Kane & Lynch didn't sell 1,000,000 & Zack & Wiki didn't bomb, and other sales facts..

Status
Not open for further replies.
[quote name='roland13x']Just bored here at the studio, figured I'd throw out an interesting (?) topic.

I've got the latest NPD numbers, and saw some interesting stuff...

Kane & Lynch DID NOT sell 1,000,000 units. They might have shipped that many, but they've sold closer to 340k on the 360 and PS3 combined

Zach & Wiki, though not a huge success story, has so far sold nearly 70k. Granted, not a huge amount, but more than games you'd think would sell better on the Wii, like Surf's Up and Open Season.

Nintendo owns 7 of the top 9 selling Wii games, with GHIII and Mario/Sonic Olympics holding their own very well.

The publisher Conspiracy has 8 of the bottom 11 selling Wii titles. Guess people really don't want to play such gems as Mythmakers: SuperKart GP or Counter Force.

In the lifetime of the DS, only 15 games have sold 1,000,000 or more. All 15 of those games are by Nintendo. Disney's Hannah Montana is about to join that party.

There are no million sellers on the PS3, though CoD4 should change that any day now.

There are 13 million sellers on 360, with CoD3 about to join that rank as well.

Games that I have worked on in one form or another have sold a total of 9.79 million on the PS2, 360 and PS3 (I don't have numbers for Xbox, GC or PC). That's nuts.

The GBA still sold $32 million in software in Dec 07
The GC still sold $12 million in software in Dec 07
The original Xbox sold $20,000 more in software in Dec 07 than the GC did
The PS3 sold the 5th most software in Dec 07, and it's not even close to the 4th place.

I really love sales numbers....any questions?[/QUOTE]



Kane and Lynch is a pretty good game, make that 340k + 1 more.
I thought Motorstorm was a million seller on PS3.
 
If I can poll you for some numbers I'm curious about:

Phoenix Wright games (3 of em)?
Battalion Wars for GC and Wii
Killer 7 for GC and PS2 (I know those are somewhere in the 5-digit range)
MLB Power Pros for Wii and PS2
 
[quote name='roland13x']The lowest tracked PSP game is Tenchu: Time of the Assassins with a grand total of 4 copies sold. This has to be a mistake...anyone heard of this game?[/quote]

That can't be real.
 
[quote name='roland13x']The lowest tracked PSP game is Tenchu: Time of the Assassins with a grand total of 4 copies sold. This has to be a mistake...anyone heard of this game?[/quote]

I'm astounded that some games out there sell even that many.
 
[quote name='Thomas96']Kane and Lynch is a pretty good game, make that 340k + 1 more.
I thought Motorstorm was a million seller on PS3.[/QUOTE]

Motorstorm is actually the 7th best selling game on PS3 at 346k

[quote name='botticus']If I can poll you for some numbers I'm curious about:

Phoenix Wright games (3 of em)?
Battalion Wars for GC and Wii
Killer 7 for GC and PS2 (I know those are somewhere in the 5-digit range)
MLB Power Pros for Wii and PS2[/QUOTE]

Phoenix Wright 1 - 116k
Phoenix Wright 2 - 94k
Phoenix Wright 3 - 58k
Battalion Wars GC - 133k (NPD no longer tracks GC sales, these numbers are from Feb 07))
Battalion Wars Wii - 61k
Killer 7 GC - 70k
Killer 7 PS2 - 45k
MLB Power Pros Wii - 100k
MLB Power Pros PS2 - 26k

[quote name='help1']Honestly, you should just say you were involved with COD 1. Maybe TH3.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the cynicism. While crap like Blade II and Minority Report is generally inexcusable (though those were only QA stints for me), there isn't much on my MobyGames listing that I'm not pleased with. Most games turned out as good as they possibly could have considering their situations. For example, CoD3 was done in 10 months time. It would have been nice to have the Infinity Ward plan of 2 years+ and anything you wanted, but Treyarch got the job done. Hate all you want.

