NPD 2011 Full Year Results: Discussion Thread

[Welfare]

Console Full Year Results

Month	Wii	Xbox 360	PS3	PS2	NDS	PSP	3DS
January	319,000	381,000	267,000	21,000	291,000	76,000	-
February	455,000	535,000	403,000	29,000	457,000	78,000	-
March	290,000	433,000	365,000	28,000	460,000	188,000	398,000
April	172,000	297,000	204,000	21,000	257,000	89,000	194,000
May	236,000	270,000	175,000	10,000	198,000	68,000	97,000
June	273,000	507,000	276,000	10,000	386,000	120,000	143,000
July	190,000	277,000	145,000	8,000	290,000	63,000	90,000
August	190,000	308,000	218,000	8,000	165,000	?	235,000
September	240,000	438,000	374,000	20,000	145,000	?	260,000
October	249,000	393,000	245,000	15,000	180,000	?	250,000
November	863,000	1,688,000	894,000	25,000	350,000	?	795,000
December	1,060,000	1,730,000	950,000	18,000	630,000	260,000	1,606,000
Total	4,537,000	7,257,000	4,516,000	213,000	3,809,000	>942,000	4,068,000
Life To Date	38,748,000	32,864,000	19,977,000	46,127,000	51,085,000	>19,419,000	4,068,000

Major Hardware Impacts (Price Drops/SKU/Bundle) [In NPD Tracking]

Prices at the start of the year
PS3: $299 160GB / $349 320GB
Xbox 360: $199 4GB / $299 250GB Slim / Kinect 4GB Bundle $299 / Kinect 250GB Bundle $399
Wii: $199
PS2: $99
PSP: $169 / $199 Go
NDS: $129 Lite / $149 DSi / DSi XL $169

February 2011
PS3 Killzone 3 160GB Bundle $299

PSP 3000 $169 > $129
PSP Entertainment Packs $199 > $159

March 2011
3DS Aqua Blue $249
3DS Cosmo Black $249

PS3 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters 160GB Bundle $299 [Walmart]

DSi Pokemon Black Bundle $179
DSi Pokemon White Bundle $179

May 2011
Wii $199 > $149
Wii Mario Kart Wii + Wii Wheel Black Bundle $149
Wii Mario Kart Wii + Wii Wheel White Bundle $149

PSP MLB 11 The Show + Gran Turismo Bundle $159

June 2011
Xbox 360 Forza Motorsport 4 + Racing Wheel 250GB Bundle $299

PS3 Call of Duty: Black Ops 160GB Bundle $299

August 2011
PS3 Slim 160GB $299 > $249
PS3 Slim 320GB $349 > $299
PS3 Sports Champions + Move + PS Eye 320GB Bundle $399 > $349
PS3 inFAMOUS 2 320GB Bundle $299

September 2011
3DSFlame Red $169

Xbox 360 Gears of War 3 320GB Bundle $399

DSi XL Metallic Rose $169

PSP Madden NFL 12 + Need for Speed: Shift Bundle $159

October 2011
Xbox 360 Kinect Adventures + Carnival Games: Monkey See Monkey Do + Kinect 250GB Bundle $399
Xbox 360 Fable III + Halo: Reach 250GB Bundle $299

Wii New Super Mario Bros. Wii Black Bundle $149

November 2011
Xbox 360 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 320GB Bundle $399

PS3 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception 320GB Bundle $299
PS3 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 BD 160GB Bundle $249

DSi XL Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem Midnight Blue Bundle $169
DSi XL Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem Metallic Rose Bundle $169

PSP Cars 2 + FIFA 12 Bundle $159

Black Friday
3DS The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Limited Cosmo Black bundle $199
3DS Super Mario 3D Land Flame Red Bundle $199

Xbox 360 Fable III + Halo: Reach + 3-month XBL card 250GB Bundle $299 [GameStop]
Xbox 360 Kinect Adventures + Carnival Games: Monkey See Monkey Do + Kinect + 3-month XBL card 250GB Bundle $399 [GameStop]
Xbox 360 4GB Console $149 [GameStop/Kmart]
Xbox 360 4GB + Gears of War 3 + 3-month XBL card + $50 Walmart.com gift card $199 [Walmart]
Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Bundle $199 + $50 gift card [Walmart]
Xbox 360 Fable III + Halo: Reach 250GB Bundle $199 [Best Buy]
Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Bundle $199 + $100 gift Card [Best Buy]
Xbox 360 4GB Console $139 [Target]
Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Bundle $199 [Radio Shack]
Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Bundle $199 + $10 gift card [Toys R Us]

