Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Secures Top 10 Place in Single Format NPD Chart

@Yellowkoopa
To be fair, it's very rare for any title that releases on 1 or 2 platforms to break into the NPD multiplatofrm chart regardless of system it is released on.

Microsoft only had Halo 5 and I do believe Tomb Raider for multiplaform charts in 2015.

Nintendo had Splatoon, Mario Maker, Yoshi Wooly World, ORAS, and a few others for multiplatform charts in 2015.

Sony had The Order and something else break into the multipatform charts in 2015.

Nintendo had more games in the multiplatform charts in 2015 than the competition did.

Though if NPD went back to using the single game chart, where each SKU counts individually, as their main charts, things would look massively different.

Paper Jam narrowly missed the top 10 on the main chart his month.
XCX narrowly missed the top 10 on the main chart in December.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D narrowly missed the main chart in April.

etc...

It's really hard to break into the top 10 on the main chart, if you aren't one of the games normally listed on the yearly list.

Points of interest this month:

PS4 failed to break 200k
Xbox One sold ~115k
Wii U obviously saw a decent drop too, but no one cares.
Paper Jam narrowly missed the main top 10 by a small amount.
Ubisoft announced no Assassins Creed for 2016, which is rumored to be due to the impending NX launch.
Shooters are still selling better on Xbox One than PS4 for some reason.

Oh the biggest news from NPD and Activision this month is...

CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS III IS THE BEST SELLING GAME OF THE GENERATION!!! BEATING OUT GTAV!!!

Black Ops III has outsold GTAV on PS4, Xbox One and PC making it the best selling game of this generation by far.

The game is nearing 25 million copies sold, almost entirely on PS4 and Xbox One.

Nintendo is going to have a lot more quiet months while they release more 2nd rate games while keeping the 3DS and Wii U void of AA or AAA titles.

My hope is that these b-team games are actually just a stop gap until the NX launch titles are announced.

@Xenocity "Shooters are still selling better on Xbox One than PS4 for some reason"

NPD doesn't include bundles, which is why Battlefront and Black Ops III appear to have sold more on XB1. Include bundles, and PS4 is in the lead. NeoGaf is getting tired of explaining that every single NPD thread.

Also lol at the PR spin of CoD outselling GTA V. GTA V is a cross gen title, and sold, what, 60+ million?

Edit: Oh, and that PR spin is NPD only. Not worldwide.

Every time a game releases on the PS3 and 360 but not on the Wii U, god kills a puppy.

NPD summed up: PS4 dominated, XB1 had one of it's worst selling NPD months yet, GTA V and Minecraft are beasts.

Nintendo is just going through the motions during their transition period. Software sales are the only thing relevant to look at when it comes to Nintendo right now.

I also wonder if 2015 was the Xbox One's peak year, and it's downhill from here on out. It wouldn't surprise me.

@Xenocity where did you hear that Assassins Creed was not releasing this year due to the NX? Unless Ubisoft believes it to be a massively successful system out the gate, that sounds like a real weird thing for them to do.

@Xenocity

"Ubisoft announced no Assassins Creed for 2016, which is rumored to be due to the impending NX launch."

Where do you dig up these rumors?

Ubisoft announced no Assassin's Creed because of declining sales- they said so themselves. Has NOTHING to do with NX. AC sold like crap on Wii U, and it'll never come to NX. But even if, by some crazy chance, it did, it certainly wouldn't halt the gears of this multi-million dollar juggernaut of a franchise.

Trust me, Nintendo is the last thing in Ubisoft's mind right now.

@IceClimbers
Black Ops III openly states it's the best selling title this generation on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

Obviously GTAV has sold the majority on PS3 and Xbox 360.
GTAV is the best selling title on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Actually Activision released it's financial report last night to shareholders.

It showed that Call of Duty sales on Xbox One edged out PS4 in it's main territories (U.S, Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland, and Mexico) with bundles of both systems included.

Call of Duty isn't as popular outside of Anglo-American markets.

Destiny is about even between the two systems in the main territories.

Nearly everything else Activision makes is down significantly, causing a massive stock drop.

Ubisoft's financial report came out last night and it showed their AAA games did better on Xbox One than PS4 with bundles included.
Ubisoft claims that for every $1 PS4 users spend on "hardcore" games and DLC, Xbox One users spend $1.25.
Also their data showed that Xbox One users have higher monthly and daily usage than PS4 users for their games.

