PS3 slips to distant fourth in the US for November (NPD)

[Julius Seeker]

NPD TRSTS

While Xbox 360 picks up with massive US sales due to Kinect, Black Ops, and an unprecidented 500 million dollar ad campaign (FAR larger than even iOS ad campaigns) on top of the new Xbox 360 slim model. Last year was a record breaking November for the US market, that record was broken in just one year:

DS - Sells 1.5 million, slipping from 1.7 million last year.
Xbox 360 sells 1.37 million, more than making up for the DS decline; after selling 820K last year
Wii is up too, selling 1.27 million, which is up a pinch from 1.26 million last year.
PS3 is 530K, slipping from its last year 711K.


Wii sales continue to push the distance ahead of PS2 sales trends. Current US sales of the Wii (32 million) in month 49 are where PS2 sales were in month 63. Recent sales declines for the Wii were not as sharp as those experienced by the PS3 during the fourth year. In November 2004 (four years into the generation) PS2 sold 664K in November. So in actuality, all systems except the PS3 are doing better than PS2 during its fourth year November.


Top Games:

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, PC, NDS) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
2. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (360, PS3) UBISOFT
3. Just Dance 2 (Wii) UBISOFT
4. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP) ELECTRONIC ARTS
5. Fable III (360) MICROSOFT
6. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) NINTENDO
7. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (PS3, 360, Wii, PC) ELECTRONIC ARTS
8. Gran Turismo 5 (PS3) SONY
9. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP,PC) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
10. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) NINTENDO

[Eric]

Not surprising, Sony merely copied Nintendo, Microsoft went for something new and shiny.

[Lox]

Yeah, I could have probably guessed that. It's always interesting to see the actual numbers though.

[Julius Seeker]

Sorry, I had a typo above; I meant the Wii's fourth year decline was not as sharp as the PS2's fourth year decline. PS2 in the US dropped from 9 million to 5 million, whereas the Wii dropped from 11 million to 8.5 million; both comparing 12 month NPD numbers (Dec 08 to Nov 09 vs. Dec 09 to Nov 2010 for Wii, and Dec 02 to Nov 03 vs Dec 03 to Nov 04 for the PS2). Although, ;I predict it will have a heavier 5th year decline just due to the fact that PS2 had no competition until the Wii came out in its sixth year, whereas the Wii has competition right now, and Nintendo will have a viable successor system revealed very soon (I doubt most people considered PS3 as a worthy PS2 successor). PS2 stuck around at 5 million the following year, Wii will likely drop off more into the coming year.

[SineSwiper]

What's different about Black Ops that every other CoD game already has? I don't understand the popularity.

[Julius Seeker]

What's different about Black Ops that every other CoD game already has? I don't understand the popularity.

It is the latest sequel in the series. Fans want a fresh start. The annual sequel is the general formula for the bulk of THQ/Activision/EA/Take 2 releases. It's a highly successful strategy.

[SineSwiper]

What? That doesn't answer my questions or make sense.

[Zeus]

What's different about Black Ops that every other CoD game already has? I don't understand the popularity.

The popularity comes from a few things:

- the previous games in the franchise, which were excellent shooters
- the very robust multiplayer. I don't for anything other than the Zombie mode (their version of Horde) but you cannot deny the quality and sheer multitude of options it offers
- word of mouth and a LOT of advertising

As for what's different? Well, not an overly huge amount other than the setting (stretches from the end of WWII to Vietnam). But that's why everyone loves it so. It's just a very good version of what they already know and love. There's nothing wrong with getting an excellent and extremely enjoyable version of something you already know. If you eat an excellent steak, do you go out and say "I've already had an awesome steak, I never need another one again". No, you go and get another one if you can 'cause you loved the first one so. Same idea

[SineSwiper]

Yeah, but people who have never played a CoD game (or even a FPS) in their life are playing this game. It seems to match the popularity of a Halo launch, and while I don't quite understand that one, either, at least it already had the epic numbers from the very beginning. Not saying that CoD games aren't popular, but it seems like the user group has literally doubled from this launch.

[Zeus]

Yeah, but people who have never played a CoD game (or even a FPS) in their life are playing this game. It seems to match the popularity of a Halo launch, and while I don't quite understand that one, either, at least it already had the epic numbers from the very beginning. Not saying that CoD games aren't popular, but it seems like the user group has literally doubled from this launch.

That's a psychological need to fit in. Everyone has it, it just manifests itself in different ways. In some people to whom gaming is a very important part of their social life, they do not want to be left out so they pick up a game like this and play it (sometimes forcing themselves) in order to, in their minds, not become an outsider for not having it and playing it 'cause everyone they know will talk about it constantly. We saw the same thing with the Halo 3 launch. I remember seeing a father being interview who had been waiting with his son in line to get it saying something along the lines of "well, with the hype all around this game, I'm probably going to get one myself too". It's ridiculous but true.

[SineSwiper]

Funny, I tend to have the opposite effect. They are probably good games, but I tend to be biased against the mega-popular games.

[Zeus]

Funny, I tend to have the opposite effect. They are probably good games, but I tend to be biased against the mega-popular games.

Depends on how you see yourself. A lot of people just like to be not like everyone else as well

[Julius Seeker]

What? That doesn't answer my questions or make sense.

Let me break it down for you then:

• It is the latest sequel in the series. The series is popular through lots of marketing from the largest third party in North America.

• Fans want a fresh start. They have played their old favourite for a year now. There is the opportunity to start a fresh and shiny new game that they know will be just like the one they played before... With some changes.

• The annual sequel is the general formula for the bulk of THQ/Activision/EA/Take 2 releases. It's a highly successful strategy. They have been doing this since the early 90's, they know what they are doing, and they keep their name brand in the minds and mouths of people every single year. By the time people have finished with the last one, it will be no more than a year until the next one.

Not to mention it is multiplatform; whether the person plays Wii, DS, or Xbox, there is a Call of Duty franchise game. As for people who haven't played one before, why should that stop them from picking up the latest version?

[Don]

People like to identify with the biggest thing out there. This is why entrenched games/systems are very difficult to displace even if they're not the best at what they do.