[quote name='Malik112099']how do you only sell 4 copies of a game?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, most likely a goof. UPC scans incorrectly, someone manually inserts a wrong UPC, etc. But I hadn't heard of that game, so it got me thinking.
 
Thanks for the numbers!

Awesome for Power Pro, boo for BWii (though I'm guessing all the late GC games did decent numbers as a result of nothing being released), looking forward to NMH numbers next month for K7 comparisons, and... I guess Capcom has hurt PW with brand fatique. Not looking so good for AA4 next month, certainly not going to match Japanese sales.
 
Something to keep in mind, and I do believe this really only applies for American-developed properties, but localizations (which is typically French/German/Italian/Spanish, though that list may grow) account for about 40% of all sales. So that may give an idea on some worldwide (though non-Japan) sales.
 
I still see copies of Zack and Wicki all the time, the only question is: will they actually sell? After the Christmas holiday season, I'm not really sure. It's word of mouth may have come and gone by this point.
 
[quote name='roland13x']Thanks for the cynicism. While crap like Blade II and Minority Report is generally inexcusable (though those were only QA stints for me), there isn't much on my MobyGames listing that I'm not pleased with. Most games turned out as good as they possibly could have considering their situations. For example, CoD3 was done in 10 months time. It would have been nice to have the Infinity Ward plan of 2 years+ and anything you wanted, but Treyarch got the job done. Hate all you want.[/QUOTE]

Yes, well, we're the internet -- being inexcusably rude is what we do. Seriously though, that's a very respectable resume, and it's not like most people who aren't independently wealthy have the luxury of doing exactly what they want, when they want to. I work in publishing, and I won't tell you every magazine I've ever put out has been a winner. Anyway, thanks for sharing -- fascinating stuff.
 
[quote name='roland13x']


Thanks for the cynicism. While crap like Blade II and Minority Report is generally inexcusable (though those were only QA stints for me), there isn't much on my MobyGames listing that I'm not pleased with. Most games turned out as good as they possibly could have considering their situations. For example, CoD3 was done in 10 months time. It would have been nice to have the Infinity Ward plan of 2 years+ and anything you wanted, but Treyarch got the job done. Hate all you want.



Yeah, most likely a goof. UPC scans incorrectly, someone manually inserts a wrong UPC, etc. But I hadn't heard of that game, so it got me thinking.[/quote]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/psp/review/924599.html

Im thinking its a goof, aswell. :D

Also, I totally missed that you were apart of COD 3. That is another okay game too.
 
[quote name='schuerm26']Isn't Tony Hawk 3 one of the highest rated games of all time on Metacritic? That's definitely something to be proud of.[/QUOTE]

TH3 is a good one...probably the last of the classic TH games I'd say. However, that was back in my QA days, so it's not something that I feel I contributed to as much as those in my production years.

Now a brief list of games and their sales numbers that make me sad...or...games that sold way too many copies.

Chicken Shoot Wii - 76k
Ultimate Duck Hunter Wii - 20k
Fuzion Frenzy 2 360 - 135k
Hour of Victory 360 - 45k
 
I was going to guess Madden 2004, for the reason that it is the only one I own. I suspect that that was around when PS2 prices were dropping really low, and it was probably a significant improvement over 2003, which did not seem to be the case for many of the games after. That or because Vick was on the cover (I think), and who doesn't love him.

edit: How many copies did powerdrome racing sell (I'm just curious since it seems every cag must have bought many when they were $1 at CC)
 
[quote name='happy']I was going to guess Madden 2004, for the reason that it is the only one I own. I suspect that that was around when PS2 prices were dropping really low, and it was probably a significant improvement over 2003, which did not seem to be the case for many of the games after. That or because Vick was on the cover (I think), and who doesn't love him.

edit: How many copies did powerdrome racing sell (I'm just curious since it seems every cag must have bought many when they were $1 at CC)[/quote]

Speaking of that, how do price drops get factored in? Does a $3 Oddworld Strangers Wrath from KMART clearance count the same as when it was full price? Seems strange that it would.
 