EA's data also showed a near equal split in their main territories for shooters (U.S, Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland, and Mexico) between Xbox One and PS4 with bundles included.
Though Xbox One users had higher usage of games.

Fall Out 4 is supposedly doing better on Xbox One than PS4.

@JaxonH
It's rumors that are floating about last night after Ubisoft made the announcement.

Obviously they are just rumors.

But to be fair, Assassins Creed games have never sold on Nintendo systems to date, not even on DS leading to Ubisoft canceling the 3DS title.

@Xenocity @FragRed That thing about no AC in 2016 due to NX seems absurd. AC is overdone, WD2 is overdue. Ubi was probably hoping WD2 in 2016 so the put off AC, then they realized WD2 in 2017 but it was too late for an AC game in 2016 at that point.

And really, after ZombiU did so poorly on Wii U why would Ubi care about NX? I can't imagine any connection between the 2.

@Yellowkoopa I agree about 2015 and 2016 will be even worse unless the NX saves the day.

Paper Jam started off OK but did not improve much above ok'ish. Far to much grinding. And having three characters is two to many. The lets all jump together does not work that well.

I'm half through and have given up.

I'm actually having a hard time finding this game on the shelves right now. I don't want it yet, but my store only had 1 copy on the shelf as of last night. Naturally we have like 100 in the back but that shows it's being sold off at least. Nice.

@JaxonH You guys all type too fast.

@Yellowkoopa
Most of the games ranged from decent to mediocre from all the companies each year.

It's hard to get great and stellar reviews with reviewers being very fickle in what they like.

How a game is viewed is in the eye of the beholder.

It also depends on where you draw the line.
Most companies and NPD believe a Metacritic score of less than 90, isn't good.
Gamers are less likely to buy game that scores less than 90, which is why it's written in to most gaming contracts now from Western Developers

I mean in 2015 we received full retail Wii U releases:
Splatoon
Mario Maker
Yoshi's Wooly World
XCX
Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
Art Academy: Home Studio (art app)
which are all well made games and one art app.
(the rest of the releases not worth mentioning for the sake of a massive argument).

on 3DS Nintendo released to retail for 2015:
Majora's Mask 3D
Code Name STEAM
Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
Puzzle & Dragons Z + Super Mario Bros. Edition
Yo-Kai Watch
(the rest of the releases not worth mentioning for the sake of a massive argument).

Which were all well made games and remasters.

The rest of the releases are controversial and subjective.

But it is more than what Ubisoft, EA, Bethesda, Taketwo, Activision, Sony, Konami, Square-Enix, Capcom, Atlus and Microsoft released to retail individually.

The first half the year already has more than the competition does until the E3 blow out.
Nintendo is developing and publishing 5 retail games (includes a few 3rd party games which they localized) until June.
There are 4 1st party retail games scheduled for NA release on Wii U before E3

This more than all the rest of the big 6 3rd parties, Microsoft and Sony have ready until E3.

If Nintendo saved all their games for the September to December holiday each year like the competition does, it would be more noticeable.

Gamers are shown to rarely notice and buy games outside of the Holiday period in NA.

Seriously nearly all the other 3rd parties, Microsoft and Sony release all their retail games in September to December Holiday period with practically nothing else for the rest of the year.

@Yellowkoopa most of the games released last year were either okay or mediocre period. Unless I missed a company that released 15-20 fantastic games last year? Thought not. Seriously I don't get this attitude that unless Nintendo release F-Zero whatever, Prime 4 and Zelda U in one year, they're automatically 'terrible'. Who made you the arbiter of videogame companies and the quality of them?

@TheLastLugia
That is true to a large extent.
Though it really depends on what extent gaming companies sent instructions on how to "properly" review their games and to what pressures they applied to the site to get the higher scores (They regularly threaten blacklisting, withholding of ad revenue and lawsuits if the reviews don't meet their expectations).

I've also read that many gaming companies now make you submit your review to them first, to make sure it is done "correctly" for posting.

Literally all the major 3rd parties, Microsoft and Sony give out "punishments" for bad articles and bad reviews and "rewards" for good articles and reviews.

I mean Ubisoft blacklisted more than just Kotaku for calling them out over how unplayable both Assassins Creed games were at launch this year.
They also are fighting Kotaku and others who posted the stories on how they treat their employees.

Now with Gametrailers official shut down as of earlier this week, there aren't many unbiased sites left who are willing to stand up to the big publishers.

