Nintendo plays numbers game, loses

I would imagine they are basing it on the 9am-9pm of most stores being open. That would make the numbers match up.

Even at 24 stores like Wal-Mart, after all, you can't guy games late at night usually, because there is no one to open the cases... all the electronics employees are gone.

this might sound stupid, and i agree that nintendo's comment doesn't quite make sence, but if we consider that stores are only open at maximum, 12 hours a day (not counting walmarts and the such) their number might just make sence

Seve Savoie Teruel
VGRLive.TV = Comming Soon

Actually, if you factor in typical business hours (most stores are open about 12 hours per day), then the statement '20 every minute' isn't far off.

O how I love big business fuzzy math. See, because the DS shows the game one 2 screens that automagically doubles the sales of each game.... or something. :)

Yeah, but I think it's you he'd be disappointed in. Since when were stores open 24 hours a day?

I don't know, "more than 20 every minute since the game went on sale" seems pretty unambiguous to me. Sounds like someone needs to play more "Brain Age."

Sure there are twenty four hours in a day. But I can almost guarantee that most retailers who sell nintendo products or any video games for that matter are not open 24 hours a day but rather closer to 12 hours a day. So nintendo's estimate of 20 a min is definately more possible when you consider this fact.

I'll agree with the business hours thing. If you go with a 12-hour shopping day, the number is about on the nose. Most stores can't/won't/don't sell games 24 hours a day. The language is somewhat misleading, but it's nothing we're not used to from Nintendo, not to mention other hulking international conglomerates . . .

Joystiq owned again.

ummmm.....

Sounds to me like he's bragging that 500k is the success of Mario in NA, but then bragging about the WORLD WIDE success in the "20 per minute" snippet.

What are the world wide sales of mario for the first 35 days?

Would the math work if you used that number instead of 500k?

If it does....or is close....then he's merely guilty of not being clear on what he's bragging about....but at least he's not insane.

OMG, lol so many NINTENDO fans on this site. JUST FACE THE FACTS

@#5 (J.) and others:

It's fair to use 24 hours a day. MANY stores that sell mario are open 24/7 like Walmart and Target.

If even ONE store that sells Mario is open, then those hours should be counted.

So the "business day" argument falls short.

Now now, let's look at the wording of this press. The game's sold "20 every minute since" it went on sale. EVERY minute since, meaning all the minutes between now and the day it went on sale.

We shouldn't have to be assuming things in order to justify the "facts" given in a press release. :)

Remember when the Sony guys were bragging about how they sold 100,000 UMD movies, and then someone pointed out that they sold 1 million PSPs, meaning that only 1 in 10 people bought a PSP movie.

Yeah, it's moments like these that make it obvious that the PR guys should probably stay away from ever using math and statistics.

If you didn't study for in it college, and ignored it in high school, trying to break out those skills in front of millions of people is probably not the wisest of ideas.

Well, if we're using the full 24 hours equation that Joystiq is using, NSMB is selling 20 copies per minute on its own in Japan. Using the proper 12-hour equation that factors in store operating hours, the number doubles to 40 copies per minute.

So yeah... NO, they're discussing NA numbers only.

Let's assume that Nintendo knows math better than Joystiq for now. Most stores that sell games are *not* open 24 hours a day. Let's assume stores are open for a total of 8 to 14 hours per day; we'll say 12 hours is probably average. Based on your math of 24 hours, and 12 hours being 1/2 that, we'll multiply the 10 copies by 2, which equals 20 copies per minute.

They probably meant 20 a minute worldwide. Who knows. It does give that press writer a black eye.

do these figures take into account online sales?
because i can order super mario brothers in my underwear at 2am, if i truly desired

Ludwig is right, never does Nintendo imply that they're referring to "business-minutes" or anything like that. The 20 every minute figure is an attempt to average the sales out over a continuous time span, in which case every minute should be counted. Also, if you want to talk about business hours, there are stores open in Japan when all the stores in the US are closed... basically, if you look at all the time zones, there will always be mainstream game stores open somewhere at any given moment.

perhaps the 500k units is US only, but the 20 every minute is worldwide. Or that other person who commented about standard store hours is correct.