[quote name='happy']
edit: How many copies did powerdrome racing sell (I'm just curious since it seems every cag must have bought many when they were $1 at CC)[/QUOTE]

Powerdrome sold 21k units.

[quote name='schuerm26']Speaking of that, how do price drops get factored in? Does a $3 Oddworld Strangers Wrath from KMART clearance count the same as when it was full price? Seems strange that it would.[/QUOTE]

Good followup question. NPD tracks the "average retail price", which they update on a monthly basis. For example, Powerdrome has an ARP of $12.05 for Dec 07, with a lifetime ARP of $9.08. Seems like the price actually went up on that title, which seems very rare and probably only happening on extreme bargain titles. But yes, in the end a $1 game is still considered a unit sold, but combined with the ARP, the lifetime revenue figure takes that into consideration.
 
Find me more sales numbers, lackey! Fire Emblem 9 and Metroid Prime 3! NOW![quote name='roland13x']
AND my super-secret-still-hasn't-been-announced WiiWare game that my new dev studio is crunching on right now. Shhh![/quote]No more firefighting game?
 
Can you let me know how the following games sold?

- Electroplankton (DS)
- Rumble Roses XX (360)
-Graffiti Kingdom (PS2)
-Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (PS2)
- True Crime: New York City (PS2)
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Find me more sales numbers, lackey! Fire Emblem 9 and Metroid Prime 3! NOW!No more firefighting game?[/QUOTE]

"Lackey" is much nicer than "bitch", though I have to admit I've answered to both.

Fire Emblem Wii - 109k
Metroid Prime 3 - 604k

Ah, the firefighter game. We're still working on it, but more on the side. We've got our WiiWare deal that we're 100% concentrating on now, and we've got quite a few cool things lining up afterwards, but the firefighter is something we're not giving up on just yet. Thanks for asking!

[quote name='Rozz']Can you let me know how the following games sold?[/QUOTE]


Electroplankton (DS) - 9k
Rumble Roses XX (360) - 70k
Graffiti Kingdom (PS2) - 14k
Street Fighter Anniversary Collection (PS2) - 111k
True Crime: New York City (PS2) - 1.5M

[quote name='Strell']Oh hallowed OP, what really killed the dinosaurs?

And is it true that postal glue is made out of toad mucus?[/QUOTE]

Sarcasm killed the dinosaurs. Seriously.
Yes.
 
[quote name='roland13x']"Lackey" is much nicer than "bitch", though I have to admit I've answered to both.[/quote]I reserve the latter of those two names for my Starcraft opponents.

[quote name='roland13x']Fire Emblem Wii - 109k
Metroid Prime 3 - 604k[/quote]Ah, sorry - I should have been a bit more specific. Fire Emblem 9 is Path of Radiance - the GC game.

[quote name='roland13x']Ah, the firefighter game. We're still working on it, but more on the side. We've got our WiiWare deal that we're 100% concentrating on now, and we've got quite a few cool things lining up afterwards, but the firefighter is something we're not giving up on just yet. Thanks for asking!
[/quote]Hopefully I'll be able to get my Wii online by the time you're done with the WiiWare game. Just 7 more months...
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Ah, sorry - I should have been a bit more specific. Fire Emblem 9 is Path of Radiance - the GC game.[/QUOTE]

Figured I'd guess the wrong one. Sadly, I have yet to play either console FE game yet.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is at 226k, but that's as of February 2007.
 
This is a fascinating thread (to me anyway!) Thanks so much, OP.

Are PC games tracked? If so, can you tell me how the incomparably awesome Planescape: Torment did?
 
[quote name='The Crotch']...

Bitch.[/QUOTE]


I totally deserve that. I've had both in my hands a few times at the store, just hadn't been able to pull the trigger. I generally have to pick and choose my 30+ hour games wisely, due to work. But I did get Advance Wars DS on Monday, so that has to lessen my bitch.

[quote name='Archaic']This is a fascinating thread (to me anyway!) Thanks so much, OP.

