Here you go... Actual Sales Numbers! Talk among yourselves. (1 Viewer)

[Leroy]

It's nice to see all the parties doing well, I just hope it doesn't result in the same crash that happend when a big three from the past were all enjoying success(Atari, Intelivision and Coleco).

Hopefully the result of such good competition will be better quality, more innovative games for all.

 

[Carlo_M]

Rl doesn't really count as far as being done in 9 months, since it was predicated on an earlier game. My statement of "a year or more" included concept time, initial ideas, etc. Being a sequel, the concept was pretty much predicated on groundwork already done for Rogue Squadron (was that the prequel's name?). I know, different systems, but they didn't "start from scratch" with RL.

Kind of like Madden. EA churns 'em out in a year. 2002...2003...2004...

 

[James Nguyen]

Developers (PC and console) are dropping, but none of the big ones (Konami, Square, Capcom, Enix, etc.)

Actually, Square's CEO just recently stepped down from his position...primarily due to the company hurting somewhat financially. Apparently game development times have been increasing

(particularly since they specialize in PRGs which arguably take longer production times for orchestration, story boarding, concept building etc. etc.) and the Final Fantasy movie was a multiyear, multimillion dollar fiscal fiasco. All said, the company operated at a loss this past quarter.

Sony's investment in Square was probably both a helping hand to a crucial ally as well as leverage to prevent that ally from developing for other platforms.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

James-

Pretty much the movie killed them. Other than that, Square's been pretty good. They have sold well over 2.5 million copies of Final Fantasy X just in Japan (and at a higher than normal price) and are releasing it in America soon. They haven't released many games in the last year, so they haven't really had time to profit.

Then again, creating an online network, several videogames, and a multimillion dollar movie at the same time can kill anyone.

 

[Andre F]

Check out more X-Box numbers from Gamespot here.
-Andre F

 

[David Proud]

new data from the NPD group shows that xbox is outselling competition....

The Xbox™ video game system from Microsoft Corp. had the best-selling video game console launch on record after two weeks of sales, according to The NPD Group Inc., the definitive source for sales and market data on the video game industry.

"The data clearly show that Xbox is off to a torrid start," said Robbie Bach, chief Xbox officer at Microsoft. "Xbox sold out as soon as we launched, and we're selling systems as fast as we can produce them. More than 100,000 units a week are being delivered to retailers, so game players are likely to find Xbox systems throughout the holiday season. With one of the best launch lineups ever, I understand why Xbox is the most sought-after gift for the holiday."

Most importantly, Xbox purchasers can't get enough of the Xbox launch games. According to The NPD Group, gamers are buying 2.4 Xbox games with every Xbox, resulting in the highest game attach rate ever recorded for a console at launch. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. sold 1.9 games with every PlayStation 2 during the first two weeks of its launch last year, and Nintendo Company Ltd. has sold 1.9 games with every GameCube to date.

Microsoft's "Halo™" was the best-selling launch title according to actual NPD data, beating "Luigi's Mansion," the top-selling GameCube game. "Halo," the critically acclaimed sci-fi action game, also recently received a 10 out of 10 rating from the editors at Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine. Sales are also very strong for Microsoft "Project Gotham Racing™," "NFL™ Fever 2002," and third-party games such as "Dead or Alive 3™" from Tecmo, "Madden NFL™ 2002" from Electronic Arts and "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater™ 2x" from Activision Inc.

"There's no doubt that Xbox has some of the most popular games for the holiday," said Ed Fries, vice president of Microsoft Game Studios. "Whether you crave action, sports, racing or fighting games, Xbox has killer games in every category."

 

[Brad Grenz]

Yeah, Square really only lost money because of the FF movie. Their game business is still pretty healthy.

And it's not the programming that is the real resource-sucker in game dev, it's the art. All those levels, models, textures, animations, sounds, voice overs, music...

 

[David Williams]

Just to point out two things from the Gamespot article:
(A)"The company cited NPD TRST data in making its claims, but failed to release any specific sales numbers for the Xbox."
(B)"It must be noted, however, that the final comparative sales numbers for the November console launches won't be available until NPD TRST releases its cumulative numbers later this month."
and the Nintendo rebuttal portion of the article:
Things are looking quite rosy in the Nintendo camp, as well. Nintendo of America announced today that, based on communication with its retailers, the company's GameCube console has sold nearly 600,000 units since it was released on November 18. The company's sales numbers seems to be in line with a new report from analysts at Credit Suisse First Boston, which cited NPD TRST data in claiming that in its first week of sales Nintendo sold 469,000 units of the GameCube. The report goes on to state that since its release on November 15 the Microsoft Xbox has sold a total of 556,000 units.
"Both in terms of total units sold to date and even more so in the comparative number of units we're selling per day, Nintendo GameCube's advantages in game quality and affordability are being amply demonstrated in stores across America," Peter Main, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Nintendo of America, said about the early GameCube sales. "In short, although launching at retail three days following the Microsoft Xbox, it seems apparent that we have sold through to consumers more game consoles than they have even been able to deliver to retail outlets." Main's claims seem to refute Microsoft's announcement made today.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think if you compare the first week of both consoles, the numbers are more even.

