2009 Nintendo Wii Games: New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort: Data, Sales, Review Scores

Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii  Nintendo Channel data, Amazon.com Sales Ranks, MetaCritic.com Review Score Averages

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Nintendo Channel Data Breakdown

Number of Players Reporting Data: 

Wii Sports Resort, released in July of this year, has 268,672 players reporting data so far.

Wii Fit Plus, released in October, has 107,968 players reporting data on the Nintendo Channel.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii, released on November 15, now has 215,190 players reporting data.

Player Increase:

Wii Sports Resort had an increase of 15,814 more players reporting data this week, than last week.

Wii Fit Plus had 12,748 more players reporting data this week on the Nintendo Channel.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii had 24,893 more players reporting data this week.

"Total" Game-Play Hours Reported/Increased:

Wii Sports Resort had 5,096,521 Total Hours reported, an increase of 377,780 hours from last week.

Wii Fit Plus had 1,158,496 Total Hours reported, an increase of 211,153 hours from last week.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii had 3,694,420 Total Hours reported, an increase of 659,715 hours from last week.

Amazon.com Sales Rank:

Wii Sports Resort's Amazon.com sale rank was #7 and the current selling price is $46.99.

Wii Fit Plus' Amazon.com sale rank was #11(game with board) and #10 for just the software.  The current selling price for Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board is $139.95, and the selling price for just the software is $19.96.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii's Amazon.com sale rank was #6 and the selling price is $49.96.

*You can purchase the games mentioned in the article from Amazon.com by clicking the images/links below:

GameRankings.com Review Score Averages:

The review score averages are unchanged from last week.

Thoughts:

New Super Mario Bros. Wii had a little more than three times the increase in "Total Hours", than Wii Fit Plus did this week.  NSMBW again had more "Total Hours" gained by itself than Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus had combined together.

I'm still really surprised that Wii Fit Plus is sold out on Amazon.com.

Three weeks and counting now, Amazon.com is still out-of-stock of Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board!  If you missed it above, the Wii Fit Plus is only available from 2nd/3rd party vendors on Amazon.com.  The price is starting at $139.95 + $19.95 shipping!

Last week, I said my wife and I did beat the main campaign of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and, "We are now going back collecting the star coins to unlock the other levels."

Well, we did complete New Super Mario Bros. Wii and found all the star coins in all the levels.

Questions:

If you have played New Super Mario Bros. Wii by yourself, or with others, did you go back and collect the star coins to unlock the hidden levels?  If so, did you complete all the hidden levels and collect all the star coins within them?

*Notes:

Nintendo Channel data captured after the Nintendo Channel updated on Monday, January 18, 2010.  Numbers of players reporting data are rounded down to the nearest whole number.  If you click the links for the games, Amazon.com may direct you to a 2nd/3rd Party Vendor that has the game in-stock.

2009 Nintendo Wii Shooter Games: Data, Sales Ranks, and Review Scores

House of the Dead: Overkill, The Conduit, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Nintendo Channel data, Amazon.com Sales Ranks, GameRankings.com Review Averages

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Nintendo Channel Data Breakdown

Number of Players Reporting Data:

House of the Dead: Overkill had 35,369 players reporting play-time data on the Nintendo Channel.

The Conduit had 51,835 players report play-time data this week.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex had 22,954 players report data.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles had 9,474 players report data this week.

Number of Players Reporting Data Increase:

House of the Dead: Overkill had 772 more players reporting data this week, than last week.

The Conduit had 1,014 more players reporting data this week.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex gained 2,729 more players reporting data in the last week.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles increased by 958 players reporting data this week.

"Total" Game-Play Hours Reported/Increased:

House of the Dead: Overkill had 291,041 Total Hours reported, an increase of 6,567 hours from last week.

The Conduit had 1,133,649 Total Hours reported, an increase of 22,373 hours.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex had 582,422 Total Hours reported, an increase of 95,035 hours.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles had 96,390 Total Hours reported, an increase of 12,351 hours.

