
Nintendo DS sold nearly 470,000 units and crossed 53 million units sold life to date.

PSP < 50K < ... < 200K < PSV < 250K < ... < 600k < PS3 < 650K

skeldare

This should be posted:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/11/29/comparing-nintendo-sony-and-microsoft-black-friday-sales?abthid=50b7d42ab15d07172c000015

Total sales for each console over Black Friday

•Xbox 360 - 750,000
•PlayStation 3 - 525,000
•Wii U - 400,000
•Wii - 300,000
•Nintendo DS - 275,000
•Nintendo 3DS - 250,000
•PlayStation Vita - 160,000

Warlock82

Ha, I was going to question the lack of Wii U in those sales figures, but then I saw the month :P I don't know why I thought November would be out already

Also those Wii U BF sales figures seem pretty good considering it wasn't even on sale like the other stuff on that list.

maximumzero

It's crazy to think that Nintendo has four different pieces of hardware on the market at once. (Even moreso if you want to break it down by SKU)

Warlock82

maximumzero wrote: »

It's crazy to think that Nintendo has four different pieces of hardware on the market at once. (Even moreso if you want to break it down by SKU)

I'm still amazed DS is selling. That's been out longer than Wii. Who doesn't have a DS by now?

Edit: Also, Sony has 3 :P Maybe 4 if there are still PS2s out in the wild (who knows). Or some arbitrarily large number if you consider they also manufacture TVs, Blu-ray players and other things that could technically be considered "hardware"

Archsorcerer

Bringing back the talk on the THQ bundle, one during christmas time would be another good influx of cash.

They could prepare one for PSN/XBLM. The past one (Metro and Darksiders for 10 bucks) had no publicity. That I know, only people following THQ on Facebook go notified on that.

Dehumanized

Well, with actual Playstation Black Friday numbers, it's clear that even with Playstation Family shenanigans they can't claim higher US sales than the 360. Interesting.

rRootagea

THQ could probably get 10 million by the end of these 13 days, (based on 1,231,655.57 total paid so far);
but the downside is they would lose some potential sales for these older titles.
Based on steam sale prices, lets pretend this averages to a net loss of $5 per purchase.
Assuming the average price paid is also $5, then THQ more or less just gets some cash now as opposed to later.

The upshot for doing this I suppose is if this potentially convinces say a quarter of those 200000 people to pick up when they otherwise would not have
either metro: last light, or Company of Heros 2 for $50,
for 25 million extra dollars.

Drunk_caterpillar

How much does a Motion+ Wiimote and Nunchuck set usually cost? I don't have one yet and I'm thinking of picking up that Mini Wii so I can tinker with it and get a new Wiimote to boot.

Dehumanized

Drunk_caterpillar wrote: »

How much does a Motion+ Wiimote and Nunchuck set usually cost? I don't have one yet and I'm thinking of picking up that Mini Wii so I can tinker with it and get a new Wiimote to boot.

If you went to the store and just bought one outright, it'll cost you around $40 for the Wii Remote+, and $20 for the Nunchuk. However, discounts are available aplenty. I could walk over to my local Target and pick up the Wii Remote for $25 by buying it in a clearance Wii Play bundle, and probably wouldn't have trouble finding a new Nunchuk for $10.

Zephiran

The MinWii has a red 'mote and chuck if I read the description page correctly, so if you're fashion conscious that may be a compelling reason to bite.

I'd pick up a red 'mote and chuck for a hundred bucks gatdayum

slash000

rRootagea wrote: »

THQ could probably get 10 million by the end of these 13 days, (based on 1,231,655.57 total paid so far);
but the downside is they would lose some potential sales for these older titles.
Based on steam sale prices, lets pretend this averages to a net loss of $5 per purchase.
Assuming the average price paid is also $5, then THQ more or less just gets some cash now as opposed to later.

The upshot for doing this I suppose is if this potentially convinces say a quarter of those 200000 people to pick up when they otherwise would not have
either metro: last light, or Company of Heros 2 for $50,
for 25 million extra dollars.