No Target by me is open 24 hours. And, as #1 said, you can't necessarily walk into a Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. and buy games.

Jeebus people, you're taking their words as if from the Bible! Keep in mind this is japanese translated to english, probably by a mediocre translator.

Instead of being "literalist" with the whole 24 hour in a day thing and trying to prove Nintendo CEO's are lying bastards, why not figure out what he probably meant, which is what everybody except the N haters are saying, that he meant business day's/hours

Jeebus!

wow half a million in a close to a month....

lets play numbers like we are powerful... not like any other systems have had a title this year that have reached 1 million in less time.... (Kingdom Hearts 2 = 1 mil in 4 weeks us / 1 Mil in 3 days jap, jap was last year though) thats just what game kinda popped in my head, just so i like how they act like upgrading an old game and reselling then saying ooo half a million... who knows, just doesnt impress that much

@9 The Super Target and Super Walmart by me are open 24/7 and sell games. I can also order them 24/7 online. There is always SOMEONE that will sell you a game any time.

Therefore either:

1) He is dead wrong for trying to use "business hours" to pad his NA numbers.

2) He is referring to a 24 hour day using word wide numbers.

3) He lacks 4th grade math skills.

Good lord people, we're debating what they meant on a press release? Does it matter? The damn game sold well. Period. Full Stop. The End.

I mean @19 (Pii3) ><

Looks like I lack 4th grade typing skills. Padump chink!

Ludwig, please quit while you're behind. Even your "supposed" grammatical error is an error on your part. Read the press release again instead of quoting a phrase.

"That's a sell-through rate of more than 20 every minute since the game went on sale May 15."

What about that is hard for you to understand or misleading?


The title of this post should be: Joystiq plays numbers game, loses

These numbers for NSMB are clearly based on a 12-hour business day – which I didn't even have to assume. It's common sense.

Got any?


...And Derbeste, your argument "falls short" on logic. /error

10 every minute?

That sure isnt spectacular.

Where was all this hullabaloo when E3 Microsoft talking heads said '10 million Xbox 360s in houses by the time the PS3 launches? THAT, my friends, is SPECULATION and HOPE. Possible, but certainly not a fact yet. Who knows what will happen between now and then.

Companies do this fuzzy math all of the time, just look at the weekly top XBox LIVE games... Remember when 'The Outfit' demo hit, it made the top ten - a 360-only game that you had to download, that also had massive download problems, for a system that was impossible to find in stores at that time? In other words, Beyond Halo2, seems like it doesn't really take many people, and certainly not impressive enough numbers to get specific, to get on that top ten list. Somebody is not telling you the whole story about the LIVE 'Top Ten' when that happens.

I'm guessing Nintendo really just wants to say 'This game has sold like crazy.'

Maybe it's really trying to make us ask if any PSP game has done this well?

DBR, you must be reading a different press release. "That's a sell-through rate of more than 20 every minute since the game went on sale May 15."

It says that for every minute that has passed since the game's release, twenty copies have been sold. Not business minutes. Not daylight minutes. Minutes. EVERY minute since the game went on sale. That is what the sentence MEANS. I never said it was difficult to understand.

These numbers are "clearly" based on a 12-hour business day? I didn't see anything regarding that in the press release. I think you've mistaken common sense with blind belief of PR.

Ludwig:

I don't think it's so much "blind belief of PR" as it is "blind Nintendo loyalty". Seriously, you guys defending the press release, Nintendo botched their math, their wording, and the idea in general was a bad one. Just say, "Hey, we sold 500,000 copies in under a month."

Is anyone online going to complain about how per-minute sales are not up to snuff with other fast selling titles? No. It was stupid, and on top that they messed up. Don't try and pretend they don't have egg on their faces, you only encourage them to screw up worse next time.

Kudos to Joystiq for pointing out another PR slip-up. Why not just let the numbers speak for themselves? People always gotta go and say stuff like, "500,000 copies is enough to fill 3 football stadiums" or my other favorite, "That's enough copies lined up end-to-end to reach the Moon!"

500,000 in a month and we are supposed to be suprised/impressed. I think the writing was on the wall when Nintendo announced this game. Who really cares if the sell-through rate is 23.7 copies per minute or whatever, a great game will sell bucketloads upon release as did Kingdom hearts 2.

