Nielsen Game Rank Lists the Most Anticipated Games of the Holiday Season

Surprising not to see Xenoblade Chronicles X at all here... At least I preorderd the the special edition.😅

Why is Xenoblade X not listed here? I have it already paid off, just waiting for 12/4. That and Star Wars are about the only games on my radar this holiday season.

And I'm just sitting here waiting for Don't Starve: Shipwrecked and The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth.

@KFlow325: Xenoblade isn't a mainstream title.

It is possible that the survey just lacked the Xenoblade game but really that is one of the three biggest games coming out on Wii U (in my opinion). It seems as though the surveyor may have made a minor mistake, however. There seems to be a lot of data that they went through and a single game may have been skipped.

What do the Nielsen Company know about anything? Nothing.

Go Dragonball Z Extreme Butoden! Zeno what lol? The only people that I ever hear that talk about Xenobade are the people here on Nintendo Life.

Nintendo needs to start building that Xenoblade Chronicles X hype again.

As there was only about 4800 people asked we don't know if these people were interested in Xenoblade Chronicles X in the first place and maybe not the people we usually see online in Nintendo forums ;^^.

Either way, at least I am looking forward to Xenoblade Chronicles X this Christmas .

I'm shocked people still think Xenoblade is going to be a big seller. Review well? Probably. It's not going to make a dent commercially though. Look how poorly it already sold in Japan. Mario Tennis will probably outsell it 5 to 1 unfortunately.

@Peach64 I do think Xenoblade Chronicles X has the potential to be a system seller if advertised right .

Sure, Xenoblade Chronicles X wouldn't be as big of a system seller like Mario Maker and Splatoon, but I do think Nintendo could try to appeal more to Transformers fans by maybe by teaming up with the people who are in charge of the Transformers IP and maybe have camoes (skins) :+).

Also trying to get more JRPG fans interested in Xenoblade Chronicles X by having a lot more advertising in general ;+).

Man if Devils Third sells more than Xenoblade Chronicles X. I'm going to die of laughter!

Xenoblade X needs more advertising, and I mean Splatoon and Mario Maker levels of advertising, but I know that won't happen unfortunately.

Xenoblade chronichles deserves all of the attention. It is such a hidden gem. We are talking about a game that revived the jrpg genre here. After xenoblade, all kinds of jrpgs have been popping up and more being localized.

@TwilightAngel : Devils Third is actually very good online, and is praised alot among gamers.
I played DT alot online, and there is always people playing it all the time, and new people all the time. It sells because of the jungle telegraph and Miiverse, but how much? Who knows.

Anyway. I think Xenoblade should have been swapped with Mario Tennis on the list.

@Peach64 Japan sales aren't reflective of anything, as Xenoblade has too many WRPG elements for the Japanese audience. Xenoblade X has even more WRPG influence. Xenoblade's audience is in the west.

Also, the idea that Mario Tennis would outsell Xenoblade X 5 to 1 is flat out laughable. Reality check here: there's not enough people who give a damn about Mario Tennis for that to happen.

The games that will be selling a ton of copies this holiday are already out: Splatoon and Super Mario Maker. Those are the ones Nintendo will advertise, alongside Yokai Watch on the 3DS (Mystery Dungeon is The Pokemon Company's job to advertise)

On a side note, I sincerely have to question those that have pre-ordered or are planning to buy AC Syndicate knowing what happened last year.

Methinks the poll was conducted with an error. No Xenoblade when most Wii U owners are like; "CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT - WHAT DO!!!" ?

@IceClimbers To be honest, early impressions of it aren't very good either. You'd think Ubisoft would go the extra mile with this one after the debacle of last year's launch.

I still think Xenoblade X will sell some systems for Nintendo. It's not going to be huge but it will be in the positive for a few weeks.

Im a die hard Nintendo fan and have been since 1986/7 when I got a NES. I still have over 60 games for it. I then got a snes around '92, then a gamecube, then a wii, now I have a wii U, hell Ive got a Nintendo m82 demo unit and every handheld. Dont want to hurt peoples feelings here but I had never in my 29 years of nintendo fandom had I heard of xenoblade until this year.

