I've played every single one of the games in NPD Group's July US top 20 PC game bestsellers, except for the number one spot-stealer, Nancy Drew and The Phantom of Venice. It's an adventure game designed by Her Interactive, based on the now apparently out of print book of the same name, about a masked thief responsible for various thefts in Venice.
But wait, read that again: An adventure game.
Sold more than Call of Duty 4? Spore Creature Creator? World of Warcraft: Battle Chest? The Sims 2 Double Deluxe?
That's right.
Now here's what's even wilder. Nancy Drew and The Phantom of Venice is actually the eighteenth installment in the Nancy Drew computer game series.
There's a Nancy Drew computer game series?
I know!
How many people have reviewed it in PC gaming-dom? Only one mainstream games outlet.
Shame on all the rest of us?
The numbers...
1. Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice (Her Interactive)
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe (EA Maxis)
3. Spore Creature Creator (EA Maxis)
4. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest (Blizzard)
5. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff (EA Maxis)
6. Diablo Battle Chest (Blizzard)
7. World of Warcraft (Blizzard)
8. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade (Blizzard)
9. The Sims 2 FreeTime (EA Maxis)
10. Warcraft III Battle Chest (Blizzard)
11. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Infinity Ward)
12. Civilization IV (Firaxis Games)
13. The Sims 2 Kitchen & Bath Interior Design (EA Maxis)
14. Starcraft: Battle Chest (Blizzard)
15. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (Funcom)
16. Assassin's Creed: Director's Cut Edition (Ubisoft Montreal)
17. Age of Empires III (Ensemble Studios)
18. Crysis (Crytek)
19. Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (Firaxis Games)
20. The Sims 2 Seasons (EA Maxis)
I don't understand, are you actually paid for this analysis?
Are you actually asking the question "Why is this new game that just came out beating all these expansions for games that have been out for 5+ years?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Market_saturation
Please read that carefully, it will enlighten you deeply! The real question is, why are 13 EXPANSION PACKS or expansion collections, beating Assassin's Creed, which is a _relatively_ new game (which isn't saying much for games like Diablo and Starcraft, which belong to my childhood!)
Please, forgive my rude sarcasm, but I'm just so stunned. I read posts like this from you frequently, and sometimes I just get tired of them.
I mean, as an example, Sims 2 was at the 13 million unit mark in 2007, and god only knows how many Diablo and Starcraft have sold. WoW had over 10M subscribers in January.
Sims 2 opened with 1M purchases. What did Ms. Drew receive? And please compare the rate of their decay. Analysis! :( :( :( :'(
Oh and BTW.
It Assassin's creed is getting beat by Spore Creature Creator, which is basically a really expensive demo.
A really expensive demo...
And yet you expressed shock.
Wut?
That's ridiculous mrrara. The forehead-smacker in July's numbers is that a game on absolutely *no* one's radar came out of left field and topped a monthly list historically dominated by WoW and The Sims.
Market saturation? Seriously?
WoWBC, The Sims 2, WoW, and SporeCC are back in the top four slots for 8/10 - 8/16. Must be a figment of NPD's imagination.
And I guess you're confusing me with some other blogger or post, because I have no idea what you're talking about in terms of Spore vs. Assassin's Creed. Go back and re-read the post.
Nope, not confusing you with anyone. I actually RSS this blog, because you _do_ have some very entertaining content, but a lot of the time your posts are like.. well.. this.
And because I RSS the blog, I also have the original title for this post:
"July PC Sales: Nancy Drew Tops Spore, The Sims 2, World of Warcraft"
Maybe your editor is the one who writes the post titles? I assumed it was you, and if it wasn't, forgive me. In regards to assassin's creed, my point is that it's MORE stunning that assassin's creed, a _relatively_ new game (compared to the others) is outsold by the others, _and_ is beaten by Nancy Drew.
With that said, I'll now explain in more detail, since I think I didn't communicate well enough, what I was originally trying to say...
There is nothing surprising about these NPD figures. S2 came out in 2005, it is safe to assume that a large percentage of the units that have been sold, are already sold. As an example, in the release, S2 sold 1M units. 2 years later, it had sold 13m. That means that while in its first month it had a sales figure of 1m, its average monthly sales figure was 500k.
So, with that understood, assume that s2d sells 200k units/month. That is a decline below its average, which would balance for the market that, yes, after 3 years, is becoming saturated (and yes, I understand s2 != s2d, but they are substitute goods for each other). Now, assume Nancy Drew sold 250k units On its release. This would be ONE QUARTER the -three year previous- release of S2. Obviously S2 has far more, far more popularity and name recognition, and that continues to be the case, even though Nancy Drew beats it.
Now, while you say that No one has ever heard of the Nancy Drew game, you go on to illustrate that is not true. It has 17 prequels, you said? Why would a company produce an 18th title in a series that is unprofitable? It wouldn't.
Obviously there is a niche market for the game, which is reflected reasonably in the sales figues. I don't understand why this is a surprise to you. I'm sorry, again, for speaking with such sarcasm earlier, and such contempt.. But, maybe it's because of my math background, but I find absolutely nothing unusual about these figures.
Finally, as a blogger, I assume you have access to my email, and if you do, feel free to ping me and I can try to explain in more detail. I realize as a random commenter, I have no credibility to you; but you have as much credibility to me, as I do to you.. and that I'm willing to stop and try to talk to you about this should be somewhat meaningful.
Regardless,
goodluck,
i swear they make sense,
mrrar