Thursday, February 2, 2012

eShop Sales-Ratings: January 2012

The Nintendo eShop is Nintendo's online shop through the 3DS where people can download games from old Nintendo hardware, DSiWare games, and new download software specific for the 3DS. Because Nintendo does not disclose sales numbers, and developers are most likely barred from revealing them, we do not know how games are doing on the service.

But we might have at least a small hint.

After playing a game on the 3DS for over a hour, players are capable of rating these games via the eShop, and the totals are shown on each game page, showing up to five stars based on what the population thinks. At the very least, we now have minimum sales figures for the games, but with a very large disclaimer: these numbers represent the users who have done the following:

1) Purchased the game
2) Played the game for over an hour on the 3DS, and
3) Chose to rate the game on the eShop.

People who play the games on their DSi systems cannot rate games, nor can people who have not played the games for less than one hour. Since rating cannot be done outside of the eShop, some might have forgotten to or chosen not to rate said games. Also note that a rating does not necessarily correspond with a sale in the month in which it appears, only emphasizing the number of additional people who completed the above steps.

With that disclaimer in mind, let us take a look at how the games performed.

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Free Apps
1 3 Swapnote 13752 19277
2 1 Nintendo Video 12880 48813
3 2 Pokedex 3D 12071 58941
4 4 Netflix 7316 30541

As Swapnote went through its first full month, its ratings skyrocketed, putting the game at the top of this month's ratings chart. Now, the game still has a ways to go to brush up against the top two apps, but Netflix will no doubt he taken over in the next couple months. Meanwhile, Nintendo Video and Pokedex 3D remain increasingly close to one another on a monthly basis; overall, Pokedex 3D remains just over ten thousand ratings above all other apps on the list.

What should be more intriguing is just how many ratings were made. There were a total of 46,019 ratings for Free Apps in January, bringing total ratings in Free Apps to 157,572. That means that this month's ratings account for just under a third of all ratings for Free Apps. The holiday season did good for the 3DS, it seems, but will it spread to the other categories?

Also, no Hulu yet again. Nintendo has stated that new free applications might be made in the future, following Swapnote's success, but we'll see about that. Also, as a side note, I would include demos in here as they were added to the eShop this month, but they are attached to the actual games and, therefore, will not be counted.


Video Downloads
1 1 Thriller 97 355
2 2 Night of the Living Carrots 79 274
3 3 The Pig Who Cried Werewolf 28 80

I'm rather surprised no other videos have appeared for purchase. Nintendo Video has a lot of content popping in that some might want to purchase such as the new Kirby video or Dinosaur Office, but we will have to make do with Dreamworks for now.


Pre-eShop DSiWare*
1 1 Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! [CN] 1867 6187
2 2 Plants vs. Zombies 1003 6724
3 3 Photo Dojo 825 5108
4 4 Cave Story 418 4171
5 8 Mario Clock 416 2035
6 20 Dr. Mario Express [CN] 406 1213
7 5 Inchworm Animation 389 3276
8 9 Anonymous Notes Chapter 1 - From the Abyss 342 2359
9 6 Zenonia 284 2095
10 10 GO Series: 10 Second Run 235 1626
11 11 Tetris Party Live 233 1737
12 7 Shantae: Risky's Revenge 216 2710
13 12 Bomberman Blitz 164 1728
14 13 Nintendo Countdown Calender 161 966
15 15 Crystal Monsters 146 1207
16 16 Pop Island - Paperfield 129 1325
17 18 Mario Calculator 100 546
18 14 Army Defender 76 1082
19 17 Soul of Darkness 73 946
20 19 JellyCar 2 69 936
21 30 Gangstar 2: Kings of L.A. 65 390
22 22 Dark Void Zero 51 850
23 25 My Farm 51 474
24 23 Earthworm Jim 49 369
25 24 Touch Solitaire 42 495
26 32 5 in 1 Solitaire 39 313
27 34 Anonymous Notes Chapter 2 - From the Abyss 35 527
28 21 Glory Days: Tactical Defense 35 497
29 29 Blazybloo: Super Melee Action Battle Royale 33 382
30 28 Extreme Hangman 32 580
31 27 Pop Island 30 521
32 36 My Exotic Farm 29 280
33 31 Arcade Bowling 22 421
34 37 AiRace 22 265
35 41 Petz Dogz Family 22 114
36 26 Paper Airplane Chase 21 374
37 42 MySims Camera 21 68
38 33 Castle Conqueror 20 283
39 35 WarioWare: Snapped! 18 275
40 40 Escapee GO! 15 172
41 38 GO Series: Defense Wars 14 220
42 39 Faceez Monsters! 13 200
43 44 Petz Kittens 11 78
44 43 A Topsy Turvy Life: The Turvys Strike Back 10 96

*This list consists of a selection of DSiWare games that released prior to June 2011 and does not reflect the actual rating listing of every previous DSiWare game released.
[CN] Game has been made freely available via Club Nintendo and may skew data as a result.

