Metroid Other M killed the competition in sales.

So the first week numbers are in and, while it certainly wasn't unexpected, you can now see that Other M performed extremely well! :D

Selling over 200,000 in America alone some may remember how the last console Metroid, Corruption, sold over 400,000 in it's first week. However when you consoder how untouchably Other M outpaced the competition (the number 2 game didn;t even crack 100k), it's clear that the world was ready for more Metroid and eager to gobble it up.

Yes this is a VGChartz link, and yes I know that some people like to try and discredit their numbers. But if you ever follow numbers, even when VGChartz exact numbers may end up differing from the NPDs they are never by a large margin and the sales order is always spot on. So I feel like we are okay to consider these numbers as close to gold as possible. So....just thought I'd share the great news!

That is good news. The game is terrific and I'm sure it'll have legs.

That is good news. The game is terrific and I'm sure it'll have legs.

Bigboi500

No doubt!

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

GabuEx

Actually, wait, hold on, these numbers are actually entirely comparable to Metroid Prime 3. That chart is only sales in North America, and Metroid Prime 3 only sold 240K in America in week 1. The opening post is comparing apples to oranges.

Actually, wait, hold on, these numbers are actually entirely comparable to Metroid Prime 3. That chart is only sales in North America, and Metroid Prime 3 only sold 240K in America in week 1. The opening post is comparing apples to oranges.

GabuEx

Really? I swore it was 400 k. I mean if it wasn't that's good news. Either way I still don't think an completely dminant 200k opening week is a bad thing in any case. Number one is number one. And what a convincing performance.

Glad to hear Metroid: Other M did pretty well. I was curious what its sales figures would look like, as even with fairly heavy advertising (at least on websites, I can't really speak for other forms of media much), it still seemed to have a fairly underground following. I was among one of those who pre-ordered it, so I got it the first week it came out, but I was wondering if it had enough buzz to make much of a dent in the sales charts with its mainly "hardcore gamer" fanbase. The good thing about most Nintendo games is that, unlike many other big game titles, they seem to continue to have strong sales for months, even years, after they are released, while other games have a huge surge of sales in their first few weeks or months and then they tend to die out on the sales charts. So I'm sure Metroid: Other M will continue to do well for a long time, even if its initial sales aren't mind-blowing. But ultimately, this is all beside the point. Game sales don't always correlate to the quality of a game, and Metroid: Other M will remain a great game regardless of how well it does sales-wise. :)

Actually, wait, hold on, these numbers are actually entirely comparable to Metroid Prime 3. That chart is only sales in North America, and Metroid Prime 3 only sold 240K in America in week 1. The opening post is comparing apples to oranges.

GabuEx

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

Actually, wait, hold on, these numbers are actually entirely comparable to Metroid Prime 3. That chart is only sales in North America, and Metroid Prime 3 only sold 240K in America in week 1. The opening post is comparing apples to oranges.

The_Pig_Hostage

That drop is mostly due to less sales in Europe, and that makes sense: week 1 in Europe only accounts for a single day of sales, considering its release date in the EU.

[QUOTE="The_Pig_Hostage"][QUOTE="GabuEx"]

Actually, wait, hold on, these numbers are actually entirely comparable to Metroid Prime 3. That chart is only sales in North America, and Metroid Prime 3 only sold 240K in America in week 1. The opening post is comparing apples to oranges.

GabuEx

That drop is mostly due to less sales in Europe, and that makes sense: week 1 in Europe only accounts for a single day of sales, considering its release date in the EU.

if it satys in the top 20 for weeks like galaxy.. that would be cool.. we'll see how fast it drops off.

if it satys in the top 20 for weeks like galaxy.. that would be cool.. we'll see how fast it drops off.

KBFloYd

Well it should also remain number 1 the week of 9/6, since nothing has come out that week as well. Next week is Halo Reach week, so expect a considerable drop.

This is still weak compared to Prime 3. Prime 3 wasn't even the number one game the week it come out and still managed better sales. A new IP called Bioshock had the number one sales that week--stiff competition. Other M had no competition and still sold less, even if the European sales are off due to release day.

That is great news. I really want to see a Other M sequel being done by Team Ninja and Nintendo.

I would rather they didn't make a follow up or if they did iron out the problems with it.

UK sales didn't seem to be very strong at all sadly :(, maybe they will pick up though with time.

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

GabuEx

Exactly

Metroid tanked bigtime

This is one of the worst showings for Nintendo this generation, after everything they did to get the world out the game stayed on shelves

I really think Nintendo reevaluates the franchise after this. It's clear that the core Wii audience doesn't want these games even if they're simplified for an easier time playing them.

