Should I be a coffee bean counter?
Last month, on March 9, I started tracking Red Steel 2's Amazon.com sale ranks.
I visited Amazon.com multiple times a day, and would capture the sale ranks for Red Steel 2(game only) and the Red Steel 2 bundle w/ Wii MotionPlus.
Along with the sale ranks, I made sure to note the date/time the data was captured.
Why?
I decided I would start following Red Steel 2, so I could see if the game ever reached as high as The Conduit did in Amazon.com's sale ranks, and perhaps get an idea of how it is selling overall.
(You may need some caffeine before advancing)
The Chart:
The data in the chart was captured from March 9, 2010 through April 11, 2010.
The chart shows the sale ranks for both versions of Red Steel 2.
The lower the line is on the chart, the higher the rank for Red Steel 2.
The lightning bolt symbols on the chart show the days that Red Steel 2 television commercials were seen.
The first commercial was seen/reported on March 17, 2010(sources included):
http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=117664
http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_lobby/b8270/190321655/p1/?12
http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_lobby/b8270/190325128/p1/
The second Red Steel 2 commercial was reported seen on March 29, 2010(source included):
http://www.gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=118923
The star symbol on the chart shows the first day/time, I recorded both Red Steel 2 versions breaking into Amazon.com's "Top 100" in the video games.
The day was March 23, 2010, around 6:00PM. March 23 is also the day that Red Steel 2 was released, I thought it was interesting that was the first day I had seen it break into the "Top 100".
If you're wondering, "What was it ranked?" I've got the data!
On March 23, 2010, at approximately 6:00PM:
Red Steel 2(game only) was ranked #97.
Red Steel 2 bundle w/ WM+ was ranked #88.
The software copy only, of Red Steel 2, stayed in the "Top 100" both March 23 and March 24.
On March 25, the game was going back and forth, ranging from #89 to #112.
The highest rank I recorded for Red Steel 2(game only) was #83 on March 23, 2010 at 11:55PM.
I haven't seen Red Steel 2(game only) in the "Top 100" since March 25.
The Red Steel 2 bundle w/ WM+ made it to the "Top 100" on March 23, with its highest rank I captured, being #85 at 9:20PM, on March 23.
The Red Steel 2 bundle w/ WM+ has not been recorded in the "Top 100", since 2:30AM on March 24, 2010.
Thoughts:
I said one of the reasons I started tracking Red Steel 2's sale ranks was to see if it ever reached how high The Conduit did on Amazon.com's sale ranks.
Well, The Conduit was recorded as reaching #18 on Amazon.com, as reported by GoNintendo.com.
I know that Red Steel 2 is selling two separate bundles of the game, but I don't think it's looking very good for the game's sales, especially considering how little either version of the game has been in the "Top 100".
I know Amazon.com isn't the end all be all as of sales data.
I just think that from this information, it doesn't look like the second Red Steel 2 commercial effected the sales very much for the game, as of increasing them.
One possibility I've thought about is perhaps the commercials are getting people to go out to the stores to purchase the game, instead of ordering it online.
Questions:
Do you think Amazon.com's sale ranks for both versions of Red Steel 2 is something that will be reflected in the March NPD numbers? Do you think Red Steel 2 is performing as good as The Conduit did, even though Red Steel 2 has been ranked lower than The Conduit was?
If you haven't purchased Red Steel 2, do you plan on purchasing it soon?
If your interested in either Red Steel 2 or The Conduit, you can see new and used prices for them on Amazon.com below:
The chart shows the sale ranks for both versions of Red Steel 2.
The lower the line is on the chart, the higher the rank for Red Steel 2.
The lightning bolt symbols on the chart show the days that Red Steel 2 television commercials were seen.
The first commercial was seen/reported on March 17, 2010(sources included):
http://gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=117664
http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_lobby/b8270/190321655/p1/?12
http://boards.ign.com/nintendo_wii_lobby/b8270/190325128/p1/
The second Red Steel 2 commercial was reported seen on March 29, 2010(source included):
http://www.gonintendo.com/viewstory.php?id=118923
The star symbol on the chart shows the first day/time, I recorded both Red Steel 2 versions breaking into Amazon.com's "Top 100" in the video games.
The day was March 23, 2010, around 6:00PM. March 23 is also the day that Red Steel 2 was released, I thought it was interesting that was the first day I had seen it break into the "Top 100".
If you're wondering, "What was it ranked?" I've got the data!
On March 23, 2010, at approximately 6:00PM:
Red Steel 2(game only) was ranked #97.
Red Steel 2 bundle w/ WM+ was ranked #88.
The software copy only, of Red Steel 2, stayed in the "Top 100" both March 23 and March 24.
On March 25, the game was going back and forth, ranging from #89 to #112.
The highest rank I recorded for Red Steel 2(game only) was #83 on March 23, 2010 at 11:55PM.
I haven't seen Red Steel 2(game only) in the "Top 100" since March 25.
The Red Steel 2 bundle w/ WM+ made it to the "Top 100" on March 23, with its highest rank I captured, being #85 at 9:20PM, on March 23.
The Red Steel 2 bundle w/ WM+ has not been recorded in the "Top 100", since 2:30AM on March 24, 2010.
Thoughts:
I said one of the reasons I started tracking Red Steel 2's sale ranks was to see if it ever reached how high The Conduit did on Amazon.com's sale ranks.
Well, The Conduit was recorded as reaching #18 on Amazon.com, as reported by GoNintendo.com.
I know that Red Steel 2 is selling two separate bundles of the game, but I don't think it's looking very good for the game's sales, especially considering how little either version of the game has been in the "Top 100".
I know Amazon.com isn't the end all be all as of sales data.
I just think that from this information, it doesn't look like the second Red Steel 2 commercial effected the sales very much for the game, as of increasing them.
One possibility I've thought about is perhaps the commercials are getting people to go out to the stores to purchase the game, instead of ordering it online.
Questions:
Do you think Amazon.com's sale ranks for both versions of Red Steel 2 is something that will be reflected in the March NPD numbers? Do you think Red Steel 2 is performing as good as The Conduit did, even though Red Steel 2 has been ranked lower than The Conduit was?
If you haven't purchased Red Steel 2, do you plan on purchasing it soon?
If your interested in either Red Steel 2 or The Conduit, you can see new and used prices for them on Amazon.com below:
The game is going to be a soft seller. Which is a shame because it is really good. I can say I have never seean an advertisment for it, and having to overcome the perception of both the Red Steel brand and the Wii itself ultimatly will be too much to overcome. Combine that with Ubisoft ultimatly throughing NMH2 and RS2 out on the market to die does not bode well for it.
ReplyDeleteI would say that the main culprit is the two SKU's, but that does not seem to hamper MH3 from breaking into the top 10.
@delawaregamer:
ReplyDeleteThe commercials were going, but I think they were on just a few channels, like Spike TV and G4TV.
I think there are a few problems for the game.
Sure, it has the WM+ controls, but they released the game nearly 3.5 years after the original.
In 3.5 years, they should have been able to include a multiplayer component or online leaderboards at least! I think the lack of multiplayer is going to hurt it, until a price drop happens.
Thanks for the thoughts!
BTW, keep an eye out for another chart soon!
After playing this game, I guess a multiplayer might work in some kind of duel mode. But the game mechanic does not lend itself to traditional multiplayer. It is melee focused first person brawler, so the design of the game lends itself to what it is, an intensly first person game and I don't have a problem with that personally.
ReplyDelete@delawaregamer:
ReplyDeleteYea, perhaps not multi-player, but a score ranking or time trials of some sort, that get posted to leaderboards.