This particular list is becoming fairly uninteresting. There are shifts, yes, but they do not appear to be that great to note, outside of Club Nintendo selections. Mario Vs. Donkey Kong remains on top and is now the second-most rated Legacy DSiWare game on the list, and if it does not slow down, it will surpass Plants Vs. Zombies. Dr. Mario Express benefited greatly from Club Nintendo, having received half of its original ratings total in a single month.

There has been an increase in ratings for the month overall, but that may be mostly attributed to Mario Vs. Donkey Kong continuing to be rated in high frequency. In both months, 17 games had more than a hundred ratings, and only one more had two hundred ratings last month.

February's Club Nintendo choice is Art Academy: First Semester. It and its sequel will be added next month alongside:

Music on: Retro Keyboard 141 141


Post-eShop DSiWare
1 1 The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition** 15221 47829
2 2 Bloons TD 603 1351
3 3 Cut the Rope 401 813
4 8 Come On! Heroes 134 185
5 67 Cake Ninja 120 123
6 13 Rytnik Retrobits 114 144
7 16 Doodle Fit 105 132
8 4 Afterzoom 71 664
9 11 Castle Conqueror: Against 69 104
10 37 Elite Forces: Unit 77 66 76
11 5 Extreme Hangman 2 60 467
12 6 1001 BlockBusters 48 204
13 18 Escape Trick: Convenience Store 47 86
14 27 Chronicles of Vampires: Origins 46 61
15 10 My Australian Farm 42 183
16 7 Let's Create! Pottery 39 333
17 9 GO Series: Fishing Resort 39 234
18 34 Word Searcher 4 36 47
19 12 Magical Whip 32 208
20 14 The Lost Town: The Dust 29 297
21 73 Slingo Supreme 29 31
22 21 My Asian Farm 28 137
23 17 Calculator 27 129
24 20 Moto eXtreme 25 174
25 19 Stratego: Next Edition 24 170
26 23 Build-a-lot 24 112
27 22 Make-Up & Style 23 153
28 24 Crazy Hamster 23 107
29 15 Go! Go! Kokopolo 19 198
30 28 Christmas Wonderland 19 33
31 33 Academy Checkers 18 42
32 31 Antipole 12 163
33 41 GO Series: Portable Shrine Wars 12 87
34 43 Defense of the Middle Kingdom 11 55
35
3 Heroes: Crystal Soul 11 11
36 38 Pro Jumper! Guilty Gear Tangent!? 10 100
37 66 Furry Legends 10 30
38 25 Castle Conqueror: Revolution 10 76
39 63 WordJong Arcade 10 14
40
Hip Hop King: Rytmik Edition 10 10
41 40 Farm Frenzy 9 70
42 35 Kung Fu Dragon 9 58
43 26 Simply Minesweeper 9 59
44
Anne's Doll Studio: Gothic Collection 9 9
45 42 Zoonies - Escape from Makatu 8 67
46 36 Break Tactics 8 66
47 30 Castle Conqueror: Heroes 8 32
48
Gaia's Moon 8 8
49 58 Roller Angels 7 46
50 54 Trollboarder 7 51
51 57 Bugs 'N' Balls 7 33
52 59 House M.D. - Skull and Bones 7 23
53 29 Halloween: Trick or Treat 7 54
54 48 Heart Spaces Euchre 6 54
55 32 Blockado - Puzzle Island 6 61
56 52 1950s Lawn Mower Kids 6 19
57
Quick Fill Q 6 6
58 39 Hidden Photo 5 54
59 53 Jewel Keepers: Easter Island 5 68
60 70 Puzzle Rocks 5 15
61 44 Escape Trick: Ninja Castle 5 39
62 45 Play & Learn Chinese 5 15
63 62 House M.D. - Crashed 4 17
64
Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish 4 4
65 68 Gold Fever 3 25
66 60 Puzzle Fever 3 39
67 50 House M.D. - Blue Meanie 3 51
68 56 DotMan 3 26
69 46 House M.D. - Under the Big Top 3 11
70 75 Just SING! Christmas Vol. 3 3 4
71 64 Delbo 2 34
72 65 Boardwalk Ball Toss 2 25
73
101 Pinball World 2 2
74 47 Zimo: Mahjong Fanatic 1 31
75 61 Just SING! 80s Collection 1 10
76 69 Oscar's World Tour 1 17
77 49 Play & Learn Spanish 1 22
78 51 Crystal Caves of Amen-Ra 1 25
79 72 Battle of the Elements 1 3
80
Lola's Alphabet Train 1 1
81 76 Beach Party Craze 0 25
82 74 B-Team - Episode 2: Ice & Venom 0 7
83 55 Go Fetch! 2 0 25
84 71 Bridge 0 5
85 77 Double Bloob 0 0