Of course the real strength of quality software is how well it sells after that first month or week even, Kindom Hearts 2 dropped like a stone from the Nihon -ese charts after a week.

What has become if the internet?
We all know that he was talking about the U.S. sales, read the article. Also, I'm sure that he is talking about 12 hour days. Because, well I would guess that not many games are sold between about 10pm and 10am. Video game stores are closed, and while Wal-Marts and Targets are open, I guess not many people go to Wal-Mart at 3am to buy a copy of Mario, I know that they could, but we aren't talking about calculating pi, we are talking about the number of games sold.

12 hour day.

As Geist (23) said, the story should've ended there, with the sales figures. But no, the editors had to try and make more of it by challenging them and go with the more controversial title of the article. Which in turn, IMO, justifies readers bringing up sales/business hours.

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Phil Hartman played a series of popular characters on the NBC sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live," including the "Anal-Retentive Chef," the "Anal-Retentive Sportsman" and the "Anal-Retentive Carpenter."

J.: The story should have ended there? With us regurgitating a press release? Let me just make sure ... you know you're at J O Y S T I Q.com and not I G N.com, right?

Also, a great source for future video game info is press.nintendo.com. Can't recommend them enough.

Jake, you obviously went to a lot of trouble in responding to the post, but there was no need to split hairs about it. You should loosen up a little, maybe adopt a more philosophical attitude. ;)

somebody's been playing brain age a lil too much...

NSMB has already passed 1.5 million sold in Japan alone, despite releasing 10 days later than the US, so clearly it's not worldwide.

"That's a sell-through rate of more than 20 every minute since the game went on sale May 15."

This is a subjective case. The paraghraph before it provides the context, defining duration and profit per duration; While a half-million in one month can be seen as 20 per minute in many cases, it is not true for all cases.

were are the games

Seriously, how many stoners go out and decide to buy a Nintendo DS after midnight? Even worse, at most super Wal-Marts there is no one in the electronics section at that time of night ($120 game system that requires a modicum of effort, or $120 of junk food and GI Joe re-issues? I wonder).

I'd say that's a pretty significant thing to factor in there, too. Not too many people buy anything of that calibur after most other stores have closed.

This was an obvious calculation based on a typical merchant's business day, but it's also a good opportunity to smash Nintendo for 'fuzzy math'.

It's sad how people bash companies for possibly being wrong.

Well, how 'bout this, if you couple the US stats with the Japanese sales, which currently sits around 1.5 million, than by your math Nintendo's sold almost 40 every minute since it's US launch.

Ownge.

1) The number is obviously based on the standard 12-hour business day but people have no reason to assume this unless they do the math.

2) Even if the number they gave was 10 it would still be misleading although technically correct. You couldn't neccessarily watch a clock tick off a minute and say "10 copies of NSMB where probably just sold!" because the sales where spread out over a month and are now much less than they were right after launch. The number is to make it seem that NSMB is being sold at a higher rate than it really is.

Let's just agree that this number is misleading for multiple reasons and be done with it.

By the way, 500,000 copies of NSMB wouldn't stretch all the way to the moon. It would only make it .018% of the way to the moon, which doesn't seem like a lot. But when you think about it, the moon is really really far away, so that's still pretty impressive.

@21

There's also 100+ million PS2s in the world compared to less than 20 Million for the DS.. So when you figure it out on a % of system owners who bought the game...

Wow! People people! Settle! You kids saying "nuh-uh!!! zOMG 24HRS!!! no way!", be quiet. Just because there are those trying to figure out how Nintendo GOT the number doesn't mean they are saying it's JUSTIFIED. (Though my money is soem wage slave just farked up.)

Now you people trying to figure it out, let's work backwards: the release says over 20, so let's go with 25. 500K/25 = 20K/35 (days) = 571/60 (mins) = about 9.5 hours a day. Ah ha! Now for someone whose life consists of a 9 hour daily grind, the numbers make sense! We'll take that 9 hour grind and double check: 500K / (9 * 60 * 35) = about 26. Mystery solved, bad math from a wage slave.

Oh, and by the way.... YOU'RE WELCOME!

#10 = true