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Pachter: April's low game sales 'baffling'
The April NPD sales figures for the US were bad. How bad? Let's try: The April NPD figures were as if millions of analysts "cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced" bad. Speaking with IndustryGamers, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says his group found the results "baffling." He notes that sales were the lowest since May of 2007, "when this generation was barely underway," and it was the weakest April since 2005. Pachter also stated, "The sequential decline of 54% is the greatest in the 11 years that we have been tracking monthly data (except for December-January declines), dwarfing the previous record of 42% set in March-April 2002." At a loss to explain exactly why April 2010 was so bad, Pachter feels it was just a "fluke." He explained, "We do not believe that core gamers suddenly shifted allegiance to Facebook or iPhone games in April, nor do we believe that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 online play increased dramatically during April." With May's lineup including several major titles across multiple consoles, the analyst feels the month could show "dramatic growth." If not, well, let's just hope for the best right now. Flukes happen.
Uncharted 2 exceeding sales expectations, DLC coming 'before the end' of 2009
digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2009/10/23/uncharted-2-dlc-coming-before-the-end-of-2009-exceeding-sales/'; With all the resounding critical praise that Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 has received thus far, it's good to see creative director Amy Hennig speaking up on the possibility of DLC for the game. "We're working on that now ... there will be DLC available before the end of the year," she told IndustryGamers today. Though she's not yet revealing very much on what exactly the content will entail, she did say it may include, "new maps, new characters, things like that ... some of it will be free of charge and some of it will be purchasable." She wouldn't directly quote sales of the title thus far, but she did allow that the title is "exceeding expectations" and outselling the original game "by many, many times" -- a fact no doubt aided by the PlayStation 3's primary position among consoles on last month's NPDs. Hennig seems to embrace this head-on, referring to the confluence of events that lead to the current success of Uncharted 2 -- a hardware price drop, a handful of games being pushed back, and critical acclaim for the game -- as "serendipity." That doesn't mean the game ends in an expensive ice cream shop, right? %Gallery-70387%
GameDaily BIZ writers part with AOL, become IndustryGamers.com
The business writers of AOL GameDaily BIZ have set up shop at IndustryGamers.com. The new site was created in partnership with Hammersuit LLC, which also has ties to Destructoid.com and GoNintendo.com. AOL states it will no longer provide the GameDaily BIZ newsletter as of May 31. GameDaily will continue on its editorial path -- we'd give you the Top 10 ways it'll do that, but we simply don't have the time.Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of IndustryGamers James Brightman, who was the business editor at GD biz, told us when contacted for comment, "GameDaily's consumer division took a left turn, we're taking a right one. I'm sad to see GameDaily BIZ go away, but I'm thrilled to enter this new chapter of my career with IndustryGamers." When asked if he'd be doing the same work at IG that he had at GD biz, he stated, "Our focus at IG is very similar GameDaily BIZ, but we're looking to add some opinion and research into the mix."Brightman plans to continue something similar to the GD biz newsletter at IG. Those interested can sign up at the new website now.