** This game is freely available until February 2012.

There was a bump from the post-holiday downloads, but only some games benefited from that, particularly the November and December releases. Both Cut the Rope and Bloons TD did very well this past month; in fact, Bloons TD became the first new DSiWare title to have more than a thousand ratings (outside of the free Zelda title). Cut the Rope looks set to pass that milestone in the next few months, as well.

Three games released last month received more than a hundred ratings this month: Cake Ninja, Doodle Fit, and Rytnik Retrobits. Even Come On! Heroes received more ratings in the past month than it had received in total beforehand. Other month-old titles shot to the top of the charts, but Double Bloob remained completely unrated, becoming the first DSiWare title to lack a rating after two months of being on these charts. Four other games were unrated this past month, including Beach Party Craze which was unrated last month, as well.

Now what about the new releases? Well, they did not do all too well. The most-rated debut goes to 3 Heroes: Crystal Soul with a paltry 11 ratings, the lowest most-rated debut since tracking began. In the aggregate, this category did better by almost a thousand ratings, but the spread has declined. 40 of the 85 games had more than 10 ratings, which was more than in December, but with 8 new games and little shifts upward in monthly ratings, it appears that more effort will be needed to get attention brought to these DSiWare titles.

As Zelda stops being freely available next month, it may begin to ebb away, but considering how ratings continue to flow, I suspect it will take several months for it to be overtaken by a newer DSiWare title.

Classic Games
1 1 Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX 1305 18768
2 5 Kirby's Dream Land [CN] 1218 4946
3 2 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins 1046 4734
4 3 Super Mario Land 610 10895
5 4 Metroid II: Return of Samus 425 1162
6 25 Tetris 266 273
7 6 Donkey Kong 209 4319
8 7 Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge 163 980
9 9 Game & Watch Gallery 100 1225
10 8 Mario's Picross 98 1242
11 10 Gargoyle's Quest 62 685
12 23 Bionic Commando 57 68
13 12 Pac-Man 52 244
14 11 Catrap 45 210
15 14 Blaster Master: Enemy Below 39 82
16 18 Double Dragon 32 146
17 13 Adventure Island 24 75
18
Lock'N Chase 21 21
19 22 Radar Mission 19 260
20 15 Alleyway 18 713
21 17 Avenging Spirit 16 224
22 16 Burger Time Deluxe 16 92
23 20 Qix 15 230
24 27 Golf 11 40
25 19 Balloon Kid 11 89
26 26 Tennis 9 176
27 28 Fortified Zone 5 115
28 21 Baseball 5 192
29 24 Side Pocket 4 26

[CN] Game has been made freely available via Club Nintendo and may skew data as a result.

I have a theory why Nintendo let the Virtual Console sit dormant this month, but it still makes little sense. I suspect the releases were kept short here to bring attention to the new 3DS Download Software and DSiWare releases. Regardless of conspiracy theories, the Virtual Console received but one game, Lock 'N Chase, and it debuted with a low 21 ratings. Games which debuted in December got a boost, as expected, and Tetris received the biggest boost of them all.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX still sat on the top despite Club Nintendo affecting Kirby's Dream Land's ratings. LA looks poised to pass 20,000 in the next couple months, so that will be fun to watch, just as Super Mario Land had made it to half that. Metroid II finally passed the thousand-rating mark, and it looks like Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge will be the first third-party game to do the same come February or March.

To date, outside of the new debut, Side Pocket is the least-rated game on the list.


3DS Download Software
1 1 Pushmo 3002 5872
2 2 FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive! 1736 4702
3 3 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure 1341 3305
4 8 VVVVVV 1229 1400
5 6 Mighty Switch Force! 1028 1511
6
Zen Pinball 3D 649 649
7 5 3D Classics: Xevious [CN] 610 2358
8 4 3D Classics: Excitebike* 406 20133
9
Mutant Mudds 382 382
10
Samurai Sword Destiny 290 290
11 7 Let's Golf! 3D 228 2363
12 10 3D Classics: Urban Champion 100 836
13 11 Pyramids 93 381
14 9 3D Classics: Twinbee 62 499

*Game was available for free during June 2011.
[CN] Game has been made freely available via Club Nintendo and may skew data as a result.

