Slashdot Mirror
Nintendogs Sells Quarter of a Millions Units
Zangief writes "Nintendogs, the quirky DS title about dogs, has sold more than a quarter of a million units in its first week on the U.S. market. This puts to rest the argument that Nintendogs wouldn't appeal to the Western consumers, obsessed with 'mature' games." Expect our look at the title next week.
A quarter of a millions, eh? That could be anything up to 250 million :-P
DxBlog - It's where you want to be
...And the week after that, and again the next week.
Well to quote Uncle Jed, weeeellllll doggies! That's a lot of units. As with most successful things, prepare for loads of imitators and maybe even a new peripheral from Sony. Though I suspect a similar game could be created using the eye toy.
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
There's a prime-time television programme in the UK called 'It's Me or the Dog' - one of the never-ending succession of formats involving things like unruly children and the taming thereof, unhygienic students and the fumigation thereof, infectious kitchens and the incineration thereof, ad nauseam...
;-)
It's sponsored by 'Nintendogs'. I've no idea if the game's even available in the UK yet - but I still couldn't help but think of Penny Arcade's approach...
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
I lived on a farm for a lot of my life or in a small town and was able to have pets if I wanted to. However, there are a lot of people who just aren't able to have pets. If you live in a big city in an apartment, chances are you won't be able to have a cat or a dog. If you're still living with your parents there's nothing you can do about it. A 14 year old can't just got out an get a place of their own and have a pet.
Additionally, pets can be very expensive and time consuming. You can generally get one for low costs from an animal shelter, but a specific breed is going to cost you some money. After thise you need to continually buy food which varies in price depending how much your dog or cat can eat.
Next there are vet expenses associated with keepign the animal healthy. A dog might need to be fixed so you don't end up with puppies. Shots and vaccinations are always a good idea as well.
Now add in some of your time. It's going to take time to feed, water, and care for the pet. Add in time to teach it to behave and house break it and that adds up.
You could easily spend thousands of dollars in food, care, and time taking care of a real pet, assuming you can even have one in the first place. Or you can go out and buy a DS for $130 and the game for another $35 or so and play it at your leisure. Is it the same as having a real pet? Of coruse not. But it might be a good thing for some people who've wanted pets but are unable to keep them or afford them.
The game caused the DS to outsell all other hardware COMBINED in Japan for quite a while. I wonder if it will do that here too.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
this little guy is browser based little guy is loosely based upon my own brussels griffon - and written entirely in javascript! http://www.smileproject.com/chewy/
http://www.smileproject.com
This puts to rest the argument that Nintendogs wouldn't appeal to the Western consumers, obsessed with 'mature' games.
I hope a lot of game developers are paying attention to this. I don't meant to say there's anything wrong with what anyone else does for fun, but I've had enough GTA for a lifetime. Between this and Katamari, I hope the industry will be pushed to make games complex enough for older audiences without the normally associated "adult" themes.
I don't mean to say the adult themes should disappear or that the light-hearted games don't exist. I just hope that sales of games like this cause a shift in the curretn ratio of quality light/dark themed games.
Help a student gain some exp. http://www.halovariants.com/touchup/index.php
My sentiments exactly.
So in that case, I guess you don't really believe in sports games, racing games, or any kind of simulation that could remotely be done in real life? It's called a GAME, played for fun. Sure, it's a poor substitute for owning a real pet, but saying game players are too lazy to do 'real life stuff' is just arrogant.
I play NBA Live, Madden, etc. That doesn't make me too lazy to actually play 'real' basketball or football. It's usually the opposite, in fact.
What kind of games ARE acceptable to you then (at least, that don't make you consider the player "too lazy")?
So is Nintendogs the new Tamagotchi?
It sure seems like it: virtual pet which you have to care for in order to keep alive, and became a craze overnight....
"Go to CNN [for a] spell-checked, fact-checked summary" -- CmdrTaco
Quite a bit of vitriol there, for an argument that simply doesn't hold water.