A lot of the money raised isn't going to THQ anyway. The default split only gets them 66 percent or so, and I know at least a few people are setting the slider all the way to Charity since this bundle are a bunch of back catalog games from a giant, financially irresponsible publisher and none of the money goes to any of the people who actually built these games.

The point of this for THQ is more to get some games in its franchises into more people's hands and to revive a little more interest in its IPs. That can be useful for a company its its dire situation although it probably won't help that much.

SwashbucklerXX

Warlock82 wrote: »

maximumzero wrote: »

It's crazy to think that Nintendo has four different pieces of hardware on the market at once. (Even moreso if you want to break it down by SKU)

I'm still amazed DS is selling. That's been out longer than Wii. Who doesn't have a DS by now?

The DS keeps selling because people keep having kids and giving each kid their own DS. Nintendo developed a wonderful renewable consumer resource with that one.

rRootagea

slash000 wrote: »

rRootagea wrote: »

THQ could probably get 10 million by the end of these 13 days, (based on 1,231,655.57 total paid so far);
but the downside is they would lose some potential sales for these older titles.
Based on steam sale prices, lets pretend this averages to a net loss of $5 per purchase.
Assuming the average price paid is also $5, then THQ more or less just gets some cash now as opposed to later.

The upshot for doing this I suppose is if this potentially convinces say a quarter of those 200000 people to pick up when they otherwise would not have
either metro: last light, or Company of Heros 2 for $50,
for 25 million extra dollars.

A lot of the money raised isn't going to THQ anyway. The default split only gets them 66 percent or so, and I know at least a few people are setting the slider all the way to Charity since this bundle are a bunch of back catalog games from a giant, financially irresponsible publisher and none of the money goes to any of the people who actually built these games.

The point of this for THQ is more to get some games in its franchises into more people's hands and to revive a little more interest in its IPs. That can be useful for a company its its dire situation although it probably won't help that much.

All the same, it's still pretty amazing to me that a publisher with such a bevy of beloved games has resorted to selling them like indie titles. A bold move, THQ.
Though I guess who can blame them, given how profitable indie games have become.

I wonder how much THQ could kickstart!

Zephiran

THQ has no options left. This is what a company with no options left does.

Shadowfire

slash000 wrote: »

rRootagea wrote: »

THQ could probably get 10 million by the end of these 13 days, (based on 1,231,655.57 total paid so far);
but the downside is they would lose some potential sales for these older titles.
Based on steam sale prices, lets pretend this averages to a net loss of $5 per purchase.
Assuming the average price paid is also $5, then THQ more or less just gets some cash now as opposed to later.

The upshot for doing this I suppose is if this potentially convinces say a quarter of those 200000 people to pick up when they otherwise would not have
either metro: last light, or Company of Heros 2 for $50,
for 25 million extra dollars.

A lot of the money raised isn't going to THQ anyway. The default split only gets them 66 percent or so, and I know at least a few people are setting the slider all the way to Charity since this bundle are a bunch of back catalog games from a giant, financially irresponsible publisher and none of the money goes to any of the people who actually built these games.

The point of this for THQ is more to get some games in its franchises into more people's hands and to revive a little more interest in its IPs. That can be useful for a company its its dire situation although it probably won't help that much.

The point is to get a revenue injection. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only game THQ has at retail for the holiday season is WWE 13. That leaves them with little income to sustain the company until Company of Heroes 2 and Metro Last Light. Yes, this will drive interest in those two sequels that are coming next year, but I'd bet this is more about emergency cash flows now.

And the point about "no one who made these games are getting the money" is a really elitist/goose comment that I've seen repeated way too often today. The money they will receive will ensure that the developers they have will draw a paycheck. And they may have been financially irresponsible, or they may not have. The gaming industry is in this weird place right now where publishers have to promise the world to deliver the galaxy to investors, but the different between a million seller and a flop is a razor's edge.

OneAngryPossum

Zephiran wrote: »

THQ has no options left. This is what a company with no options left does.

While that's very bad for them, obviously, I'm not sure it's so terrible for the industry. If THQ had just continued to quietly (or maybe conservatively) sink into the black depths of obsolescence then it'd just be unfortunate, albeit terribly so for the employees. But desperate moves often get interesting and have the potential to shake things up. Not that this should be considered a harbinger for the future of retail games or something, but it does suggest that it's still worth keeping an eye on THQ for more than the train wreck value.