No doubt about it, the month of January was all around good for 3DS Download Software. Pushmo, which was the chart-topper last month, remains on top, more than doubling its total ratings in its second month. It is now the most-rated 3DS Download Software not available for free at any moment, and even without that final clause, it is one-fourth of the way to matching Excitebike's ratings in a mere two months (which, by the way, passed 20k in January). FreakyForms did well for itself, as well, but even as it grows, Pushmo will remain the better performer. Both of those games will, no doubt, surpass 10k ratings in the next year.

The other December games, Mighty Switch Force! and VVVVVV, received over a thousand ratings a piece, no doubt promising signs for their futures. Of course, as new games emerge, the monthly ratings will decline, but we will see how long it takes for them to really slow down. In the end, five games had more than a thousand ratings in a single month, the most since we started tracking.

The month was pretty good for new games as well. Zen Studios' Zen Pinball 3D was the highest with 649 ratings; it will pass the thousand mark in February no doubt. Renegade Kid's Mutant Mudds seems to be doing pretty well, as it had less than a week to garner ratings for this month; I suspect a it will surpass a thousand ratings by March or April. As for UFO's Samurai Sword Destiny, it will probably grow slowly as the months go onward, sitting in the lower end of the monthly ratings. Speaking of slower growers, 3D Classics: Urban Champion is poised to pass a thousand ratings in the next few months.


Overall
1 1 The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition* 15221 47829
2 2 Pushmo 3002 5872
3 6 Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! [CN] 1867 6187
4 3 FreakyForms: Your Creations, Alive! 1736 4702
5 4 3D Classics: Kirby's Adventure 1341 3305
6 5 Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX 1305 18768
7 30 VVVVVV 1229 1400
8 18 Kirby's Dream Land [CN] 1218 4946
9 7 Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins 1046 4734
10 14 Mighty Switch Force! 1028 1511
11 9 Plants vs. Zombies 1003 6724
12 10 Photo Dojo 825 5108
13
Zen Pinball 3D 649 649
14 12 3D Classics: Xevious [CN] 610 2358
15 11 Super Mario Land 610 10895
16 15 Bloons TD 603 1351
17 3 Metroid II: Return of Samus 425 1162
18 16 Cave Story 418 4171
19 23 Mario Clock 416 2035
20 8 3D Classics: Excitebike** 406 20133

*Game is available for free until February 2012.
**Game was available for free during June 2011.
[CN] Game was available for free via Club Nintendo for one month.

No surprise, Zelda sits at the top, being the only free game on the listing. In hindsight, making it a Free App might have been better, but it could very well appear as a paid download soon. In fact, in February the game is expected to end its free existence in the eShop. It will not decline off the top spot for a couple months, I suspect, unless it is entirely gone from the eShop, which I equally doubt. In case that is to happen, though, I will gather data for it before the end of its availability.

Only one new game appeared in the Top 20, and that was Zen Pinball 3D at 13. Mutant Mudds and Samurai Sword Destiny are in the Top 30, though (24 and 26, respectively). As for last-month debuts, Pushmo was the highest at number 2, followed by VVVVVV and Mighty Switch Force! Club Nintendo shot Kirby's Dream Land up ten places, and Dr. Mario Express was just outside of the Top 20. Overall, five games in the Top 20 were available for free at some point, which makes sense considering that these are ratings and not true sales.

Other debuts not in the Top 20 include the only new Virtual Console title, Lock 'N Chase, at 98, and the most-rated debut DSiWare title, 3 Heroes: Crystal Soul, at 120. Out of the 175 titles in the listing thus far, 45 received more than a 100 ratings, 16 of which had more than 500, 11 of which had more than a thousand, and only two had multiples of that.

Only 7 of the games in the Top 20 are DSiWare releases, showing signs that the Virtual Console and original Download Software are becoming increasingly prominent in the sales of the eShop. The big question is how much longer will DSiWare see releases; my answer is probably in the next two years.

Now, as for February, what should we expect? Well, Nintendo's next game Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword begins the month, and more demos should appear, although that has little bearing on this information. As for other notables, Nintendo will most likely add more Virtual Console games this month as the bigger third-party Q1 releases emerge this month. We'll just have to wait and see if that's the case!

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