“The addition of these three characters to Super Smash Bros. is significant, because it keeps the game fresh for core gamers and offers something new for those playing for the first time,” Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends, told TechNewsWorld.

“In a way, it’s bringing together the best of several game series to Super Smash Bros. and the hardcore are looking for those fireworks. At E3, one only had to look at the faces of the hardcore attendees to see the pure elation and engagement as they played the new Super Smash Bros.,” Schreiner said. “They were clamoring for information about it and experiencing the thrill of its gameplay with new characters to battle.”

By Kris Holt Jul 14, 2014 2:03 PM PT

The latest to join the cast for the Wii U and 3DS game are Lucina and Robin from Fire Emblem: Awakening and Captain Falcon of F-Zero fame.

Franchise Debut

Fire Emblem: Awakening is a role-playing tactical game for the 3DS. Robin is the main playable character created at the start of the game, but players can choose a different name. They can opt to control Robin as either a male or female character. It’s the first time the Fire Emblem: Awakening duo has appeared in a Super Smash Bros. game.

Captain Falcon, meanwhile, is the lead protagonist in the F-Zero racing series. He has appeared in all three previous Super Smash Bros. games.

“The addition of these three characters to Super Smash Bros. is significant, because it keeps the game fresh for core gamers and offers something new for those playing for the first time,” Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends, told TechNewsWorld.

“In a way, it’s bringing together the best of several game series to Super Smash Bros. and the hardcore are looking for those fireworks. At E3, one only had to look at the faces of the hardcore attendees to see the pure elation and engagement as they played the new Super Smash Bros.,” Schreiner said. “They were clamoring for information about it and experiencing the thrill of its gameplay with new characters to battle.”

Drive to Move Hardware

“Nintendo desperately needs to move Wii U hardware, and while first-party IP is making its way slowly to the market, they have found a way to grab the attention of fans by including as many characters possible in the new iteration of Super Smash Bros.,” said Eric Smith, an analyst at Strategy Analytics.

“This steady drip-drip-drip of character additions will likely continue until the game’s 3DS release in October. I think Nintendo is trying to reach as many Fire Emblemand F-Zero fans as possible, in addition to all of the other franchises they’ve already incorporated, in order to drive sales this holiday season,” he told TechNewsWorld.

The latest additions bring the number of playable characters in Super Smash Bros. to 36. Among them are stalwarts such as Mario, Bowser, Link, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Among those also making their debut in the latest title is Pac-Man of the eponymous classic arcade game. Mega Man also is making an appearance for the first time, along with the Wii Fit Trainer and the Villager fromAnimal Crossing.

Trophy Appearance

Another iconic video game character, Rayman, is making an appearance, albeit in the form of a trophy rather than a playable fighter.

Since 1999, the three games in the series to date have sold more than 23 million copies, underlining the importance of Super Smash Bros. to Nintendo.

It’s possible that the re-emergence of Super Smash Bros. could boost flagging sales of the flagship Wii U console. The system is lagging behind the juggernaut of Sony’s PlayStation 4 in the current hardware generation, though it reportedly has sold more units than Microsoft’s Xbox One.

The Wii U has sold approximately 6.6 million units, compared with the PS4’s 8.4 million and the Xbox One’s 4.8 million. However, sales of the handheld 3DS system far outsrip others, with sales of 43.9 million. The latest Super Smash Bros. will be the first in the series to be playable on that system.

‘Successful Property’

“Over the years, this has been a very successful property for Nintendo, and it has a wide installed base across Nintendo platforms, Wii, 3DS, even going back to 1999 for the N64,” C4 Trends’ Schreiner noted.

“With the new title launch, Nintendo is betting that this Super Smash Bros. will appeal to its installed base while also expanding the marketplace by creating demand by a new generation. It is also betting that this title will also positively impact sales of the Wii U, which has been selling more slowly than projected,” she said.

“The success of Super Smash Bros. since its introduction in 1999 is a testament to Nintendo that even though it’s always been different than other game experiences, it has always offered some challenge, character or story line that has appealed even to hardcore gamers,” Schreiner added.