I know Im not alone in this. Ive ordered it based on the word 'it's good' but I havent got a bloody clue what its about. In my opinion it isnt in this list because nobody knows about it, even die hard Nintendo fans.

If this is to be a big seller, which I doubt...it needs a LOT more marketing.

@IceClimbers Agree on most points but I disagree that Mario Tennis wont sell in big numbers. Anyone that played it on n64 will pick this up. Im mostly into platformers and action games so naturally I thought a sports game, mario tennis would be crap, oh boy how wrong I was, I remember offering my mum a million completed chores in return for the game the very next day after playing it at a friends house. Its an absolute gem of a title which is reflected in the N64 version's still relatively high price.

@Aneira
Nielsen Games is a sub division of Nielsen Entertainment. We focus exclusively on games, Everybody in the team is a gamer, casual or hardcore, and given the partnerships and work we have with most major players of the industry, I can tell you that Nielsen Games actually knows quite a lot about Video Games ^_^

@LordGeovanni
We did not omit Xenoblade X. It did just received much weaker score across the general population. Keep in mind it is defintely not a mainstream title ^_^

@Kalime were zelda u and starfox zero on the list at the time the survey was conducted?

@IceClimbers Yeah.. Most people are set on labelling Xenoblade X a JRPG, I don't really see it, though. I own the game. Monolith's goal was to make a hybrid WRPG/JRPG. That's what they did. However, the problem with Xenoblade isn't that it is niche (it certainly isn't more niche than Mario Tennis), it is that many people that compose the niche that would be more interested in it don't have WiiUs. And a lot of people that do have WiiUs are not so interested in those types of games. This should result in some system sales (which Mario Tennis and Amiibo Festival will likely not), but a lot of people don't want to buy a system for just one game unless everybody starts talking about it after the reviews come out. I am not going to try to predict how many it will sell, though, because I don't really know.

@Kimite The 4800 people are gamers on any platform. So not all of them have answered on Wii U titles. That being said, with such a sample we have enough Wii U owners, and Xenoblades just does not appear in top 3 most anticipated Wii U exclusive titles because it is a fairly hardcore title. Keep in mind that the interview is among any gamers owning a Wii U (as far as Wii U titles are concerned). So that covers some nintendolife readers, but also lots of more casual gamers who probably don't know about the game yet. For your info, I checked numbers, and what is mainly driving the current limited anticipation for the game is lack of marketing. The game has good interest and is expected to be pretty good among gamers aware; however awareness level are still fairly low compared to the other mainstream blockbusters. Cheers ^_^

@davetheshrew you seem to be hardcore like most people on here, but I really don't know how you have missed any news about Xenoblade CX, Nintendo have been talking about it on sites and directs and things on YouTube and interviews etc since before the launch of the WiiU. They have really dragged the arse out of it for 3 years with 'hype'.

Its what most people who own a WiiU (myself included) have been waiting for, been a long 3 years. Do a search on Google and you'll see millions of articles online about the game tbf going back to 2012.

Don't know how you haven't even heard of the name Xenoblade. Look it up. You may love it it or hate it but give it a bit of research.

I preordered it months ago. I never played Xenoblade on the Wii but I sure did hear/know about it at the time, due to it having a tiny print run at release and selling for crazy amounts. So I never picked it up. Might get XC on the Wii at some point as I did have the 3ds very but couldn't play it on the small screen. And didn't fancy playing a 200+ hr game on a handheld.

But I can't WAIT for XCX.

Sorry for the looooong rambling post

I never doubted that its a small audience. I just think it deserves more attention.

@davetheshrew

I would read reviews on the game and look up trailers since they do exist. Xwnoblade is a jrpg but the combat system behaves like an mmorpg.

@IceClimbers whilst your completely right about the western appeal of xenoblade over its Japanese sales potential. Much to our gaming disgust , @Peach64 is right, Mario tennis consistently sells way more (about 1.5million total) than xenoblade ever did (0.9million) as it is a game with almost no commercial appeal except to die hard gamers. It is cult game not a popular one.....

its true that xeno is not so well known but every jrpg fan will get it because its one of the best jrpgs since the golden years(the previous one i mean).this will be the reason rpg fans will finally buy a wii u but the numbers wont be huge.

