General Nintendo sales/business discussion topic (previously: The Wii U Thread)

[VO.SUPER]

Wow; NPD numbers show promising results for Mario Kart 8 in May. When it was only on sale for 2 days!

 

 

1. Watch Dogs (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PlayStation 3, PC)

2. Mario Kart 8 (Wii U)
3. MLB 14: The Show (PS4, PS3, Vita)
4. Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS4, Xbox One, 360, PS3, PC)
5. Minecraft (360, PS3)
6. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (360, PS3, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, Wii U)
7. NBA 2K14 (360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC)
8. Titanfall (360, Xbox One, PC)
9. Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
10. Call of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, PC, Wii U)

 

Game sales saw a huge bump in May. Month over month, game purchases were up 20 percent from $227.9 million. That’s largely due to the massive success of publisher Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs. That open-world hacking game is the French company’s fastest-selling product over a 24-hour period ever. It also racked up more than 4 million in sales in its first week.

 

Nintendo also contributed significantly to May’s software numbers with the introduction of Mario Kart 8. The publisher revealed it sold 1.2 million copies in just three days.

 

What’s most impressive about Mario Kart 8 and Watch Dogs is that both topped the chart for all of May despite debuting at the end of the month. Mario Kart 8 made it to No. 2 with only two days of sales.

 

New releases had a good month all around. MLB 14: The Show and Wolfenstein: The New Order both released in May and made it into the top five. They even outsold a resurgent Minecraft, which now has physical version on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. This should keep the block-building phenomenon in the top 10 for a few more months.

 

Beyond the top 5, the only other new game on the chart is the 3DS’s Kirby: Triple Deluxe, which hit the system in early May. This is another example of the power of Nintendo’s franchises.

 

“Collectively, May 2014 launches sold 800 percent more in dollar sales than May 2013 launches did in their respective launch month,” said Callahan. “New launches represented 50 percent of dollar sales this month, which compared to only 9 percent for new launches in May 2013.”

 

If you’re looking for a trend in the top 10, I would point out that the PS4 version of Watch Dogs, Wolfenstein, Spider-Man, NBA 2K14, and Call of Duty outsold their Xbox One counterparts. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo tradeshow in Los Angeles last week, Microsoft was all about games — and this sales report shows one of the reasons why.

 

The fact it held ground with Watchdogs shows that this game definitely had life to it. There isn't much to say about the Wii U alone though, but the source says the ranking is still the same; though I am sure Nintendo's just happy they're making a profit. 

[PSI Wind]

Dooooooooooooooooooooooomed!

Well, the hardware sales still aren't good but when an exclusive title to 1 platform holds its ground against one spread throughout 5, it's a huge accomplishment.

[Patticus]

Anyone else remember the news a while back about Nintendo thinking about changing its business structure? Well, word on the street is that their E3 showing was a demonstration of that change going into effect, in terms of both the games on display and also the presentation. We saw dramatic evolutionary leaps in existing franchises (open world Zelda), new IPs (Splatoon), as well as much earlier access to early game prototypes, and only one highly creative Mario game, which looks more like something along the lines of Little Big Planet than anything else*. Add to this the figurine venture and that oh-so-long-awaited fan service with Starfox (in Miyamoto's hands, to boot)... it adds up to a convincing picture of an evolving company.

 

Maybe this QoL stuff of theirs, and that huge acquisition late last year, are also tied to it. We'll see, I'm sure.

 

 

 

*Mario Maker + Yoshi's Woolly World & Kirby's Epic Yarn + Paper Mario + Smash's franchise representation = YES.

[Rinzler]

I wouldnt mind if they continued down that path tbh. Nintendo's E3 performance was such an original breath of fresh air compared to the stale conferences of their competitors.

[MegasonicZX]

I wouldnt mind if they continued down that path tbh. Nintendo's E3 performance was such an original breath of fresh air compared to the stale conferences of their competitors.

Yeah, I honestly wasn't expecting any of it and it all just felt so wonderfully put together (the robot chicken-esque sections especially).

[VO.SUPER]

So we have estimates of Wii U numbers in May, and they're not pretty. If Mario Kart 8 wasn't there to help, this number would be a lot smaller. (I expect June to be better at least.)

 

So if sales were 85% from last year, then we get... 

 

... Man this is rough to post.

About 60,130 compared to last year's 32,600.

 

Maaaaaaaaaaaaannnnn.

[canderson]

I thought for sure that it would at least outsell the 3DS(which was the second best selling hardware after PS4), but nope. I'm also not too surprised that it still did not beat Xbox One in May.

 

Off topic: Look at the huge increase of Vita sales.

[Sir Tynen]

Are those worldwide numbers?

[VO.SUPER]

I believe the NPD only covers US?

