NPD: MGS4 sells over 1 million in US, Tomb Raider left undiscovered
by Ross Miller 
{ Jan 21st 2009 at 3:43PM }
Here's the bad news: Tomb Raider: Underworld has managed only 246K across three platforms since launching mid-November -- indeed a disappointment, but also a lowered bar for Naughty Dog's Nathan Drake vs. Lara Croft claim. To its credit, TRU has done better elsewhere, selling 1.5 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Prince of Persia did 483K in December, with at least 213K of those going to the PS3 version. While that puts it on par with Sony's first-party titles last month, it also means the Xbox 360 version saw relatively disappointing sales.
Metal Gear Solid 4 and LittleBigPlanet were both "honored" (if you can call it that) in our Best of 2008 awards. See what else made the list.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Cellien @ Jan 21st 2009 3:48PM
Good for MGS4, but I'd say it did take a while when compared to other high profile games (Gears etc.)!
Hyams @ Jan 21st 2009 3:53PM
Gears is a *monster* though. It could potentially replace Halo as the Xbox's flagship title next gen, that's how big it is.
Noshino @ Jan 21st 2009 4:03PM
Really hit series, it achieved high sales despite the fact that it didn't even get the massive advertisement that Halo 3 did...
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 21st 2009 4:03PM
yea Gears IS a beast........and Gears 3 could very where outdo Halo 3......
Joe @ Jan 21st 2009 4:37PM
That's not counting bundles. Those 80 gig MGS bundles sold like hotcakes. Last BC PS3's.
ill trooper @ Jan 21st 2009 5:15PM
Honestly, I'm surprised MGS did this well - it's not the crowd-pleaser Gears and Halo are, it's more of a slow pace, movie-like telling of a story and certainly can't match the popularity of the multiplayer Halo or Gears.
I think all three of the games are fun to play, but I'm glad there's freaky sci-fi like MGS, I don't get that much out of the Halo or Gears stories.
freedomfromconformity @ Jan 21st 2009 6:00PM
Prince of Persia and Tomb Raider should really be selling at a lower price point. The reason their sales are so low is because 1) Tomb Raider is fun but not worth the $60 price tag when Fallout 3, Gears 2, etc all sell for the same price at the same time frame. 2) They have no multiplayer and are relatively shallow games when compared to the "depth" of other $60 games that released at the same time. Valkyria Chronicles should have also been released at a lower price point simply because it was an unproven franchise... especially since it was exclusive to a system with a much smaller install base.
The Fatass of Kickassness @ Jan 21st 2009 8:08PM
Gears sold 2 million in America on a console that has about 16 million owners in the US.
MGS4 did take a while, but when you consider that there are only about 7 million people in the US and that Metal Gear will always be a series you either 'get' or 'don't get', these numbers become quite a bit more impressive.
Not trying to 'spin' anything, because this is what it was to begin with before fanboys would get their hands on it.
Levi @ Jan 21st 2009 8:16PM
I wouldn't say you get it or don't get it... bceause I got it from the NES games through MGS1, and didn't get it starting with 2.
I'm going to give 4 another shot after KZ2. Just don't have enough time between now and then, I only have 13 hours into Fallout 3!
mismajor99 @ Jan 22nd 2009 2:36AM
good to see, but Crysis on PC sold better then this in the same time frame on high end rigs, and all the bitching about how bad the sales were with that game..lol..
zhine @ Jan 21st 2009 3:49PM
Glad to see Metal Gear Solid 4 sell so well. Hype or no, it's a fantastic game.
Duke @ Jan 21st 2009 4:11PM
MGS4 is a great game.
I have no interest in the TR series these days though, so I'm not shocked by its sales problems. I have also been on the fence regarding PoP. Just can't decide if I should buy it or just rent it.
Hyams @ Jan 21st 2009 4:23PM
I'd say rent Prince of Persia.
It's an okay game, but gets repetitive. There's not much variation - what you do in the first twenty minutes of the game is pretty much what you'll be doing for the other 8 or so hours (or however long it takes to complete it).
