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GAME CEO says consumers seek more hardware innovation

Miles Jolliffe — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:05:15 +0000

New hardware is needed to replenish the game’s industry, according to the CEO of UK retailer GAME. Ian Shepard claims the industry, with its consumers, is “ready for more innovation,” following a 17.6% slump in sales for the retailer over the Christmas period. “The weakness in the overall numbers was partly driven by the economy and consumer confidence issues. It was also driven by where we are in the hardware cycle,” he told MCV. “The hardware market was much more negative than the software market. That tells you the industry and the consumer is ready for more innovation there. “Whether it is in the handheld space with 3DS and Vita or in the home space with Wii U – all of that will excite the consumer in coming back to the games market again.” Sony is of course launching its latest handheld, the PlayStation Vita, across North America and Europe next month, and has been rumoured to be gearing up for the unveiling of its next home console in the coming months – something the firm has denied.

PlayStation Vita Japanese sales numbers drop under 20,000 in fourth week

Miles Jolliffe — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:44:34 +0000

PlayStation Vita’s Japanese launch started off well, with close to 325,000 units sold in its first week. That hasn’t been the case in recent weeks, though, with sales figures dropping to just over 72,000 in its second week and fewer than 43,000 in the third. When it comes to week four sales, the word bleak comes to mind. According to Japanese data collector Media Create, Sony’s latest handheld managed to sell just 18, 361 units. Its predecessor, the PSP, managed to sell over 4,100 units more. Concerning times for the portable powerhouse? Maybe. Many have dismissed any worry surrounding the plummeting sales figures, but should it continue, there may be a problem. Let’s see what happens when Vita launches in North America and across Europe on February 22. Thanks, Adriasang.

CES: 6.5m PlayStation consoles sold during holiday season, including 3.9m PS3s

Joe Garcia — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:13:03 +0000

Sony announced that they sold 3.9 million PS3s between November 18th and December 31st, keeping the system well on track of 15 million units for the fiscal year. Sony's fiscal year ends on March 31st. In addition, Sony sold 500,000 PS Vitas, 1.6 million PSPs, and 500,000 (!) PS2s. Also worth noting, but not included in the 6.5m figure, is the 1.7 million PlayStation Move controllers that were sold during the holiday period. After a rough summer that included a month-long PSN outage in the wake of a malicious intrusion, it seems that momentum has completely swung in the opposite for Sony's PlayStation brand. Here's hoping for an even stronger 2012. Source: MCV

Japanese Vita sales sag, retailers cut price on 3G model as much as 20 percent

Joe Garcia — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:16:23 +0000

First-week sales for the PlayStation Vita in Japan were impressive, but it seems that those that wanted one early already have one -- sales for the handheld have dropped considerably, with only 72,479 units moved in its first full week of availability (December 19-25). In comparison, the Nintendo 3DS sold 210,000 units in its first full, post-launch week. As if that weren't a bad enough sign for Sony's shiny new portable, here are some literal signs -- retailers have been spotted slashing the price of the 3G+Wi-Fi model by as much as 20 percent. There's no telling what this means for other markets, but let's hope that we won't have to hear about an official massive price cut several months after launch. Source: TechDigest, GamesRadar

321,000 PS Vitas sold in first weekend

Joe Garcia — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:34:35 +0000

It seems that the PlayStation Vita is coming out strong, moving an impressive 321,000 units in its first weekend of availability in Japan. In comparison, the PSP sold just 160,000 units during its debut, something Sony should be proud of. Of course, people would rather know how it did compared to its competitor, the Nintendo 3DS. The answer is just a smidge less -- the 3DS sold 371,000 units in its first weekend. Perhaps some people were (understandably) turned off by the Vita's outlandishly priced memory cards, which are required to save data for certain games. Either way, it makes for a good launch, sales-wise. Source: GamesRadar

Rayman: Origins sells 50,000 after one month

Nadim — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:13:43 +0000

The gorgeous new Rayman title that everyone should be playing is not being played enough. Selling only 50,000 in North America after a full month and on multiple platforms. Sort of disappointing considering how well-received the title has been, which currently holds an 87 on Metacritic. This news comes from Eurogamer. http://youtu.be/l_fz4m74nJw Though this is unfortunate, it's not hard to point the blame at Ubisoft for releasing it in such a crowded time for high-profile releases. I mean, their OTHER title, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, was released on the same day in North America (November 15). If they aren't going to pay attention to all of the other huge releases from other developers and publishers, they could at least pay attention to their own and space them out for a better chance of making more sales. Not everyone can afford everything in such a short amount of time, you know (I am exhibit A, hence why I haven't gotten around to picking this game up yet). Source: Eurogamer

