2010 Console Sales Thread.

[Big Fo]

August 2009 numbers, July 2009 in parentheses-

Nintendo DS ---------- 552.9K (538.9K)
Wii -------------------- 277.4K (252.5K)
Xbox 360 -------------- 215.4K (202.9K)
PlayStation 3 ---------- 210.0K (121.8K)
PSP -------------------- 140.3K (122.8K)
PlayStation 2 ---------- 105.9K (108K)

The PS3 price drop to $299 on the old systems hit with around 11 days left in the sales period (Aug 2-29), slims were in stores for around four days although the marketing didn't kick in until September. Everything else was pretty steady. The PS3 could possibly outsell the Wii next month but I don't think DS type numbers are in reach.

Software:

MADDEN NFL 10 (360; Aug-09) ------------------------------- 928,000
WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS (WII; Jul-09) - 754,000
MADDEN NFL 10 (PS3; Aug-09) ------------------------------- 665,000
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM* (360; Aug-09) ------------------ 303,000
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM* PS3; Aug-09) ------------------- 290,000
MADDEN NFL 10 (PS2; Aug-09) -------------------------------- 160,000
DISSIDIA: FINAL FANTASY (PSP; Aug-09) -------------------- 130,000
WII FIT* (WII; May-08) ---------------------------------------- 128,000
MARIO KART W/WHEEL (WII; Apr-08) ------------------------ 120,000
FOSSIL FIGHTERS (NDS; Aug-09) ----------------------------- 92,000

Originally Posted by NPD

The industry realized its sixth consecutive month-over-month decline, and while improved over the last several months, it's still a notable decline. The back four months of the year would have to be up 14% in aggregate for 2009 to come in flat in comparison to 2008 sales.

The price cuts implemented on the PS3 and 360 hardware already made an impact on unit sales, despite having been executed fairly late in the month. It will be interesting to see the full impact of the new price points on September sales.

All hardware systems with the exception of the PS2 realized an increase in unit sales over July. The PS3 captured the greatest increase month-over-month with unit sales boosted by 72% over July levels.

There is a lot of speculation about Wii and whether Nintendo will take a price cut as sales comps to last year show declines. I do think it's interesting to note that the Wii is still selling at levels comparable to what the PS2 was doing at about this point in its lifecycle.

As many predicted, Madden captured the top spot for the month, selling nearly 1.9 million units across its five SKU's.

With the introduction of Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 in September, a lot of folks have inquired about the performance of these titles and the music/dance genre. While sales of this genre are down 46% year-to-date, unit sales are down much less because lower prices are playing into the dollar sales decline. It's still the third best-selling genre for the year after General Action and Multiple/Other Sports (where Wii Fit resides).

The PS3 was the only platform to realize a year-over-year increase in total software sales and this is reflected in the top 10 list for the month which includes two PS3 games.

Accessories was the only category to experience an increase for the month of August over last year's sales. The uptick in hardware sales helps to spur sales of additional controllers and other peripherals which help consumers enjoy their new system(s).

Wii Sports Resort is now over 1.25m in the US alone. Go Motion Plus, I want it used as much as appropriately possible going forward.

IIRC Dissidia is the first PSP game to make the top ten in a year and a half.

Good numbers for Batman. Sounds like most everyone in the general gaming thread is enjoying it.

Mario Kart might be out of the top ten soon It's had a good run though.

Madden 10 (all platforms) - 1.9m
Madden 09 (all platforms) - 2.3m

I like this year's version a lot more, it's a shame the first month sales are down so much. Last year the PS2 version sold 425k compared to this year's 160k so that's where more than half of the decline is coming from. Only 67k copies of the Wii version were sold (116k last year), not that I can blame them if people's impressions of the previous versions are anything to go by. I assume most multiconsole owners like myself prefer buying the more traditional version.

Maybe the weak Madden efforts and sales on Wii inspired this recent patent from Nintendo.

[RainMaker]

Can't put out a pile of shit every year and expect customers to give you the benefit of the doubt. Will take a few years of good Madden games to regain trust. If you had told me that the series would see a decline year after year following their exclusive license, I'd have said you were crazy (and probably most EA execs).