Are PC games tracked? If so, can you tell me how the incomparably awesome Planescape: Torment did?[/QUOTE]

NPD does not track PC games, so there's not much you can do other than look for publisher released numbers. I LOVED those Infinity Engine games.
 
[quote name='roland13x']I totally deserve that. I've had both in my hands a few times at the store, just hadn't been able to pull the trigger. I generally have to pick and choose my 30+ hour games wisely, due to work. But I did get Advance Wars DS on Monday, so that has to lessen my bitch.



NPD does not track PC games, so there's not much you can do other than look for publisher released numbers. I LOVED those Infinity Engine games.[/quote]

Did they just stop tracking them altogether at one point? I was reading an old issue of Gamepro and they had the top 10 best selling PC games lumped in with the best selling console games.
 
Thanks for providing in the info, roland. Just keep it on the DL so you don't get lectured by NPD! ;)

Think I'll ask about some games for more future historical comparison:

Mario Kart: Double Dash
Mario Superstar Baseball
Odin Sphere
Tales of Symphonia/Abyss/Legendia

I wish I had $20k/month to pay for these. :whistle2:( Be warned I will be PMing you in a month to get No More Heroes numbers.
 
Thanks for posting all of this info roland, it's kept me entertained at work for the last fifteen minutes or so. I was wondering if you could tell me the sales on a few games?

Xenosaga Ep.1: Der Wille Zur Macht
Xenosaga Ep.2: Jenseits von Gut und Bose
Xenosaga Ep.3: Also Sprach Zarathustra

Suikoden III
Suikoden IV
Suikoden Tactics
Suikoden V

I know that the sales from game to game have dropped, which is unfortunate considering they're my two favorite series for the PS2. Thanks.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']I saw that Metroid Prime 3 sold 1.14 million. I also saw Link's Crossbow Training sold 1.07 million.[/quote]These are North American (or is it just plain old American?) sales numbers only, I believe.
 
Are those 2 packs like those $15 gba two packs that you see in the holidays factored in on these numbers? Also what about when there's those game displays in K-Mart or so when they put a generic sku sticker on the barcode like Strangers Wrath at K-Mart.
 
In light of the recent axing of the Stuntman and Juiced licenses, could you provide the sales data for those two titles on the next-gen systems?
 
[quote name='Rozz']Did they just stop tracking them altogether at one point? I was reading an old issue of Gamepro and they had the top 10 best selling PC games lumped in with the best selling console games.[/QUOTE]

NPD might have tracked PC sales at one time, but I doubt it. More likely is that they had the sales numbers from a particular store, which is what a lot of places give. A good representation I suppose.

[quote name='botticus']Thanks for providing in the info, roland. Just keep it on the DL so you don't get lectured by NPD! ;)

Think I'll ask about some games for more future historical comparison:

Mario Kart: Double Dash
Mario Superstar Baseball
Odin Sphere
Tales of Symphonia/Abyss/Legendia

I wish I had $20k/month to pay for these. :whistle2:( Be warned I will be PMing you in a month to get No More Heroes numbers.[/QUOTE]

Agreed about being a little leary about the NPD boys complaining. These lists are pretty expensive for publishers to purchase, and I totally get that they don't want these numbers to be let public for free. However, I really do think that there is a lot to gain by releasing these numbers publicly. Just take a look at how worked up people get over weekend movie grosses. I just think this type of stuff really interests the core, the ones who are actually doing the bulk of the purchasing. However, I will keep this on the down-low as much as possible.

Mario Kart: Double Dash - 2.5M (as of Feb 07)
Mario Superstar Baseball - 648k (as of Feb 07)
Odin Sphere - 101k
Tales of Symphonia - 465k (as of Feb 07)
Tales of Abyss - 68k
Tales of Legendia - 74k

[quote name='Whambamm']Thanks for posting all of this info roland, it's kept me entertained at work for the last fifteen minutes or so. I was wondering if you could tell me the sales on a few games?