It also kind of suggests that somebody at THQ is fucking fighting to keep that ship afloat.

Foomy

Zephiran wrote: »

The MinWii has a red 'mote and chuck if I read the description page correctly, so if you're fashion conscious that may be a compelling reason to bite.

I'd pick up a red 'mote and chuck for a hundred bucks gatdayum

I broke down and per-ordered a Wii Mini while drinking my coffee this morning, partly because of that awesome red remote+ and nunchuck. And the mini itself is just great looking.

OneAngryPossum

Alternate idea, somebody at THQ has a really clever idea for a massive tax write off.

lowlylowlycook

OneAngryPossum wrote: »

Alternate idea, somebody at THQ has a really clever idea for a massive tax write off.

Yeah, they can use this to compensate for some of their profits... Oh. Nevermind.

Foomy

I figure THQ is going to try anything it can to limp along until it can release Metro,Saint's Row 4,South Park, and Company of Heroes early next year. And then they just have to hope that one of them is a big enough hit to save the company.

maybe a hot dog sale and car wash in the THQ parking lot next week?

maximumzero

Zephiran wrote: »

Zephiran wrote: »

The MinWii has a red 'mote and chuck if I read the description page correctly, so if you're fashion conscious that may be a compelling reason to bite.

I'd pick up a red 'mote and chuck for a hundred bucks gatdayum

I'm probably gonna pick up the Wii Mini if it makes it to the US because I have this feeling it's going to be a Game Boy Micro-esque collectible.

BigJoeM

Same here.

Plus i have an unhealthy love for Top-loaders (i'll eventually get a super-slim PS3 for the same reason)

Foomy

BigJoeM wrote: »

Same here.

Plus i have an unhealthy love for Top-loaders (i'll eventually get a super-slim PS3 for the same reason)

I think Top-Loaders are the best, but I can see why most consoles aren't as they don't work very well in entertainment centres.

lowlylowlycook

You know what would be really controversial?

If you could find codes for the next Humble Bundle on specially marked packages of Doritos and Mt. Dew.

BigJoeM

Foomy wrote: »

BigJoeM wrote: »

Same here.

Plus i have an unhealthy love for Top-loaders (i'll eventually get a super-slim PS3 for the same reason)

I think Top-Loaders are the best, but I can see why most consoles aren't as they don't work very well in entertainment centres.

That is a factor, another one is that having a top loader detracts from the "sleek high end electronics" look that every console is going for now.

Top-loader screams "this is a games console" and i love that.

Some people have compared the Super-Slim PS3 to the Amiga CD32 and that's a plus in my book

skeldare

Analyst: Black Ops 2 sales a 'cause for concern,' downgrades Activision

Sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 are on a trend to be down 15 percent from last year's launch of Modern Warfare 3, financial analyst Arvind Bhatia of Sterne Agee posits. Modern Warfare 3 sales were down 5 percent from the previous year's Black Ops, and if this scenario plays out again Bhatia calls it "a cause for concern" for Activision-Blizzard.

Call of Duty as a franchise is responsible for up to 45 percent of Activision's earnings before interest and taxes, Bhatia says, justifying the concern clause. Average reviews of Black Ops 2 were lower than Modern Warfare 3's, and Black Ops 2 launched a week after Halo 4 but a week before Black Friday, meaning some customers may have waited to buy it, Bhatia says.

Sterne Agee downgraded Activision's rating from "buy" to "neutral" and reduced 2013 estimates from $4.74 billion to $4.3 billion.

All this is in spite of the fact that Black Ops 2 pulled in $500 million at retail on its first day, breaking records and surpassing Modern Warfare 3's $400 million, and is the UK's fourth largest launch ever.

Nocren

Does that mean Activision will release 7 versions across different platforms in a single year in an attempt to kill the genre now that it's no longer as profitable for them as it once was?

milski

While I understand that the humble THQ bundle is likely a desperate move by THQ... it's a fairly clever desperate move, and you can't start making profit by continuing to do what trainwrecked in the first place.