[Brad]

Though I'll be waiting up on June sales figures for a full month of Mario Kart sales, it's still pretty depressing to look at lol

[Autosaver]

2 Days of Mario Kart sales. I would wait for this month's units sold to see if it made a difference.

 

Edit: 400% boost

[Carbo]

Do note that it was during E3 Reggie mentioned that the week-to-week sales had increased by 4.1 times which implies a relatively increased baseline for the U. 60k in the context we've been given was sort of an inevitability. It's the June numbers that people should be looking out for.

[Your Vest Friend]

There's been concerns since the start that the people buying Mario kart 8 were mostly people who already owned the Wii U.

[SuperLink]

Mario Kart 8 was never really gonna turn around the Wii U's fortunes, it was just needed to keep the consoles selling more steadily than they had been before so Nintendo can return to making a profit, and it seems to be doing ok at that thus far.

[Gabz Girl]

So it's kinda like what happened with the GameCube. I'm cool with that. As long as we get great games on the console, I'll still buy those games and Nintendo will still make a profit from them despite low console sales.

[Sami]

Not quite GameCube, no.

It's hard to say if any profit will be made on it considering it was sold at a loss for quite some time, alongside the fact that Nintendo themselves have admitted that the transition to HD development hit them very hard. It might even out before the successor arrives, but I don't think it'll bring in a notable profit.

It's great that Mario Kart had such a good launch though. Hopefully it keeps up.

[VO.SUPER]

A slow start doesn't mean it can't end in Gamecube numbers, and Nintendo's already built up very good will thus far since Mario Kart 8. And if Nintendo can follow up the promise they built at E3 then I fully expect Gamecube.

 

And even then, Gamecube had a stronger launch year lineup to keep it afloat, even if it wasn't as favorable as Nintendo wanted it, (not to mention they had better goodwill with their consumers at the time), so it makes sense that it had stronger launch line up than the Wii U, but it is possible for the Wii U to rise back up if they play their cards right.

[SuperLink]

I'm not sure just how "great" this is, but I've been checking the Amazon UK's gaming charts regularly since MK8 launched. UK is typically a bad region for Nintendo popularity, so I figured it'd be a nice telling of just how powerful MK8's pull was. MK8 itself has been constantly in the top5, whereas the Wii U itself has consistently remained in the top 100, most regularly in the top60 and more than a few times even in the top20. The only time since MK8's launch that the Wii U has dropped from the Top100 was when Amazon sold out and the only remaining sellers were selling it at £300+, and even then it was still in the top200. A couple of other Wii U bundles (besides the MK8 one) have also been hovering around the top200 despite the MK8 bundle's strong placement.

 

So it kinda seems like for the month of June, the Wii U is performing better on Amazon than the XBO is. Obv Amazon's demographic is a bit different from physical retailers, but I've been hearing various people saying their local GAME's Wii U section has grown a little bit and become more apparent since MK8 launched.

[VO.SUPER]

 

This is the UK sales chart for June 21st from GFK. Good on Mario Kart for holding so hard. 

 

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110015

[Doctor MK]

 

This is the UK sales chart for June 21st from GFK. Good on Mario Kart for holding so hard. 

 

http://www.chart-track.co.uk/index.jsp?c=p/software/uk/latest/index_test.jsp&ct=110015

 

I believe it's at #4 in the Single Formats Chart too, which is another solid performance considering it's on the least successful console.

[VO.SUPER]

- roughly $4.7 billion in the bank 

- roughly $10 billion in current asset

- ¥474,297 million in “cash and deposits” 

- ¥320,918 million invested into short-term investment securities

- the two values above equal the $10 billion in assets Nintendo has

- including non-current assets (property, machinery, etc), Nintendo has around $13 billion in total assets

 

http://www.gengame.net/2014/06/nintendo-has-around-4-7-billion-in-the-bank-3-billion-in-short-term-investments-10-billion-in-current-assets/

 

While Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed numbers with a press release, details coming out of Nintendo's shareholders meeting state that Mario Kart 8 has sold over 2 million copies. The same goes for Wii U sales, which have seen a nice uptick. Hopefully Nintendo will trumpet this via press release very soon! 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/06/27/2-million-copies-of-mario-kart-8-have-reportedly-been-sold?+main+twitter

[Conando]

So in other words, it looks like Nintendo took a nice chunk of their war chest and put it into expanding. Surprised they actually still have so much, on hand, when they've been on a buying spree with buildings, hiring new teams, and starting projects with 3rd parties.

[PSI Wind]

http://neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=118433726&postcount=130
These are the questions asked for the investors meeting. The 9th question just proves to me that listening to these guys is a death wish, for any company really.