Ironically Nintendo doesn't do anything to those who report and review their games.

They only do something when it is down right false.

They even give awards for good journalism, as Game Informer has shown.

@Xenocity well I wouldn't go into that much detail myself, I'm just pointing out what I thought was obvious that 70-80% (maybe even more) of games released each and every year are crap. Yet heaven forbid Nintendo releasing garbage Mario Tenis, Chibi-Robo, amiibo games in one year. How dare they be the ones to release bad games!? I mean look at the outstanding quality right out of the door of Driveclub, LBP3 & The Order 1886. But nope exempt from criticism because 'BloodboreBloodborneBloodboreBloodborneBloo'.....

I'll get Paper Jam once I get Fates.

I'm sorry Mario, but I just want to get the new Fire Emblem game. Don't worry, I still love you!

Can see the Wii U just missing it's worldwide sales target unless Pokken Tournament gives it a major bump. Just look at the negative press the Xbone sales for January are getting, yet that machine still outsold Wii U 3 to 1.

Curious to see what happens to PS4 sales now it's about to get a run of big exclusives. It's already been selling insanely well without them. It could just be that a lot of people were buying it early for the 2016 games and sales don't actually go up that much.

@Xenocity While it's certainly true that the vast majority of sales come from the holiday period, February/March/April aren't horrible months either. Feb/March is good in particular due to tax returns.

@Yellowkoopa hyperbole much?

I'll take your opinion for what it is regardless. An opinion.

I still need to buy that game. Ugh I keep forgetting when I do my monthly stock up.

@Xenocity
"Shooters sell better on Xbox One", "Fallout 4 selling better on Xbox one", "Assasin Creed delay is because if NX,". Ha ha ha..

Fallout 4 sales to date: PS4 6.01m copies. Xbox One 3.24m.

A developer delays a game for a console with 0 sales.

Man, you are truly...

@electrolite77
Sony has nothing but lesser games and movie tie in stuff.
All EA has is Wrestling game (Mirror's Edge doesn't count as a big game).

Major games are saved for the holiday period, where people buy the most games.

Sony does save their big and major guns for the holiday in order to counter Microsoft's offerings.
Sony could go back to spreading their AAA games year long, but it would give Microsoft the narrative that only Microsoft cares about the most important gaming time of the year.

R&C is not big game, as each version struggled to sell 1 million on PS3 and should do worse on PS4 (Platformers do bad on PS4), if it can even break into the main NPD chart.
Though being tied in with the movie, it could do better just based on that.

As it currently stands there are no games that fit the AAA Blockbuster status, schedule before August.
These are the bread butter of the Western industry.

UFC Wrestling is the only game on that list you posted that constitutes a major release.

The rest of the list is essentially indie, low budget, mid budget, handheld, PC, ports, remasters, and niche Japanese games.

This is list is awful for the "hardcore" who essentially makes up the complete install base of PS4 and Xbox One.

It's a alright list if you like playing lower budget, indie stuff, PC games, and "casual" games.

But don't expect any of these games to chart in the main NPD chart outside of UFC Wrestling and maybe R&C (if the movie triggers sales).

The rest of the list will be lucky if they sell 100,000 in their release month on NPD. Never underestimate the negative stigma that is associated with being a lower budget game, niche game, and indie game has in North America when it comes to sales.

That is the sad reality of the North American market.

I also see PS4 and Xbox One hardware sales slowing further due to a lack of any big blockbuster AAA Games (these drive hardware sales) and a lack of major shooters (these also drive hardware sales).

Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised if Fates or something else manages to break into the NPD main charts before August.

As for Metacritic scores, NPD says it is one of the most important components to sales, with most game with sub 90 scores seeing their sales potential greatly reduced.

Western Developers last gen, started writing a base metacritic score into their contracts to determine bonuses and pay.
Your game also has to sell a minimum amount to get full pay as well.

This is why EA, Bethesda, WB, Activision heavily talk Metacritic scores when give investors information.

@IceClimbers
Actually January sales this year in the U.S. were down a lot compared to last January (We had massive Polar Vortex which dropped temperatures to around -20 and -30 for most of the U.S. last January).

February - August will be very slow unless a major AAA blockbuster game drops to stimulate sales.

The North America console market is drive by AAA Blockbuster games, Realistic Sports, and Major shooters.