Sure, you play NBA Live, Madden, etc...and you also play football, basketball, etc. IRL. But tell me: do you play NBA basketball IRL? Are you an NFL player IRL? No? Well, then, I trust you see my point.
I love hockey, myself. I love to play NHL 2005, but I'd really love to skate with Yzerman and company in person. You know what? NOT GONNA HAPPEN. So I guess I'll be sticking with the game.
Another flaw in your argument: is Nintendogs actually a game? Are you competing against others? Do you pit your Nintendog against others in a bloody dog fight? (Seriously, do you? Because if this is possible, I'll be the first to buy this game.)
Since you asked, here's a few games I like:
- Splinter Cell - because I'm not a black-ops badass IRL.
- Half-Life - because I'm not a scientist badass IRL.
- GTA - because I'm not a plain-old badass IRL.
See the pattern here? I play games to do things I couldn't do otherwise. I understand that a large percentage of Nintendog owners do so because they're unable to own a dog IRL, and I'm totally behind them. However, I also know that a large percentage of Nintendog users do so because they simply can't be bothered with the hassle of an actual pet, and I find that very sad.I hope this clarifies my position.
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
What about cost? Real pets cost a lot more than a one time fee of $180 (DS + Nintendogs).
What about time? Not having time to take care of a real pet is not the same thing as being lazy.
What about people who are allergic? There are a bunch of people out there who are allergic to most pets.
Are you a parent? What if you don't want a dog, but your kids do. Are you going to buy your kids a dog that you will eventually end up having to take care of or are you just going to buy your kids Nintendogs?
What if you just don't plain WANT a real pet? I love dogs, but I don't want ANY of the responsibility of taking care of one. I've had many many pets in the past and I'm done with it.
Are you suggesting people like me should go out and buy a real dog anyway, even though that's not what we want? Am I wrong for buying Nintendogs?
Explain your logic here.
And what about other games? Like the other person who replied to you pointed out. Do you own any sports games? Why not just go play the real sport? Do you own any FPS games? Join the Army. Oh wait I bet you don't want all the other responsibilities that come with joining the Army. Go figure.
Is Nintendogs a game? Sure. Games don't necessarily have to have a winner or loser. Competitive games do, but some games aren't competitive. A game is just a structured playing experience, that is playing with rules governing what you do.
;-)
Also by your definition, someone who loves dogs, but doesn't own a Chihuahua wouldn't be too lazy if they raised one in Nintendogs. I might already own five dogs, but I'm not going to add a real Chihuahua to the mix. So Nintendogs is perfect.
Of course I currently travel too much to own a dog in real life, so Nintendogs is perfect for that situation as well when I just want to play around with a fake dog.
So what are you saying? Can you afford to go buy a $500/$1000+ puppy, pay for all of its training, take it to prof. dog shows and win real money? Because that's what I can do with Nintendogs.
I have a DS and think it's great, but 250,000 titles inside of one week isn't all that. Halo2 sold around 2 million inuts in one day, and even that wasn't a record (which I believe is one of the mario titles or final fantasy...)
However, Its more notable due to the DS' user base in the US (2 million, right?), but not on the number alone. 1 user in 8 picked it up, which is impressive, and hopefully will be a wake up call to third parties: DS users like it when you exploit the unique abilities of a platform, and don't like it when you port your playstation title and tack "DS" on the end of the name. It's more of a statement of the DS third party selection.
I wonder if we'll see a similar percentage with that music creation game ("Band Brothers" or something... I'm behind my employer's internet fun-blocker). You can create your own music tracks using the stylus and record your own samples/instuments using the built in microphone. I'm picking that up on day one.
Second of all, when I don't like the reporting from a site, I tend to find a site that has reporting I do like rather than trolling the site I don't like.
I bet the psp could have sell millions if they had released SonyDoggys. Oh sony.. *shakes head*
//WR
Is Band Brothers ever coming to the US? I finally gave up and imported it. I couldn't wait any longer.
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
See the pattern here? I play games to do things I couldn't do otherwise.
