Was the Halo Effect an Illusion?

As can happen the sales data for September 2007 has been modified as more and more stores report their information. Because of this early reporting is often close but inaccurate.

It was widely reported that Xbox 360 console sales beat out the Wii in September based on massive sales of Halo 3. Now that sales numbers have settled we find that Microsoft was not able to knock the Wii off the top of the mountain.

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

That the NPD is wrong? Regardless I'm pretty sure Halo 3 was a big sales pusher for 360.

[sonarus]

well i would take npd over video game chartz any day but i was suprised halo 3 helped 360 sell that much. Even if its within 5000 units its still more than enough

[ItsDubC]

The chart for this article is worldwide sales. NPD covers NA sales only as far as I know.

[ry-guy]

I hate hate hate how people use the VG numbers for interpretation.

This article would have so much more weight if it were based off of the NPD numbers.

Does VG even go back and fix their numbers?

[ry-guy]

I'm curious how anyone can disagree with my previous comment?

If you disagree please post your reasoning. I am curious.

Unless of course you are trolling.

[HarryEtTubMan]

Burn.

[power of Green]

Vgc is pretty good but its has been off for the last month or two giving too low of numbers for the 360 and too high for PS3.

Strange I agree with #1 this has somebodies personal agenda all over it. Trust NPD.

[DJ]

inflates Xbox 360 figures and deflates PS3 figures. There was a big article on this fact a while back, and it mostly relates to the fact that they rely on NPD (which only tracks North America).

[THAMMER1]

You used to swear by Vcharts. What happened?

[DJ]

I supported VG Chartz up until around March (7 months ago) when members of this site starting informing each other that it was really just guestimating off of NPD, and applying that to worldwide figures. And whaddya know, during June a big article came out proving that VG Chartz was consistently inflating Xbox 360 sales figures and deflating PS3 sales figures.

PS3 is selling more consoles worldwide than Xbox 360, but strictly in North America the 360 has sold more units than PS3. Since VG Chartz simply uses NPD data, this makes perfect sense. It's not intentional, it's simply a flaw in how they create their numbers.

[Lightning Mr Bubbles]

The NPD is official. I didn't notice the VG charts logo till now, the VG charts = nonsense.

[power of Green]

The Halo effect isn't even in effect no one's started shopping for Christmas yet. And like #4 has said what is this suppose to be proving?.

[IdontTakeSides]

as we can tell by the article it never really had ne effect...no one started shopping yet..?? that's why 90% of all 360 owners own the game already...

[power of Green]

Somebody dissagreed? with post #5 lol. DID I MISS BLACK FRIDAY?. :0 lol

EDIT EDIT EDIT hold up here... below: "eclipse the sales numbers" blah blah blah. Who the fuc said anything about that?, WTF are you talking about?.

I said the mass shopping frenzies havn't started yet these console companies depend on so much this time a year and the "HALO EFFECT" hasn't really started and isn't yet a factor in the mass shopping spree's along side other hits.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND?.

EDIT: You twist what I was saying and you add your own personal spin to what I was saying so you would have an excuse to put in your 2-cents and you have the nerve to judge the way I talk to others?(this is the reason I talk to others the way I do lol, was I supposed to be alittle more civil talking about something you made up to make me look bad?).

[ItsDubC]

I wasn't one of the disagreers but I think they may be disagreeing w/ your implication that Halo 3 sales during the holiday season will eclipse the sales numbers from immediately after the game's release. In other words, one cannot assume that the Halo Effect hasn't started just because holiday shopping hasn't officially started.

EDIT:

What I meant was: "...implication that sales due to Halo 3..."

@below:

power of Green, I can see why they can't stand you. You're unnecessarily abrasive w/ others who may be trying to have a decent discussion w/ you. Time to improve those social skills.

[mighty_douche]

the halo effect has been and gone. obviously it'll still help some over xmas but i think M$ should of saved this till early december plus the extra couple of months development couldnt of done any harm. still if this was the case halo would of crushed all the other 360 games over the christmas period, well i meanly mean Mass Effects.

[power of Green]

They know the chick that posted this leans more Sony and when this happens its a Q for Sony fanboys to flood in. Its good news for Sony fanboys regardless of it being true.

