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Microsoft Will Ensure Retail Is Involved With Xbox One In Spite of Game Pass, Says NPD Analyst

Pramath — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 14:22:35 +0000

Microsoft recently announced that the Game Pass will get every single Xbox first party game on day one going forward, rendering the need to buy Xbox games from retailers moot- at least, for Microsoft published ones. This is a move with profound implications for how games are delivered to customers, because it could end up portending a future where games are consumed entirely digitally, rather than with physical copies sold by middlemen retailers.

Given that most consoles have very thin margins for retailers, who instead look to make money back on game and accessory sales, a lot of retailers spoke out against Microsoft’s move, with many retailers in the UK and Europe announcing they would no longer stock Xbox consoles going forward.

However, in the US, this should not be a problem, according to Mat Piscatella, NPD analyst. Speaking to GamingBolt, Piscatella noted that Microsoft has enough incentives for retailers in the US for them to continue stocking Xbox products for the time being.

“I think this depends on the retailer,” he said. “The console continues to sell well in the US, and Microsoft has been smart and aggressive in its pricing and promotional programs. Bringing PUBG to retail and seeing the success the retail version of that game has had suggests that they will find ways to ensure retail is involved and seeing return on its investment in retail space and inventory.”

This does make sense- but going forward, Microsoft may need to think about how it plans to incentivize retailers around the world to continue carrying its products very carefully- especially when this might be at odds with their intended shift to a services focused strategy.

Stay tuned for our full interview with Mat in the coming days.

Nintendo Switch Drives Game Sales To $1.36 Billion In US In March, Zelda Franchise Revenues Exceed $1.5 Billion- NPD

Pramath — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 22:59:09 +0000

It looks like Nintendo’s strong launch for the Switch and Zelda is paying dividends not just for them, but for the entire industry at large- NPD is reporting (via Games Industry) that game sales in the US in the month of March were driven to a staggering $1.36 billion, attributed primarily to the launch of the Nintendo Switch and Zelda.

NPD analyst Sam Naji commented, “March 2017 will go down in history books as the month Nintendo broke records.The Nintendo Switch had the biggest hardware launch for a Nintendo platform and the second biggest launch for any video game platform since 1995, the time NPD began tracking this category.

“In this debut month (month 1), the Nintendo Switch sold 31K more units than previous best-selling Nintendo month-1 platform, the Game Boy Advanced, which released back in June 2001. The two Nintendo Switch SKUs, the 32GB Gray Joy-Con, followed by the 32GB Neon Red/Blue Joy-Con, were the best-selling systems for the month.”

The other big news for Nintendo and their fans here is that lifetime sales of Zelda, as tracked by NPD (since 1994, which means that a significant portion of the series’ lifetime is actually missing from the total), now exceed revenues of $1.5 billion in the US alone- making this one of the most fearsomely lucrative game properties in the world.

This is why a healthy Nintendo is so important for the industry. It’s good to see to see Nintendo’s strong launch, and that the Switch continues to do well- it shall be interesting to see how well its performance holds in the coming months.

Digital Game Sales Continuing To Grow, Now Represent 74% Of US Game Market

Pramath — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 17:08:38 +0000

It looks like digital games are now an indelible part of the gaming landscape- they continue to comprise an increasingly large portion of game sales, and represent a 74% share of the overall pie, according to a report released by the Entertainment Software Association (via Games Industry).

This, of course, explains why dedicated US game retailers like GameStop are struggling- more and more people are used to getting their games digitally, as digital game purchases and downloads become increasingly normalized. However, this is important- that 74% figure includes full game digital downloads, subscriptions, DLC, social, and mobile- with the latter only being available digitally, and representing a massive part of the market, the 74% figure makes more sense.

Given the push towards digital by Xbox, PlayStation, and even Nintendo going forward, as well as the continued growth of mobile, VR, and PC gaming, it will be interesting to see just how much that figure rises in the coming months and years.

PS4 Was The Highest Selling Console In The US In December

Pramath — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 17:23:15 +0000

Nintendo Switch’s conference wasn’t the only bit of big news we got yesterday- we also got the preliminary NPD report that confirmed that the PS4 had indeed managed to come in first in the United States for the second month straight, meaning Sony managed to score an overall victory in the Holiday Season.

That said, in spite of this victory, it was a muted occasion for them- as Microsoft themselves pointed out in a statement they released, PS4 sales slid year on year- the launch of the PS4 Pro, PS4 Slim, and the PlayStation VR was not enough to counter a decline in sales. Meanwhile, for the sum total of the second half of 2016, it appears as though Microsoft managed to outsell PS4 with the Xbox One in the US- presumably on the back of exciting games like Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3, as well as the launch of the excellent Xbox One S.

We’ll get the full NPD report, including software charts, on January 19, so stay tuned to GamingBolt for that.

Nintendo 3DS Takes The Crown In The US In February NPD Sales

Pramath — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 07:33:41 +0000

For a long time now, the hardware charts have been ruled by either Sony or Microsoft- even though the highest selling system of this generation remains Nintendo’s 3DS handheld, it has been routinely outsold by Xbox One and PlayStation 4 every month since those consoles launched.

That all changed this last month, as the one-two-three punch of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, and the launch of the refreshed New Nintendo 3DS XL finally propelled the 3DS to the top of the hardware charts, ensuring Nintendo a first place finish on the hardware and software front.

