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U.S. Video Game Sales Up 15.5% in April
Posted by
Zonk
on Wed May 17, 2006 02:53 PM
from the lots-of-people-in-tamriel dept.
from the lots-of-people-in-tamriel dept.
kukyfrope writes "According to The NPD Group, game sales are up 15.5% for April 2006 thanks to strong PS2 sales, Xbox 360 availability and the release of popular titles such as Kingdom Hearts II, Oblivion and Tomb Raider: Legend. GameDaily BIZ talks in-depth with analysts Michael Pachter (WMS) and Anita Frazier (NPD) on the current trends of the industry and whether this last month was just a fluke or an upswing for the industry. 'We are completely baffled by the sales trend reversal for current generation software,' said Pachter."
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Xbox 360 (Score:4, Informative)
We'll see.
-Erwos
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:2, Interesting)
This is true. I an my friends watched the E3 coverage over the 'Net. Beforehand, we were pretty keen on the 360, quite psyched for the Wii, and, as usual, fairly ambivalent towards the PS3. Afterwards, we're all getting 360s and definitely getting Wiis.
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:4, Insightful)
The "huge jump" in Xbox 360 sales was only to 295,000 units. 295,000 units in a whole month, after MS said they were shipping more than a million to retailers. And this after there was supposedly so much pent-up demand caused by the shortage. I think a lot of people had assumed there were literally millions of people out there who just couldn't get an Xbox 360; well, now they can, and only 295,000 of them showed up.
It is true that the 100,000 or so extra Xbox 360's sold probably do mean another 150,000 or so games added to the tally for the month too. But from MS's point of view, that's really got to be a pretty disappointing number. They're still barely even outselling the PlayStation 2, for god's sake, a last-generation system, and by MS's own numbers, there's now a whole bunch of unsold inventory out there.
In other words, whether or not this is sustainable is still up in the air.
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:1)
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:5, Insightful)
As for the low number compared to what we expected, I suspect it's because the supply channel problems were only resolved near the middle of April. There's no serious evidence that there are piles of 360s in shops everywhere - indeed, someone recently mentioned that it was only last week that Newegg was even able to get any.
There's no hard proof that this is sustainable, but after Sony's poor E3 showing, I suspect 360 sales will be even stronger in May. But that's only my opinion...
-Erwos
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:2)
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:1)
* NPD data covers US sales only
* NPD data does not account sales of all retailers in the US
* "Big" shipments started to hit retailers at the end of April
Or, conversly:
* NPD data does not include sales from Europe
* NPD data does not include sal
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:3, Informative)
Not really sure where you learn
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:3, Informative)
-Erwos
Re:Xbox 360 (Score:2, Informative)
The April Charts look a bit different [joystiq.com].
As for me... (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, I can tell you that I just bought 6 new gamecube games for myself & the kids for summer break. I can't be the only one getting ready for that, right?
Re:As for me... (Score:2)
Re:As for me... (Score:2)
They fo
Re:As for me... (Score:2)
Re:As for me... (Score:1)
LOL, have some unresolved issues with your parents? Your reply honestly made me laugh out loud, I'm not just saying LOL. And yes, we have locked them in their rooms with bags of candy, sod
Re:As for me... (Score:2)
Re:As for me... (Score:1)
So they're proven wrong yet again (Score:3, Insightful)
Rob
Re:So they're proven wrong yet again (Score:1)
Re:So they're proven wrong yet again (Score:2)
Rob
Re:So they're proven wrong yet again (Score:2)
Re:So they're proven wrong yet again (Score:2)
Dammit, now I've given them the idea.
Idiot analysts (Score:2, Insightful)
Why "baffled?" (Score:3, Funny)
Guy 1: Hmmm, so weird. We released Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, and it tanked!
Guy 2: Yeah, then we released a new Tomb Raider that was actually pretty decent, and not bug-ridden, and it sold well. Weird!
Guy 1: I know! SO weird!
Re:Why "baffled?" (Score:2, Troll)
No, no, no! You're looking at this from a developer-nerd POV. Everyone who's taken Marketing 101 could tell you this is totally w
It's so weird (Score:4, Funny)
I dunno (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, it's a real question for the ages
LOWER PRICE POINT FOR CURRENT GEN
why are so many people in such a rush to buy games lately?
LOWER PRICE POINT FOR CURRENT GEN
Surely the greatest minds in the country should attach this vast problem.
LOWER PRICE POINT FOR CURRENT GEN
If only there was some kind of economic analysis possible, perhaps some kind of law of supply and/or demand that says what happens when demand is high and prices come down.
Re:I dunno (Score:1)
If only there was some kind of economic analysis possible, perhaps some kind of law of supply and/or demand that says what happens when demand is high and prices come down.
Man, you got me there.
So, in April my son and I bo
Right... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Right... (Score:3)
Re:Right... (Score:1)
/end sarcasm
Tax refunds? (Score:3, Interesting)
The Price of Next Gen (Score:1)
It's because of.... (Score:1)
It's much cheaper to buy a console/PC and a stack of games to stay home at night, forget about eating and take your mind off how you can barely afford to go to work the next day.
Re:It's because of.... (Score:2)
You're a half-full kind of guy, aren't you?
Re:It's because of.... (Score:2)
And as you all know (Score:1, Insightful)
Good games sell... duh! (Score:3, Informative)
Hrm.. interesting. Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?