@ULTRA-64 They were and actually would both have been in the top 5 most anticipated games for holiday 2015, if they were releasing before then. Since they will release next year they have been excluded of this specific holiday list.

@ULTRA-64 If Xenoblade X were for the PS4, its sales potential would be much greater. Even in Japan, it likely would have sold much better than it did despite the PS4 user population being much smaller than that for the WiiU here.

@Rhydas no error in the poll ^_^ just not mainstream enough. people who post on forums are definitely not representative of the overall owner base of any platform. This is even more true for a Nintendo platform which tends to be a bit more casual.

@davetheshrew to your point, I checked level of awareness among hardcore Wii U players, and indeed even among this core audience, awareness is only in the high 30s...

@ULTRA-64 Also, apparently Mario Tennis for the Wii only sold 350000 copies in NA (and that was for the Wii, where it should have sold great), which is significantly fewer than Xenoblade sold.... Mario Tennis performed much better in Europe, however.

@Kalime Hi and cheers to you too .

Anyway, I also think Xenoblade Chronicles X is more of a core/hardcore title than a casual game that appeal to non-gamers/casual.

Though gammie casuals are playing games what's popular/hot and if Xenoblade Chronicles X can hit that cool level with the help from Mario Maker and Splatoonselling more Wii Us, I do think Xenoblade Chronicles X can get fairly big if advertised right . Though likely not unfortunately ;^^.

Still Xenoblade Chronicles X needs a lot of advertisements to reach the hype level it should be on even among the core/hardcore. Right now I would say people are excited for Xenoblade Chronicles X like "I am really looking forward to Xenoblade Chronicles X ^^" instead of "I need it, I need it, I need it o.o" like the hype level Zelda U had on E3 2015.

Still like I said in my other comments: I am looking forward to playing Xenoblade Chronicles X ^^.

@roboshort there were 2 Mario tennis games released on the Wii, the motion controlled option obviously being the more popular. The one you saw was the lesser popular option. I bought none of them

No.. I didn't see the wrong one. The other one hardly sold at all apparently. The game just wasn't as popular as Xenoblade in NA, which isn't so surprising, since it is tennis.

Considering the limited print run and now rarity and price of the first Xenoblade game i am suprised more people are not pre ordering the special edition of X. Both GAME and Nintendo Store still have it available. Its frustrating that with the right momentum and awareness this could be a huge success. You have to wonder if we will see another Western release if this fails to get sales. However its a long way off and have a feeling as far as this list is concerned that it simply was not included.

What's up with people ignoring some of my favourite franchises -_-?

First half of the people ignore Isaac as a top contender for Smash ballot and now Xeno X is not regarded as an anticipated game enough. Admittedly it is not a title with mainstream appeal but it must be one of the biggest games Nintendo is launching on the Wii U! It has got to be one of the most hypeworthy JRPGs this generation. Sadly Nintendo isn't advertising it enough as such.

I am really looking forward it to myself regardless of this game list.

I do actually think Xenoblade Chronicles X as a game if we don't count it is on Wii U, I do think Xenoblade Chronicles X as a concept could potentially do very well in the mainstream due to the online integrations and the community feeling.

I do understand that Xenoblade Chronicles X might be too anime-ish for some people and not the best graphics, but still with a good amount of advertising I think Xenoblade Chronicles X could reach more potential consumers than a lot of other games. Still because of the the lack proper advertising not a lot of people outside the Nintendo community know of Xenoblade Chronicles X probably ;^^.

Still I wish Xenoblade Chronicles X the best .

Amazed no one here has mentioned that X hits NA after Black Friday, even after announcing Star Fox's delay. Guess NOA is not too confident about sales.

The list is obviously a joke if Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival scored so high! That should be switched out for Xenoblade Chrnoicles. I wonder what the sales figures will reveal.

@sinalefa I have noticed that, but haven't commented on it anywhere, may affect sales a tiny bit, but I don't think it affects anticipation very much. Uncharted 4 is March, that won't matter.

Nintendo hardly markets anything, so it's no surprise this isn't anticipated by many. The 1st game was a Game stop exclusive, probably better well known for GSM selling hew copies used for $80 then the game itself. And it doesn't have Final Fantasy in the title. JR are stil, niche, Wiig U owners water first party, but I still see many people on here not even knowing Nintendo owns Monolith. Just another game not featuring Nario, so no marketing. NSMBU, SM3DW, SAN (THE Bros covers Nario), MK8. That's their entire advertising budget each year.