Maybe THQ will still die a slow death, with Last Light being their last, dying light. Maybe this will revive interest and they'll stabilize to limp forward. But I still think it's pretty awesome that there's someone at THQ who not only wants THQ to survive badly, but instead of shaking things up with the usual bullshit of invasive DRM to "combat piracy that's clearly tanking their sales" and annoying DLC gimmicks, they did it by trying to make gamers happy and also concerned about THQ.

At least for me, it worked; I care much more about the potential of THQ dying out than I did before the bundle.

manwiththemachinegun

I couldn't care less about THQ, but I hope it survives long enough to birth Saints Row 4.

Athenor

manwiththemachinegun wrote: »

I couldn't care less about THQ, but I hope it survives long enough to birth Homeworld and Freespace 3.

FTFY.

I own nearly every game in this bundle. I'll likely be buying a couple copies because I don't want Relic, Vigil, and Volition to go out of business.

manwiththemachinegun

Meh, at this point Blue Planet is a better Freespace 3 than Freespace 3 would have been.

Maddoc

THQ has so many good studios and solid IPs that it's fucking amazing they're doing this badly.

Honest to god unbelieveable.

Spoit

blue planet?

Cade

When THQ finally crashes and burns I hope a good company buys Violition and gets the Saints Raw brand. Though I can only imagine either Activision or Ubisoft would be the likely buyers.

manwiththemachinegun

Spoit wrote: »

blue planet?

Really freaking good fanmod. Awesome gamplay, graphics, and pays slavish attention to Freespace lore.

Sweeney Tom

Cade wrote: »

When THQ finally crashes and burns I hope a good company buys Violition and gets the Saints Raw brand. Though I can only imagine either Activision or Ubisoft would be the likely buyers.

No matter what happens to THQ, Saint's Row will find a home. Saint's Row is too big a cash cow to just be left dead with THQ. That's the only good thing about this entire situation: no matter what, there will at the very least be a Saint's Row 4 (aka The Next Great Sequel In The Saint's Row Franchise).

Zxerol

Saint's Row would probably find a home elsewhere, but that doesn't mean Volition will be the ones making it. A potential buyer could be interested in just the IP and leave the developer to rot.

skeldare

Facebook, Zynga revamp partnership

Facebook Inc and Zynga Inc revamped terms of a years-old partnership that was widely viewed as giving Zynga preferential treatment on the world's No.1 online social network, according to regulatory filings from the two companies Thursday.

The agreement is seen as a move by Facebook to level the playing field between Zygna and other game makers the social network is trying to attract.

The new terms give Zynga more flexibility to offer games on its own website, but subjects the maker of Farmville and other popular social games to the same rules as other game makers on the social network.

The two fast-growing social Internet companies, which went public within seven months of each other, have been intimately tied. In recent quarters, fees from Zynga contributed more than 15 percent of Facebook's total revenues.

The revised agreement allows Facebook to develop its own games, according to a filing by Zynga on Wednesday. A person close to Facebook said the company "was not in the business of building games and we have not plans to do so".

Both Internet players have been trying to reduce their inter-dependence, with Zynga starting up its own Zynga.com platform, and Facebook wooing other games developers.

Zynga shares fell 13 percent to $2.26 in after hours trading.

Among the myriad terms of their new agreement, Zynga could elect not to use Facebook's payments mechanism to collect revenue or display Facebook's ads.

"We have streamlined our terms with Zynga so that Zynga.com's use of Facebook Platform is governed by the same policies as the rest of the ecosystem," a spokesman said in a statement. "We will continue to work with Zynga, just as we do with developers of all sizes."

Dragkonias

I'm surprised Facebook is willing to try and save that sinking ship.

Oh wait...misread that.

Yikes.

Sagroth

As much as we talk about Doooooooooom in this thread, I think it might actually apply to Zynga.

Also,thanks for bringing that humble bundle to my attention. I can sell SR3 and Darksiders on my 360 in my backlog and get way more than that back(am poor as hell right now), not to mention those other games. A win all around.