Xenosaga Ep.1: Der Wille Zur Macht
Xenosaga Ep.2: Jenseits von Gut und Bose
Xenosaga Ep.3: Also Sprach Zarathustra

Suikoden III
Suikoden IV
Suikoden Tactics
Suikoden V

I know that the sales from game to game have dropped, which is unfortunate considering they're my two favorite series for the PS2. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

No problem

Xenosaga Ep.1: Der Wille Zur Macht - 513k
Xenosaga Ep.2: Jenseits von Gut und Bose - 268k
Xenosaga Ep.3: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 115k

Suikoden III - 239k
Suikoden IV - 140k
Suikoden Tactics - 76k
Suikoden V - 99k

[quote name='The Crotch']These are North American (or is it just plain old American?) sales numbers only, I believe.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, these are only for the US, I'm pretty sure.

[quote name='emceelokey']Are those 2 packs like those $15 gba two packs that you see in the holidays factored in on these numbers? Also what about when there's those game displays in K-Mart or so when they put a generic sku sticker on the barcode like Strangers Wrath at K-Mart.[/QUOTE]

The multipack games are actually tracked separately as its own package. For example, there are separate numbers for CoD: Finest Hour PS2 and numbers for CoD: Legacy Pack which contains CoD: FH.

I have no idea how they handle generic SKUs. That's a good question. FYI, my lead designer was one of the level designers on Stranger's Wrath.

[quote name='Ugamer_X']In light of the recent axing of the Stuntman and Juiced licenses, could you provide the sales data for those two titles on the next-gen systems?[/QUOTE]

No prob

Stuntman - 78k (360) 32k (PS3)
Juiced 2 - 58k (360) 18k (PS3)
 
[quote name='Rozz']DDR Ultramix 4 (Xbox) - How much did this sell? :)[/QUOTE]

As of Feb 07, this sold 50k in the bundle and another 43k without the bundle.
 
[quote name='roland13x']As of Feb 07, this sold 50k in the bundle and another 43k without the bundle.[/quote]

Thanks :D

BTW, in the old issue of Gamepro it says tracked by NPD Funworld (PC and console games).
 
[quote name='roland13x']Agreed about being a little leary about the NPD boys complaining. These lists are pretty expensive for publishers to purchase, and I totally get that they don't want these numbers to be let public for free. However, I really do think that there is a lot to gain by releasing these numbers publicly. Just take a look at how worked up people get over weekend movie grosses. I just think this type of stuff really interests the core, the ones who are actually doing the bulk of the purchasing. However, I will keep this on the down-low as much as possible.

Mario Kart: Double Dash - 2.5M (as of Feb 07)
Mario Superstar Baseball - 648k (as of Feb 07)
Odin Sphere - 101k
Tales of Symphonia - 465k (as of Feb 07)
Tales of Abyss - 68k
Tales of Legendia - 74k
[/quote]I definitely agree with you.

Some surprising numbers in there. Mario games did as one would expect, really surprised Odin Sphere sold that much. Also knew that Symphonia sold better than Abyss, but not by that margin, wow.

It will be interesting to see how those numbers ultimately compare to the new Mario Kart and Baseball, the new Vanillaware Wii game and Tales of Vesperia and Tales fo Symphonia: KoR.

Thanks again!
 
Ooh man look at that Xenosaga bomb as they went on! Wonder if it would have sold more if the combat was more like Xenogears.
 
[quote name='botticus']I definitely agree with you.

Some surprising numbers in there. Mario games did as one would expect, really surprised Odin Sphere sold that much. Also knew that Symphonia sold better than Abyss, but not by that margin, wow.

It will be interesting to see how those numbers ultimately compare to the new Mario Kart and Baseball, the new Vanillaware Wii game and Tales of Vesperia and Tales fo Symphonia: KoR.

Thanks again![/quote]

What exactly did you have to sell to become a GameCube Player's Choice? Symphonia was one and it sold less than 500k. I always figured it needed to be higher than that.

I also wonder how many of those Suikoden Tactics are related to the Toys R Us clearance. Did it sell decent upon release? I can remember seeing countless copies of it for $10 that are now gone.