[sterlingice]

The demise of the Wii has been greatly exaggerated

Fossil Fighters? Really?

Scribblenauts better be up there in September!

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Nice option for PS3 owners who want to use Netflix on their PS3 along with several other video services. You can now do that for a one time fee of $20. Early reviews of Play On are very positive.

Welcome PAX attendees! Watch Netflix, Hulu, and more on your PS3, Xbox, or Wii with PlayOn | MediaMall Technologies

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

The PS3 price drop to $299 on the old systems hit with around 11 days left in the sales period (Aug 2-29), slims were in stores for around four days although the marketing didn't kick in until September.

The 80 GB machine supply was VERY limited and most stores waited 4-5 days for the price drop to try to squeeze a bit more money out of the old PS3's. As was stated before, not much impact was expected overall. September numbers will provide a much better picture of the situation.

Pretty amazing 360/PS3 numbers with the Batman game. Nearly a dead heat despite the larger installed base in the U.S. for the 360.

Already been said, but sad to see Madden numbers continue to drop despite the improvements. They've really shot themselves in the foot from previous years. A positive sidenote is that these continued drops could push them to not renew the exclusive license and allow other players into the game. It's already happened with the NASCAR license.

[Big Fo]

Other games that didn't chart:

Metroid Prime Trilogy -- 35,000
Wolfenstein 360 -------- 59,000
Wolfenstein PS3 ------- 30,000
Wolfenstein PC --------- 17,000
GI Joe: No version sold more than 35,000

Not a great first week for MPT but the people who would buy that game probably already had them.

It's nice to see a good movie license game (Batman) sell a lot better than one that got poor reviews, this doesn't always happen.

American LTDs since launch for current and previous generation consoles:

PS2 - 24,422,000 (46 months) (July 2004)
PS2 - 18,390,000 (34 months) (July 2003)

Xbox - 9,481,402 (34 months) (August 2004)
Xbox - 12,630,000 (46 months) (August 2005)

GCN - 7,783,241 (34 months) (August 2004)
GCN - 11,172,000 (46 months) (August 2005)

360 - 10,944,000 (34 months) (August 2008)
360 - 15,899,186 (46 months) (August 2009)

PS3 - 8,245,896 (34 months) (August 2009)

Wii - 21,095,181 (34 months) (August 2009)

Pretty amazing 360/PS3 numbers with the Batman game. Nearly a dead heat despite the larger installed base in the U.S. for the 360.

The PS3 exclusive free DLC and PS3 specific commercials must have had some effect. Maybe there are more people who have both a PS3 and a 360 than I would have thought.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

The PS3 exclusive free DLC and PS3 specific commercials must have had some effect. Maybe there are more people who have both a PS3 and a 360 than I would have thought.

Or maybe the 360 owners just have more quality titles to choose from

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

The PS3 exclusive free DLC and PS3 specific commercials must have had some effect. Maybe there are more people who have both a PS3 and a 360 than I would have thought.

The PS3 had a second playable character. There were a lot of the people who were interested in the game that chose the PS3 version for that reason alone.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Nice option for PS3 owners who want to use Netflix on their PS3 along with several other video services. You can now do that for a one time fee of $20. Early reviews of Play On are very positive.

Welcome PAX attendees! Watch Netflix, Hulu, and more on your PS3, Xbox, or Wii with PlayOn | MediaMall Technologies

hmmm, interesting. Looks like I could run this on the 360 without having to buy any form of Live at all. I may have to demo it in the next few days.

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Or maybe the 360 owners just have more quality titles to choose from

heh, let me know what those might be. Not being sarcastic either, I haven't seen a 360 exclusive that I HAD to play for quite a while. And if it's on both consoles then the PS3 version is the easy choice for me. Hmm...I did rent a 360 game a few months back, but I can't think of what it is. Saint's Row 2? Was that on PS3? If not then that was it.