It's going to be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with Wii Party

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

Jaysonguy

Exactly

Metroid tanked bigtime

This is one of the worst showings for Nintendo this generation, after everything they did to get the world out the game stayed on shelves

I really think Nintendo reevaluates the franchise after this. It's clear that the core Wii audience doesn't want these games even if they're simplified for an easier time playing them.

It's going to be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with Wii Party

Yes, let's make every game play like New Super Mario Bros Wii because it sells.

Who needs variety!

Seriously, stop exaggerating.

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

Theguy56

Exactly

Metroid tanked bigtime

This is one of the worst showings for Nintendo this generation, after everything they did to get the world out the game stayed on shelves

I really think Nintendo reevaluates the franchise after this. It's clear that the core Wii audience doesn't want these games even if they're simplified for an easier time playing them.

It's going to be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with Wii Party

Yes, let's make every game play like New Super Mario Bros Wii because it sells.

Who needs variety!

Seriously, stop exaggerating.

So you think Nintendo should keep investing money into games that it's console owners don't want?

More importantly games it's core users don't want?

That to me sounds like very bad business practices.

Nintendo went all out for this game and has been touting it for well over a year and they don't have a return on it. What they have is a huge advertising campaign that didn't help move this title at all.

What's more distressing is that even the Metroid fan stayed away from this game, the same people who bought Metroid 3 years ago never bothered to come get this title even though many retailers offered bonuses towards the game like 20 bucks back.

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

Jaysonguy

Exactly

Metroid tanked bigtime

This is one of the worst showings for Nintendo this generation, after everything they did to get the world out the game stayed on shelves

I really think Nintendo reevaluates the franchise after this. It's clear that the core Wii audience doesn't want these games even if they're simplified for an easier time playing them.

It's going to be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with Wii Party

[QUOTE="Theguy56"]

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

Exactly

Metroid tanked bigtime

This is one of the worst showings for Nintendo this generation, after everything they did to get the world out the game stayed on shelves

I really think Nintendo reevaluates the franchise after this. It's clear that the core Wii audience doesn't want these games even if they're simplified for an easier time playing them.

It's going to be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with Wii Party

Jaysonguy

Yes, let's make every game play like New Super Mario Bros Wii because it sells.

Who needs variety!

Seriously, stop exaggerating.

So you think Nintendo should keep investing money into games that it's console owners don't want?

More importantly games it's core users don't want?

That to me sounds like very bad business practices.

Nintendo went all out for this game and has been touting it for well over a year and they don't have a return on it. What they have is a huge advertising campaign that didn't help move this title at all.

What's more distressing is that even the Metroid fan stayed away from this game, the same people who bought Metroid 3 years ago never bothered to come get this title even though many retailers offered bonuses towards the game like 20 bucks back.

Dude, if you think this completely dominating number one showing is proof that console owners don't want this game, then you are living in a Jasonguy fantasy world of unhappy gamers and flying fruit baskets.

A title doesn't need to become the best selling game of all time to be succsesful. You are denying what is a blatant fact that is nutpunching you square in the face simply because you're you and because you need some fool-hardy defense to stand behind in the face of overwhelming popularity.

Now, you can say "I'm Jaysonguy and I don't like Metroid Other M." Fine. Carry on bro. Your opinion is your own. Or if the game sold say 48,000 copies (instead of 205,000!), it be safe to say it bombed. But to say a commanding lead such as this (other new releases or not) means people don't care about this game, are the words of a drug-induced lunatic without the ability to walk while breathing. Which in lieu of the fact presented here, is void of integrity completely. And I know you're too smart for such a comically uneducated point of view. You have to be able to be objective and say "I may not like this game but my eyes are showing me that this game performed admirably and is a succsess". It's not like if Halo sells 2 million copies next week that a Halo-hater can say "Nope. Total bomb, people are over Halo. It's a dead series", just because they hate the series. That's ludicrous. (and yes I know 200,000 is a different number than 2 million but the point I'm making still stands)

Before these numbers your case could have been made. But the ultimate way to prove a game's popuarity and success IS to perform at number one! Which, holy crap look at the chart, IT DID. And by a large margin. There is no other way for the game to show it's success to you man so I just don't know what you want.

Your logic here is basically as if a team threw ten interceptions against another in the Super Bowl but they still won, and you would just come out and say that they really didn't win anyway, despite having more points on the board. That's a bald faced lie and they are Super Bowl champs at the end of the day.

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

Actually, wait, hold on, these numbers are actually entirely comparable to Metroid Prime 3. That chart is only sales in North America, and Metroid Prime 3 only sold 240K in America in week 1. The opening post is comparing apples to oranges.

