RaychelSnr's Blog
It seems as if NBA 2K12 had a good October (at least compared to it's peers). Of course, there's so much more to this story than just that -- as video game sales have been having issues for the past year and even with a strong lineup of games, October saw little growth over last year.
Given the lack of hard data publicly available in NPD reports these days, hard game sales numbers are hard to come by. But, in this comparison we'll try our best with some data from the historically unreliable (but yet best we have to offer) VGChartz. Compare the two links of 360 sales figures of the game:
NBA 2K12
NBA 2K11
There's something that sticks out at you. Whereas 2K11's sales saw a secondary weekly spike last year, and generally stayed strong through the entire 10 week curve; 2K12's story is different. The game sold huge in the first week, and the sales have trended below last year's, significantly so the past several weeks.
Right now, it seems clear NBA 2K12 will not be outselling it's predecessor, perhaps taking a sales cut of up to half. That's going to leave a mark no matter how you slice it.
Now fast forward to next season when we are expecting two NBA games to hit store shelves. The question becomes three fold: How many people can EA entice to buy their game, will there be enough to bring EA back the next year, and finally will there be enough buyers available in the first place?
The answer lies in all sorts of things, but the lack of a 2011-2012 season would kill the NBA's popularity like it has other sports. The NHL is still trying to recover from a similar situation. Baseball took several years to recover from the 1994 strike.
Now Basketball seems heading down that same dark road. And with the NBA being one of the only sports with same-league competition these days -- I can't help but think that might be something which is numbered. With sales appearing to be heavily slumping for 2K12, and with more competition coming from EA next year which will at least take some customers away from the 2K series, the basketball gaming landscape is heading for an interesting period to say the least.
Do you think the lockout is a chief contributor to 2K12's slumping sales? Should 2K (or 2K fans) be worried about the future? Sound off!
# 2
H to the Oza @ Nov 15
Not only is it bad for the game, its bad for the league. Fans will move on to something else, especially with talks of pro lacrosse replacing NBA on TV this winter. More competition is never a good thing for business
# 3
Gotmadskillzson @ Nov 15
Yeah..with no NBA season it is definitely hurts sales. For me and a lot of people, what motivates you to play a certain game is what you see on tv.
Plus it doesn't help the cause when you have other killer AAA games out like Batman Arkham City, Skyrim, Unchartered 3, Saint Row 3, etc.
Plus it doesn't help the cause when you have other killer AAA games out like Batman Arkham City, Skyrim, Unchartered 3, Saint Row 3, etc.
# 4
The Bad Man @ Nov 15
lockout terribly hurts the nba and the nba games. 2k12 cant outsell its predecessor unless 2k can immediately think of a very attractive gimmick for the game.
# 5
TreyIM2 @ Nov 15
Definitely a negative. Like it was basically said by another person commenting, motivation to play and/or buy a certain game can come from seeing it on TV and without seeing current NBA games, it can diminish the desire.
As for next yr, it remains to be seen what's gunna happen, overall.
As for next yr, it remains to be seen what's gunna happen, overall.
# 7
brs2305 @ Nov 15
Maybe they should start to include the Euroleague and all the other European and South American Leagues. Kinda go the FIFA way next year. Concentrate on things that actually take place 
Really sad to see people purposely try to ruin our sport.
Really sad to see people purposely try to ruin our sport. 
# 8
C the Lyte @ Nov 15
All the key points have been hit by the first 6 comments.
No NBA on TV, lack of rookies, and lack-luster online play has kept me away from 2k12. I already have 2k11 for my NBA fix.
No NBA on TV, lack of rookies, and lack-luster online play has kept me away from 2k12. I already have 2k11 for my NBA fix.
# 9
boomhauertjs @ Nov 15
They should've brought back the College Hoops series, but the greedy NCAA overcharges for use of the license.
# 11
edaddy @ Nov 15
It definently has ...like others I enjoy playing games that I see on TV and with no NBA games it's like their is a void..While I like the additional legends aspect I still want the rookies and the FA moves involved with an NBA season..This game is just NBA 2K11 with aditional legends and at some point that doesn't cut it..i think 2K in light of the what just happened with the lockout, needs to lower the price of NBA 2K12 to garner more interest..I am sure that people on the fence about buying the game will surely pick it up at a 29.99 price tag..
# 12
FlyRice @ Nov 15
I've purchased a basketball game every year since '98, and this year I canceled my pre-order the day before release because of the lockout. Haven't had the desire to play it at all. It's gonna be real interesting to see how they hype of the next game with no season. Perhaps they can call it Lockout Edition where you sit in rooms and negotiate a deal 
# 14
Tefl0n T0m @ Nov 15
I don't believe the developers expected the NBA lockout to go where it has. Essentially NBA2K12 is stuck in basketballs Limbo which is anything after the finals up until October. Legends get you through the initial hump for a few months and then when NBA games kick in you have dynamic updates, etc seeing how your favorite team develops. As bad as it is 2K can use this to really get the kinks out of 2K12 with patches/feedback to Carry over into 2K13 and work on seamless online game play and maybe bring Barkley and those other holds outs over. Once online is seamless, bring back crew games to keep things fresh. If 2k can keep its product from growing stale it will be in even better shape when the competition comes back around.
# 15
NINJAK2 @ Nov 15
It is certainly hurting 2k12. On top of the absence of rookies, the much talked about new 2k mechanic of up****** player models' hair, tats, etc throughout the season has yet to be utilized. This is a big addition in theory that we have yet to see in execution.
RaychelSnr
57
4,846 Forum Posts
490 Blog Entries
1 News/Blog Comments
10 Reader Score Votes
154 Friends
66 Chalkboard Messages
6 Screenshots
3 Videos
2,509,417 Arena Visits
RaychelSnr's Blog Categories
RaychelSnr's Xbox 360 Gamercard
RaychelSnr's PSN Gamercard
' +
More
RaychelSnr's Friends
Recent Visitors
The last 10 visitor(s) to this Arena were:
RaychelSnr's Arena has had 2,509,417 visits
- Albrillo
- Bearsfan95
- beedubyuh
- Icetime2121
- kon56la
- OldHossRadbourn
- ryderino
- sl4yer94
- Von Dozier
- Wolverines05
RaychelSnr's Arena has had 2,509,417 visits
Working...
I don't subscribe to the theory that fans will have a short memory. I think it will take a few years for fans to come back especially when this season is canceled.