Metroid: Other M - Data Debut

Quick Brew Info:
     Metroid: Other M was released on the Nintendo Wii on August 31, 2010, and Metroid: Other M released with a MSRP of $49.99.  It was developed by Team Ninja, and published by Nintendo.

     It took 14 days for Metroid: Other M's play-time data to debut on the Wii's Nintendo Channel.  So, in the last 2-weeks, how much have Wii owners been playing Metroid: Other M?  Let's take a look...

Click image to enlarge

Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data:
     Metroid: Other M has 11,428 players reporting their play-time data, for its debut on the Nintendo Channel.

"Total" Game-Play & Average Hours Played Reported:
     Metroid: Other M has 112,376 Total Hours reported for its debut, with a 9 hours 51 minutes average play-time per person reporting data.

     The average play-time per session for Metroid: Other M is just under three hours, sitting at about 2 hours 50 minutes per play session.

Sale Rank & Advertised Price:
     Metroid: Other M's sale rank is #56 and is selling for $48.93 on Amazon.com.

Review Score Averages:
     Metroid: Other M's review score average is 78.01%, based on 39 "professional" reviews on GameRankings.com.

     On Amazon.com, Metroid: Other M has about a 3.5 out of 5 Star rating, based on 71 customer reviews.

What would you rate Metroid: Other M?

Thoughts:
     I have not purchased or played Metroid: Other M yet, but I have a friend that has offered to mail me his copy after he finishes it, so I can try it.  I may take him up on that offer, once I finish a few more games!

     I think the sales rank of Metroid: Other M on Amazon.com does show that the sales for the game look to have dropped off considerably, for what I would think is a "core" Nintendo franchise game.  I don't know if Nintendo plans to continue advertising Metroid: Other M any during the Christmas season this year, or if the live-action commercial is the only one they plan on showing, but I think it will be interesting to see how sales continue for it in the next few months.
     If you didn't see the live-action commercial for Metroid: Other M, you can watch it right here!


     As for the play-time hours, it seems the average play-time per person reported is about how long the single-player campaign for Metroid: Other M takes to complete(9 hours, from what I have read).  I would imagine most of the users reporting play-time data for Metroid: Other M have already finished the main campaign, and may now be trying to get 100% in it.

Questions:
     Did anybody here purchase Metroid: Other M, and if so, how much have you played it?  If you have completed the campaign, do you see Metroid: Other M as a game that you will play multiple times? Or, is once enough?

Monster Hunter 3's Play-Time Data

Quick Brew Info:
     It has been 3 weeks since we last looked at Monster Hunter Tri's play-time data.  Are the monster hunts still going strong, or does it appear to be the "off season" for North American Monster Hunter 3 Wii owners?

Click image to enlarge

Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data & Increased:
     Monster Hunter 3 now has 35,849 players reporting play-time data, an increase of 3,908 players reporting data since 3-weeks ago.

Average & "Total" Game-Play Hours Reported/Increased:
     Monster Hunter Tri's average hours reported per person are 71 Hours 28 Minutes, over 19.37 sessions.  This means, the current average Monster Hunter 3 game-play session, per Wii owner reporting data, is about 3 Hours 41 Minutes long!
     Monster Hunter 3's average hours, "per person", has increased by 5 Hours 19 Minutes, since the data reported 3 weeks ago.
     Monster Hunter Tri has 2,562,150 Total Hours reported for game-play, an increase of 449,046 game-play hours since the July 26 Nintendo Channel data.

Sale Rank & Advertised Price:
     Monster Hunter 3's Amazon.com sale rank is #390, and the current selling price is $47.91.

Review Score Average:
     According to GameRankings.com, Monster Hunter Tri's review score average is still 85.00%, based on 46 reviews.

Thoughts:
     It has been several weeks since I have played Monster Hunter 3, though I think I am going to attempt to finish the single-play in the next month.
     I think the average play-time session of nearly 3 Hours 41 Minutes is absolutely crazy.  IF Monster Hunter Tri continues increasing its average play-time hours per person, it may end up passing Super Smash Bros. Brawl's average hours per person in September.

     Even though it's been several weeks since I have played Monter Hunter 3, here's a video from one of the monster hunts I recorded with The Butcher and Den, from WhoBurnedMyToast.Blogspot.com.  We take on a Gobul, but was the outcome be better than the first Gobul monster hunt I recorded?


Questions:
     How many of you have finished Monster Hunter Tri's single-player story mode?  If you have finished it, about how many hours did it take you(if you remember)?  If you haven't finished it, do you plan on trying to finish it; or, do you plan on just sticking with the online multi-player?

If you are interested in Monster Hunter 3, you can see new and used prices for it on Amazon.com below:

Wii Casual vs. Core vs. CasualCore: Nintendo Channel Data for Week Beginning Sept. 6

Wii Sports Resort Approaching One Million!

Another week has passed, and more hours have been logged into games by the casual and core gaming crowd.

Last week we looked at EA Sports Active, Punch-Out!!, The Conduit, and Wii Sports Resort, and we will continue this week with the same games.

EA Sports Active remains the lowest of the games in total play times reported, while Wii Sports Resort continues it's climb up with total play time approaching one million hours!

Punch-Out!! and The Conduit are still in the middle.

Here are the numbers and the data breakdown.

I'll start with the game that has the most "Total:" hours reported playing, it was last week and again this week, Wii Sports Resort.