RIP R.L. Causton - YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MISSED (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Jan 21st 2009 4:38PM
I don't even rent games and I would say rent PoP. You can beat it in maybe a day or two. I made the mistake of buying it and have regretted it ever since. No replay value beyond one playthrough.
Beautiful art direction was the only redeeming quality IMO.
BananaBoat @ Jan 21st 2009 5:14PM
I'm glad to see that MGS4 got to a million, but I'm kind of dumbfounded that Resistance and LBP didn't get there, despite huge marketing campaigns, and tons of internet hype (for LBP at least). What do you have to do to sell a million copies on launch day on the PS3 these days? Will Killzone be able to do it? I ask only because the console needs AAA megahits to finance the niche games I love so dearly.
Duke @ Jan 21st 2009 5:32PM
I will rent it then. Thanks for the advice!
Levi @ Jan 21st 2009 8:20PM
Ok... I'm not trying to troll or anything, but I bought Resistance a month or so ago in a B2G1 used deal, and I didn't find anything about it that hasn't been done 1000 times better already. R2 looks better, but all I've heard is the single player is a let down - and that's what I thought looked better!
Coudl someone explain the multiplayer component of R2 that is supposedly the selling point? All I've heard is that it's co-op with XP and leveling, but it's not the campaign. Is it like Horde?
The Fatass of Kickassness @ Jan 21st 2009 8:27PM
"Coudl someone explain the multiplayer component of R2 that is supposedly the selling point? All I've heard is that it's co-op with XP and leveling, but it's not the campaign. Is it like Horde?"
Well, I thought the campaign in Resistance 2 was pretty decent (certainly better than R1's), but whatever.
The multiplayer is a selling point because it's expansive. If you're playing co-op, you have a shitload of levels available, good reasons to replay each level (grey tech is a bitch to find sometimes), and it's just plain fun to play, especially with a mic and 7 other people
The competitive, on the other hand, is simply fucking gigantic. 60 players is the max, and I've played more 60 player games than non-60 player games. No lag whatsoever, and the game encourages experimentation with weapons - there are plenty available, and the weapon you choose as well as how you play with it (and the berserk that you choose) all play a role in determining whether or not you'll be in the front lines or supporting from the rear.
In other words, it's all great fun, and thats why R2 got the attention that it got. IGN says that R2 has a better multiplayer component than GoW2, and I'm inclined to agree - pretty impressive for an online system you don't have to pay for, if ya ask me.
Levi @ Jan 21st 2009 10:03PM
Thanks! It was a real question, I wasn't putting it down. I'll be getting it if KZ2 lets us all down. The co-op sounded really intriguing.
The MP in R1 wasn't much fun to me though. Big, yes, but I dnuno... seemed like I'd rather play other games that were smaller. I didn't give it much of a chance, to be fair, but I have gamer ADD when it comes to competitive multiplayer games now. It takes a while to really get into one, and I've done it so many times that it's like "I've done this before" even if it's a new game. It's gotta be really really friggin good for me to enjoy.
But this is coming from someone who still thinks CS is the best formula for team based multiplayer... and I'm sure most of you will disagree with me there ;P
The Fatass of Afro Luffyness @ Jan 21st 2009 10:17PM
Just so ya know, R2 feels nothing like Resistance. A lot of people don't try R2 because they think it'll be more of the same, but it feels like a different series completely.
Hyams @ Jan 21st 2009 3:52PM
Yay MGS4. ^_^
Pretty strong LBP sales as well. Should be hitting 2 million worldwide soon, with its strong EU sales. =)
Jonathan-DBOSS @ Jan 21st 2009 3:58PM
Prince of Persia's relatively small sales on the 360 is somewhat surprising. I really enjoyed the game (for PS3) and I think it deserved better sales in both platforms. It's a conspiracy!
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 21st 2009 4:02PM
LBP is on track to do 3.5 Million(Globally) by years end.....ESPECIALLY if they do the SMART thing and release a bundle here for it....