Also, in regards to Symphonia, Abyss and Legendia. Which one is generally considered the "best" game? I have only played Symphonia and really like it. I have always been curious about the other 2.
 
[quote name='akilshohen']are you surfer girl by any chance? :D[/QUOTE]
SurferGirl is nothing but educated guesses. This info is based on fact.
 
[quote name='schuerm26']What exactly did you have to sell to become a GameCube Player's Choice? Symphonia was one and it sold less than 500k. I always figured it needed to be higher than that.

I also wonder how many of those Suikoden Tactics are related to the Toys R Us clearance. Did it sell decent upon release? I can remember seeing countless copies of it for $10 that are now gone.

Also, in regards to Symphonia, Abyss and Legendia. Which one is generally considered the "best" game? I have only played Symphonia and really like it. I have always been curious about the other 2.[/quote]Conditions for PC/PH/GH are always very vague so they can just make whatever they feel like under that label. But I believe GameCube was pegged at 250k.

Symphonia and Abyss are the better Tales games - Abyss is favored by some, Symphonia by others. Going from Symphonia to Abyss, you'd get the usual PS2 loading and a further refined battle system. Legendia is generally considered a much weaker game.
 
[quote name='CoffeeEdge']SurferGirl is nothing but educated guesses. This info is based on fact.[/QUOTE]

Don't be too quick to dismiss the info SurferGirl is posting. I've had several colleagues email her "insider information", and she replied that she only posted what she could corroborate.

[quote name='botticus']Conditions for PC/PH/GH are always very vague so they can just make whatever they feel like under that label. But I believe GameCube was pegged at 250k.[/QUOTE]

I'm not 100% sure of this information, but I have always had the impression that PC/PH/GH is a status that could also be asked for by the publisher. By "asked" I mean "here's some money, please repackage/remarket our game".
 
[quote name='roland13x']Don't be too quick to dismiss the info SurferGirl is posting. I've had several colleagues email her "insider information", and she replied that she only posted what she could corroborate.[/QUOTE]
Meh. Even if she is legit, I don't see why she seems to be the only rumors blog getting attention, when she gets beaten to quite a few stories by this guy:
http://heavymetalsuicide.blogspot.com

For instance, her post for today includes the following stories:
- Dead Rising 2 and Lost Planet 2, which Skaterboy posted about on Dec 12
- Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow and God of War: Chains of Olympus coming to PS2, which Skaterboy wrote about on Dec 19
- A full blown, "epic" new Wing Commander game, which Skaterboy reported on Dec 13
- And an XBLA game by Rare featuring Mr. Pants, which Skaterboy mentioned on Dec 19
She also posted about Diablo III having both a single-player and an MMO component on December 15, which Skaterboy posted about six days earlier.

I just think it's funny that, out of all the rumors blogs, she gets all the attention, and I think that her claiming to be a girl plays no small part in the way she has droves of commenters asking all sorts of personal details about her, as if they really want to get to know her because omg shes a girl on the internetz that plays games.

Oh, well, whatev. Enough derailing.
 
Any way you could get #'s for Ico, SOTC, Beyond good and evil, Baten Kaitos origins, and voodoo vince? I've heard they didn't do well, but ive never gotten exact numbers. Thanks!
 
[quote name='kewlrabbit']Any way you could get #'s for Ico, SOTC, Beyond good and evil, Baten Kaitos origins, and voodoo vince? I've heard they didn't do well, but ive never gotten exact numbers. Thanks![/QUOTE]

Let's do this thing...

Ico - 190k
Shadow - 816k (that surprises me a bit)
BG&E - 136k (PS2) 61k (XBX) 47k (GCN)
Baten Kaitos Origins - 30k
Voodoo Vince - 73k

(all but Ico/Shadow are from Feb 07, the others are up to date)
 
Wow! BG&E is way lower than I expected, especially across three platforms. I hear it's a great game and I even have it but never got around to playing it. I think I will soon though. I want to give my Xbox one more run before "retiring" it into my closet.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
bread's done
Back
Top