You know I don't even own a DS, let alone Nintendogs, but you'll forgive me if I don't sink into a deep depression worrying about what games I play that you approve of.
However, I also know that a large percentage of Nintendog users do so because they simply can't be bothered with the hassle of an actual pet, and I find that very sad.
Why? You'd rather those people go out and get real pets then neglect them?
Heres an interesting factoid: The top selling PSP title for the Playstation Portable is Need for Speed, selling about 325,000 copies as of the end of July. Compare that to Nintendogs, which sold 250,000 in just a week. Ouch!
e s-top-psp-game-in-about-a-week-123569.php
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/psp/nintendogs-crush
I own a miniature daschund and I also purchased Nintendogs (miniature dashund version even) It has been much easier to teach my Nintendog new tricks. My real dog only knows a few tricks and one is just rolling onto his back and being as hard to pick up as possible when I tell him I have to go to work.
Why can't people own both? Maybe they aren't too lazy to raise real pets. Maybe they are just pet/dog fanatics. I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of the younger female DS owners actually have dogs at home as well. That's how it goes around my part of town at least. The family is made up of a few children, mom and dad, and for the most part, a pet or two. These are the same families that are purchasing Nintendogs for their kids. They didn't want a tamagotchi back in the day because they were to lazy for a real one or they didn't like their dog. They bought one because they were cool and fun to play with and the experience was different from playing with their real pets.
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
Ahh, yes. I should change where I live so I can get a dog. Mind you, a lot of us that live on campus or in apartments really can't have pets. Well, we can, but then we violate our lease and get evicted. I'll stick with the DS, thank you.
250 in a week is top flight material. Unlike Halo2, I think that word of mouth will spur on sales, in part thanks to the widespread appeal. Halo2 moved 2 million in one day, thanks to pre-order hype and shortages. But it quickly spiked downward from there.
.5 to 1 million over the course of the next 51 weeks or so. Even fewer get the pokemon sales pattern that actually grows sometime after release. The only one I can think of offhand was Turok Rage Wars, and that only happened because of a drop in price to 20 bucks.
Take a look at the top 10 sales for a given week, and you'll see what I mean. Annually, I think about five games will sell a million in a week. They then go on to sell another
I Browse at +4 Flamebait
Open Source Sysadmin
From IGN:
"Nearly 15 percent of all DS owners bought Nintendogs in just a week, a virtually unprecedented adoption rate for any title on an established system," said Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime. "And it's also helping sell new DS hardware. Coupled with a price drop to $129.99, retailers are reporting DS sales up between one and a half and three times previous levels, and last week DS comfortably outsold our portable competitors."
http://ds.ign.com/articles/647/647328p1.html
My Xbox Live Gamer Card
"Who knew so many were too lazy to raise real pets?"
"My sentiments exactly."
Uh huh. Betcha anything that most of the 250,000 people that purchased Nintendogs already have pets.
I have to be honest, I'm really sick of your assumptions about why people are buying that game. I don't know why you think the game is a good substitute for a real animal. I also don't know why you think this is somehow an alternative. FIf you don't mind my being brutally honest here, you sound just as idiotic as that group that's against Rockstar's Bully. Loud claims with nothing substantiative to back them up.
The worst part is, as I've tried to point out to you before, Nintendo is working to promote responsible treatment of dogs..
You'll pardon me for thinking you need to STFU.
"Derp de derp."
I bet the psp could have sell millions if they had released SonyDoggys.
It would compete with AIBO. Companies don't like to compete with themselves.
If someone "can't be bothered with the hassle of an actual pet" and they're playing nintendogs (and yes, even only having read about it, it is indeed a game, as much as The Sims is a game), why are you sad that they aren't getting a real pet? Devoting time to a quirky little DS game is a lot different from owning a real pet. The sad thing would be the reverse, if someone bought a dog thinking they could treat it like a video game.
