what went wrong in q4 2005 in game sales

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what went wrong in q4 2k5 in game sales

biggest part in my opinion, since I am a gamecube owner and not a ps2 owner but would be if I coudl get a new one for 99 dolllars
4) PS2 hardware has been at $149 in the us for more than 15 months and a price drop this fall may have helped push hardware into an even broader market, giving a lift to software sales. It took just less than three years for Playstation 1 hardware to fall below $149 at retail. PS2 has stayed at or above $149 for more than 5 years now. It's possible that PS2 may be running out of steam at $149 and may be in need of a price cut.


http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1944&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=0
 
Well the fact that this year's holiday sales would be slow was a pretty big no brainer.
This is because of the next gen. Every anticipated title was released last year (except RE 4 which was suppose to be 2004). This is because companies needed to release the game and start work on next gen titles. Then you got the consumer knowing it is the end of the line with this generation resulting in low console sales with the same price as last year still being used.
 
There were not really any blockbusters like last year. No Halo 2, no MGS3, nothing. Legend of Zelda would've been it this year, but Nintendo pushed it back to put in new features. There were plenty of great games this fall and winter, but nothing that stood above the rest really.
 
A combination of no real blockbusters and no console price drop or attractive bundle (other than the GC/Mario Party set). The Xbox bundle was a joke this year and Sony didn't do anything for the PS2.
 
It's pretty simple, no Halo 2 or GTA: San Andreas, and Madden sucked this year. Those were your 3 top sellers from last Holiday Season. The lack of Blockbuster titles as well as they lack of any significant price drops hurt Q4 sales.
 
Geez. I bought more games this past quarter than any other in ages.

Then again, besides Dragon Quest VIII, it was mostly DS games.
 
Along with the inferior lineup (compared to 2004), MS definitely didn't get as many 360s out as they would've liked. before anyone screams "planned shortage!" just think-- if you were a company and you had a sold out product with insatiable demand, wouldn't you want to ship more than 500,000 units?
 
Every publisher puts their big guns out in the holiday season. Thus, they're all competing with one another -- in many cases, against their own company's other games. Johnny Gamer can only buy so many titles in such a short span of time. Thus, even normally blockbuster games get put at the wayside because there just isn't enough time to buy/play them all.

The industry is big, but it's not THAT big. Publishers need to space out releases. You'd think the success of titles like God of War and Splinter Cell -- which came out early in the year -- would make other companies think a little bit more. Then there's summer; kids are out of school and bored. Why not release games then?
 
I bought 8 360 games on launch day.

When I look at what I would have ordinarly purchased if not for a console launch these are the only games that come to mind; Dragon Quest VIII, Battlefield 2, Half Life 2. Beond that I can't think of any current gen titles I would have purchased.

Okami, Zelda, Phantasy Star Universe, Ghost Recon, Painkiller, Oblivion, Star Craft: Ghost (BWHAHAHAHA! I know, yeah... right.) would all have been on that list but all were pushed back or have unspecific launch dates. Shadow of the Colossus seemed like a no brainer until they sent me the demo disc which to me screamed "I'LL BE $20 BY FEBRUARY! DON'T WASTE YOUR CASH ON ME!".

Everything else was so, been there, done that, that I'm waiting until the inevitable $9.99-19.99 bloodbath clearence prices that should be starting any day now and continuing until the end of March.
 
[quote name='ViolentLee']Every publisher puts their big guns out in the holiday season. Thus, they're all competing with one another -- in many cases, against their own company's other games. Johnny Gamer can only buy so many titles in such a short span of time. Thus, even normally blockbuster games get put at the wayside because there just isn't enough time to buy/play them all.

The industry is big, but it's not THAT big. Publishers need to space out releases. You'd think the success of titles like God of War and Splinter Cell -- which came out early in the year -- would make other companies think a little bit more. Then there's summer; kids are out of school and bored. Why not release games then?[/QUOTE]

Definitely the spacing for releases needs to happen. This fall good games like Psychonaughts got buried under the sheer number of games that come out Oct - Nov. I remember in the SNES games where blockbusters like Street Fighter 2 came out during the summer. That game kept us from getting bored until school started in Sept.
 
USED TITLES!

Remember when someone buys a used game, it doesn't count towards software sales. And with EB/Gamestop jamming used down the throats of everyone, it's bound to hurt a bottom line somewhere, and it looks like we found it.
 
there is NO way on this earth that shadow of the collosus will be 20 dollars by februrary. Not with god of wars success (sonys other first party hit) and how long it stayed full price, and popular too, for.
 
lack of blockbuster games, next generation anticipation, lack of and decent ad's (last year I saw video game ad's on tv often), and potential blockbusters that got pushed back should sum up the lack of software sales this holiday season
 
[quote name='thingsfallnapart']there is NO way on this earth that shadow of the collosus will be 20 dollars by februrary. Not with god of wars success (sonys other first party hit) and how long it stayed full price, and popular too, for.[/QUOTE]


I agree with PAD about Shadow of the Colossus being $20 by February. I didn't think it was doing that well.
 
[quote name='mercilessming']what went wrong in q4 2k5 in game sales

biggest part in my opinion, since I am a gamecube owner and not a ps2 owner but would be if I coudl get a new one for 99 dolllars
4) PS2 hardware has been at $149 in the us for more than 15 months and a price drop this fall may have helped push hardware into an even broader market, giving a lift to software sales. It took just less than three years for Playstation 1 hardware to fall below $149 at retail. PS2 has stayed at or above $149 for more than 5 years now. It's possible that PS2 may be running out of steam at $149 and may be in need of a price cut.


http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1944&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=0[/QUOTE]


About the PS2, I don't know about that because at my gamestop we sell more PS2's than candy given out on halloween. The best I did as a cashier so far was 5 systems in 15 minutes.
 
Add another factor into the lackluster sales:

2004 saw one of the most crowded holiday release schedules in the entire history of video game sales. So many titles were being pushed onto the consumer that many of the diamonds were outshone by EA marketing hyped crap or the latest and greatest Grand Theft Boring. These companies who did not sell their titles hurt from it - badly. 2005 brought about some massive restructuring of the video game industry - publishing houses closing down entirely, companies merging and buying out other smaller companies, developers becoming disheartened at increasing costs and decreasing profits... It all led to less "quality" software being developed for the 2005 season. In this one instance less games meant less profit overall for the holiday season.

If only some of those developers pre-Xmas 2004 had the foresight to release their titles over the spring and summer of 2005, they would have most definitely sold (in the drought that April - July truly was) and would have perhaps contributed to a more healthy 2005 in general, not to mention would probably still be around making games.

Just my 2c. Take it or leave it. :)
 
[quote name='MadFlava']Definitely the spacing for releases needs to happen. This fall good games like Psychonaughts got buried under the sheer number of games that come out Oct - Nov. I remember in the SNES games where blockbusters like Street Fighter 2 came out during the summer. That game kept us from getting bored until school started in Sept.[/QUOTE]
The thing is that the fall season is when most of a company's sales will occur, I've heard 75%, but I think it's safe to say at least a majority. This goes the same for toys, games, anything else that is a popular holiday gift item. Releasing in the fall/winter is their best bet to sell the most titles, but they're not the only ones that know that. Until people stop making the majority of their entertainment purchases in the fall, it's not going to change.
 
[quote name='ViolentLee']Then there's summer; kids are out of school and bored. Why not release games then?[/QUOTE]

I know that's when I did most of my gaming , and even more so social gaming, was during the summer growing up. Not only is school out, but TV is mostly in reruns and that's one less entertainment device that you have to compete against for one's leisure time.
 
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