Wii Sports Resort: 

973,588 TOTAL HOURS reported playing. 

439,794 total play time sessions recorded.  

Wii Sports Resort saw the number of people game play data was received from increase from 54,942 last week, to 67,453 this week.  A difference of 12,511, nearly a 23% increase from last weeks number of users data was received from.

The Conduit:  

556,338 TOTAL HOURS play time.  

255,199 play time sessions recorded.

The Conduit saw the number of people game play data was received increase from 26,693 last week, to 28,546 this week.  A difference of 1,853, an increase of just over 6% in users game play data received.

Punch-Out!!: 

460,894 TOTAL HOURS play time.

289,334 play time sessions recorded.

Punch-Out!! saw the number of people game play data was received increase from 46,134 last week, to 48,792 this week.  A difference of 2,658, an increase of just over 5% of users data received.

Last but not least(definitely not least in sales),

EA Sports Active: 

206,148 TOTAL HOURS play time.

210,124 play time sessions recorded.

EA Sports Active saw the number of people game play data was received increase from 29,015 last week, to 30,855 this week.  From the numbers, 1,840 more users submitted data this week, an increase of almost 6% of users submitting data for EA Sports Active.

EA Sports Active, Punch-Out!!, and The Conduit all saw total play time increase, between 5-7.5%.

Wii Sports Resort saw total play time increase 202,759 hours, nearly a 21% increase in total play time!

Wii Casual vs. Core vs. CasualCore: Nintendo Channel Data for Week Beginning Aug. 30

SUGGESTION: Drinking a cup of coffee before, during, and after reading this article may help with understanding it...maybe not.

Over the last several weeks, I've been collecting the play time data on certain games off of the Nintendo Channel.

I've been following games I consider to be targeted toward the 'casual' and 'core' gaming audiences.

On the picture, EA Sports Active is the first one shown, which I place in the 'casual' category as I think the game is geared toward the new casual gamers. While looking at the data, remember that Electronic Art's has reported that EA Sports Active has sold more 1.8 million copies.

The next two games I've collected data on, are Punch-Out!!, developed by Next Level Games and published by Nintendo, and The Conduit, developed by High Voltage Software and published by Sega. I consider both of these games to be more 'core' oriented and focused, especially The Conduit being that it is a FPS.

I was having a bit of trouble finding the Punch-Out!! sales number, if anybody can provide a link, that would be greatly appreciated.

As of now, I'll assume that VGChartz.com is close to the right numbers for Punch-Out!!'s sales. Punch-Out!! is listed as selling 420,000 units in North America.

The Conduit is reported to have sold/shipped around 150,000 units since it's release.

Another game I've been collecting data on is Wii Sports Resort. I consider Wii Sports Resort a 'casual/core' game, that can appeal to the casual Wii owners, as well as the core Wii owners. Wii Sports Resort has been out for only a short time in North America, but has already sold more than one million units.

Now for the play time data:

Based on the numbers shown and units reported sold, EA Sporst Active has the least amount of play time, which I would suspect from a casual title, but it also currently has the most in sales out of the four games.

I find really it interesting how The Conduit has the least amount of sales, but it has the second highest amount of play time.

Wii Sports Resort has only been out only since July 26th and it currently ranks second in sales reported of these games, but it currently has the most play time out of these games.

If you're wondering how these numbers are collected by Nintendo, I did contact Nintendo and asked them that question myself.

The response I received was, "The data for the Nintendo Channel is collected from players in North, Central, and South America. Basically, if you look at the list of countries in the Country settings in the Wii Menu, those countries are the ones who would be participating. The totals from each player are reported when they access the Nintendo Channel if they've opted in to sharing their information). Note that if a player doesn't connect online or never opens the Nintendo Channel, their playing stats are never uploaded to us. - Nintendo customer service rep"

Based on the response and some quick math, we can see approximately how many users of these games have reported the data, and the approximate percentage reporting from the overall sales:

EA Sports Active 195,271 ÷ 6.73 = 29,015*

29,015 is the number of people that have bought EA Sports Active and actually signed into the Nintendo Channel and allowed Nintendo to collect their play time data from games.

Assuming the 1.8 million units sold is correct, less than 2% of owners of EA Sports Active are reporting their play time data.

Punch-Out!! 272,649 ÷ 5.91 = 46,134*

Based on the VGChartz.com's sales numbers, Punch-Out!! has sold approximately 420,000 units in North America. Based on that, it seems that between 10-11% of Punch-Out!! owners are signed up and are having their play time data collected.

The Conduit 234,100 ÷ 8.77 = 26,693*

Based on VGChartz.com's sales number for The Conduit in North America being at 170,000 units sold, between 15-16% of The Conduit owners are having their play time data collected.

Wii Sports Resort 340,088 ÷ 6.19 = 54,942*

Based on Nintendo's PR email about the sales of Wii Sports Resort, I'm assuming the game has sold close to 1,075,000 units in North America, so between 5-6% of Wii Sports Resort owners have their play time data collected.

Based off these numbers, it would seem that certain games like EA Sports Active are bought by the now famous 'casual' gamers of this generation, while games like a first-person shooter, The Conduit, are still being bought by 'core' gamers.

Nintendo of Japan has announced a new program they will be starting in October to encourage more Wii owners to get online. I'm glad to see Nintendo of Japan taking some steps to encourage Wii owners to use their systems for online purposes.

*rounded to the nearest whole number