There's a big difference between "something you can do IRL" and the simple pleasure of a video game, which have the ability to take realistic (or not) situations and abstract them into a game playing format, i.e. with a controller/mouse/joystick/etc, and the gameplay fun factor takes a much different form than the fun factor (and potential cost, difficulty, time commitment) of doing it IRL. Sure, I like playing basketball, and I like playing NBA 2k5, but holding a controller and moving five 3d characters down the court is a lot different experience from playing basketball IRL, and there is a much different context in which I would do one or the other.
If I saw someone playing Nintendogs, I'd probably ask them if I could play it for a few minutes -- I should hope they wouldn't be like "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET A DOG, JERK!?"
First of all, a heads up about more information from a diffrent source is not a sign of an impending dupe.
When we're talking about 1up and Zonk, yes, it is.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
PlanetGamecube recently had a blurb to the effect that it is due to arrive in US soon. We'll see...
Im curious, how do you like the import version? Does the language barrier get in the way of navigation/gameplay or is it one of those games that you can pick up and play regardless? If it get's delayed again I may just import it too.
Halo 2 never suffered from shortages.
#####Free and Open Source Game Directory#####
The idea that since Nintendogs, a very well made pet simulator, has sold 250,000 copies in a week, somehow contradicts the notion that western gamers are tending towards more mature titles is inaccurate. Here are some raw numbers: Fable - 375,000 units in its first week. Madden 06 - 1,700,000 first week. Halo 2 - 2,800,000 first DAY. San Andreas - Over 2,500,000 in its first week. Nintendogs - 250,000 in its first week. Nintendogs will sell "ok" because its a well made game for a younger audience. The same young audience who generally do not play Halo, GTA, or Madden. The sales numbers though are not all that impressive as has been noted on this board and in reality it is just PR spinning from Nintendo.
Looks like all of the FPS/Halo Fanboys/Sony Fanboys have it ALL WRONG!!! I have been arguing for YEARS that E is for EVERYBODY. Unfortunately, I often get read articles like "nintndo iz teh suxors!!1 nbody plys tohse kiddy games" (Especially in EGM).
:)
My theory is, is that while M$ and $ony are battling it out to retain control of the VERY SMALL, percentage of potential gamers who like FPS and games that they play with one hand, Nintetndo will pick up THE REST OF THE MARKET. That is all of the people who use to play games in the 80s, but stopped since EVERY game was a FPS or a Booby Fighter.
So to sum it up for all of you drooling over the next generic FPS or illegal activity simulator, nintendo roxs 11!!!one! $ony adn Micro$oft are teh suxors!!1 Just wanted to write in a way you could understand.
You are just full of it. The argument can also be used with Madden. You just play NFL Madden, because you are too lazy to be a real NFL player.
However, I also know that a large percentage of Nintendog users do so because they simply can't be bothered with the hassle of an actual pet, and I find that very sad.
How do you know this? Did you made a study? can I see your data, please? Do you work at Nintendo Marketing?
My theory: Nintendo developed a great game (as they almost always do), and marketed rightly (which sometimes they botch). Therefore, it is selling. Period.
Then please move on to point two.
What's so sad about living in a dorm or apartment complex that doesn't allow pets? I'd much rather have people play Nintendogs a lot in those sorts of buildings than try to drag pets in illegally.
Second of all, when I don't like the reporting from a site, I tend to find a site that has reporting I do like rather than trolling the site I don't like.
Well, that's where you and I differ. Thankfully, there's room for all of us...IN MY PANTS!!!
You're right, I was going to say fear of shortages, but that really wasn't it, so I took it out--almost. Whoops.
I Browse at +4 Flamebait
Open Source Sysadmin
Go to the Nintendogs official site and click on "Brielle's Diary" ... It's just so similar to the beginning of a porn video it's amazing ...
Trys cats. All the pet, half the mess, three times the clean. And if you ever forget to feed them, they even catch their own food!
Massive local bird stock depletion and contemptuous arrogance may result.
May the Maths Be with you!
If I wanted that, I'd be in church ;)
Yes, mine too.
This reminds me of when Rome: Total War came out. Unlike all those lazy people who just wanted to play a game, I went back in time to 250BC, and led the German tribes on a bloody rampage through Europe. Much more fun!