[Big Fo]

Full top 20 is now up:

MADDEN NFL 10 (360; Aug-09) ------------------------------- 928,000
WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS (WII; Jul-09) - 754,000
MADDEN NFL 10 (PS3; Aug-09) ------------------------------- 665,000
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM* (360; Aug-09) ------------------ 303,000
BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM* PS3; Aug-09) ------------------- 290,000
MADDEN NFL 10 (PS2; Aug-09) -------------------------------- 160,000
DISSIDIA: FINAL FANTASY (PSP; Aug-09) -------------------- 130,000
WII FIT* (WII; May-08) ---------------------------------------- 128,000
MARIO KART W/WHEEL (WII; Apr-08) ------------------------ 120,000
FOSSIL FIGHTERS (NDS; Aug-09) ----------------------------- 92,000
MARIO KART DS (NDS)
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS (NDS)
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE (WII)
POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION (NDS)
NCAA FOOTBALL 10 (360)
PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE DIABOLICAL BOX (NDS)
MADDEN NFL 10 (WII) ----------------------------------------- 67,000
WOLFENSTEIN (360) ------------------------------------------- 59,000
EA SPORTS ACTIVE BUNDLE (WII)
TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10* (WII)

Eight of the top twenty were published by Nintendo, seven of them by EA.

Wii - 7
DS - 5
360 - 4
PS3 - 2
PS2 - 1
PSP - 1

[RainMaker]

Kotaku had a post on their site the other day saying that their sources were saying the PS3 slim was selling really well.

[sterlingice]

NSMB and Mario Kart DS still truckin

Good to see both Prof Layton and Wii Tiger Woods up there.

SI

[RainMaker]

My brother has a Wii and says that Tiger Woods is ridiculously fun.

[KWhit]

It is.

Great game. But it's been completely forgotten since I got Beatles Rock Band.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

hmmm, interesting. Looks like I could run this on the 360 without having to buy any form of Live at all. I may have to demo it in the next few days.

Good point. I didn't post the 360 option because I assumed everyone had easy access on that platform.

[Big Fo]

Kotaku - Wii Price Drop Looks To Hit First Week Of October

Advance retail listings forwarded to Kotaku indicate that Nintendo is planning to issue its first price drop on the Wii, with a less expensive version of the console—currently priced at $249 USD—coming the first week of October.

That listing comes from an early version of a Walmart ad that loosely dates, but does not price a "rollback" for Nintendo's console. While the ad is not official confirmation of a price drop, the timing makes sense, as the Wii is about to enter its fourth holiday shopping season at its original price.

I'm guessing that if the rumor is true it'd just be the current bundle for $199.

IMO Nintendo should add in Wii Sports Resort so every new Wii owner has one Motion Plus. And they should bring over the black Wii that recently came out in Japan to go along with the black Wiimote/Motion Plus package and black nunchucks that have already been announced for the US.

[sterlingice]

I would love to see a Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort exclusive color bundle for, say, $280 alongside this.

And, yes, the new colors should also be available. Tho, I don't think it's like the handhelds where someone will drop $100 or $120 to change colors for some silly reason, but $250 is probably asking a bit much so there won't be a huge spike in sales.

SI

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I would love to see a Wii Sports + Wii Sports Resort exclusive color bundle for, say, $280 alongside this.

And, yes, the new colors should also be available. Tho, I don't think it's like the handhelds where someone will drop $100 or $120 to change colors for some silly reason, but $250 is probably asking a bit much so there won't be a huge spike in sales.

SI

I was thinking $199 for the hypothetical Wii + Wii Sports + WSR bundle. Although the Wii was the cheapest of the three consoles at the beginning, it was kind of expensive for the technology and no console has ever gone this long before a price drop. I'm pretty sure they'd still be making money of every unit sold.

And another currently Japan-only thing I want them to bring over is the Classic Controller Pro which closely resembles a DualShock with the exception of having a good d-pad. Capcom actually worked with Nintendo on the design and it launched alongside Monster Hunter 3 (bundled and standalone), maybe they'll launch them at the same time here in 2010.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The 80 GB machine supply was VERY limited and most stores waited 4-5 days for the price drop to try to squeeze a bit more money out of the old PS3's. As was stated before, not much impact was expected overall. September numbers will provide a much better picture of the situation.

