VGChartz
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged with Brett Walton. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2010. |
 | |
Type of site | Video game sales tracking, Video game journalism |
|---|---|
| Owner | Brett Walton |
| Created by | Brett Walton |
| URL | http://www.vgchartz.com |
The VGChartz Network is a network of four video game websites - VGChartz, gamrFeed, gamrReview and gamrConnect.[1]. VGChartz itself sits at the centre of the VGChartz Network and is a video game sales tracking website that provides weekly sales figures of console software and hardware by region. The site was launched in June 2005 and is owned by Brett Walton.[2] VGChartz provides tools for data analysis and regular written analysis of the data it provides.
VGChartz provides tools for data analysis and charting and regular written analysis of the data referencing major news in the video gaming industry. Sales figures on VGChartz are based on estimates extrapolated from small retail samples.[3] While offering some information about their methodology through their website,[4] VGChartz does not publish any sources on how they get their data. Some sites, including Gamasutra and Wired News, have questioned the reliability of the information presented by the site.[3][5] VGChartz has defended the credibility and reliability of its sales data often comparing their numbers with the ones published by NPD Group[6], and in direct response to comments made by rival sites.[7]
History
Formation
VGChartz began in June 2005 when Brett Walton created an area on everythingandnothing.org.uk (as the site he had created at the time) called "videogame sales charts" which collected publicly available video game sales data in one place for users to view.[8]. In July 2006, Brett launched VGCharts.org, a stand-alone version of the sub-site on everythingandnothing and still collecting publicly available data together from across the web.[9] In March 2007, Brett bought the VGChartz.com domain and rebranded the site as VGChartz.[10] With this re-launch came the move from collecting publicly available data to carrying out original research on the videogame market, and VGChartz began to produce its own weekly charts.[11]
Expansion
News organizations including the BBC, Fortune, the New York Post, and the New York Times referenced VGChartz sales research in their publications.[12][13][14][15] In February 2008, Forbes editor, Michael Noer, cited VGChartz in his The Future Of Videogames article.[16] In May 2008, Reuters TV cited VGChartz at the launch of Wii Fit, reporting that pre-orders for the game had hit half a million copies.[17]
In June 2008 Robert Pasarella wrote an article comparing VGChartz and NPD services, advantages and disadvantages, VGChartz being the winner due to the modality on their service.[18] However, in the same month Simon Carless wrote an article in which he criticized VG Chartz for the poor tracking of a video game Iron Man in comparison to NPD, for adjusting data to match other sales tracking firms in certain cases, and for making educated guesses for some figures data for other regions. [19] Brett argued against the claims made by Simon, indicating that he had cherry-picked certain pieces of data to present VGChartz in a bad light rather than present a fair evaluation of the data.[20] Notable websites such as NeoGAF and Wikipedia have decided not to use VGChartz as a source for sales data based on the Simon Carless article.
In November 2009, Inc.com published an article on letting gamers set their own price for games and interviewed Brett on what sales level an indie game should be aiming for to be considered a success.[21] In July 2010 Brett was quoted by ABC News 10 in regards to expected sales performance of PC title Starcraft II.[22] In September 2010, Brett reported that Xbox 360 title Halo: Reach had sold four million copies in the first week and this success has set Xbox 360 platform holder Microsoft in good stead for the crucial holiday sales period this year.[23] In the same month, The Chartered Institute for IT ran an article quoting Brett in which they argued that the success of Halo:Reach would be 'difficult to replicate' for smaller developers.[24]
Present Day
In June 2010, VGChartz launched the VGChartz Network.[25] VGChartz is still the site for sales data. gamrReview was launched as a home for the network's reviews and previews. gamrFeed was launched as a blog-style site for news, editorials, and features. It also aggregates the content from VGChartz and gamrReview. gamrConnect was launched as a site dedicated to the VGChartz community.
VGChartz Network
The VGChartz network consists of 4 sub sites, each of which provides a different service and a hub page.
VGChartz
VGChartz provides sales data for all current gaming consoles and portables, as well as retail gaming software for all major platforms.
Weekly charts
The main service provided by VG Chartz is weekly charts of hardware and software sales for the video game consoles sold by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. This data is presented in three separate charts that each cover one of the three main video game markets (Japan, North America, and EMEAA (Europe, Middle-East, Africa and Asia). The site does provide sales charts for many older consoles, but with the exception of the PlayStation 2, the regular updates focus on the current generation of home consoles and handhelds.
Data analysis tools
The sales figures database can be analyzed with tools on the site for data analysis and graphical representation purposes. Tools available include:
- Americas Pre-orders: Lists the total pre-orders in the Americas for all upcoming titles and the weekly change.
- Hardware table: Users can see a subset of the data in table form by region and console between set start and end dates.
- Million sellers: A table of console software that has sold over a million copies according to the publishers' data is shown.
- Weekly Records: A chart listing the top selling title in a given week from release.
- Milestones: A chart listing the quickest games to a given sales milestone.
gamrFeed
gamrFeed is a gaming news blog that features breaking news stories, features, editorials and sales articles.
gamrReview
gamrReview features reviews and previews of games as well as a video game database that features reviews, release dates, screenshots, details, cheats, sales data and more.
gamrConnect
gamrConnect is the social branch of the network featuring active forums and profiles that feature comment walls and a game collection.
References
- ^ Network The VGChartz Network
- ^ CB Games Interview: VG Chartz Speaks Out
- ^ a b http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=18919
- ^ VGChartz Methodology
- ^ Why We Don’t Reference VGChartz
- ^ TheSource (2007-10-19). "NPD Data vs. VGC Data for the September 2007 Sales (9/2/07 to 10/6/07)". Retrieved 2007-11-10.
- ^ Response to Internet Comments about VGChartz
- ^ vgsales - everythingandnothing.org EverythingAndNothing - Web Archive
- ^ VGCharts.org - Web Archive
- ^ VGChartz.com - Web Archive
- ^ VGChartz.com Welcome Page - Web Archive
- ^ Reed, Jim (2008-09-16). "Xbox 360 gets UK price cut". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ Fortt, Jon (2007-08-20). "Nintendo philosophy dominates U.S. video game charts". brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ SALES OF 'MADDEN' HIT 1.8M - New York Post
- ^ Muskus, Jeff (2008-04-21). "NYT Article (4/21/08)". Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ Noer, Michael (2008-02-11). "The Future Of Videogames". forbes.com. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ Reuters cover Wii Fit launch in the US - VG Chartz, Pachter, Oprah!
- ^ Data on the Web: VGChartz vs. NPD - O'Reilly Radar
- ^ GameSetWatch - Analysis: What VGChartz Does (And Doesn't) Do For The Game Biz
- ^ Response to Internet Comments about VGChartz
- ^ Gamers Experiment with Pay Whatever Model
- ^ Starcraft II proves PC gaming is not dead
- ^ Halo: Reach 'has positioned Microsoft strongly for holiday 2010'
- ^ Halo success will be 'difficult to replicate'
- ^ VGChartz Has Evolved!