The Nintendo 3DS line of handhelds collectively sold 390,000 units in February 2015- this includes the 3DS, the 3DS XL, the 2DS, and the New 3DS XL. That said, Nintendo was quick to point out that the vast majority of sales came from the New model, which has sold 130 percent more units in its initial frame than Nintendo 3DS XL did when it launched.

And that’s not all either- according to Nintendo, through the first two months of 2015, sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware have increased by more than 90 percent over sales in the same period in 2014.

After four years on the market and a lineup that can easily and indisputably be called the best of any of the current generation machines, I think this success is well deserved. Hopefully the New 3DS rejuvenates Nintendo’s aging handheld much like the Gameboy Color did for the original Gameboy back in 1998.

US Senator Dianne Feinstein goes after violent video games

Kartik Mudgal — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 07:37:28 +0000

Dianne Feinstein, a democratic senator, has suggested that games can actually aid people in doing violent acts

“I think the really violent video game becomes a kind of simulator to practice on,” she said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “And it enables the individual to become much more familiar with that depiction of death and blood.”

Violent video games are really being targeted by the government after the Sandy Hook shooting incident, and while a few senators have revealed that it is indeed not right to go after it, even president Obama has managed to stay neutral but did spend some funds in research the behaviour behind it.

Going after games is ridiculous because there isn’t a proper relation unless it is confirmed via a study. It mostly people who are incapable to find the real reason end up blaming games because it is a convenient thing to do.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Thanks, Gamespot.

NPD reports that digital sales are up by 22% in Q3

Kartik Mudgal — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:24:14 +0000

Last month’s NPD sales showed that the industry has collapsed by 25%, however there was a silver lining as the digital sales were up by a significant amount, and it sort of suggests that the future may revolve over digital goods instead of physical.

Digital sales were almost $1.4 billion last month for the period of July to September 2012. (Via GI International).

“When including overall consumer content spending across both digital and physical formats in Q3 2012, there was a positive story for the industry,” said NPD’s Liam Callahan.

“Despite declines in physical format spending of 16% from Q3 2011, strong growth in digital format spending, up 22 percent, helped offset this decline and led to 1% decline in content spending from the same quarter last year.

“Mobile App spending, digital full game downloads, and downloadable add-on content were the areas within digital format spending that helped drive this increase.”

We reported last time that Xbox 360 had topped the charts and the entire month was a poor show but that could turn around with the launch of the Wii U and holiday season, as demand increases.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Wii U US release date and pricing revealed

Kartik Mudgal — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:26:40 +0000

Nintendo has announced the release date and pricing for the Wii U in the US, and it will cost $300 for the basic set and $350 for the deluxe set. Earlier we knew about the Japanese pricing as well, which was 26000 yen for the basic set and 32000 yen for the deluxe set.

The gamepad will cost $150 apparently, which was expected after the Japanese pricing. The console will launch on November 18th in the US, just in time for the Call of Duty Black Ops 2 launch which will hit the Wii U as well.

There are a lot of games announced for the system and all the Wii motes people have so far will work on the Wii U. Reggie bragged about selling 100 million Wii motes which will be usable with the Wii U along with all the games so far.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Modern Warfare 3 the highest selling game of 2011 in US

Shubhankar Parijat — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:09:03 +0000

NPD has released the annual sales figures for 2011 for the region of US, and as everyone must have expected, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the largest selling game, topping the list and beating heavyweights such as Elder Scrolls, Assassin’s Creed and Battlefield. This comes as no surprise, especially after it was announced earlier this week that Modern Warfare 3 was also the highest selling game of 2011 in UK.

It beat its direct competitor, Battlefield 3, by a fairly large margin, which came in at the 4th position. Other expected entries were The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim at 3, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations at 10, Batman: Arkham City at 7 and Gears of War 3 at 8.

Even Treyarch’s 2010 iteration of the CoD franchise, Black Ops, featured on the list, coming in at No. 6.

Just Dance 3 at 2, Madden NFL 12 at 5 and Just Dance 2 at 9 rounded off the top 10.

Total retail software sales for the year went down by 8%, grossing $9.27 billion.

Here’s the full top 10:

TOP 10 RETAIL GAMES FOR 2011
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (X360, PS3, PC) – Activision
2. Just Dance 3 (Wii, X360) – Ubisoft
3. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (X360, PS3, PC) – Bethesda Softworks
4. Battlefield 3 (X360, PS3, PC) – EA
5. Madden NFL 12 (X360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2) – EA
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (X360, PS3, Wii, DS, PC) – Activision Blizzard
7. Batman: Arkham City (X360, PS3, PC) – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
8. Gears of War 3 (X360) – Microsoft
9. Just Dance 2 (Wii) – Ubisoft
10. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (X360, PS3, PC) – Ubisoft

[Gamespot]

Uncharted Dual Pack hitting US on September 6

Shubhankar Parijat — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:04:06 +0000

The Uncharted Greatest Hits Dual Pack, which consists of both the Uncharted games and was exclusive to Europe till now, has been confirmed for a US release date. The game will release in the US in five days’ time, meaning September 6.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Game of the Year Edition will both be included in the pack, for a collective price of just $39.99.

A Super Voucher containing all of the DLC content from the UC2 GOTY Edition, as well as two DLC items from Uncharted 3: the Uncharted 3 Announcement Nathan Drake PSN Avatar and the Uncharted 3 Announcement Dynamic Theme will also be included.

Check out the trailer for the pack below:

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