Uncharted series has sold 13 million units worldwide

Joe Garcia — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:32:35 +0000

Naughty Dog's Uncharted has been a critical success in its four years of existence, and sales have unsurprisingly reflected that. In an interview with Industry Gamers, Sony's Asad Quizilbash confirmed that sales for the franchise have so far totaled over 13 million units worldwide. Quizilbash also said that Sony shipped 3.8 million copies of Uncharted 3 on day one, and U3's first-week sales doubled those of Uncharted 2, "far exceeding" Sony's expectations. See, kids? When you've got a great product and dozens of millions of dollars to advertise it, you too can find success! Source: Industry Gamers

Modern Warfare 3 rakes in $750 million

Miles Jolliffe — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:52:50 +0000

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has broken video game and box office five-day worldwide sell-through records, raking in over $750 million. Activision CEO Bobby Kotick revealed that the sales for the franchise have now exceeded a whopping $6 billion worldwide, whilst Activision Publishing’s Eric Hirshberg praised the game’s developers. "As I have said all year, we have been singluarly focused on making a spectacular game for our fans, and nothing else. Our incredible teams at Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games have done just that.” On top of that, Microsoft has said that on launch day, November 8, more than 7 million Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer hours were logged. If you’re one of the few gamers who haven’t picked up the latest instalment in the incredibly successful shooter franchise, check out the PSUni review.

Skyrim sells 3.5 million units in 48 hours, projected to make $450 million

Joe Garcia — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:19:25 +0000

November is always a huge month for games sales, but the amount of multi-million sellers on the docket this year is insane. The latest to join in on the fun is the excellent Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Bethesda's parent company Zenimax were pleased to announce that they have shipped 7 million units worldwide and have managed to sell over half of them -- 3.5 million copies in the hands of rabid gamers on all platforms. All told, the company expects to generate over $450 million with Skyrim. "More than 50% of launch units were sold in the first 48 hours and Bethesda Softworks has been receiving large reorders from major retailers in North America, and across Europe and Australia," stated the company in a press release. "Online activity has been notable, with Steam reporting that in the first 24 hours of its release, Skyrim set a record with over 280,000 concurrent players, far outdistancing all other titles. "The eagerly-awaited title has garnered more than 50 perfect review scores, earning praise from some of the industry’s most influential and respected critics including: USA Today, G4TV, GameSpy, Wired, Eurogamer, Destructoid, GamePro, Official Xbox Magazine, Joystiq, The Guardian, and GamesRadar." Also amongst the perfect marks is our review, which you can read here. People like to say that single-player games are dying, and that publishers need to ship games with online passes to make money. Skyrim's success flies in the face of both those theories, and that makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside. Source: Destructoid

NPD: Battlefield 3, Batman dominate October sales

Joe Garcia — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:12:46 +0000

Several major releases kicked off the holiday game rush in October, and they all met with a good amount of success. However, it was two titles that towered above them all -- according to the NPD, Battlefield 3 sold "just under" 2 million units and Batman: Arkham City sold over 1.5 million to take the top spots. BF3 and Arkham City each shipped a ton of units, so the final sales numbers are unsurprising. id Software's RAGE sold 550,000 copies across all platforms, mighty impressive for a new IP. No specific sales numbers were given for any other titles in the top 10, but here's the full list:

Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)
Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3)
NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC)
Rage (360, PS3, PC)
Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360)
Dark Souls (PS3, 360)
Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP)
Forza Motorsport 4 (360)
Gears of War 3 (360)
FIFA Soccer 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, 3DS)

It was also a good month for hardware sales, although the Xbox 360 led its competitors by a healthy margin:

Xbox 360 - 393,000
PS3 - 250,000 (estimated)
Wii - nearly 250,000
3DS - over 250,000
NDS - nearly 180,000

In all, game sales were good for $1.08 billion, a one percent increase over October 2010. With the onslaught of million-sellers that have already -- and have yet to -- hit this month, November promises to be even bigger. Source: Game Informer