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Reuters: RE5 sold 1.94M in US; Dead Space 2 in development for 2010
by David Hinkle 
{ Oct 30th 2009 at 1:45PM } 
The second part of the Reuters story talks about EA and its spookier titles for 2009: Left 4 Dead 2 and Dead Space: Extraction. While there isn't anything new on the former, in a discussion of the latter, Reuters revealed that Dead Space 2 is apparently planned for a 2010 release, which would seem to confirm what we've heard about the game so far.
Gamasutra breaks down console sales in light of price cuts
by Griffin McElroy { Oct 27th 2009 at 10:00AM } 
Source: NPD Group; via Gamasutra
If you're like us -- and, we figure after all these years we've been secretly brainwashing you, you are -- then the recent console price cuts were met with your curiosity over how these discounts would affect the vast gaming sales landscape. Fortunately, Gamasutra has posted a chart (using NPD figures) that measures how the price cuts altered two factors: each console's average sale price during the month of September and its year-to-date sales (through September).
This first figure proves the most telling about how the market reacted to the slashed prices. For instance, the average price at which PS3s were purchased in September was a flat $300; meaning an overwhelming majority of buyers responded favorably to the discount. Though the price of the Wii didn't get cut until the last week of September, the console's average price dropped to $218 -- also indicative of a reactionary market surge. The average Xbox 360 purchased price, however, actually increased by a buck to $261. By Gamasutra's calculations, folks purchased three Elites ($300) for every Arcade model ($200) sold during the month.
The PS3 was the top-selling console in September, which is the first time it's ever managed a first-place sales finish. It's still in last place in the 2009 year-to-date totals, though, and Sony's system would need to outsell Xbox 360 by about 35,000 units every week until the end of the year to break even with its competitor. Passing up the Wii, however, would require an act of divine intervention -- Nintendo's console is currently sitting on YTD sales of 4 million, which is more than twice the total of PS3 sales.
Uncharted 2 exceeding sales expectations, DLC coming 'before the end' of 2009
by Ben Gilbert { Oct 23rd 2009 at 6:30PM } 
She wouldn't directly quote sales of the title thus far, but she did allow that the title is "exceeding expectations" and outselling the original game "by many, many times" -- a fact no doubt aided by the PlayStation 3's primary position among consoles on last month's NPDs. Hennig seems to embrace this head-on, referring to the confluence of events that lead to the current success of Uncharted 2 -- a hardware price drop, a handful of games being pushed back, and critical acclaim for the game -- as "serendipity." That doesn't mean the game ends in an expensive ice cream shop, right?
Gallery: Uncharted 2
Ignition: Muramasa sales 'in line with expectations'
by JC Fletcher { Oct 23rd 2009 at 1:00PM }
It might sound low to us, but marketing director Melody Frieda said that the total was "in line with expectations and we're happy with how it's performing to date." She said that positive reviews should help keep sales up through the holidays. The company sees even better potential for the title in the long term: according to Frieda, Ignition is "quite confident that Muramasa will be a revered cult classic like its sister property Odin Sphere," which went on to be released under the PS2's "Greatest Hits" line.
Gallery: Muramasa: Demon Blade
Report: Average CoD World at War player has spent $9 on DLC [update]
by Ben Gilbert { Oct 21st 2009 at 3:43PM }
As you might imagine, those kind of numbers add up to a lot of extra revenue for the mega-publisher – the piece approximates a cool $45 million. Taking that one step further, the average cost of each box of CoD: WaW sold at retail becomes $65. We're not sure if that number accounts for the chunk taken out by Microsoft and Sony respectively for distribution, but even cut in half that's still a nice chunk of change.
So today, we'd like to officially announce that we're changing the site's name to Call of Duty: Joystiq. Call it a strategic business move – it's all about brand recognition, people!
Update: To be clear, the $45 million number is an approximation by Gamasutra, put together with information from NPD, EEDAR, and Activision PR. It was apparently calculated by taking 65% of 7 million units at $10 a piece, without accounting for giveaways or bundles.
NPD: Dead Space Extraction sold 9,000 copies in September
by JC Fletcher { Oct 21st 2009 at 1:58PM }
EEDAR's Jesse Divnich, however, cites the sales as the result of a successful not telling anyone about the game experiment. "Electronic Arts didn't market Dead Space Extraction as much as it does with other titles," he told Edge. "And the success or failure of a Wii title usually correlates directly to marketing spend. If Electronic Arts spent little on marketing, I am sure the sell through was no surprise to them." It was, like everything, a complete shock to Dead Space Girl.
NCsoft's Aion perches atop the US PC charts for Sept.
by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 20th 2009 at 11:30PM }
Champions Online showed up to the party in third place, with World of Warcraft taking three separate spots on the chart. Check out the full list after the break.
Scribblenauts achieves noteworthy 194K sales in September
by JC Fletcher { Oct 20th 2009 at 7:30PM }
We asked 5TH Cell creative director Jeremiah Slaczka if it met his expectations. "I didn't have any expectations," he told Joystiq. "I just hoped it'd do well. It's awesome for a completely new, original 3rd party IP on DS to do so well."