The Halo effect will last well after Xmas what you said doesn't even make any sense who mentioned anything about release/launch sales of Halo 3?.

The "Halo effect" pushes console, brings attention to the Xbox 360 and helps other big games sell due to the attention the platform gets from Halo and Halo compliments the other games and vise versa. Halo effect amplifies the already busy holiday season a console company has. What you posted is an poor excuse to dissagree knowing no one has started to shop yet thats a fact.

Who the fuc said the holliday season has to sell more copies of the title than the launch of the title? and what the fuc does that have to do with millions of people wanting a console for Xmas with halo possibly in mind.

The impact of the Halo effect won't be realized months after Xmas.

[mighty_douche]

....and the truth..... shall set you freeeeeee.....!!!!

mate if you know that is indeed the case, why not try and change your approach to commentting? i mean look at your reply to ItsDubC, a completely unbiased reputable member of N4G.

well at least dont moan about it.

[gerrard]

Halo 3 had its five minutes of fame, just accept and move on

[Cat]

don't pretend i'm anything other than equitable in my submissions and contributions, PoG. i'm a multiplatform gamer, and i don't discriminate in my submissions/approvals/etc. and you know that full well.

p.s. PS3 RULEZ!!!! lol ;)

[b777conehead]

pog get over it the halo effect is long gone .black friday there will be the 399 40 gig ps3 with so many cool games like r & c and unchartered with high def not 640 like your beloved halo 3 so pog buy a ps3 this chirstmas and may be you want be so miserable and post so much hate

[frank jaeger]

dude lol every 1 is out to get us xbox dudes arnt they? uve got a notrious rating on this site im sure still i was a guy who agreed wit u cuz i actually read the comments rather than depend on racisity and hate and just click disagree for fun... as for the answer to the question about the halo effect , simple no will cefice

[Bloodmask]

Even if the Wii outsold the 360 by 5K it doesn't matter. The 360 hasn't ever come close to the Wii in sales. So obviously there is a "Halo" effect. How is selling over 500,000 Xbox 360s in NA alone an "illusion"???

[DJ]

is the only territory where the 360 is doing okay; everwhere else though, it's been falling flat. Something like 65~70% of all Xbox 360's are sold in North America. We just got sales numbers for the year, and PS3 has actually outsold the 360 this year (so far), which makes it obvious that keeping track of worldwide sales is more important than keeping track of sales strictly within a single territory.

[Daytona]

And hell no, there's no numbers that show the ps3 doing better than the Xbox 360. None.

Provide proof.

[TheTwelve]

Nah, it wasn't an illusion. It would be foolish to think that there was no Halo effect at all. Was it as ridiculously overpowering as some thought it would be? Also, nah---12

[OOG FunK]

i think when they say the effect hasnt toally started yet is the fact that some people may have went and bought the game and not the system yet waiting until the sales to see what they can do and the people who didnt buy anything and are waiting to see a sale to get there 360 and then pick up halo but all in all it still did a good job on sales for the past month

[DaEnforcer]

What did you expect from a Power Ranger?

[demolitionX]

go...go...power rangers....

[d3l33t]

wait a second, microsoft has a PR division and it succeeded?

great scott! whats next?

[PS360PCROCKS]

An illusion? How can something that clearly pushed software and hardware sales an illusion? What a jackass. It's not going to continue to sell that well AFTER everyone has bought it...

[otherZinc]

It won the most important market & its killin every console in software sold thats the most important thing: Software!

Also, the reason M$ released Halo 3 in September, is to get an initial hit and a second hit during the holiday shopping season. Halo will win November (Mass Effect?) & December.

[Ahhhh]

I along with a group of other people I know are gonna get Halo 3 this Christmas. Iuno, I think Mass Effect will sell quite a bit.

okay.. so umm.. dumbasses. what part did 4 morons disagree with? the part bout me gettin halo 3 durin Christmas or that I THINK, ya know just for you dumbasses that means its what i think and not any one else, that ME will sell good in November?

wait wait wait.. I think I know why 4 dumbasses disagreed with me.. I think its cause I said.. "I along with a group of other people I know," damn I hate having to go down to your dumbasses levels to speak to you.. I'm saying you disagreed cause I know people.. hard to believe for some of yall huh?? the only people most of you know are the other morons on this site that fight with your last breath for some fcking piece of silicone, plastic, and metal. You people will probably fight harder for your fcking game system instead of your girls.. which, well, none of you probably have or ever had or ever will have a girlfriend..