Whether the units sold were new slims or discounted fatties the $300 PS3s had a big effect on sales last month.

Gamasutra reports that the average sale price for the PS3 was $335, so that'd be more than half of what was sold in August. Maybe the expected September bump won't be quite so large.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Whether the units sold were new slims or discounted fatties the $300 PS3s had a big effect on sales last month.

Gamasutra reports that the average sale price for the PS3 was $335, so that'd be more than half of what was sold in August. Maybe the expected September bump won't be quite so large.

So when you say it "won't be quite so large", what do you consider not so large?

It should also be noted that those sales figures you cite do not include online storefronts as the Gamasutra people mention.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

So when you say it "won't be quite so large", what do you consider not so large?

It should also be noted that those sales figures you cite do not include online storefronts as the Gamasutra people mention.

Before that article came out I was thinking somewhere in the 300-400k range for PS3 in September and likely ahead of the Wii and 360, now maybe 250-320k and possibly behind the Wii.

Lots of football fans on here so I'll paste in this graph of Madden first month sales over the years from the same article:



Madden 2005 was the last one I played before this year that I really enjoyed and Madden 2006 was the best selling one on the graph. Maybe since Madden 2010 was, in general, favorably received Madden 2011 will sell better?

[Big Fo]

(double post edited out, first time that's ever happened to me on here)

[Big Fo]

The NPD released some interesting statistics, some of them to do with multiconsole ownership.


Those who own the following console ...

  	Wii 	PS3 	360
Also
own
a ...
Wii 	100% 	42 	42
PS3 	14 	100%	18
360 	26 	34 	100%

Higher than I thought. This goes some way towards explaining how some games sell similarly on the two platforms (Batman being one example) while others are skewed more towards the 360 (Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for instance).

Personally having both a 360 and a PS3 seems a tad redundant to me.

--------

Now there's a leaked Toys-R-Us flier which says there will be a Wii price drop on September 27. Same package, a console with Wii Sports, for $199.

kotaku.com link for the flier

Like I said before, if this is true I would have preferred for Nintendo to get a Motion Plus in there somehow.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Personally having both a 360 and a PS3 seems a tad redundant to me.

Well, if you bought the PS3 as a Blu-Ray player, then having a 360 for the games makes sense (given the title disparity). Note the low numbers for 360 owners who also have a PS3; that will probably start skewing higher as the PS3 price drops and Blu-Ray gains more traction. I think it pretty well bears out that the PS3 is selling as a Blu-Ray player primarily and the 360 is selling as a game machine primarily.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Personally having both a 360 and a PS3 seems a tad redundant to me.

What about 2 360s and a PS3?

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

What about 2 360s and a PS3?

Maybe if you're looking for an unconventional way to heat your home in winter? Seriously though I could see wanting two of the same console, to have one in the family room and one in the bedroom or something.

Each one does have some cool exclusives. I just don't have the broadest taste in games, that's why I put the "personally" in there. Around 90% of my gaming time is spent on strategy games, RPGs, platformers, sports games, or sports management simulations. Some of those genres aren't well-represented on any current console so buying a third console wouldn't be worth it to me, I'd only have access to a couple of games I can't play already.

For someone who is a fan of FPS/TPS or action games I can totally understand wanting to have both a 360 and a PS3. Or like gstelmack said if someone preferred the 360's lineup but wanted a PS3 as a Blu-Ray player (and a few PS3 games or else why not get a cheaper Blu-Ray player).

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Lots of football fans on here so I'll paste in this graph of Madden first month sales over the years from the same article:



Madden 2005 was the last one I played before this year that I really enjoyed and Madden 2006 was the best selling one on the graph. Maybe since Madden 2010 was, in general, favorably received Madden 2011 will sell better?

The numbers are horrible when you consider the fact that they sold 200,000 more copies in the first month back in 2004 when they had competition than they did now. They essentially paid hundreds of millions for an exclusive license that has netted around the same sales they had before.