Xenoblade is the one and only game i am waiting for this holiday season.

@Peach64 It didn't sell poorly. It didnt sell like its predecessor, but 140k is on par with other nintendo RPGs like last story. The game didnt got good word of mouth like xenoblade to sell for a long period of time.

Even if it failed to sell more than the first game, it still sold better than stuff like wind waker, tropical freeze, whooly world... In fact, it sold better than a lot of stuff on the wiiu.

@rjejr

The funny and ironic twist here, to the chagrin of most of this comments section, will be AC Amiibo Festival getting the first place in Wii U sales during the holidays, with X being probably the last one.

And look at the list, Sony's exclusive (which wont even be holiday anyway) and one of their biggest titles is kinda low, while multiplats rule. Guess that is why they don't bother that much with exclusives, as @Gamer83 and me would love them to.

Newegg - computer online retail in the US - is running a $15 Gift Card promotion on select upcoming videogames.

Heres the front page offer:

http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Oct-0-2015/Gametober_06/index-landing.html?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL100615&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL100615--EMC-100615-Index--E0--GAME&et_cid=21789&et_rid=235394&et_p1=&email64=cmplanJAb3B0aW11bS5uZXQ=

And here's the list of games:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=PPSSACIDTBJFFZ&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL100615&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL100615--EMC-100615-index--L0--GAME

Not a single game that is even being released on Wii U or 3DS. Though I suppose there must be some small consolation that PS3, Xbox360 and Vita aren't on the list either. (though it's possible 1 or 2 of those games will be playable on PS3 or Xbox360, don't feel like looking them all up.)

And somewhat off topic - the above helps to shed light on why Ninteod could, or perhaps even should, launch NX next year. Not to get a jump on PS5 and Xbox2, but there might still be time to be competitive w/ PS4 and Xbox1. Wii U is last gen, it just is.

@sinalefa Gamer is my man, saves me a lot of typing.

AC:aF is the epitome of everything "gamers" - not to be confused w/ Gamer83 - hate. amiibo, board game, cute characters, free-to-start perhaps? But it looks to me like that's where Ninteod is heading. The DeNA deal is beginning to look more like that's who Nitnedo is rather than some tiny side gig. Which suits me just fine, HD cinematic masterpieces have never been their strong point, Monolith games aside. Might as well say FU to the 10 million long time faithful Wii U owners adn go after the rest of the world that's moved on to apps. Level 5 - one of my favorite JRPG companies, is doing it, Konami keeps threatening then recanting it. Nintendo doesn't need to go 3rd party, they have Pokemon and Monster Hunter on handhelds, but why make another home console? SSB? Handheld. Mario Kart? Check. NSMB? Ditto. SM3DL? Same. Everything is playable on handheld, hekc even Xenoblade CHronicles, adn Kid Icarus : Uprising. And fire Emblem Awakening. NX as a home console is a waste of time, money and resources. Zelda, Metroid, AC, check check check.

I still call poopitypopopo on Nielsen's Game Rank list with no Xenoblade and 76% on Devil's Third.

@rjejr

Then we are just missing Pikmin and now Splatoon. But you have a point. With apparently Sony out of the handheld picture in the future, it may be easier for them. DeNA should help them to get a piece of the mobile pie.

Honestly I would like the hybrid since I vastly prefer using a TV and playing cute, colorful games that don't ask me to install them and update them with huge patches.

Not really surprised by the lack of Xenoblade, well, maybe that it is obviously less intriguing to many than Devil's Third. Other than that, Xenoblade was always going to be major niche title, but nothing more.

Again, Xenoblade is a Niche title, though I am surprised to see Devil's Third.