PS3 160GB $199
PS3 Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One + LittleBigPlanet 2 160GB Bundle $249
PS3 Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One + LittleBigPlanet 2 160GB Bundle $199 [GameStop]
PS3 Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One + LittleBigPlanet 2 + Cosmic Blue Dual Shock 3 160GB Bundle $239 [Sam's Club]

Blue Wii $99 [Walmart]

DSi Mario Party DS Green Bundle $149
DSi Mario Party DS Orange Bundle $149
DSi White $119 [Target]
DS Lite $89 [Kmart/Walmart]

PSP 3000 Core $99 [Walmart/Amazon/Toys R Us/Kmart]

December 2011
3DS Nintendogs + Cats: Toy Poodle and New Friends Pearl Pink Bundle $169
3DS Nintendogs + Cats: French Bulldog and New Friends Pearl Pink Bundle $169

---

Top 10 Software Full Year Result

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	X360, PS3, WII, PC	-
2	NEW	Just Dance 3	WII, X360, PS3	-
3	NEW	Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	X360, PS3, PC	-
4	NEW	Battlefield 3	X360, PS3, PC	-
5	NEW	Madden NFL 12	X360, PS3, WII, PSP, PS2	-
6	1	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC	-
7	NEW	Batman: Arkham City	X360, PS3, PC	-
8	NEW	Gears of War 3	X360	-
9	7	Just Dance 2	WII	-
10	NEW	Assassin's Creed: Revelations	X360, PS3, PC	-

January

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	1	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC	-
2	2	Just Dance 2	WII	-
3	NEW	Dead Space 2	X360, PS3, PC	452,000
4	NEW	Little Big Planet 2	PS3	353,000
5	-	Zumba Fitness: Join the Party	WII, X360, PS3	-
6	9	NBA 2K11	X360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC	-
7	4	Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood	X360, PS3	-
8	-	Dance Central	X360	-
9	8	Michael Jackson The Experience	WII, NDS, PSP	-
10	NEW	DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You	PS3, PC	195,000

Software Revenue (thanks to Wedbush)
Wii: $179 million (-20%YOY)
Xbox 360: $170 million (+8% YOY)
PS3: $141 million (+24% YOY)
NDS: $72 million (-13% YOY)
PSP: $10 million (-37% YOY)

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $551 million

Wedbush Securities and Piper Jaffray Companies further analysis

Spoiler

22 games sold over 100,000 (18 in 2010) (Wedbush)

Call of Duty: Black Ops: 750,000 (Piper Jaffray)
Just Dance 2: >500,000 (Wedbush)
Dead Space 2 Xbox 360 + PS3: 441,000 (Piper Jaffray)
Zumba Fitness >300,000 (Wedbush)
NBA 2K11 = 261,000 (Piper Jaffray - could be missing PC like Dead Space 2)
Donkey Kong Country Returns: ~165,000 (Wedbush)
uDraw Studio & Tablet = 26k (Piper Jaffray)

- Guitar Hero (and other Hero music games) sales were down 56% from last year. (Wedbush)
- Rock Band sales were down 80% to $2 million. (Wedbush)

- Under one-fifth of PS3 sales were Move bundles: <53,000 >45,000 (1/6) (Wedbush)
- Just under three-fifths of Xbox 360 sales Kinect bundles: <229,000 (Wedbush)
- Xbox 360 Kinect console bundles again outsold PS3 Move console bundles by almost 5:1 (Wedbush) (~50K Move vs ~225K Kinect?)