These types of games typically release in August through January on consoles first.
There aren't any scheduled for release that are big enough to stimulate the market.

PS4 already saw a huge bump this holiday season due to hardware deals and hype driving by E3 announcements.
When those E3 games finally release between Holiday 2016 and 2018, they won't have much of a bump on PS4 hardware sales.
Everyone who wanted one of those games at E3 bough the hardware following E3 and during the holiday period.

With no Assassins Creed this year, console sales should be down this holiday unless Bethesda has an ES game ready.

@Yellowkoopa
That's Hyperbole at it's finest.
Most of Nintendo's releases for 2015 ranged from low 70s to high 80s on Metacritic.
This was inline with the rest of the industry scores.
I found plenty to buy and play on my Wii U and 3DS, including Splatoon.

@Hotfusion
Have any links to the Fallout 4 sales numbers?
Google hasn't turned up full sales numbers after launch day.

We have EA, Ubisoft, Activision, WB all on record claiming that Xbox One is the shooter box and makes more money per game than the PS4 (financial date just came out over the past week).
That's due to Xbox One users buying more DLC and spending more on services than PS4 users.

Remember Ubisoft did canceled Assassins Creed 3DS due to "too many hardcore games coming to 3DS!"

@Peach64
Actually Microsoft hasn't revealed any Xbox One hardware and accessories sales numbers in almost 2 years.
Their last Financial report in January, Microsoft withheld Xbox revenue.
All Microsoft reported in January was Xbox Monthly Average Users numbers and Daily Average Users numbers, which are all massively greater than PS4 numbers.

All we have are the occasional NPD leak from NeoGaf and 3rd estimates.

Madcatz the other day said the combined install base of PS4 and Xbox One is at 60M by their estimate
A week early EA said they sold 55M by their estimate
Others companies have said it closer to 50M, based on estimates

We know that PS4 is nearing 38M sold globally, that leaves Xbox One between 11M-15M, depending on which estimate is closest to reality.

We know that Wii U is essentially ~11M as of last reporting.
Wii U is currently facing a stock shortage in Japan due to shortage of components.
This due to unexpected rise in sales mainly due to Splatoon taking off.

In the end the one thing we know from Microsoft is that more people play Xbox on a regular basis than Playstation.

@electrolite77

I'm not pretending anything about those games you listed.

Uncharted 4 might be an AAA game if Sony spent the required amount to be classified as an AAA game.

You know Far Cry Primal is a spin off? It's not an AAA game, but a spin off to hold everyone off until 5 is complete.

Doom hasn't seen a release in 10 years and has switched studios numerous times, there is a good chance it is down right awful.

Dark Souls 3 is not a big game, it doesn't sell in the millions, hell it will be lucky to chart in the U.S. The last 2 games failed to break out of niche territory.

The list you posted is literally horrible for a "hardcore" American gamer, the ones who make up the userbase Xbox Ones and PS4s.

Hell that list will be vastly ignored by the majority of PC, PS4 and Xbox One owning Americans, who won't touch them because they lack AAA standing, graphics and other crap.

You do realize in there are already a lot of PS4 and Xbox One owners complaining about the lack of releases between now and August.
Hell I've read plenty of articles talking about the "drought" of real games on PS4.

Sony is constantly being asked why the lack of "real" games on PS4.

Your list has games, just not "hardcore" games that PS4 and Xbox One owners aren't into.

I mean I buying a few games before June (provided they don't get delayed), though none of them have "hardcore" appeal. Though they might get lucky and hit 50k sold.

But I get where PS4 & Xbox Owners and the gaming media are coming from on their perceived drought of real games and a flood of lower cost games in the coming months.

I mean the developer of The Witness is still fighting to prove that his game is a "real" game and more than just an indie title.

Either way all those games on that list including Doom, Uncharted 4, and Far Cry spin off etc... will be lucky if they chart

February through July, is the "hardcore" gamers worst nightmare every year.

PS4 and Xbox One will hit new hardware sale lows in North America

NPD also has the exclusive right to data and retail sales tracking in North and South America and is funded by the industry including Nintendo.

Michael Pachter (this site's favorite analyst) and one of the most important analysts in gaming and NPD.

I will repeat there in nothing on your list that will drive console and PC market growth for the next 6 months in North America, especially the "hardcore" market.

I Predict PS4 will be sub 150k with Xbox One being sub 100k for February.

I'll revisit this next month when the NPD February main chart looks just like this chart.