@sinalefa Well at this point I think a hybrid w/ TV out would be a given, most phones have that w/ programs called Miracast and Chromecast and the like, but it has to be a lot easier to make a game like Pokemon Shuffle on a handheld playable on a tv than a game like Star Wars Battlefront or MGS playable on a handheld. And I think Pikmin could easily be done on a handheld, Nintneod called it Kirby Mass Attack And Spaltoon as well, w/ 2D cell shaded graphics. Splatoon would actually work a WHOLE lot better on 3DS as we could play co-op in the same room as each person would have both a top and bottom screen. Monster Hunter 4 has great graphics and co-op. Heck way back when Kid Icarus Uprising had great graphics and online fast paced play. Codename STEAM had decent graphics, just need to make it real time rather than turn based. 3D screen has to go though on NX, save the computing power for other things.

If I had to take a guess at the reason Xenoblade isn't on here...

I personally have barely even seen the thing marketed, much less mentioned. I don't even see much YouTube or social media coverage of it. This is without specifically looking for it, mind you, but that's the whole point of marketing.

I was really excited for it when they showed it off the first time, but I literally forget it exists until I play Smash and see Shulk. Then I'm reminded: "Oh yeah, isn't there a new Xenoblade coming out?"

Edit: Something I'd also like to mention. Look down at the bottom of this site, under the hot games label. No Xenoblade to be found at the time of writing. Which is rather jarring, if this site is anything to go by even the Nintendo fans aren't excited for it, at least a majority of them. And yet the godawful Devil's Third is on there, but I'd personally chalk that up to the controversy it drummed up to make a few extra sales for the title. That, or to take that list with a giant grain of salt.

Xenoblade is a niche game. It is as simple as that.

How is Fallout 4 below Black Ops 2? same with Battlefront being at the bottom of the top 5. This list is very questionable.

I can't decide if the results of this survey, on the whole, speak more to the masses being vapid <insert negative term here>s, or this holiday season just being all-around fairly poor for gaming.

@sinalefa I'm watching the Microsoft event. They are promoting tv out, via HDMI, on their next Lumia phone. Oh, they also had a virtual reality hololens Metroid like game. It wasn't call Metroid, Project X-ray. but it might as well have been.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NkoS0vNQTY

@Spoony_Tech @aaronsullivan You guy scan watch it too.

What I really find disturbing is the fact that the game is missing all together from ebgames.ca . How is that even possible considering how close the release is??? I know it's listed on the US version but man it doesn't help that it's missing from the Canadian site. I just don't get it.

Not entirely sure that this poll includes gamers who are even paying attention. The sheer fact that Devil's Third is on this list with all of the bad press its been getting leads me to believe that many of the people polled don't even play Nintendo consoles. I know Xenoblade isn't the most popular franchise on the planet, but it has quite a bit more of a following than many people are letting on.

I don't claim to know what everyone else does and doesn't want.
I thought it was going to be an amazing Christmas with Xenoblade (my most anticipated) then Zelda U then Star Fox. I was going to have more games than I could find time to play. Then Zelda was postponed and I was relieved because I know I don't have time for both. Then Star Fox was postponed and I was relieved because I had figured I was going to have to burn through Star Fox before Xenoblade's release as there was no way I would continue playing after I got my hands on the sequel to my all time favorite game.
Now with Star Fox postponed I'm sitting pretty. I'll get the game I wanted the most and it'll get all my free time

There were a lot of people saying that the loss of Star Fox this Holiday would be replaced by Xenoblade. I as well as many others, have repeatedly stated that the game is far too niche to fill the shoes of a brand like Star Fox. This is further evidence that Xenoblade, despite the fact that I'm sure it will be fantastic, just isn't going to have much Holiday purchase pull.

If I were an executive at Nintendo, I would be very concerned with Holiday sales. 50% of their income comes from this time period, and they don't have much to offer.

@Therad Devil's Third is mainstream?

@JusticeColde The masses prefer COD over and over and over again!

You and I prefer the sequel of one of the best video games ever! I'm seriously thinking about picking up a Xbone or PS4 for Fallout 4.

I'd be more interested in a game like Xenoblade Chronicles X, if it wasn't on the Wii U.

@dkxcalibur no, but appearantly it is more anticipated than xcx.

Disappointing for Xenoblade but I see a lot of games there I'm planning to get, like Star Wars: Battlefront and Rise of the Tomb Raider, Anno 2205, Yoshi and AC:aF, and Zelda and Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon. This is going to be a busy holiday even without the 200-hour game.