February

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	1	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC	-
2	NEW	Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds	X360, PS3	790,200
3	2	Just Dance 2	WII	554,000
4	6	NBA 2K11	X360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC	-
5	3	Dead Space 2	X360, PS3, PC	-
6	5	Zumba Fitness: Join the Party	WII, X360, PS3	-
7	NEW	Bulletstorm	X360, PS3, PC	285,600
8	NEW	Killzone 3	PS3	279,900
9	9	Michael Jackson The Experience	WII, NDS, PSP	-
10	NEW	Mario Sports Mix	WII	-

Xbox 360 Top 3

Placement	Game
1	Call of Duty: Black Ops
2	Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
3	Bulletstorm

PS3 Top 3

Placement	Game
1	Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
2	Call of Duty: Black Ops
3	Killzone 3

Wii Top 3

Placement	Game
1	Just Dance 2
2	Mario Sports Mix
3	Michael Jackson The Experience

Handhelds Top 3

Placement	Game
1	New Super Mario Bros. DS
2	Mario Kart DS
3	Mario VS Donkey Kong: Mini Land

Call of Duty: Black Ops now the best-selling game in the US ever, topping Wii Play.

Life to date sales (all happened this month)
Call Of Duty: Black Ops: 13,700,000 (Around 1.5M this year, would mean 2010 sales were ~12.2M)
New Super Mario Bros. DS: 9,000,000
New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 8,000,000
Donkey Kong Country Returns: 2,000,000
Pokemon SoulSilver: 2,000,000

Wedbush Securities
Call of Duty: Black Ops: 775,000
Dead Space 2: 312,000 (Down 31% from first month was the statement)
Zumba Fitness: 301,000
Mario Sports Mix: 200,000
Dragon Quest VI: 50,000
de Blob 2: Much less than 75,000
uDraw: ~25,000

22 games sold over 100,000 copies (20 in 2010)

Kinect bundles > Move bundles 5:1 again

March

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	Pokemon White	NDS	>1,300,000
2	NEW	Pokemon Black	NDS	>1,100,000
3	NEW	Homefront	X360, PS3, PC	-
4	NEW	Dragon Age II	X360, PS3, PC	-
5	1	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, NDS, WII, PC	-
6	NEW	Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars	WII, X360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC	-
7	NEW	Crysis 2	X360, PS3, PC	-
8	4	NBA 2K11	X360, PS3, PS2, WII, PSP, PC	-
9	NEW	MLB 11: The Show	PS3, PSP, PS2	-
10	NEW	Fight Night Champion	X360, PS3	-

3DS Top 10

Placement	Game	Sales
1	Street Fighter 3DS	95,000
2	Pilotwings Resort	-
3	Lego Star Wars	-
4	Rayman	-
5	Tom Clancy Ghost Recon	-
6	Super Monkey Ball	-
7	Nintendogs+Cats G	-
8	Ridge Racer	-
9	Steel Diver	-
10	Nintendogs+Cats F	-

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $457 million

Pokemon White + Pokemon Black: 2,500,000
Pokemon White #1 of any Pokemon SKU in debut month
Pokemon Black #3 of any Pokemon SKU in debut month

Despite 3DS hardware debut being lower than the NDS November 2004 debut, 3DS sold more software in March 2011 than DS did in November 2004.

April - "The NPD Group has added several retailers to its panel, including Toys R Us, with the April 2011 release of its Retail Tracking Service covering Video Games."

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	Mortal Kombat 2011	PS3, X360	>1,000,000
2	NEW	Portal 2	X360, PS3, PC	637,000
3	6	Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars	WII, NDS, X360, 3DS, PS3, PSP, PC	-
4	5	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, NDS, WII, PC	-
5	-	Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters	X360, PS3, WII	-
6	7	Crysis 2	X360, PS3, PC	236,000
7	-	Just Dance 2	WII	-
8	-	Michael Jackson The Experience	X360, WII, PS3, NDS, PSP	-
9	1	Pokemon White	NDS	-
10	8	NBA 2K11	X360, PS3, WII, PSP, PS2, PC	190,000

Mortal Kombat 2011: Just under 900K, +1M with special editions

If SOCOM 4's accessory bundle sales counted, it would have been in the Top 10 as well.