[texism]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahah
hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahaha
rofl lmfao hahahahahahaha
...
...
hahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Daytona]

Halo 3 came out September 25th, not September 1st, so to judge Halo 3 sales for September should of been for the week of the Halo 3 release only, not 25 days before it was even released.

Or maybe look at the next 30 days after Halo 3 was released.

Also VG Charts are wrong on there numbers, maybe www.nexgenwars.com is also wrong but there numbers show a slightly different story and so far they've been historically more acurate than VG Charts.

Xbox 360
29% pick 360 (235,534 votes)consoles sold
12,140,130 sold

PS3
20.2% pick PS3 (163,448 votes)consoles sold
5,029,618 sold

Wii
50.8% pick Wii (411,926 votes)consoles sold
12,145,523 sold

[XxZxX]

dude do a check up on nexgenwars.com first before you put it's name into it. quoting nexgenwars is an embarassement.

[Daytona]

When NPD has been released they make the proper adjustments and so far there's have been closest to accurate vs VG Charts.

Little ignorant sony fools are so lost in never never land. Tell peter pan hello.

[Rooftrellen]

Nexgenwars also spent some time tagged as a malware site by Google.

How about we don't put any trust in either site!

[happyjimmy]

I guess hype can even blur the reality spectrum sometimes.

[g4n]

no, a game named gaylo thats not even in HD did not beat the super hot Wii.

[The Chief of Mjolnir]

Shut up...

You Nintendo fanboys got no next gen game to compare with the 360 OR the PS3.

[texism]

@ 19.1 hahaha, but we are still kicking your asses big time lolz

[The Chief of Mjolnir]

Yeah, on the paper. But I really don´t care about numbers. You still got no next gen game that can take on 360 or PS3.

[unrealchris]

i think they should have release halo on the week of black Friday they would definitely killed the market

[power of Green]

Ridiculous news post. Its very funny how Sony fanboys think Halo 3 is done helping the 360 when the shopping season has not started.

#7.1 You can't reason with the likes of you I'm wasting my breath trying to be civil to rabids, haters and excuse makers living in a fantasy world. Got to ignor you for trying to twist what I was saying in your first reply.

#20 I think MSFT wants the attention to be focused on Mass Effect this NOV/DEC so the two games will compliment eachother not cancel eachother out.

[mighty_douche]

... you do moan alot dont you.

perhaps if you didnt start every comment with "sony fanboys" you'd get less disagrees and a little more respect.

[ItsDubC]

There's a term to describe ppl who can't stand to hear an opposing argument, no matter how viable it is. Incidentally, those ppl also tend to get butt-hurt because they misinterpret harmless comments.

Congrats on being the 1st to ignore me POG. Keep it up and eventually the only opinions you'll hear are your own =)

[NiteWarrior]

Well thats interesting to know..

[u got owned]

This is soooo gay!!!!!

[SofaKingReetodded]

it's soooooooo GAYLO, lmao!!!!

[The Chief of Mjolnir]

Wow, so mature.

Grow some brains, then we can talk.

[THAMMER1]

Numbers do not lie.

[jackdoe]

That's why you wait until NPD comes out.

[ktchong]

Hm. Why is that guy still using VG Chartz data for September when NPD data has already come out?

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

PS3 fans sure do cry alot don't they? "I dont believe the numbers NO NO NO NO NO! WAAAAAAAAAH WAAAAAAAAAAH I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALALALALALALA" <--- Thats what Droids remind me of. Your so pissed that the PS3 is last that you refuse to see reality anymore. Halo 3 sold great "just like all the others" but for this one it's "NO NO NO".

[feejo]

I don't find it impressive.

