NPD to withhold hardware sales numbers from media

VGChartz....??

*Does his best OCP employee impression*

I have always enjoyed the standard SDF reply to bad news having something to do with MS paying off somebody to hurt Sony...so in that vein:

I wonder how much this cost Sony......

Didnt pay much notice to this article, until I saw the first comment.

And it struck me, its not Sony but MS who gains from spreading moolahto get the numbers covered up. Released all the big hitters, including the much hyped title that cant even run in 640p, and still sales are barely 4-5 mn so far in 2007..
and now the PS3 is releasing its big titles, and just 50-100 $ more for a far more reliable console with "useless" stuff like multyiplayer and Blu-Ray.

I need my red and green arrow fix!

In a way, this is a good thing. People are getting to wrapped up in console sales and game sales. These numbers are more important to developers than us anyway. My enjoyment of Okami or Viva Pinata wasn't diminished by how poorly they sold, so why sweat it?

Awesome news. There is no need for the public to know about sales numbers. Unless you are a fanboy......

Mwahahaha, soon you will all join us at VGChartz...

If computers and the internet were built to keep information hidden instead of spreading copies of it to every corner of the globe, NPD's idea would be great. As it is, we'll put this down as their first tentative step on the path to total irrelevance.

If I'm not mistaken, the numbers weren't really meant for public consumption anyway. NPD tracks trends in various industries, compiles data, performs calculations, and then publishes a report meant for those in their corresponding industry, so they can have a handle on the market and base business decisions using the data.

The consoles manufacturers, on the otherhand, have their own data, because they know what they shipped.

Because of the internet, and blogging and other various sites, this data has found itself published for free. Some take this data and use it as if it were entirely accurate, when it's at best-- an educated estimate. I can see why customers of NPD might not be willing to purchase such data, if they can secure the same information for free via the same sites we visit.

In the grander scheme of things, does it really matter if we, as consumers, have this data? It is rather cool to know and all, but it doesn't really change my perception of what I enjoy.

Wow. This is pathetically greedy.