Top 10 Individual SKUs (not in order)
Mortal Kombat (360)
Mortal Kombat (PS3)
Portal 2 (360)
Crysis 2 (360)
Pokemon White (NDS)
Pokemon Black (NDS)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters (360)
Michael Jackson: The Experience (360)
Just Dance 2 (Wii)
SOCOM 4 (PS3)

Life to date
Pokemon White + Pokemon Black: >2,800,000
Kinect Sports: >3,000,000 Worldwide
Dance Central: >2,500,000 Worldwide

May

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	L.A. Noire	X360, PS3	899,000
2	NEW	Brink	X360, PS3, PC	>401,000
3	NEW	Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game	WII, X360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC	-
4	2	Portal 2	X360, PS3, PC	-
5	1	Mortal Kombat 2011	PS3, X360	292,000
6	4	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC	-
7	-	Zumba Fitness: Join the Party	WII, X360, PS3	-
8	10	NBA 2K11	X360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP, PC	-
9	7	Just Dance 2	WII	-
10	3	Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars	WII, NDS, X360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC	-

Brink's 401K does not include PC

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $265 million
Xbox 360 Software: $140 million
Xbox 360 Hardware + Accessories: $125 million

June

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	1	L.A. Noire	X360, PS3	419,000
2	NEW	Duke Nukem Forever	X360, PS3, PC	376,300
3	NEW	Infamous 2	PS3	369,200
4	3	Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game	WII, X360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC	200,900
5	NEW	Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D	3DS	283,200
6	6	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC	-
7	8	NBA 2K11	X360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP, PC	-
8	5	Mortal Kombat 2011	PS3, X360	-
9	NEW	Cars 2	NDS, WII, X360, PS3, PC	-
10	9	Just Dance 2	WII	-

July

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	NCAA Football 12	X360, PS3	796,000
2	9	Cars 2	NDS, WII, X360, PS3, PC	-
3	6	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, NDS, WII, PC	-
4	4	Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game	WII, NDS, X360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC	-
5	10	Just Dance 2	WII	-
6	-	Major League Baseball 2K11	X360, WII, NDS, PS3, PS2, PSP, PC	-
7	-	Zumba Fitness: Join the Party	WII, X360, PS3	-
8	-	Fallout: New Vegas	X360, PS3, PC	-
9	-	New Super Mario Bros DS	NDS	-
10	8	Mortal Kombat 2011	X360, PS3	85,000

Just Dance: Summer Dance Party just missed the top 10

Catherine: 78,000
Shadows of the Damned: 14,000

8 games sold over 100,000 (19 in 2010)

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $250 million
Kinect Fun Labs: 1,000,000 downloads

Wii Top 8 Life to date
Wii Play 13,040,000
Mario Kart Wii: 10,640,000
New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 8,360,000
Wii Fit: 8,170,000
Wii Fit Plus: 7,060,000
Wii Sports Resort: 6,450,000
Super Smash Bros. Brawl: 5,280,000
Just Dance 2: 5,090,000

August

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	Deus Ex: Human Revolution	X360, PS3, PC	244,000
2	1	NCAA Football 12	X360, PS3	240,400
3	3	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, NDS, WII, PC	-
4	NEW	Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension	NDS, WII, PS3	-
5	2	Cars 2	NDS, WII, X360, PS3, PC	-
6	-	Just Dance Summer Party	WII	-
7	5	Just Dance 2	WII	-
8	4	Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game	WII, X360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC	-
9	-	Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D	3DS	84,000
10	6	Zumba Fitness: Join the Party	WII, X360, PS3	-

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $232 million

Nintendo software year to date: >50,000,000
Wii + DS Family Software life to date: 540,000,000

September

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	Madden NFL 12	X360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP	>2,300,000
2	NEW	Gears of War 3	X360	>2,000,000
3	NEW	Dead Island	X360, PS3, PC	Nearly 1,000,000
4	NEW	FIFA Soccer 12	X360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP, 3DS	>400,000
5	NEW	NHL 12	X360, PS3	-
6	1	Deus Ex: Human Revolution	X360, PS3, PC	-
7	NEW	Resistance 3	PS3	180,000
8	-	Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars	WII, NDS, X360, 3DS, PS3, PSP, PC	-
9	3	Call of Duty: Black Ops	X360, PS3, NDS, WII, PC	-
10	NEW	Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine	X360, PS3, PC	-

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $534 million
Gears of War 3 Week 1 Worldwide: >3,000,000

Nintendo DS Total Software: 273,000,000
DS has 24 of the top 25 and 43 of the top 50 best-selling handheld software this generation