[JokesOnYou]

lmfao, so this info is based on vg chartz, maybe they dont know that even vg chartz admits their own #'s are NOT as accurate as NPD and NPD #'s are as close to official as you're going to get, which is why many big companies pay them for their research data, hell even sony and micro do not challenge NPD #'s and both release statements based on NPD data=

this story lost all its creditability based on their source, furthermore even if Halo3 only managed to push 360 hardware sales just 5k less than Wii in Sept that would still be a helluva increase compared to avg monthly 360 sales in the previous 6 months.= WHERE IS THIS ILLUSION? ha ha if 360's recent #'s are just an illusion, I'm willing to bet micro is hoping for more of the same majic=

JOY

[razer]

What idiot would even ask that question? Of course it wasn't an illusion, just look at the sales numbers for the title.. Stupid to even question it.

The only people who are going to say "duuuuuh yeah it was an illusion" are Sony fanboy d!ckheads with last place complex..

I'll be waiting for the "Was the 40gig PS3 effect an illusion?" article.

btw - I laugh at the whole 5000 notion? Are they talking about world wide? If so, what a POS article.

[Ahhhh]

the people on this site are so fcking pathetic it makes me laugh.

but um.. for my earlier post..

okay.. so umm.. dumbasses. what part did 4 morons disagree with? the part bout me gettin halo 3 durin Christmas or that I THINK, ya know just for you dumbasses that means its what i think and not any one else, that ME will sell good in November?

wait wait wait.. I think I know why 4 dumbasses disagreed with me.. I think its cause I said.. "I along with a group of other people I know," damn I hate having to go down to your dumbasses levels to speak to you.. I'm saying you disagreed cause I know people.. hard to believe for some of yall huh?? the only people most of you know are the other morons on this site that fight with your last breath for some fcking piece of silicone, plastic, and metal. You people will probably fight harder for your fcking game system instead of your girls.. which, well, none of you probably have or ever had or ever will have a girlfriend.. hah well this has been fun. =]

[Shaka2K6]

disappointment world wide.
this is what happend whenu promise to much and dont deliver.

[arika]

its starting to look like were going to have a blue christmas. go sony!
this is what halo effect is limitations and more limitations. 3 years in the making and look what they got 640p, 4 to 5 hrs campaign mode and a gameplay that is still the same... WTF! and it was supposed to be a flagship title. one thing i can say is they marketed it so well that even aliens from another galaxy would buy it. the only thing it accomplished is to show game developers that they can only do so much on xbox 360
we will see what happens in few more days when the 40g ps3, spiderman 3 bluray and a bunch of triple A games comes to ps3. i have a feeling its going to be a blue christmas for north america. wooohoooo!!

[The Chief of Mjolnir]

If it´s 4 to 5 hours campaign, then you must be playing on easy.

It´s like 7 to 8 hours on heroic.

And CoD 4 got as many hours campaign, but then everybody says: "That´s OK."

[nanometric]

One of the rules I heard in a conference(about casual games and games) is that higher difficulty does NOT make longer gameplay, it just show incompetence of dev and is a bad solution!

[otherZinc]

We will see what Ratchet & Clank does, it was hyped.
We will see what Uncharted does, it was hyped.
We saw what Heavenly Sword did, it was hyped.
We saw what Warhawk did, it was hyped.
We saw what Lair did, it was hyped.
We saw what MotorStorm did, it was hyped.

We saw what the only TRUE AAA title NINJA GAIDEN SIGMA did, it was hyped. See, I separated Ninja Gaiden because its a AAA title that you guys didnt support.

The PS3 is dying a slow death right now and you haters are missing out on some great games stuck on 1 console that delvers nothing!

[snoopgg]

otherzync, have you ever played Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Motorstorm? These 3 games are all better then average in their respected genres. I own both systems, and I can at least admit that these 3 games are more then worthy of playing. I feel sorry for all you fanboys that rip on good games for the other system before even trying them. I played Halo3 and had less fun with that overhyped shooter, sold it and moved on. These games were hyped for the ps3. Halo 3 was overhyped for the 360 and still sucked

[theoneandonly]

See this?
http://www.shopto.net/page....

The Halo 3 and Forza bundles just got released in Denmark, Sweden, Spain, soon they will be in every shop.

Like I said, don't be ignorant. Enjoy it while it lasts for Europe.

Because once the Half-Life bundles come out, its basically OVER.