Amazon.com Sales Rank:

House of the Dead: Overkill's Amazon.com sale rank is #93 and its selling price is $12.99.

The Conduit's Amazon.com sale rank is #644 and its selling price is $27.99.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex's Amazon.com sale rank is #148 and its selling price is $46.99.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles's Amazon.com sale rank is #600 and its selling price is $46.31.

GameRankings.com Review Score Averages:

The only game that saw a change in its GameRankings.com review score average, from last week, was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex.

It had one review added to its total number and that review helped increase the game's overall average.

Last week Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex was sitting at a 78.07% average with 28 reviews, this week its review score average increased to 78.48% with 29 reviews.

As always, if you're interested in purchasing any of these, you can see the game and current "best price" on Amazon.com below:

Questions:
This week's question isn't about the games, if you have something to say about them, please do leave a comment though.  The question is about the new blog layout.
Do you like the newer layout?  Or did you like it the way it was?  If you do or don't like, let me know what reasons you do, or don't like it.




Notes:  The Nintendo Channel data was captured on Monday, January 25, 2010.  The numbers of players reporting data are rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Amazon.com Advertising No More Heroes 2 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom!

The following is an email I received from Amazon.com, advertising Wii games and a few Wii accessories.

I've provided links directly to the games and accessories, directly beneath each split section of the email advertisement.

Take a look at what made it into the email!

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars for $46.99

             New Releases Advertised*:

Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll for $46.99 

No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle for $46.99

Family Party 30 Great Games Winter Games for $19.99

Marines Modern Urban Combat for $29.82

 

 Games on the Horizon Advertised:

Endless Ocean: Blue Ocean for $29.82

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing for $39.99

Alice in Wonderland for $37.99

Data East Arcade Classics for $19.99

Advertising Amazon.com's Games Trade-in Service, weird choices in this section I think:

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers selling for $44.99

Walk It Out selling for $27.99

My Fitness Coach 2 selling for $27.99

Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection for $19.99

Advertising Hardware & Accessories:

Wii Sports Resort 8-in-1 Sports Pack for $32.01

Rock Band 2 Standalone Drums for $49.99

Wireless Sensor Bar for Wii for $14.96

Dumbbell Set for Wii for $14.99

I was glad to see 3rd Party games, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and No More Heroes 2, having a place in the email advertisement.  Hopefully placements and advertisements like these will raise awareness of these games on the Wii.  Do you plan on buying, or have you already purchased, any of the games or accessories seen in the Amazon.com email?

Dead Space Extraction (Wii): Data Debut, Sale Rank, Review Score Average

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Dead Space Extraction finally debuted with data today on the Nintendo Channel!  Let's take a look!

Nintendo Channel Data Breakdown

Number of Players Reporting Data:

Dead Space Extraction was released on September 29, 2009.  It had 7,884 players reporting data on the Wii's Nintendo Channel for it's debut this week.

"Total" Game-Play Hours Reported:
Dead Space Extraction had 50,117 Total Hours reported for it's debut.

GameRankings.com Review Score Average:
Dead Space Extraction is sitting with an average review score of 83.69%, off 58 reviews.  The game seemed to have been well received considering it wasn't like the original Dead Space with free movement, and was on-rails instead.

Amazon.com Sales Rank:

Dead Space Extraction's Amazon.com sale rank was #746 and the current selling price is $27.99.

The game did release in September with a MSRP of $49.99, but has since dropped down to a MSRP of $29.99.

If you're interested in Dead Space Extraction, you can find it available from Amazon.com and other vendors on Amazon.com, just by clicking on the picture/link of the game:

Thoughts:

Dead Space Extraction took a while to debut, but it finally has numbers providing some data and I find it interesting.