Nintendo did sell $98 million total in the first day, and their console is the cheaper one.

Nintendo announced that the whole first shipment had been sold in a week.

Why hasn't MS announced anything like this? They announced some stuff, but no numbers.

 

[James Nguyen]

In the end though, these numbers mean nothing. launch numbers are not indicative of survival of the console--the dreamcast sets that precedent in the American consumer marketplace. Both camps are doing what any large corporation would do, spin some numbers to put things in the best possible light for themselves--and if they can discredit their competitors while doing so, so be it.

What's interesting is that both new systems out did what PS2 did in its first week or two of launch....the PS2 of course falling waaaaaay short on supply, which in turn helped feed its demand (to this day I still wonder if the PS2's shortages were really an accident and not some cleve scheme).

Here's to both systems and to both their long term success.. there may just be room for three afterall, despite what all the pundits believe.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Actually, the DC failed in Japan, not America, and thats why it died out. There were problems with the Japanese launch and the Japanese games, but in America, everything was dandy and near perfect for Sega.

 

[Graeme Clark]

to this day I still wonder if the PS2's shortages were really an accident and not some cleve scheme

This doesn't make sense to me. Doing this would.

A)Piss off developers/publishers

B)Piss off retailers

C)Piss off consumers

D)Put less money on Sony's pocket

all for a little hype, which in the grand scheme of things doesn't really mean a thing a few months down the road? XBox and GC are doing fine without the "shortage scare".

If they had done a shortage for the launch and then a few weeks later (or a few weeks before XMass) had come out with a "Oh we found the other 500,000 units in a warehouse somewhere" move, then I might have believed it.

 

[BrianB]

There were problems with the Japanese launch and the Japanese games, but in America, everything was dandy and near perfect for Sega.

Just the opposite, Morgan. The American launch was good, but followup sales were completely flat. Same with Europe - good initial launch, zero sales increase after that.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

If anything, that was Sega's fault for not being careful.

MS and Nintendo have great games litterring December and January. Sony...well....they were REALLY spread out.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

If anything, that was Sega's fault for not being careful.

Nonsense, poppycock, and horsefeathers.
Sega did not screw up with the Dreamcast. For some reason. anti-Sega fanboys (and other folks with an anti-Sega bias) don't ever want to hear this. They want to say that the Dreamcast was bad, that the games were bad. Well, anybody who has been in the hobby for 25 years and owns over 20 different game consoles might have some credibility in making such an argument, but that is never the case.
The game library rocked, and others agree. Did you know that to this day IGN has more Dreamcast games awarded as "Editor's Choice" titles than PS2 games with the same acclaim? Even though more PS2 titles have been released in the last year than DC titles in the entire livespan of the Sega console? That is how high the overall quality of the Dreamcast library is. It is quite impressive, and this is coming from someone who owns over a thousand of games dating back to the late Seventies.
Is Sega perfect? Far from it! They screwed up bigtime with the 32X, Sega CD, and especially with the Saturn. They burned bridges with end users, with retailers, and with publishers and developers.
With the DC, the war was lost before the first battle was fought.
Lucky us. Lucky us? Yes, for a change you can buy a cheap console and tons of cheap games that are totally comparable to other current-generation releases.
And lucky for the fans of Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. Because the best first party publisher is now the best third-party publisher, and you can play many of their great games despite the fact that you did not buy their console.
Hell, the best Nintendo lauch title is a Sega game (Super Monkey Ball). Yep, Luigi's Mansion was the best selling title...because uninformed buyers were hoping for something great, as the Mario launch titles accustomed them to.

 

[James D S]

Well said Michael. Couldn't agree more.

 

[Romier S]

I agree also Michael. The Dreamcast is an excellent console and at 50 bucks its an absolute steal (I thought it was a steal at 99 )

 

[Calvin Watts III]

Well put,Michael. I also agree. The DC is awesome,plain & simple. Hmm...

 

[Mike__D]

Besides Sega's previous bad image, I think the fact the they RARELY advertised it, helped kill it. And their commericals hardly showed any gameplay at all. Look at the latest crop of PS2 commericals... they are great and show the gameplay too (although MGS2 shows more in-game FMV I think).

 

[Mike__D]

Besides Sega's previous bad image, I think the fact the they RARELY advertised it, helped kill it. And their commericals hardly showed any gameplay at all. Look at the latest crop of PS2 commericals... they are great and show the gameplay too (although MGS2 shows more in-game FMV I think).