A little disappointed in Nielsen. They probably did not have Xenoblade Chronicles X on the survey. This is the next installment to the Best JRPG of last gen. I bought a Wii U when X was announced in early 2013. I even pre-ordered it months ago. And where is Fatal Frame V on the list?

Tempted to pick xcx up, but I still have a huge backlog: Yoshi wooly world,MK8, Smash 4, Mario 3d World, etc.

@Aneira
you call whatever you want ^_^ Game Rank is regressed against actual sales and is strongly predictive of actual sales level. However it is true it is not a forecast indeed; if tons of marketing are dropped on any of those titles between now and X-mas they could still do better.

Devil's Third? Really?

Then again Nielsen has been outdated for a long time.

@JusticeColde typical comment of the vocal minority ^_^
There are many things that could potentially be argued about in predictive analytics, but this one is so straightforward it is what it is ^_^ remember that hardcore gamers are only a portion of the overall gaming population, especially on Nintendo platform.

@whodatninja may I ask what is the base of that judgment on Nielsen being outdated? ^_^ it's a funny comment cause Nielsen Games is actually at the forefront of research in the gaming industry, partnering with most big publishers and manufacturers. Do you have any reason to say this, or is it just a general uninformed comment?

@electrolite77 I'm there with you ^^ I can understand devil's third being a surprise to some, although that is what consumers are saying... but COD... I mean without any research anybody would know it'd be at the top of the list... ^^

Really..... Call of Duty...
Who in all honesty wants that over any other game on that list, or not on that list for that matter.

@Sinister .... but Corpse Party: Blood Line isn't? What the heck is that even?

Edit my bad Blood "Drive".

@electrolite77 To be honest I bet you that Fallout 4 outsells Call of Duty: Nothing New to See Here by a long shot! Why do people support Call of Duty anymore. The one that pushed the envelope was World at War. And how long ago was that?

amazed amiibo festival and devils 3rd are even high ranking, no suprise with mario or YWW

More hype for Black Ops 3 than fallout 4 Facepalm.

@HawkeyeWii Well the Vita is niche by itself. Only people with a very specific taste play that console these days. So i would assume that niche titles rise to the top on such a system.

And i would be amazed if Fallout 4 outsells CoD.
Advanced Warfare outsold Fallout 3 and New Vegas combined.

Considering how few games the Wii U has on the release schedule, this is a little surprising. Throw in that it probably at least sold decently on the New 3ds and the Wii before that....I haven't played the first one but will likely at minimum, strongly consider getting this, unless it just reviews very poorly, which I doubt. So yes, this is definitely a game I'm looking forward to.

I'm pretty sure you cant survey something if you don't ask it... i'm willing to bet they asked hey ... which of these games are you most excited for... and xenoblade wasn't one of the options.

Fallout 4?

@Kalime
Normally I stay far away from Nielson ratings but I'm glad you're here to shed some light on the company's practices. You mentioned that ratings are strongly predictive of actual sales. What I'm curious about is how much the ratings are also self-fulfilling prophecies, in that people see these ratings and bandwagon about the listed games?

Most Nintendo fans would say XCX

@electrolite77 ha "worried" is a big word ^_^
just trying to help in the interpretation of the data. thanks for your message though!

@jooch Ha, I wish our data would influence the market as you suggest with your self fulfilling prophecy theory ^_^ it'd make us a pretty strong actor of the industry. But no, our data is mostly for professionals; so except for the once a year consumer exposure we give it, this has little consumer reach. Sure the data might be covered by various outlets, but this is still a drop in the ocean of marketing communication that will happen around those games when they launch.

@electrolite77 Again I still firmly believe that Fallout 4 will outsell the new Call of Duty. Call of Duty may out sell it for the first month maybe 2, but I almost guarantee that the lifetime sales will be better for Fallout 4.

The sooner the Wii u dies the better. It's a rubbish console with rubbish games and an embarrassment to the company who made the great N64

@Ventilator "Devils Third is actually very good online, and is praised a lot among gamers." Where? Cause all the feedback i been seeing are different of what you said.

@TwilightAngel : Praised on Miiverse, in Japan etc.
The very meaty online part was the major part of the game, and was ignored in reviews.
If they bothered to try Siege mode with 16 players etc. it would have gotten higher scores.