“Super Smash Bros. has been such a hit because it’s a great party game that can easily be picked up and put down, and the franchise characters provide a touchstone for anybody to enjoy playing, even if they aren’t particularly good at fighters,” Strategy Analytics’ Smith said.

“Nintendo has a lot riding on Super Smash Bros. as it is the next big release of first-party IP after Mario Kart 8. Both of these party games, plus Mario Party 10, will be some of the first to feature amibo functionality. A large installed base of popular games will be key to testing out Nintendo’s foray into toys-to-life.”

The fourth title in the series will continue the tradition of pitting characters from a string of Nintendo franchises against each other in battle arenas.

By Kris Holt Apr 18, 2014 12:59 PM PT

Sony revealed earlier this week it had sold more than 7 million PS4 units worldwide, while Microsoft said it had shipped 5 million Xbox Ones to retailers to date.

Microsoft reported sales of 311,000 Xbox Ones in the U.S. in March, while Sony sold an estimated 370,000 PS4 units. The PlayStation 4 led hardware sales for the third month in a row in March, the NPD Groupsaid.

Microsoft was unable to take the lead despite the success of its much-hypedTitanfall, which was expected to help Microsoft sell units of the console, particularly because the game was packaged into some console bundles at no extra cost.

While Titanfall was the top-selling game in the U.S. in March, it was unable to help the Xbox One overcome the PS4.

Broad Demographic

“I haven’t looked underneath a lot of these figures in terms of the demographics, but I would say probably that the PlayStation demographic is more broadly based,” Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends, told the E-Commerce Times.

“I think there’s very few games out there that can drive those kinds of major numbers,” Schreiner noted.

That said, there is still opportunity for Titanfall to drive console sales, she said.

Hardware sales for March were up 78 percent over March 2013, from US$222 million to $395 million. The increased sales were driven entirely by console sales, which were up more than 100 percent, mostly due to the PS4 and Xbox One.

Through their first five months at retail, the PS4 and Xbox One have sold more than double that of their previous generation consoles, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in the same time frame.

“Overall, on this generation, the initial sales to this point are very robust in comparison to previous cycles,” said independent games industry analyst Billy Pidgeon.

“PS4 did have a strong advantage, and it’s going to take Xbox One a bit to catch up,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “They may in fact overcome PS4, but I think they’re going to remain pretty evenly distributed in the first half of the cycle.”

Lingering Effects

The success of the Xbox 360 in the previous generation may have some lingering effects on those invested in the Xbox ecosystem who are in no rush to upgrade to the latest console.

“PS3 was not very strong and took a while to sell in while 360 is still a viable platform. That’s a good thing, not only for Microsoft but for third-party publishers, because there’s a much larger install base,” Pidgeon pointed out.

“If that install base stopped being active, that would be a really negative thing for Xbox, I think. I also think that the continued viability of the 360 base creates a bit of a drag on the upsell of the One. That’s not to say there aren’t hardcore early adopters who have both 360 and One active,” he acknowledged.

“As there are still plenty of games on the 360 that still look great, there is less incentive, and some people do wait longer,” Pidgeon continued. “There has been a strong upsell on the next generation overall. The 360 is somewhat of a drag on the Xbox One uptick, but there are positives to that as well.”

In total, U.S. consumers spent $1.025 billion on new physical games, hardware, and game-related accessories in March, according to NPD data. That figure is up 3 percent from the same month in 2013.

Software Slump

U.S. software sales slumped, however, with consumers spending $406 million, down 27 percent from $555 million in March 2013 sales. The figures only cover new games sold at physical stores, and not used titles or those purchased through digital platforms like PlayStation Store and the Xbox Marketplace.

After Titanfall, the PS4 had the second-best selling game of the month withInfamous: Second Son. Multiplatform titles South Park: The Stick of Truth, Call of Duty: Ghosts, and Dark Souls II also feature in the top five.

Of those, neither South Park: The Stick of Truth nor Dark Souls II is available for PS4 or Xbox One. Titanfall also was available for PC in March, while it was released for Xbox 360 earlier this month.