I'd also be curious to know how many new consoles are in homes these days than back in 2004. I'd have to imagine it's in the multi-millions. So despite more consoles in homes, an exclusive license to the most popular sport in the country, sales have fallen from where they were 6 years ago.

That's downright pathetic.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The numbers are horrible when you consider the fact that they sold 200,000 more copies in the first month back in 2004 when they had competition than they did now. They essentially paid hundreds of millions for an exclusive license that has netted around the same sales they had before.

I'd also be curious to know how many new consoles are in homes these days than back in 2004. I'd have to imagine it's in the multi-millions. So despite more consoles in homes, an exclusive license to the most popular sport in the country, sales have fallen from where they were 6 years ago.

That's downright pathetic.

I really think we're going to see EA shed that exclusive license. As you mention, it really has not paid off like they thought it would. They can still do much of what they're doing now without an exclusive agreement.

[RainMaker]

I don't know. I think they'd treat it as a loss leader if they had to. Madden is the cornerstone of EA. It's the game that helps brand all their other sports ventures.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I don't know. I think they'd treat it as a loss leader if they had to. Madden is the cornerstone of EA. It's the game that helps brand all their other sports ventures.

But the numbers indicate that the exclusive license doesn't really increase sales in any way. Granted, the game hasn't been well done over that period, but the exclusive agreement needed to bump sales much more than that to justify the license. I think the 'Madden' name is far more important than an exclusive agreement. It's the only thing that has kept sales even at the point they're at.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

But the numbers indicate that the exclusive license doesn't really increase sales in any way. Granted, the game hasn't been well done over that period, but the exclusive agreement needed to bump sales much more than that to justify the license. I think the 'Madden' name is far more important than an exclusive agreement. It's the only thing that has kept sales even at the point they're at.

I think it's up to whether the NFL demands an exclusive license from someone. I can't fathom seeing EA let someone else swoop in and take it. I also don't know if they want to compete in this space and risk the chance of 2K building their brand even more in the sports arena.

I still think there is a large customer base that buys Madden every year and then whatever other EA games are on the market. I grew up playing EA games as a kid and can admit that I shifted toward them when I'd buy because I just put them and sports together. I think EA risks losing that brandability as "the sports franchise". I mean EA sells a lot of copies of NBA Live every year and it's been an inferior product in the NBA regime.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I think it's up to whether the NFL demands an exclusive license from someone. I can't fathom seeing EA let someone else swoop in and take it. I also don't know if they want to compete in this space and risk the chance of 2K building their brand even more in the sports arena.

I still think there is a large customer base that buys Madden every year and then whatever other EA games are on the market. I grew up playing EA games as a kid and can admit that I shifted toward them when I'd buy because I just put them and sports together. I think EA risks losing that brandability as "the sports franchise". I mean EA sells a lot of copies of NBA Live every year and it's been an inferior product in the NBA regime.

The problem is that the exclusive license may end up being too expensive for everyone thanks to the lawsuit that the veteran players filed and won against the players union for collusion. EA got a sweetheart of a deal that won't be available going forward. The price is going to be much too high. I don't think an exclusive will go to anyone. It will just move back to being licensed by multiple companies, much like the NBA or NHL.

[RainMaker]

That would be a dream scenario. 2K does a lot of good things with football and EA can make great games when they are pushed.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

That would be a dream scenario. 2K does a lot of good things with football and EA can make great games when they are pushed.

And I think the market is more than able to support more than one NFL game. EA made the assumption when their franchise sagged a bit that 2K was the main reason. What we've seen over the past few years indicates that it had much more to do with weaker quality of the Madden franchise. People will pay for Madden. You just have to give them a good reason.

[RainMaker]

I wouldn't mind seeing Sony or whoever makes The Show get into the football mix too. Quite honestly, it's such a big sport in this country that I think the market could sustain 3 games if necessary.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Anyone else feel like this holiday season is like last year, except in reverse?

2008:
-Sony announces price drop of 80 GB machine to $399, but then phases out 40 GB machine, resulting in no change in price for lowest-price model. New 160 GB bundle with Uncharted is introduced for $499 ($100 more than standard model). It provides a brief boost in sales, but nothing that is a game-changer.
-Microsoft announces outright price cut on all models. This boosts sales tremendously.