Why Prince of Persia got no love on 360 boggles me.....I mean its a REALLY good game and there are WAAAAAAAY more 360's out there than PS3's...
Ouch @ Tomb Raider...
Wes @ Jan 22nd 2009 3:04PM
Its a combination of desperation and competition really. TRU had less competition in the fps genre at the time it was released than TRU did on the xbox 360 what with Farcry 2, Gear of war 2, etc.
TRU is kind of somewhere between a tier 1 and tier 2 action-adventure/fps game. On the PS3, there were few Tier 1 games to compete against so it kind of got rounded up.
On the xbox 360 here was competition so it kind of got rounded down. Ouch indeed cause Tru could have performed a lot better with better timing for release. It would have made a fine Late February release when there's few games to compete with.
Not to mention, the bugs could have been squashed and the extra levels added prior to release to improve overall quality ensuring it was a Tier 1 game on both systems.
DemonGSides @ Jan 21st 2009 4:05PM
Meanwhile, Prince of Persia did 483K in December, with at least 213K of those being the PS3 version. While that puts it on par with Sony's first-party titles last month, it also means the Xbox 360 version saw relatively poor sales for the platform.
It sold more, and yeah, i can understand that there are a lot more 360's out there, but adventure platforming has turned into a niche title, so I'd say it selled well enough. I'd consider it a disappointment if more people bought it for Ps3 than 360.
Hyams @ Jan 21st 2009 4:18PM
It's sales overall were okay. It's the 360 sales that are weird.
In the US the 360 outnumbers the PS3 by more than 2:1, so it's odd that the game sold equal on both platforms.
I think it shows the differing fanbases of each console. Several other third person adventure and hack/slash games (DMC4, TR:U) have also sold better on the PS3 than on the 360 worldwide, whereas other games have an equal tie ratio for both consoles, whilst yet others (shooters and WRPGs) lean in favour of the 360.
PS3 owners and 360 owners just like slightly different games, it seems.
Vcize @ Jan 21st 2009 5:49PM
Hyams, all those franchises you mentioned are also ones that were on a playstation console exclusively prior to this gen, so I'd imagine that has something to do with it as well.
ronEbear @ Jan 21st 2009 4:12PM
If Konami likes money (which seems to be hard to get these days) they will port it on over to the 360, they would have to have downs syndrome not to realize this.
ronEbear @ Jan 21st 2009 4:13PM
And by "it" i mean MGS4.
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 21st 2009 4:14PM
good luck with that......
maybe on a RE-release.......
ronEbear @ Jan 21st 2009 4:16PM
So you agree that Konami has down syndrome.
ronEbear @ Jan 21st 2009 4:17PM
correction: downs syndrome
Hyams @ Jan 21st 2009 4:19PM
Unless they have some sort of exclusivity contract with Sony?
Noshino @ Jan 21st 2009 4:20PM
If Microsoft wants MGS4 they would have to pay Konami....
...and leave Kojima butthurt...
...and lower their royalties...
...and release a controller with pressure sensing buttons....
But yah, Konami clearly has to suffer of down syndrome (bad joke, don't use it again) if they don't release MGS4 on the 360
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 21st 2009 4:27PM
I dont even think its Konami as much as it is Kojima.....he is kinda like George Lucas....Lucas releases Star Wars on DVD when he wants to....Fox has NO say whatsoever.....which is why it hasnt hit Blu-ray yet despite the 25 Million+ players out there.....
So Kojima might be waiting for the right moment, or he just doesnt give a rats ass.....he knows that will eventually go on to sell 7-19 million globally and maybe thats enough for him.......maybe he would rather lose out on that revenue than to see his child into pieces and degraded in quality...
@Noshino: the 360 controller isnt pressure sensitive!?!?!?
RIP R.L. Causton - YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MISSED (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Jan 21st 2009 4:29PM
It would require allot of reworking to appease MS for a MGS 4 port to the 360. Not even talking about technical issues with the platform differences but more specificly in game assetts.