The_Pig_Hostage

Theres also alot of other factors to be considered. The Economy is 2007 was a LOT better than it is in 2010, even Worldwide. So people were spending more money back then. Other:M being a little bit behind in a much weaker economey shows it is definately being succesful.

Slightly off topic. Is anoyone else amazed that Video Games are still profitable? Think about it. Metroid Other: M cost the same amount of money in 2010 as Metroid did in 1987. $50.00

However, if you factor in Inflation, the value of money has close to halved since 1987. $50.00 in 2010 is worth about $25.00 is 1987. So in terms of pure value, Metroid Other: M cost HALF as much as the orginal Metroid.

Yet, the game itself took YEARS and a massive staff to deveolp, while the original Metroid only took a few months and a small staff to create. Production costs are WAY UP, while the value of each game is WAY DOWN.

I know its the Video Game Market expansion, since more games sell now than they did in 1987, it just boggles my mind its expended THAT MUCH to make games continue to be profiable.

Sorry, just a lil tagent the sales talk put me on.

Well according to VGcharts, Metroid Other M is doing ok in sales. But it certainly bombed in Day 1 and Week 1 sales.

[QUOTE="Theguy56"]

[QUOTE="Jaysonguy"]

Exactly

Metroid tanked bigtime

This is one of the worst showings for Nintendo this generation, after everything they did to get the world out the game stayed on shelves

I really think Nintendo reevaluates the franchise after this. It's clear that the core Wii audience doesn't want these games even if they're simplified for an easier time playing them.

It's going to be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with Wii Party

Jaysonguy

Yes, let's make every game play like New Super Mario Bros Wii because it sells.

Who needs variety!

Seriously, stop exaggerating.

So you think Nintendo should keep investing money into games that it's console owners don't want?

More importantly games it's core users don't want?

That to me sounds like very bad business practices.

Nintendo went all out for this game and has been touting it for well over a year and they don't have a return on it. What they have is a huge advertising campaign that didn't help move this title at all.

What's more distressing is that even the Metroid fan stayed away from this game, the same people who bought Metroid 3 years ago never bothered to come get this title even though many retailers offered bonuses towards the game like 20 bucks back.

I'm glad you THINK to know what Nintendo's financial goals are for this game. We're talking about the company that always emphasizes 'long tail' sales.

Mario Galaxy 2 still outsold it in the UK.

This game had competition?

metroid prime 3 sold 1.5million....echoes sold 1.3 million

i think other m will beat those :P we'll see.

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

Jaysonguy

Exactly

Metroid tanked bigtime

This is one of the worst showings for Nintendo this generation, after everything they did to get the world out the game stayed on shelves

I really think Nintendo reevaluates the franchise after this. It's clear that the core Wii audience doesn't want these games even if they're simplified for an easier time playing them.

It's going to be interesting to see how Nintendo deals with Wii Party

It sold a mere 40K less...how is that tanking?

It sold a mere 40K less...how is that tanking?

goblaa

You're talking to Jayson... :P

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

GabuEx

[QUOTE="GabuEx"]

I'm not sure I understand how selling half as much as its predecessor is a positive thing. :?

Sepewrath

Well for one thing you didn't quote my followup post, in which I noted that this was actually only 40K less than week 1 for MP3 in NA.

But I think the state of video gaming as a whole actually is a good point as well. Out of curiosity, I dug up the NPD numbers for August 2007 and compared them to August 2010. They were as follows:

Wii sales, August 2007: 403,600
Wii sales, August 2010: 244,300 (-39%)

Total console sales, August 2007: 1,012,900
Total console sales, August 2010: 827,000 (-18%)

And for comparison:

Metroid Prime 3 week 1 sales: 241,449
Metroid: Other M week 1 sales: 204,860 (-15%)

So while M:OM did sell less than MP3 in week 1, the drop was indeed less than the overall drop in console sales, and certainly less than the drop in Wii sales.

Of course, you could take this in another direction (which I'm sure Jayson will), which is to look at the week 1 sales divided by the number of Wii consoles out in the market (i.e., the number of potential customers out in the market):

Wiis sold to date, August 2007: 4,019,000
Wiis sold to date, August 2010: 29,847,000 (+743%)

MP3 week 1 sales / Wiis sold to date: 0.06
M:OM week 1 sales / Wiis sold to date: 0.006 (-90%)

Which could indicate that one might expect M:OM to outsell MP3 in its week 1 sales even despite the slump in the market simply because the number of potential buyers is almost seven and a half times larger.

