• dvd

    Not So Fast Gaming, DVD Still Pwns You

    As Luke pointed out early this morning, the report that U.S. games sales had surpassed DVD sales was bound to be misconstrued. And it was. In fact it's just plain wrong.

    The folks over at Entertainment Merchants Association wrote to let us know that the $18 billion for "game sales" includes software, hardware and even accessories. While the DVD sales include, you got it, only the DVDs. The actual apples-to-apples comparison has DVD sales at $16 billion and video game sales clocking in at a meekly $8.64 billion. Even if you add that $503 million in sales the industry is no where near toppling DVD sales from its mighty high roost.

    One day video games will be bigger business than music and hollywood, mark my words, but that day hasn't come yet.

    11:40 AM on Thu Jul 3 2008
    By Brian Crecente
    2,551 views, 52 comments

  • Shipped VS. Sold

    Age Of Conan - A Million Shipped, 700K Registered

    We often talk about the differences between 'sold' and 'shipped' announcements, generally coming to the conclusion that the numbers would be relatively close, but sometimes the gap can be a bit bigger. Early this month, Funcom announced that Age of Conan was about to pass the one million copies shipped mark, which is a lovely milestone to reach and all, but in their latest pat on the back press release they place the number of accounts at "more than 700,000". This means that somewhere between 25-30% of those shipped copies either a) haven't been purchased or b) have been purchased and haven't been activated.

    While 700K is nothing to sneeze at, it's still a great deal less than a million. Just something to ponder the next time you see one of those snazzy shipping number press releases. Speaking of press releases, hit the jump for Funcom and Eidos loving on some sales charts. More »

    9:40 AM on Mon Jun 30 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    4,270 views, 63 comments

    Latest by Dukeman330: I dunno, 700k still seems pretty impressive. more »

  • numbers

    Call Of Duty 4 Top Selling Title Of 2007

    Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare completely kicked 2007's ass. This is the gist of the latest press release from Activision, which pulls out the NPD, Chart Track, and GFK Group numbers showing that not only has the game sold in excess of 7 million copies across all platforms since its release in November, but also wound up selling the most units of any game on any system worldwide during calendar year 2007.
    "We're very excited about this achievement especially given so many competitive titles this year," said Will Kassoy, senior vice president, global brand management, Activision Publishing, Inc. "Consumer and critics agree that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is one of the best games ever created and further establishes Call of Duty as one of the premier brands in the industry."
    While the game came in third in US software sales behind Halo 3 and Wii Play, it turns out the United States is just one of many countries that thinks shooting other people is a worthwhile pastime. Hit the jump for more Activision self-love. More »

    10:20 AM on Fri Jan 25 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    5,523 views, 114 comments

    Latest by Riquez: So, apparently, its not just because its available on 3 systems, COD4 on Xbox also out sold Halo3 on Xbox. "Microsoft more »

  • sony

    Sony Moves 3.9 Million Units Over The Holidays

    In yet another press release today, Sony announced that they sold over 3.9 million hardware units over the 2007 holiday season. This number of course, is an accumulation of all gaming hardware sold including the PS2, PSP and PS3 in the time from Black Friday, November 23 to December 31. Here's the breakdown:

    • PSP: 1.4 Million Units
    • PS2: 1.3 Million Units
    • PS3: 1.2 Million Units

    It's interesting to note that the PS3 sold less units than both the PSP and the PS2. Not only that but the PS2 sold almost as many units as the PSP and is making up a third of Sony's total sales. Not too shabby for a seven year old system.

    5:00 PM on Sun Jan 6 2008
    By fdemarco
    5,264 views, 193 comments

    Latest by joelface: i really DO thing the ps3 is in the very begginning stages of a come back. when people start to see more »

  • numbers

    Casual Gaming Requires Casual Fact Check

    VH1 Game Break did a little more legwork on a Casual Games Association stat that's been floating around the web, stating that casual (video) gaming is a $2.5 billion/year industry worldwide. But what's that number mean, really? What they offered was this geographical breakdown:

    $720 million USA, Europe (includes online games and versions of those online games sold in retail outlets)
    $517 million on mobile platforms globally
    $1 billion in Asia
    So what's left to learn? A lot. More »

    1:20 PM on Wed Oct 31 2007
    By Mark Wilson
    2,567 views, 8 comments

    Latest by Purple Dave: @The_Foo: I would argue that "handheld" covers, you know, handhelds, not "mobile". more »

  • easter egg

    The LOST Numbers in HL2

    Earlier today I posted about the Lost easter eggs that people have been finding in Half-Life 2, specifically a Dharma Initiative like logo and the mysterious Lost numbers. I put out a call for folks to send in any that they found and Kotakuite, External Gazer got right on and emailed us a picture of the numbers which we did not have before. So there it is in all it's easer eggy glory. If anyone finds any more, be sure to send them our way!

    1:00 PM on Sun Oct 14 2007
    By fdemarco
    16,191 views, 44 comments

    Latest by Fenris Wolf: @Lightbunny: Perhaps it wasn't an "exclusivity" deal. more »

  • tgs07

    Nielsen Tells Us About Gaming

    Ten things I learned at the presentation by Nielsen Vice President Jeff L. Herrmann about their new measuring system for game play.

    1. Men aged 18-49 play lots of video games.
    2. Lots of people own consoles.
    3. A lot of people watch American Idol.
    4. Women play video games too!
    5. A lot of kids play on the Wii, and they mostly play when they get
    back from school.
    6. Gamers who play on the 360 and PS3 — they tend to be older — play
    in the evening.
    7. Gamers are mostly playing on the PS2.
    8. Gamers are getting interested in next-gen gaming.
    9. The most played PC game is World of Warcraft.
    10. After stating that the heaviest gamers play an average of 10 hours a week, Mr. Herrmann explained that he would rather use that time for
    sleep.

    Jean Snow

    6:30 PM on Sat Sep 22 2007
    1,772 views, 33 comments

  • xbox 360

    Microsoft: We Pwn Video Downloads

    No longer content with kicking ass in the video game sales and downloadable games field, Microsoft shot off a press release today crowing about their successes with downloadable TV shows and movies. More »

    12:00 PM on Tue Mar 20 2007
    By Brian Crecente
    3,286 views, 73 comments

  • top

    Sony: 2 Million PS3s By Year's End, UK ASAP

    Three days ago Sony Computer of America's David Karraker assured the world that the have fixed all Playstation 3 manufacturing problems and that the company remains focused on getting 1 million PS3s to stores by the end of the year. More »

    9:46 AM on Thu Dec 14 2006
    By Brian Crecente
    145 views, 48 comments

  • ps3

    Analyst: Initial PS3 Shipment 125K to 175K

    AmTech analyst PJ McNealy guesstimates that Sony's opening weekend shipments for the Playstation 3 were lower than the already lower than expected numbers. More »

    4:00 PM on Wed Nov 22 2006
    By Brian Crecente
    217 views, 26 comments