Think about it - Snake has an iPod throughout the entire game, every computer in the game is an Apple/Mac, Snake uses a playstation 3 controller to control the Mark III and there are several references to the Playstation brand specifically. I'm not saying it isn't possible or do-able but it would require quite a bit of work on Konami's part to make the port.
Then you also have the issue of the Konami ID portal for Metal Gear Online and purchasing expansions. This was an exception Sony allowed Konami but I'm not sure MS would allow it. So, would you just remove MGO from MGS 4 on the 360? Or would you allow Konami to have a portal similar to what they did on the PS3. Obviously we would all prefer if it had been done using your PSN ID & PSn storefront as the Konami/MGO shop is damn near impossible to navigate & Konami ID's are tedious at best.
There are some challenges in doing such a port beyond and technical issues that may arise from doing anything less than a sloppy port.
Noshino @ Jan 21st 2009 4:36PM
Aggie,
I can't really tell as I haven't tried any game that has that option, so I thought that maybe they still had it since the original Xbox's controller had it but just no one was making use of it...
but then I read this comment by Itagaki
"Regarding the volleyball gameplay, Itagaki states that because the buttons on the Xbox 360 controller are not analogue, the gameplay will have to be adjusted accordingly."
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/646/646951p1.html
So it seems the 360 doesn't really have pressure sensing buttons, unless they were added afterwards
Vidikron @ Jan 21st 2009 4:54PM
No, the 360 doesn't have analog buttons... which is odd because the original XBox did.
PSN: Aggie_CEO @ Jan 21st 2009 5:10PM
well damn that sucks ass.....what made MS do that I wonder??? I mean shit the controller cost enough...you would think that it had some BASIC stuff going on with it....
so yea I guess that is another limitation on MGS4 if it would be ported over....
Vcize @ Jan 21st 2009 5:51PM
Errr, what is a pressure sensitive button then?
In madden when you throw a pass, the strength at which you throw the pass is determined by how hard you press the button (tap it for a lob, hit it harder to throw it more on a line).
Is that not what you're talking about?
Duke @ Jan 21st 2009 6:07PM
Vcize, isn't that more length of time based than pressure based though? Tap is short vs holding it longer?
Hyams @ Jan 21st 2009 7:26PM
Pressure sensative is how hard you push down on the buttons. MGS4 (MGS3 too) uses this with CQC. When you're holding the knife up to the bad guy's throat, accidently (or purposely) push too hard and Snake'll slit their throat.
Levi @ Jan 21st 2009 8:26PM
I was wondering if there were any games that took advantage of that. It was starting to annoy me that they were analogue when I was playing Mega Man 9 endless, I'd get to like 200 or 300 screens, and then die in a spike pit because I didn't press the jump button hard enough or something..
Levi @ Jan 21st 2009 8:33PM
"If Konami likes money (which seems to be hard to get these days) they will port it on over to the 360"
And if Microsoft wanted more money, they'd port Halo to the PS3...
arrrgh @ Jan 21st 2009 4:13PM
at least I'm not the only one that hated teh complete and utter shit out of the new PoP
Noshino @ Jan 21st 2009 4:26PM
Although I didn't like it either, be careful, there are many people here that love this game a lot...
RIP R.L. Causton - YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MISSED (PSN johnnynumber5) @ Jan 21st 2009 4:36PM
You don't even have to be good at the game to beat PoP. No replay value at all.
Beautiful to look at? Yes. Not much else there for me beyond the art style.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Jan 21st 2009 4:14PM
So how many copies did Uncharted sell in the US? I'm thinking more than 300K. Although Uncharted has the advantage of being released before the economic downturn.
And no, even if Uncharted has outsold the latest (lousy) Tomb Raider game, I don't think that Nathan is more popular than Lara.
Hyams @ Jan 21st 2009 4:21PM
Well, it's sold 2.5 million worldwide, with around a million of the sales coming from the US.
Noshino @ Jan 21st 2009 4:30PM
Well, for the popularity contest, I would say, let's wait til Uncharted gets its movie out...
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/06/source-uncharted-optioned-for-movie-adaptation/