WA08-Sample1.pdf

    | 1

    xxxxxxxxxxx

    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

    | 2

    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

    | 3

    (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

    Uni

    ts S

    old

    Console

    Top Console Sales (Without Switch)

    Series1

    Table 3

    | 4

    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

    Uni

    ts S

    old

    Console

    Console Sales Comparison

    Series1 Series2

    Table 4

    | 5

    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/

    • Bibliography

                                                                                                                                      Order Now