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Professor Carswell
IS 365
3/13/2017
Module 8 Writing Assignment Table 1 (Arnold, 2017)
The Table 1
contains console sales
data in Japan for the
week of 2/27/17 to
3/05/17 (Arnold, 2017).
Hard data in this format
is mostly easily obtained
for Japan, and while its data for game sales is culturally skewed, console data is generally very
similar worldwide and can be used to illustrate possible trends in the industry as a whole—not
just in Japan. This particular week contains a very strong outlier in the form of the Nintendo
Switch—a newly released console as of March 3rd—and thusly is very skewed to show the
drastic first-week performance of the newly unveiled console. This initial showing of the
Nintendo Switch suggests that it will be a force to be reckoned with; within its first week, the
Nintendo Switch’s sales have already surpassed that of its poorly performing predecessor, the
Wii U, by a figure of 5,100 units in opening week (Kamen, 2017). This is a very impressive
showing for opening week and suggests great overall success in Nintendo’s launching of the
329152
31065 18433 9889 6742 4147 1268 615 565 1470
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Uni
ts S
old
Console
Top Console Sales (2/20/17-2/26/17)
Series1
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Switch and its assorted launch titles, including the ubiquitously critically-acclaimed Legend of
Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
To get a better
understanding of the statistical
significance of the Switch’s
launch debut, we can arrange
the data into a pie chart so as to
illustrate the percentage of
console sales directed towards
the Switch. We can see that the
Switch accounts for nearly 82% of all console sales last week. Again, because this is the
console’s first week, extremely high sales numbers are to be expected; most first-week sales do
tend to reach these numbers (Kamen, 2017). Table 2 provides us with the ability to see the
overwhelming outlier that is the Switch in a more visual way, as well as the piddling sales
numbers of consoles like the Wii U and the Xbox One. With the Switch aiming to replace its
already aged predecessor, the Wii U, one can expect to see that particular console drop out of the
top ten in sales.
The other consoles listed have been out for years; for them, this data can be used to show
quality of life and sale longevity. If we take out the statistical outlier, the Switch, from the graph
81.90%
7.70%
4.46%
2.50%
1.70%
1.00% 0.30%0.20% 0.10%
0.06%Console Sales
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Table 2
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(shown to the left), we can
see a more accurate
illustration of the sales
numbers for the rest of the
consoles. In much the
same way that the Nintendo
Switch’s data indicates a
strong first-week
performance, if it lacks
longevity, as we can see in the lesser Xbox One and Wii U sales data, it matters little how well it
sold in that first week. The Xbox One from Microsoft, which is meant to be seen as an equal
competitor to Sony’s Playstation 4, is severely lacking in sales when compared to its main
competitor despite how early it still is in this console generation.
Could this be a cultural trend in Japan, or is the Xbox One’s poor performance indicative
of something else? Based on this data alone, it can be difficult to say; however, the amount of
Playstation-exclusive titles that have been released within the first three months of 2017 may
have something to do with this overwhelming statistic. Sony has released about 10 games
exclusive to the Playstation 4 or Playstation 4 and PC in an impressive Q1 2017 showing,
whereas the Xbox One has had only one notable exclusive release in that time frame (Siegal,
2017).
31065
184339889 6742 4147 1268 615 565 1470
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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ts S
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Console
Top Console Sales (Without Switch)
Series1
Table 3
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Additionally, we can compare sales data from last week to this week in order to get a
general idea of the trends we are seeing in console sales, once again excluding the Switch from
this data as it
was released
March 3rd and
thusly lacks
sales data for
the previous
week. We can
see a general
trend of drops
in sales like the Playstation 4 and its assorted peripherals (the Vita and the Pro). Nintendo
consoles appear to be on the rise, possibly due to cross-console compatibility. Lesser sales this
week compared to last week across all consoles could easily be attributed to the appearance of
the Switch; definite conclusions about the affect of the Switch on other consoles’ sales will
depend more so on the weeks and months to come rather than just this snapshot of its opening
week, impressive as it may be.
05000
10000150002000025000300003500040000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
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Console
Console Sales Comparison
Series1 Series2
Table 4
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Bibliography
Arnold, C. (2017, March 8). Nintendo Switch and Zelda storm Japan. Retrieved from
Destructoid.com: https://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-switch-and-zelda-storm-japan-
423617.phtml
Kamen, M. (2017, March 7). Nintendo Switch is better than the Wii U (based on launch sales at
least). Retrieved from Wired: http://www.wired.co.uk/article/nintendo-switch-launch-
figures-outsells-wii-u
Siegal, J. (2017, February 13). Sony turned gaming’s slow season into one of the best seasons
ever for the PS4. Retrieved from BGR: http://bgr.com/2017/02/13/ps4-vs-xbox-one-
games-2017/