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D: >500,000 Life to date

October

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	Battlefield 3	X360, PS3, PC	Almost 2,000,000
2	NEW	Batman: Arkham City	X360, PS3	1,500,000
3	NEW	NBA 2K12	X360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC	-
4	NEW	Rage	X360, PS3, PC	550,000
5	NEW	Just Dance 3	WII, X360	-
6	NEW	Dark Souls	PS3, X360	-
7	1	Madden NFL 12	X360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP	-
8	NEW	Forza Motorsport 4	X360	-
9	2	Gears of War 3	X360	-
10	4	FIFA Soccer 12	X360, PS3, WII, PSP, PS2, 3DS	-
11	NEW	Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure	Not in order 3DS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC	-

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $490 million

Nintendo software year to date: >55,000,000
Wii + DS Family Software life to date: >540,000,000

inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood is the fastest selling PS3 digital game ever launched on PSN

November

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	NEW	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	X360, PS3, WII, PC	8,990,000
2	NEW	Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	X360, PS3, PC	2,800,000
3	1	Battlefield 3	X360, PS3, PC	-
4	NEW	Assassin's Creed: Revelations	X360, PS3, PC	1,260,000
5	5	Just Dance 3	WII, X360	-
6	7	Madden NFL 12	X360, PS3, WII, PSP, PS2	-
7	NEW	Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception	PS3	700,000
8	NEW	Saints Row: The Third	X360, PS3, PC	-
9	NEW	The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword	WII	>600,000
10	2	Batman: Arkham City	X360, PS3, PC	-

Super Mario 3D Land: 625,000
Rayman Origins: 50,000

Super Mario 3D Land and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary would be in the Top 10 SKU

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Wii: <100,000 / PC even less

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $1.4 billion

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion life to date: ~3,300,000

Batman: Arkham City just shy of Batman: Arkham Asylum lifetime sales

PC retail +57% year over year

December

Placement	Previous Place	Game	Platform	Sales
1	1	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3	X360, PS3, WII, PC	-
2	5	Just Dance 3	WII, X360, PS3	-
3	2	Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	X360, PS3, PC	-
4	NEW	Mario Kart 7	3DS	-
5	3	Battlefield 3	X360, PS3, PC	-
6	6	Madden NFL 12	X360, PS3, WII, PSP, PS2	-
7	4	Assassin's Creed: Revelations	X360, PS3, PC	-
8	NEW	NBA 2K12	X360, PS3, WII, PSP, PS2, PC	-
9	-	Super Mario 3D Land	3DS	-
10	10	Batman: Arkham City	X360, PS3, PC	-

#14 Star Wars: The Old Republic: >600K

Skylanders: If you combine the sales of software bundles with the character packs which are tracked in the accessories category, the title would rank 4th in December, and 10th for Annual 2011 on dollar sales.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: #10 SKU

Xbox 360 Total Retail (Software + Hardware + Accessories): $1.5 billion

NPD Archives

 

[Lelouch0612]

2011 is definitely the year Nintendo's armor started to crack, quite visibly, in the US.

Exceptional year for Xbox, which had everything between core and casual appeal to make a killing for the upcoming generation.

Lots to digest, but definitely a pivotal year for the market.

 

[KillerMan]

2011 is definitely the year Nintendo's armor started to crack, quite visibly, in the US.

Exceptional year for Xbox, which had everything between core and casual appeal to make a killing for the upcoming generation.

Lots to digest, but definitely a pivotal year for the market.

Still kinda curious to me how 3DS even after the price cut to basically DS level of prices could not repeat even close to the 2010 DS performance in US (also had full BC). DS even had great first quarter of 2011 before release of 3DS. The downfall of DS brand was quick.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

2010's Just Dance 2 and Just Dance 3 both charting top 10 pulling a CoD is something I forgot was a thing. Retirement home Senior Citizens were dancing to the beat! Just Dance 3, if Guinness 2015 is to be believed, is also the biggest third party Wii seller at 9.92. Ubisoft would've paid for it to appear there, I would imagine, and can be taken as basically them disclosing the numbers in a roundabout way?