Virtua Fighter 5, Naruto, Viva Pinata, Eternal Sonata and a group of other games just barely got released.

Lets say they spread out the bundles. Or let them ride out one at a time. Either way, there's a storm brewing.

http://www.shopto.net/page.... =)

Once you tally up all the 50 million Xbox owners, and 70 million PS2 owners worldwide there's a core market that's larger than both combined:

THE PC + STRATEGIST MARKET. More than 300 million play PCs, more than consoles. All of them will finally pick a console. That console will be chosen based on key criteria:

A) WHO HAS THE BEST ONLINE GAMES. Here 360 wins easily on all fronts.
B) WHO HAS THE BEST ONLINE SERVICE. Again 360 dominates it on all sides.
C) WHO HAS THE MOST VARIED GAME LIBRARY. With RPGs, Action Games, Sports, AAA Third Person Shooters and First Person Shooters, Plus Strategy Games like Command & Conquer: WARLORDS coming.....this isn't even a contest at all. 360 Completely ANNHIALATES the PS3.
D) WHO HAS THE MOST VALUE FOR THE MONEY. With every kind of game they can pick up and play, plus HALF LIFE on steroids and the promise of the next DOOM.....And with ALAN WAKE alongside PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER: ONLINE this isn't even a contest.

PS3 barely makes it past the first bar. XBOX360 will completely obliterate it in EUROPE, at the end, because they have already expanded their market 3-fold. The PS3 will "BE CRUSHED" in Europe, while the 360 continues to go along to get along in Japan and increase everywhere else.

Smee, You don't need to be arrogant, enjoy your small little feeling of grace while it lasts. The Xbox crowd is laughing at you who think you are number one. You were never number one, AND KICKING THE $HIT OUT OF YOU WILL BE ENJOYABLE WITHOUT RUBBING IT IN. Like a high-school kid who threw himself on a playground he couldn't play ball in.

=D

[b777conehead]

why would pc gamers go to the 360 online and pay 50 a year when they can play online for free on the pc. and with most 360 games ported to the pc are ported from the pc what advantage would a pc gamer have to goto the 360 .but if they want games that are not on the pc the ps3 would be the way to go unchartered done only on the ps3 r & c only on the ps3 msg4 etc only on the ps3 . and most of the ps2 people will propley go ps3 now with the 40 gig and great new games coming out on the ps3 and don't give me that no b/c on the 40 giger if the ps2 people are buying a ps3 its because they want to play ps3 games .
pc gamers and ps3 gamers get to play on line for free so thats another reason pc gamers to go ps3 if they decide on a console.face it only 360 charges to play on line

[nanometric]

what effect?

[wasted]

had my copy for 2 days, got totaly board by and tradded it in. could never see why this is as popular as it is. good marketing i guess.

[Drano]

Yes? So shut up. No? So shut the HELL up.

That's the only thing necessary. You're not investors, you're gamers.

Jump Beyond.

[teto83]

just sad....

[The Chief of Mjolnir]

I agree. You are sad. So sad.

[sleepbox]

Hate to tell ya, but the Halo effect has just begun

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

"Is the PS3 Selling Great an Illusion?" I should go write a blog article with that title but then I would be just like a Droid and that kind of stink doesn't come off.

No matter how much you diss Halo droids your still in last place and getting oh so farther down each day, you guys have dissed the 360 and it's RROD and we still see the 360 curb stomping the PS3 everyday but thats all an "Illusion" right?

[Bill Gates]

The whole XBOX360 thing is an ILLUSION....AAHHAHAHHAH

It's calleds the ILLUSION OF CHOICE!!...AHAHHAhA

The Illusion of HD gaming----Big LIE!!

The 360 CANNOT output 1080p, or 720p for that matter!!....AHAHAHAHAHHA

This I know, and you don't!!....AAAHAHAHHAAHAH

[BloodySinner]

Are you done yet?

[UltimaEnder]

What idiot allowed this to get through the N4G screening process, I mean seriously it's VGCHARTZ people, we have never believed their numbers and now we are taking them as fact over the NPD number....LOL this is so retarted!

[BubblesDAVERAGE]

Most people who wanted to play halo had a 360 and the rest w8ed and now we will see 360 go on to do nothing more....