2009:
-Microsoft drops price of Elite unit to $299, but then phases out Pro model, resulting in no price change of most popular model. New Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition bundle is introduced at $399 price point ($100 more than standard model).
-Sony cuts price by $100 with redesign and increases HDD size.

It'll be interesting to see what happens in comparison.

[dervack]

But then there is also a rumor that Sony will have a 250 gb model this holiday season as well.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by dervack

But then there is also a rumor that Sony will have a 250 gb model this holiday season as well.

But there's a big difference between just swapping models (MS) and a $100 price drop along with a redesign. The two scenarios are not even comparable. Assuming the rumor to be true (though there's plenty of evidence already that it's not), you'd still be dropping the price of your premium model from $499 to $399, which is also an actual price cut rather than just a model swap as Microsoft is doing this year and Sony did last year.

[gstelmack]

I love the "Sony doesn't drop price on lowest" compared to "Microsoft doesn't drop price on most popular". Moving the elite to $299 is a big deal.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

I love the "Sony doesn't drop price on lowest" compared to "Microsoft doesn't drop price on most popular". Moving the elite to $299 is a big deal.

I'm not sure it is, but the numbers will have to prove that out. There's a world of difference between a model swap that drops the Elite to the $299 level and a price cut of $50 on the Wii (rumored). They're both a drop of $50, but the difference between the two moves is substantial.

I made the point specifically because of the Arcade model. Granted, it's basically a crippled unit and doesn't sell well at this point, but it would be unfair to ignore that it does exist.

[Samdari]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

a price cut of $50 on the Wii (rumored).

I think this is well past rumor stage at this point.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Samdari

I think this is well past rumor stage at this point.

I agree, but if I would have stated it as fact, someone would have corrected me and said it was a rumor. No win situation I suppose.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Big weekend coming up. Tokyo Game Show begins September 24th. In addition, Nintendo is expected to drop the Wii price point.

Below are some notes from a SEGA meeting that were leaked and then removed from the internet. A few things of note......

-Motion controller will release in Japan in Spring 2010.
-Sony considering import section in store to download Japanese games.
-Sony releasing PS2 games for download on PSN.
-Dreamcast titles coming to PSN exclusively or timed exclusive depending on support level from SCEA
-Possible Valkyria PSP bundle on release
-Sonic Anniversary edition with all games on one Blu-ray disc

SCEA Meeting Aug 5th Notes
Aug 6 2009 – DRAFT FOR COMMENTS

Objectives of Meeting
Dyer agreed to regular quarterly meetings with SOA

Sony PS3
SCEA reiterated plans to sell 13 million PS3s this year
Big announcement back half of year they can’t talk about (potentially price cut of PS3 to reach hardware goals)
SCEA commented on indexing between PS3 and 360 SKUs, should be around 2:1 to garner most favorable treatment.

Motion Controller
Spring 2010 launch (March in JP)
No bundle/pricing details yet, should come Sept 1
Plan on selling 4-5MM units WW
SCEA agreed to provide a list of Sega IP that would work well with the motion controller, Virtua Tennis was an example
Motion Controller support allows easy way to differentiate PS3 SKU
Other differentiation opportunities include PSP/PS3 interoperability – think of features that would make users want to buy both PS3 and PSP SKUs.

Alpha Protocol
Michael Foster, product evaluator, said AP felt barely RPG. Initial level too challenging for players. “Mass Effect felt more RPG.”
Review notes sent to John Merlino a few weeks prior. After meeting Gerald mentioned AP is a high priority for his team.

Planet 51
Sell in of PS3 SKU – SCEA noted that other movie titles on PS3 had underperformed as well (inc. Transformers) this cycle.
Dyer suggests contacting Susan at Walmart and asking what she wants in the pack to sell this SKU (movie tix etc)
Other possibilities are Hybrid movie disc (BD 25 or 50 with Game and Movie on same disc).