Fake Edit: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/just-dance-3-sells-7-million-series-climbs-to-25m/1100-6348597/
Which would make the figure above make sense, 7M in a couple months.

The hardware graph Xbox vs PS shows us just what kind of a different world we've been living in since the PS4.

 

[Drblitzk]

Call of Duty: Black Ops now the best-selling game in the US ever, topping Wii Sports

In here I guess you meant Wii Play right?

And oh man, how I miss we getting some kind of numbers at least, and this just shows how comparing games with only rankings nowadays is just a flawed method. Take Deus Ex:HR #1 in August at launch for example, and have it launch any other month and it wouldn’t be top 5, put it in February and it wouldn’t even be in the top 10. Yet it’s second month it went down 5 positions, but number wise it barely drop more than 60k (less than 25%) units, saying a game did good or bad because of it’s position at launch, or that it has good or bad legs just with positions and basically no knowledge of anything around it like some people do nowadays, is not possible.

But yeah, 2011 was a good year for video games that I couldn’t enjoy (started medical residency which is hell and couldn’t spend any moment discussing, or much less, playing, any kind of video game ) this is a cool way to remember it and discover more of it, thanks Welfare.

 

[Astral_lion02]

@Welfare

Nintendo shared the missing PSP numbers:

(Nintendo did the same in 2012 and for some 2013 months)

PS2 LTD is too low too.

Should be >46,3M by that point.

 

[Malden]

Reading that first slide was not expecting to see DS top NPD in 3DS launch month.

 

[fiendcode]

Reading that first slide was not expecting to see DS top NPD in 3DS launch month.

DS and GBA were similar iirc.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Reading that first slide was not expecting to see DS top NPD in 3DS launch month.

Even worse was the 3DS dropping below 100k and being outsold 2:1 by the DS in its 3rd month.

 

[menx64]

I remember the wii and DS games. The 3ds had a low start tbh, but the DS was just an amazing seller.

 

[Malden]

Even worse was the 3DS dropping below 100k and being outsold 2:1 by the DS in its 3rd month.

That too. DS was just a monster.

 

[allan-bh]

Xbox 360 had a stellar year, Kinect was a brief but huge success.

3DS was mediocre, the mobile market eating a slice of the dedicated gaming portable devices became pretty evident.

 

[Lelouch0612]

Xbox 360 had a stellar year, Kinect was a brief but huge success.

3DS was mediocre, the mobile market eating a slice of the dedicated gaming portable devices became pretty evident.

Sales post price-cut were good to great tbh. The problem of the 3DS was that its main gimmick didn't catch on while costing them in terms of performances and even public perception (with risks associated to the 3D for kids).

 

[AuroraMusisAmica]

Also didn't help that 3DS most compelling software for the first 3 months was a (admittedly impressive) port of Street Fighter IV.

Nintendo spent the systems entire lifecycle trying to convince the world of why its gimmick (which peaked in 2009 with Avatar) was necessary. Finally ditching the concept with the 2DS/XL.

Thankfully the 3D was non-intrusive (unlike say, the Wii U GamePad) and the games began to shine through.

But yeah, the 2010s was a disaster for Nintendos hardware philosophy. Thankfully they would learn from their failures.

 

[fiendcode]

DS was not a monster it's first year, lol. Welfare should do the 2005 NPD discussion thread next, I think people would astounded by just how badly DS did (and how well PSP did upfront).

 

[Welfare]

DS was not a monster it's first year, lol. Welfare should do the 2005 NPD discussion thread next, I think people would astounded by just how badly DS did (and how well PSP did upfront).

It was getting down to below 15K a week that summer

 

[Bullexto]

It really does feel strange to see a brand new mainline Zelda game barely making it into the top 10 during its launch month.

 

[Evilnemesis8]

It really does feel strange to see a brand new mainline Zelda game barely making it into the top 10 during its launch month.

Woah, didn't notice it the first time I've read the OP.
Pre-BotW and Post-BotW Zelda is so wild.

 

[allan-bh]

Sales post price-cut were good to great tbh. The problem of the 3DS was that its main gimmick didn't catch on while costing them in terms of performances and even public perception (with risks associated to the 3D for kids).

Still 3DS in the end sold half of NDS and the rival was the failed PS Vita, not PSP.