So the data are kind of ambiguous, which is of course a euphemistic way of saying that they will be rampantly cherrypicked by people who will highlight what supports conclusions they had already made prior to looking at any data and will make up excuses for why all other points of data don't matter. :P

Slightly off topic. Is anoyone else amazed that Video Games are still profitable? Think about it. Metroid Other: M cost the same amount of money in 2010 as Metroid did in 1987. $50.00

However, if you factor in Inflation, the value of money has close to halved since 1987. $50.00 in 2010 is worth about $25.00 is 1987. So in terms of pure value, Metroid Other: M cost HALF as much as the orginal Metroid.

Yet, the game itself took YEARS and a massive staff to deveolp, while the original Metroid only took a few months and a small staff to create. Production costs are WAY UP, while the value of each game is WAY DOWN.

I know its the Video Game Market expansion, since more games sell now than they did in 1987, it just boggles my mind its expended THAT MUCH to make games continue to be profiable.

Sorry, just a lil tagent the sales talk put me on.

desert_deputy

Yeah, that is crazy to think about. I'm sure the main reason why video games are still profitable is that, like you mentioned, the market for them has grown tremendously between the late 80s - when the original Metroid was released, and people that played video games were a relatively small percentage of the population and pretty much would all be categorized now as "hardcore" gamers - and now, when it seems like almost every household has some gaming system, if not multiple systems, and games are being made to appeal to everyone from little kids to their grandparents. The fact that the "hardcore gamer" distinction even exists shows how much things have changed, since it is implying that many people that play video games may not have that level of passion or devotion to gaming, and that only the most "extreme" players of video games would meet this criteria. This is reinforced by the fact that "casual gamer" (which is arguably the opposite of a "hardcore gamer") has recently become popular terminology both within the video gaming community and marketing departments of game developers/publishers. The whole reason the Nintendo Wii has been so successful is certainly in large part due to its ability to appeal to the large potential "casual gamer" market, people that never saw the potential of games and gaming systems until they realized how easy the could be to use and/or liked the physical interactivity the Wii provided that games had traditionally been lacking. I mean, you know things are changing big-time in the gaming world when both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are viewed as systems largely for "hardcore gamers", and Sony and Microsoft, the companies behind those consoles, are attempting to gain mainstream appeal with their systems by mimicking most of the motion-sensitive, interactive control features found on the Wii with the introduction of the Move and Kinect.

Sorry about the length of that, that was a rather roundabout way to try to explain things. I think game companies are perhaps realizing the threat of decreased profits under the traditional game model as you mentioned above, though, and I think that this is why downloadable content (DLC) has started to become more mainstream in recent years, as it is a cheaper way to distribute games (no manufacturing costs), and also allows the companies to get more money out of games even after gamers have bought the game itself. I guess that is the genius of massively-multiplayer games like World of WarCraft, where gamers have to constantly keep paying a set amount of money just to play the game. And yeah I guess this is pretty off-topic, but interesting to think about nonetheless, I'd like to see some sort of numbers showing how much money Nintendo (and Team Ninja) invested in making and marketing Metroid: Other M, and just how many copies it'd have to sell just to break even. The figures for a game like Halo: Reach would probably be even more ridiculous :o

I'm surprised that it's selling so well considering how "hardcore" it is... so far Red Steel 2 has slightly better reviews (on metacritic) it's really a bummer that third parties can't compete with even a second rate metriod.

Of course thats only my opinion, but still review-wise this title did flop when compared to similar first party titles.

I don't even understand why anyone in the world thought Metroid would be a mega-block buster like CoD or Mario. Trust me, I love me some Metroid but its not Zelda or Mario.

I'm still surprised by the fact of Nintendo actually making a decent commercial for one of their products. I still think they needed a hotter girl imo

I don't even understand why anyone in the world thought Metroid would be a mega-block buster like CoD or Mario. Trust me, I love me some Metroid but its not Zelda or Mario.

I'm still surprised by the fact of Nintendo actually making a decent commercial for one of their products. I still think they needed a hotter girl imo

redlightstudios

I don't even understand why anyone in the world thought Metroid would be a mega-block buster like CoD or Mario. Trust me, I love me some Metroid but its not Zelda or Mario.

I'm still surprised by the fact of Nintendo actually making a decent commercial for one of their products. I still think they needed a hotter girl imo

redlightstudios

I don't know man, I think that girl is pretty smokin' :P

But yeah Metroid doesn't sell Call of Duty numbers sure but t's still a successful series, obviously. It's Metroid! I mean look at my OP, I mentioned that no one would be surprised it performed so well.

Metroid and Halo commercials have been on during sportscenter for the past 2 weeks. This is expected.