Bayonetta
Collectors edition with Bayonetta Action Figure
Novo recommended launching PSN demo around Xmas based off a Jan 5th Ship date with 2-3 week run out to launch.
3-4 weeks is usually ideal demo timing with fresh content every week leading up to launch (trailers, insider video about PG heritage, video blogs).

Vancouver 2010
HOME, Olympic destination would garner a lot of positive attention from SCEA
Should be doing same with Bayonetta, Marvel etc. Easy to launch in all territories.
HOME merchandizing opportunities (clothes etc).

Sonic Racing
Open to DLC to differentiate PS3 SKU – not ratchet and clank but other characters
maybe characters from Rare or Fable universes

Yakuza
Could put Japanese games directly on PSN for download in a special Japanese Import section (pricing $9.99 to $39.99 for full game).
Might need to localize menus at least with subtitles.
SCEA interested in helping on MKTG side if they can have period of exclusivity.

AVP
Another great HOME candidate
AVP avatars
Hybrid BD disc with movie

Iron Man 2
Great candidate for HOME space – explore Tony Stark’s lab etc.
Should have one for Marvel in general.

PSU2
Could do bundle at GameStop with PSP 30-35K units on UMD, Go, or both.

Valkyria 1937
Could bundle with PSP as well.

Vanquish and Aliens: CM
Opportunity for PS3/PSP interoperability (see Eidos Batman, Army of Two, Assassin’s Creed for good examples).
If we offer that SCEA would be really interested in having us at their booth next E3.

Thor
SCEA would like a look at the code soon.

Sonic Anniversary
Could put out collectors edition with all old sonic games on one BD disc.
“Best of Sonic” for around $99.
SCEA would love PSN exclusive power ups/different game modes (like Castlevania’s flip it over/backwards)

PS2 emulator for PS3 (confidential)
SCEA wants to sell all PS2 titles on PSN (GTA Vice City/Sonic/etc)
For co Marketing money show PS3 controller on TV ads – similar to EA Madden Spots, NCAA, etc…

London Olympics
Perfect opportunity for Motion Controller integration.

DC Digital Titles
If we provide a list of DC titles SCEA will let us know which ones they’re interested in having exclusively.
If we give them a long period of exclusivity they’ll give us more marketing support.

PSP Titles
For SKU differentiation it’s best to offer features that are slightly different from PS3 version.
Titles that are coming up on PSP are Assassin’s Creed II, GTA China Wars, Resident Evil, Little Big Planet – all massive franchises.
SCEA has a specific PSP deck which they can send up with their hardware director for a chat.

[gstelmack]

$50 rebate on 360 elite making it $249 through October 5:

Xbox.com | Events - Mail-in Rebate for Xbox 360 Elite Console

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

$50 rebate on 360 elite making it $249 through October 5:

Xbox.com | Events - Mail-in Rebate for Xbox 360 Elite Console

I'm surprised that Microsoft hasn't followed suit to match the $100 PS3 rebate that Sony offers with the Sony Style credit card. That would seem to be a perfect fit for Microsoft, given all the products that they sell for both the console and the PC.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Maybe the weak Madden efforts and sales on Wii inspired this recent patent from Nintendo.

That looks like something from the onion. Gotta give Nintendo credit--they leave no stone unturned.

I bought Madden 09 for the Wii, and it is a lot of fun. You can turn off most of the "all play" type features. Personally, I'd rather it if you could turn off all the motion control features and play it with just buttons, but it is not that big of a deal.

Considering how much more fun and less expensive the Wii is on pretty much every other level, I'll live with a slightly less fun version of Madden.

[stevew]

Picking up a PS3 for my birthday. I just got a sweet deal on a used Samsung 4071(older tv, but an excellent one) and now that i have 1080p/120hz I felt it was the time for the upgrade.

[Big Fo]

More proof of the Wii price drop in case anyone wasn't convinced:

engadget.com link

So if anyone was in the market for one don't buy until Sunday. I want to hear a release date for NSMBW in Friday's announcement.

[SackAttack]

I think the 81 Wii's and 100 nunchuks that came on the truck tonight is all the proof I need.