The market for gaming handhelds shinkred significantly. 3D failed as a gimmick, but 3DS would down sharply anyway.

 

[Pein]

If Microsoft just went back to the 360 route aka out PlayStation, PlayStation, they’d crush it. They can say digital libraries were built up in the previous gens but people buy new consoles for new games.

 

[allan-bh]

If Microsoft just went back to the 360 route aka out PlayStation, PlayStation, they’d crush it. They can say digital libraries were built up in the previous gens but people buy new consoles for new games.

The problem is that without a big mistake from Sony the path is very hard.

360 only had this level of success because of Sony's mistakes with PS3, the same way PS4 only crushed One because of the terrible strategy of Microsoft.

Even if Microsoft become brillant with Xbox, if Sony don't commit a huge mistake, the gains will came slowly.

I believe Microsoft throw in the towel when they decided to launch day one on PC. The strategy since is being a leader in the gaming market as a whole, not in consoles.

 

[Kriegshand]

This started the XBOX leadership until 2013. But oh boy did Microsoft crush the brand after that!

Just Dance was saving the Wii brand from total collapse this year basically alone.
It doesn't happen often that Nintendo is beaten on their own platform this hard.

 

[Lelouch0612]

The problem is that without a big mistake from Sony the path is very hard.

360 only had this level of success because of Sony's mistakes with PS3, the same way PS4 only crushed One because of the terrible strategy of Microsoft.

To be fair, weak PS3 explains the first years of the X360. Its late surge was thanks to MS moves with Kinect most notably.

 

[Astral_lion02]

Even worse was the 3DS dropping below 100k and being outsold 2:1 by the DS in its 3rd month.

Situation like that where the old console eat sales of the new one are really the worse for a console manufacture.

It was the same thing with PS2 selling well in 2007 while PS3 was struggling.

The big mistake of the 3DS launch outside Japan in my opinion was the launch of Pokemon Black/White only on NDS with a special DSI the exact same month as 3DS.
And the marketing for Pokemon never mentionned the fact it was payable on 3DS.
In Europe they were also Inazuma Eleven in february.

For Inazuma Eleven 2 and Pokemon Black/White 2 in 2012 they did not make the same mistake with marketing focusing on the possibility to play it on 3DS and the addition of some exclusives features for 3DS (Pokemon radar).

Reading that first slide was not expecting to see DS top NPD in 3DS launch month.

The "Yes, DS" on That quote say everithing.

Hardware
Nintendo DS (Yes, DS) - 460k
Xbox 360 - 433,000 (Top Selling Console)
Nintendo 3DS - Slightly Under 400,000
Wii - 290k

NPD March 2011 Sales Results [Update 2: Super Street Fighter IV 3D]

5-week tracking month; Reporting Period 2/27/11 through 4/2/11 Software (New Physical Retail only) 2.5 Million combined White + Black 01. Pokemon White Version (NDS) Nintendo - 1.3 Million 02. Pokemon Black Version (NDS) Nintendo - 1.1 Million 03. Homefront (360, PS3, PC) THQ 04...

www.neogaf.com

 

[awng782]

Still kinda curious to me how 3DS even after the price cut to basically DS level of prices could not repeat even close to the 2010 DS performance in US (also had full BC). DS even had great first quarter of 2011 before release of 3DS. The downfall of DS brand was quick.

Price was never a huge issue for 3DS once the it got reduced a few months after launch. The issue was that mobile gaming grew quick from 2011 onward and basically ate up the blue-ocean segment of the NDS's market, so the Touch Generation games and their copycats all lost relevance. Licensed games which were hugely prevelant on GBA/NDS also got hit hard by the rise of mobile and thus largely stopped getting made.

In the end, all the 3DS had were core Nintendo 1st party titles and certain Japanese 3rd party titles. You can see this in the number of games released for 3DS - only the N64 and Wii U had fewer games releases among Nintendo platforms.

 

[IronTed]

Minor nitpick, I recall reading that 3DS August HW sales were 235k. Seems that 253k is a revised number?

 

[Welfare]

Minor nitpick, I recall reading that 3DS August HW sales were 235k. Seems that 253k is a revised number?

I think I mistyped that 8 years ago and never noticed