Q9: I don't know about games, and don't care about game-related questions, but your shareholders haven't said anything about the stock price dropping. What kind of a shareholder meeting is this? Tell me about the business administration. (audience applause)

[VO.SUPER]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=847130

 

 

Historical Iwata Approval Ratings:

Iwata, 2010:
Approve: 952,201
Oppose: 19,072
Approval Rating: 96.74%

Iwata, 2011:
Approve: 932,379
Oppose: 48,339
Approval Rating: 92.89%

Iwata, 2012:
Approve: 913,453
Oppose: 83,740
Approval Rating: 90.60%

Iwata, 2013:
Approve: 772,384
Oppose: 218,960
Approval Rating: 77.26%

Iwata, 2014:
Approve: 777,999
Oppose: 169,240
Approval Rating: 80.64%



Last year:

岩田 聡 772,384 218,960 2,164 77.26 可決
Satoru Iwata
Approve: 772,384
Oppose: 218,960
Approval Rating: 77.26%

This year:

岩田 聡 777,999 169,240 3,549 80.64 可決
Satoru Iwata
Approve: 777,999
Oppose: 169,240
Approval Rating: 80.64%


Last year:

竹田 玄洋 927,081 64,265 2,164 92.73 可決
Genyo Takeda
Approve: 927,081
Oppose: 64,265
Approval Rating: 92.73%

This year:

竹田 玄洋 837,426 107,823 5,540 86.80 可決
Genyo Takeda
Approve: 837,426
Oppose: 107,823
Approval Rating: 86.80%


Last year:

宮本 茂 927,149 64,197 2,164 92.74 可決
Shigeru Miyamoto
Approve: 927,149
Oppose: 64,197
Approval Rating: 92.74%

This year:

宮本 茂 837,460 107,789 5,540 86.81 可決
Shigeru Miyamoto
Approve: 837,460
Oppose: 107,789
Approval Rating: 86.81%


Last year:

君島 達己 927,930 63,418 2,164 92.82 可決
Tatsumi Kimishima
Approve: 927,930
Oppose: 63,418
Approval Rating: 92.82%

This year:

君島 達己 859,709 85,541 5,540 89.11 可決
Tatsumi Kimishima
Approve: 859,709
Oppose: 85,541
Approval Rating: 89.11%


Last year:

竹村 薫 927,931 63,417 2,164 92.82 可決
Kaoru Takemura
Approve: 927,931
Oppose: 63,417
Approval Rating: 92.82%

This year:

DIRECTOR RETIRED


Last year:

髙橋 成行 936,553 54,795 2,164 93.68 可決
Shigeyuki Takahashi
Approve: 936,553
Oppose: 54,795
Approval Rating: 93.68%

This year:

髙橋 成行 900,275 44,975 5,540 93.32 可決
Shigeyuki Takahashi
Approve: 900,275
Oppose: 44,975
Approval Rating: 93.32%


Last year:

大和 聡 936,628 54,720 2,164 93.69 可決
Satoshi Yamato
Approve: 936,628
Oppose: 54,720
Approval Rating: 93.69%

This year:

大和 聡 900,394 44,856 5,540 93.33 可決
Satoshi Yamato
Approve: 900,394
Oppose: 44,856
Approval Rating: 93.33%


Last year:

田中 晋 936,635 54,713 2,164 93.69 可決
Susumu Tanaka
Approve: 936,635
Oppose: 54,713
Approval Rating: 93.69%

This year:

田中 晋 900,404 44,846 5,540 93.33 可決
Susumu Tanaka
Approve: 900,404
Oppose: 44,846
Approval Rating: 93.33%


Last year:

高橋 伸也 936,609 54,739 2,164 93.69 可決
Shinya Takahashi
Approve: 936,609
Oppose: 54,739
Approval Rating: 93.69%

This year:

高橋 伸也 900,401 44,849 5,540 93.33 可決
Shinya Takahashi
Approve: 900,401
Oppose: 44,849
Approval Rating: 93.33%


Last year:

進士 仁一 936,576 54,772 2,164 93.68 可決
Hirokazu Shinshi
Approve: 936,576
Oppose: 54,772
Approval Rating: 93.68%

This year:

進士 仁一 900,418 44,832 5,540 93.33 可決
Hirokazu Shinshi
Approve: 900,418
Oppose: 44,832
Approval Rating: 93.33%


Last year:

NEW DIRECTOR

This year:

水谷 直樹 907,111 40,130 3,549 94.03 可決
Naoki Mizutani
Approve: 907,111
Oppose: 40,130
Approval Rating: 94.03%

 

 

So Iwata went up, but everyone went dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.

[Autosaver]

"FIRE IWATA!!!!!!"

 

-Approval Ratings Go Up-

 

lol