There is no statistical way to measure downloadable game sales at this time since the actual information is not reported to a 3rd party, as it is with music or DVD sales. In addition, aggregating the different portal charts isn't perfect since certain games are not available at each portal, and any analysis tends to ignore the smaller portals or game sales from individual sites. However, we'll do a weekly general overview of the top 10 games across the larger portals to see if we can track the game trends - it's probably directionally accurate, but certainly not statistically accurate.
May 28th, 2006
- Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects - BigFish - download here
- Diner Dash 2 - Restaurant Rescue - Playfirst - download here
- Cake Mania - Sandlot - download here
- The Da Vinci Code - Sony - download here
- Mystery Case Files: Huntsville - BigFish - download here
- Fish Tycoon - BigFish - download here
- Family Feud - iWin - download here
- Feeding Frenzy 2 - Gamehouse - download here
- Diner Dash - Playfirst - download here
- Mahjong Escape - Ancient China - Playtime Games - download here
Overview
What jumps out is that it's entire possible to have an original hit game and its sequel in the top 10 at the same time, even if they're both the same price - one reason is that the MCF and Diner Dash sequels are not carried at all portals, but even when they are, the original games still remain popular. It remains to be seen if cutting the price will even further expand the sales of the first one in each series.
Cake Mania shows surprising strength across all distribution portals, even as a game quite similar to Diner Dash, showing that there is a lot of demand for that type of gameplay The Da Vinci Code combines a massive brand with a popular Match 3 style game to enter the top 10 - Family Feud is the other large brand that remains in the top 10 after an entire year, in spite of a higher price point at $30. Fish breeding (Fish Tycoon) and fish action (Feeding Frenzy 2) games seem to work really well with the casual audience, and there is always room for a Mahjong game in the top 10, with Mahjong Escape being the most recent hit.
Other Thoughts
The two recent gardening games, Plantasia and Harvest Mania, have not shown as much lasting strength as initial sales indicated - it's unclear if the games didn't work, or the category wasn't a good one.
Based on search traffic, Shopmania (download here) is going to be a big hit in the coming weeks.
Logler.com already done such Top 10, it is very popular and well respected, but if course not 100% accurate too, so why to clone Top's? I think you better should collaborate with them...
Posted by: Alex | May 30, 2006 at 05:27 AM
I just blog about what I find interesting and looking across portals to find game trends is one of those things. I'm sure there will be lots of charts, and this one will be just one more, hopefully with some basic analysis.
Posted by: Sean Ryan | May 30, 2006 at 09:06 AM