Does this strong debut mean a sequel is guaranteed? "Way too early to tell that," Slaczka said. "We've only seen 2.5 weeks of sales." He told us that Drawn to Life, which went on to break a million worldwide, only sold 40,000 copies in its first month, with one more week of sales in that month.
Beatles: Rock Band bests Guitar Hero 5 in U.S. Sept. sales
by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 20th 2009 at 12:30PM }
The makers of B:RB have also rubbed in a few seemingly noteworthy facts; namely, (1) U.S. purchases of GH5 in September were eligible for a free mail-away copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen, and (2) GH5 is available on one additional platform, PS2. Of course, Van Halen isn't exactly the American equivalent of The Beatles, and the PS2 is no longer the dominant platform to stage one's acts upon. Still, despite the staggering odds stacked against its success, B:RB managed to capture the mindshare of U.S. gamers. (And we all know that Americans like to speak their minds with their monies.)
The sales de-feat must feel good for MTV Games and Harmonix -- what with B:RB being burned in the sales competition with GH5 by the kingdom that birthed the band (see: Chart-Track UK September sales rankings posted after the break). What was it? Right: Guitar Hero 5 supposedly outsold The Beatles: Rock Band "2-to-1 in the UK."
So, score a victory for B:RB in the battle of the bands fought in U.S. retail last month. But let's not forget there's a bigger, "World War of Rock" being waged, as well. And our wallets are the oft-unreported collateral damage.
September NPD: Obviously Destined to Sell Tons
by JC Fletcher { Oct 19th 2009 at 8:10PM }
In software (see the chart after the break), unsurprisingly strong debuts took place for both games with Halo on the box and games with Mario on the box. In fact, strong is a bit of an understatement for ODST's 1.52 million units sold. It's not quite 3.3 million units, but for a presumably lower-cost spinoff using an existing engine, it'll do.
In a weird bit of cross-platform fickleness, The Beatles: Rock Band debuted in the top 10 for Xbox and Wii, but not PS3 -- while Batman: Arkham Asylum's PS3 version made a second appearance in the top 10 to the exclusion of the Xbox.
-DS: 524K
29K (-5%)-PS3: 492K
282K (+134%)-Wii: 463K
186K (+67%)-360: 353K
138K (+64%)-PSP: 190K
50K (+36%)-PS2: 146K
40K (+38%)Check out the software sales chart after the break.
NPD study finds 40% of recent game purchases were impulse-driven
by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 16th 2009 at 10:58AM }
NPD's Matthew Tattle notes that it's surprising to find impulse purchasing going on during a recession, but that "it's clear that hardcore gamers will find a way to satisfy their need for something new, different and enjoyable." Or, maybe, their ADD is just kicking in and they can't focus on the fact that we're in a recession?
The average impulse purchase was under $27 (USD), as compared to the average $42 planned purchase. The study also found that females were more likely to buy on impulse and that 15 percent of purchases were made through online transactions. So, apparently some impulse purchases were on Impulse.
Wii Fit may surpass San Andreas sales, Wii Play is top selling 'game' of the last 10 years
by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 13th 2009 at 7:30PM }
Some out there are probably ready to argue that Wii Fit should not be counted among other games. Yeah, those folks are going to pitch a fit about the top seller: Wii Play. The controller-bundled "software" holds the crown, having reached 11.1 million sales. We can't wait to see how the Vitality Sensor does.
Gallery: Wii Fit
Professor Layton and the Decent US Sales Debut
by David Hinkle { Sep 15th 2009 at 7:43PM }
On the flip side, the figure can also be seen as a failure for Nintendo, based on how much money the company sank into the marketing machine trying to get ladies interested. Regardless, we're hoping the game fares better in September, because we'd like to actually play the other Layton games.
NPD provides stats on game promotion, platform cross-ownership
by Griffin McElroy { Sep 15th 2009 at 3:00AM }
The other bit of information (which will likely serve as ammunition in some misguided fanboy war) is a chart showing a breakdown of gaming console cross-ownership. It goes like this: Nearly 40 percent of PS3 owners also own Wiis or Xbox 360s, 18 percent of Xbox 360 owners have PS3s, and few Wii owners also possess 360s (26 percent) or PS3s (14 percent).
To see this information presented in a manner that doesn't resemble the makings of an SAT Prep logic puzzle, check out the NPD Group's press release.
[Image]
Music game sales down 46%, still third best-selling genre
by Richard Mitchell { Sep 12th 2009 at 6:00AM }
Of course, it's worth noting that -- apart from Guitar Hero: Metallica and Smash Hits -- the first half of 2009 was somewhat devoid of major music genre releases. With both Guitar Hero 5 and The Beatles: Rock Band both just released, the music genre is likely due for a significant boost. Still, it's hard to imagine sales climbing as high as they once were. With so many homes filled with plastic instruments as it is, we're sure it's getting harder to sell those full band kits -- and their higher prices.
Then again, we're sure everyone still has room for a turntable.