The game-play hours "Per-Person" are averaged at only 6 Hrs. 22 Min. for Dead Space Extraction.  The big thing the "Per-Person" numbers show is that Wii owners that played the game, seemingly only played it once.  This seems to go along with reviews that I read for the game, in which most said the game has little replay value and was only 5-8 hours in length.

I thought it was interesting Dead Space Extraction debuted today, because I actually rented the game this morning before I even checked the Nintendo Channel for the data.  After/if I finish, I may write-up my impressions of the game.

Questions:

Did you play Dead Space Extraction?  If so, what did you think about the game?  Did you only play it once, and then set it aside, or do you find yourself going back to play the game more?  I wonder if the short length of play and/or that the game was an "on-rails" shooter are the reasons why the game sold poorly, or perhaps it was a lack of marketing? 

Notes:  The Nintendo Channel data was captured after the Nintendo Channel updated on Monday, January 25, 2010.  Numbers of players reporting data are rounded down to the nearest whole number.

Deadly Creatures' Death: More Canceled Wii Games in North America

Just about two weeks ago, I broke the news that Metroid Prime: Trilogy Collector's Edition, Mario Strikers Charged, Battalion Wars 2, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, and Wario Land: Shake It! are no longer being published/shipped by Nintendo in North America.

All the games mentioned above are games by Nintendo.  Well, I received confirmation today of two 3rd Party Wii games currently not being published or shipped in North America.  One of the games canceled wasn't surprising to me, but the second game was very surprising to me, because it was released less than a year ago!

The publisher I contacted was THQ.  If the picture up top, or the title of this entry didn't give it away, the two Wii games currently not being published/shipped by THQ are Ratatouille(released in 2007) and Deadly Creatures(released in 2009!).

My source at THQ said both the games, "...are currently 'inactive', meaning that they are not currently being manufactured...".  My source said that they weren't aware of any plans to "...shift the titles back into production...".  If you were planning on picking up either of these games, now may be a great time to locate a copy.















Ratatouille doesn't have any information on the Nintendo Channel, but Deadly Creatures does.
If you haven't seen anything about Deadly Creatures, here's one of the first video trailers that was made for Deadly Creatures!

Questions:
I was/am interested in Deadly Creatures, but I never picked it up.  
If you played either of these games, what did you think about them?  If you haven't played either of them, does the information from THQ about these games not being manufactured currently, make you want to try to find a copy of them now?

A Serious Nintendo Wii Problem

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On January 4, 2010, I said, "I find it pretty crazy that Amazon.com can't keep New Super Mario Bros. Wii...in stock.  Amazon.com just yesterday, January 3, had New Super Mario Bros. Wii back in stock, and sold out between last night and today."  I finished my "Thoughts" by saying, "If New Super Mario Bros. Wii didn't sell 4.7 million copies in December, Nintendo has a serious problem with meeting demand.  The reason I say that is because Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold 4.7 million copies, just on release day."
Well, instead of the 4.7 million units, the number I should have used was 6.07 million units for the entire month.

Asking a Question
Did New Super Mario Bros. Wii sell 6.07, or even 4.7, million units in December?  If not, why not?

Doing Background Research
Looking at the NPD sales data for December 2009, New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold 2.82 million units in December.  While those are great numbers, they should have been better.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 sold 2.75 million units combining the PS3 and Xbox 360 sales for December.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's total sales for November/December were 8.82 million units combined, on the PS3 and Xbox 360 not including PC sales.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii 's total sales for November/December was 4.21 million units.

According to the NPD's numbers, New Super Mario Bros. Wii was still 4.61 million units behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's console sales at the end of December.

One major reason New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold only 2.82 million units in December

The week before Christmas, I went by Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Game Stop and none of the stores had New Super Mario Bros. Wii in stock! When checking the websites during December, New Super Mario Bros. Wii was either "backordered" or "out-of-stock", as it was for almost the entire last half of December(the picture above shows some of the sites).

I believe the reason that New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold only 2.82 million units in December is because people couldn't find the game!


Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was never "out-of-stock" or "backordered" on the websites when I was checking on New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Nintendo's Serious Wii Problem
I think one of Nintendo's largest problems is publishing and shipping games.  New Super Mario Bros. Wii isn't the only game that's had this problem from Nintendo.  Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus have also been "out-of-stock" or "backordered" at different times recently.

I don't understand how Nintendo's biggest game for the holiday season of 2009 was continuously "out-of-stock" or "backordered", and it sold only 4.21 million units in November and December.
I could understand New Super Mario Bros. Wii being "out-of-stock" and "backordered" if it had sold more than 6.07 million copies in December, but it didn't.

If Activision-Blizzard was able to ship/sell 8.82 million copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 during the holidays on two consoles, I don't see any reason why Nintendo couldn't do the same.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii should never have been "out-of-stock" or "backordered" at any point during the holidays with the sales that have been reported for it.

Questions
Do you think Nintendo has a production/shipping problem?  Or do you think Nintendo shipped smaller numbers of the game on purpose?
Do you think there is any justifiable excuse for New Super Mario Bros. Wii to have been "out-of-stock" or "backordered" during the holidays, when it sold less than half the copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2?


If you're interested in any of the games mentioned in the article, you can see the games and prices listed below!

2009 Nintendo Wii Shooter Games: Data, Sales Ranks, and Review Scores

 House of the Dead: Overkill, The Conduit, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles Nintendo Channel data, Amazon.com Sales Ranks, GameRankings.com Review Averages

(click photo to enlarge)

Nintendo Channel Data Breakdown

Number of Players Reporting Data: 

House of the Dead: Overkill has had 34,597 players report play-time data on the Nintendo Channel, since the game released in February.

The Conduit was released in June, and has had 50,821 players report play-time data on the Nintendo Channel.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex] was released just in November and has 20,225 players report data on the Nintendo Channel.
New this week is Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles which has had 8,516 players report their data, since the game released in November.  Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is replacing Metroid Prime: Trilogy on the list, due to Metroid Prime: Trilogy no longer being published or shipped in North America.

"Total" Game-Play Hours Reported/Increased:
House of the Dead: Overkill had 284,474 Total Hours reported, an increase of 6,833 hours from last week.
The Conduit had 1,111,276 Total Hours reported, an increase of 22,130 hours from last week.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex] had 487,387 Total Hours reported, an increase of 83,480 hours from last week.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles had 84,039 Total Hours reported since it released in November.

Amazon.com Sales Rank:

House of the Dead: Overkill's Amazon.com sale rank is #134, and is selling for $13.88.

The Conduit's sale ranked is #670, and is selling for $27.99.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex] is ranked #123, with a selling price of $39.99.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is ranked #697, with a selling price of  $46.31.

Player Increase:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex], again, saw the largest increase in players reporting data on the Nintendo Channel.
House of the Dead: Overkill had 1,154 more players reporting data this week, than last week.
The Conduit had 1,258 more players reporting data this week.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare [Reflex] gained 3,209 more players reporting data in the last week.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will have the number of players reporting data updated starting next week.

Thoughts:
I don't know why Capcom was complaining about Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicle's sales.  Capcom should give Wii owners a new original Resident Evil game built from the ground up for the Wii, and stop giving Wii owners remakes and onrail shooters of the original Resident Evil games.   I think an overall review score of 74.40% out of 100% shows that Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles isn't exactly meeting the quality of the better Resident Evil games before it.

Questions:
Do you think Capcom was correct in complaining about Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles' sales being poor according to Capcom?  Or do you think Capcom is being lazy and giving Wii owners remakes, instead of a new Resident Evil experience?

If you're interested in purchasing any of the games in the article, you can see the game and "best price" on Amazon.com below:

































Notes:  The Nintendo Channel data was captured after the Nintendo Channel updated on Monday, January 18, 2010.  Numbers of players reporting data are rounded down to the nearest whole number.