“I see Titanfall as having a longer-term effect because, although it certainly could have had an immediate effect on Xbox One, it was polluted by the strategy of putting it out on PC at the same time — which I think was a good strategy — and then also putting it out on 360,” Pidgeon said.

“It certainly sold a lot on all of those platforms,” he observed, “but I do think that versions picked up on PC and 360 may lead to additional sales of the Xbox One.”

‘Closer Look’

“The Xbox customer, from what I’ve been able to ascertain, is somewhat different to the Sony customer,” C4’s Schreiner added. “In order to reach across the aisle, I think Xbox will need to take a closer look at its offerings.”

Sales of video game accessories were up 4 percent from March 2013, from $216 million to $224 million. Overall, new physical software sales — for console, portable and PC platforms — were down, from $602 million to $432 million.

By Kris Holt Mar 17, 2014 1:15 PM PT

Three out of every four people who use the Android operating system play games, according to Google. Given that there are more than 1 billion activated Android devices, there’s a vast opportunity for developers to reach gamers and generate revenue in a growing market.

Four times more money was paid to Google Play Developers in 2013 than in 2012, Google said.

The Google Play Games service and software development kit is cross-platform, operating across Android, iOS and the Web. It allows developers to use features such as leaderboards, achievements, multiplayer and cloud game saves.

Discoverability Options

On the engagement and discoverability front, developers will be able to include virtual gifts, which players can send to people in their circles or through player search. The Play Games app now directly supports multiplayer invites. Both of these features presumably are intended to help developers encourage gamers to help their friends discover a certain game.

Meanwhile, developers now can funnel their titles into 18 new game categories in the Google Play Store, including action, arcade, trivia, casual and racing.

Google Play Games also is expanding multiplayer functions to allow developers to use turn-based and real-time multiplayer functions on both Android and iOS. To boost cross-platform development, Google is updating the Play Games Unity Plugin to support cross-platform multiplayer, with an early version of a Play Games C++ software development kit capable of supporting leaderboards and achievements.

“I think [adding iOS multiplayer functions is] a smart move because it’s a broadening of the universe,” Susan Schreiner, an analyst at C4 Trends, told TechNewsWorld. “For all these people developing a game, it may be their passion, but it’s also a business.”

‘Network Effect’

“I think the multiplayer feature is going to create kind of a network effect, so you’re no longer locked into your particular hardware platform as you’ve been in the past,” said Lewis Ward, research director of gaming at IDC.

“I think that new addition will help raise the popularity and visibility of a number of titles that benefit from multiplayer gaming,” he told TechNewsWorld.

“You can run through some of the more popular and more lucrative games over the past year and a lot of them do have a multiplayer orientation, although the top-grossing games are often different across iOS and Google Play,” Ward added. “I think this capability might help create more games that are similarly popular across both of those platforms.”

Meanwhile, Google is enabling enhanced statistics and analytics on the Google Play Developer Console, which offers Play Games adopters a dashboard providing details for signed-in users, such as daily active users, retention achievement and analysis, and leaderboard performance.

In addition, Google is adding new features to the AdMob platform, among them Google Analytics integration to see how users interact with the game. In-app purchase ads will allow developers to target players with specific promotions for in-game sales. The AdMob platform also will include new ways to optimize ads, according to Google.

“Freemium games are dominant on smartphones and tablets, and every game developer needs sophisticated analytics to understand their gamers, and understand the trends, and understand where the monetization possibilities lie,” IDC’s Ward noted.

Google’s analytics for games statistics — for instance, game session time — are perhaps underdeveloped compared to some other providers, but “they’re probably the best in terms of advertising,” Ward suggested.

“That’s Google’s background. What they’re going to bring to the table, I think, is a particular strength in figuring out how to market these games. They’re probably going to have some very sophisticated tools, or at least a step up in terms of sophistication of those tools, in terms of how to target specific types of gamers,” he said.

“I think it is certainly a positive move for developers,” said C4 Trends’ Schreiner said. “Information is always at the heart of things. It’s one thing to create a game, but a lot of games are not successful. With the analytics in play, the developer is not in the dark as to who’s playing, what’s working, and what is not working.”