Monday, May 6, 2013

NPD March 2013: Good-bye PS2 edition

Before I jump in on the late NPD report, I do have something to report.  Effective June 1st, GameStop will no longer be taking in any Playstation 2 titles, systems, or accessories.


GameStop will stop taking in PlayStation 2 systems, games, and accessories starting on June 1, 2013. A poster on Reddit snapped the above picture, and I've since confirmed with a number of stores and employees at different GameStop locations that they will indeed stop taking in anything PlayStation 2 related starting next month.

The PlayStation 2 was the final last-generation system that GameStop stores were taking in, as the chain had stopped accepting GameCube systems early last year, and Xbox consoles a few years prior.

So it looks like it comes to this.  After June 1st, no more Generation 6 games will be sold there, ether new or used.  Better start hitting Ebay after June 1st if you want all those games you missed out on, PS2 fans.   Me?   I ACTUALLY REGRET NOT GETTING ENOUGH GAMES!


But enough talk about that.  Let's move onto the NPD of March.

At number 10: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 by NamcoBandai for the 360 and PS3.  Seems to be competing against Dragon Ball Z for most overused Anime.

At number 09: The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct by ActivisionBlizzard for the 360, PS3 and Wii U.  Now who said it couldn't be better than Resident Evil 6?

At number 08: NBA 2K13 by Take 2 Interactive for the 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP and PC.  It outclassed Madden, but it was outclassed by...

At number 07: MLB 13: The Show by Sony for the PS3.  Even Barry Bonds wouldn't pass a test in this game.

At number 06: Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon by Nintendo for the 3DS.  Maybe Luigi should team up with Scooby Doo and the Mystery gang

At number 05: Call of Duty: Black Ops II by Activision Blizzard for the 360, PS3, Wii U and PC.  No one knows if the next Call of Duty calls for Wii U players

At number 04: God of War: Ascension by Sony for the PS3.  A look into Kratos' early years.

At number 03: Gears of War: Judgement by Microsoft for the 360.  Err, why wasn't this game released last year?

At number 02: Tomb Raider by SquareEnix for the 360, PS3 and PC.  Rumor has it that despite the sales, the game is declared a financial flop.  I beg to differ

And at number 01: Bioshock infinite by Take 2 Interactive for the 360, PS3 and PC.  Harkening back to the old days of the FPS through clever exploration and combat.

But what about the Hardware?  All there is to report is the X-Box 360 with 261K.  A strong month for the 360, but it ain't saying much as sales for the systems are still on the decline.  A transition to the next gen, or are people not buying much into video games?


According to NPD analyst Liam Callahan, "March 2013 saw deep declines of 32% in dollar spending for dedicated video game hardware, with stronger declines for portable hardware than for consoles. However, sales for the Nintendo 3DS grew 9% over last March. In March 2013, the Xbox 360 had the highest hardware unit sales for the 20th month in a row.”


9%.  Looks like the 3DS is catching up even further.  But what about the Vita?  The PS3?  The Wii and Wii U?  Why are we not seeing numbers?  Are Nintendo and Sony chicken(Especially Sony)?

And what does April hold?  Stay tuned as we find out.

Works Cited:
Destructoid
NeoGAF

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