I think this is a big topic for soccer growth in the US. The article that I am posting the link to, is about Japan's game sales being influenced positively by soccer software. It also notes that Microsoft does not have games the Japanese are interested in. Can someone find out which software games are doing well for the various manufacturers. How well are soccer software games doing in the US compared to other sports? http://www.forbes.com/technology/newswire/2002/10/04/rtr741192.html
One of the most recent is J/K World Cup for PS2 & X-Box. I know so many people who live for this game, and it suppliments as their only soccer knowledge...however I have convinced several to come with me and see some of these players next season.
I work with the industry and these are #s life to date as of Aug 02 for sales on the Playstation 2 platform from the NPD Group. As you see from the sales data, soccer is still a ways away from catching the attention of videogame publishers. Besides FIFA nothing else really sells. This has to do with a number of factors(quality of title. license attached, marketing budget, size of publisher, distribution) MLS Extra Time was not a bad game but was not available at many retailers hence the low sales. Obviously soccer sells considerably better in Europe and Japan. Soccer titles are really the only sports title that can sell over a million units in Europe. That is why EA spends so much making FIFA big in Europe and Japan and very little is spent marketing the title in the US. ______________________________ Rank on ps2 Title Publisher Units Dollars 3 MADDEN NFL 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 1,989,196 97,076,570 8 MADDEN NFL 2001 ELECTRONIC ARTS 932,532 46,174,970 9 MADDEN NFL 2003 ELECTRONIC ARTS 930,329 46,144,320 18 NBA LIVE 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 703,886 34,728,490 20 NCAA FOOTBALL 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 623,744 31,445,690 29 NCAA FOOTBALL 2003 ELECTRONIC ARTS 446,639 22,350,580 30 NASCAR THUNDER 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 445,552 21,820,260 32 NHL 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 442,871 21,895,770 36 NBA LIVE 2001 ELECTRONIC ARTS 399,341 18,890,690 38 NBA 2K2 SEGA OF AMERICA 373,449 18,854,150 41 NHL 2001 ELECTRONIC ARTS 360,564 16,446,220 46 TRIPLE PLAY BASEBALL ELECTRONIC ARTS 306,531 14,886,860 48 TIGER WOODS PGA 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 292,918 14,671,510 49 NFL 2K2 SEGA OF AMERICA 291,570 14,208,860 55 NASCAR 2001 ELECTRONIC ARTS 266,639 12,398,870 57 TRIPLE PLAY 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 250,412 12,470,030 58 FIFA SOCCER 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 248,617 11,254,670 61 ALL STAR BASEBALL2003 ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT 237,384 11,805,260 68 NHL HITZ 2002 MIDWAY 216,114 10,764,590 69 FIFA 2001 ELECTRONIC ARTS 215,934 10,265,200 74 ALL STAR BASEBALL2002 ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT 211,132 9,989,926 77 MLB SLUGFEST 20-03 MIDWAY 205,687 10,438,810 86 NASCAR HEAT 2002 INFOGRAMES 181,189 8,060,028 102 MARCH MADNESS 2002 ELECTRONIC ARTS 142,525 6,573,540 103 NFL GAMEDAY 2001 SONY 141,667 6,148,600 105 NFL GAMEDAY 2002 SONY 138,159 6,461,292 106 2002 FIFA WORLD CUP ELECTRONIC ARTS 134,146 6,820,460 109 HIGH HEAT BSBALL 2003 THE 3DO COMPANY 130,592 6,566,349 129 NFL BLITZ 2002 MIDWAY 103,358 4,949,662 153 NFL QTRBACK CLUB 2002 ACCLAIM ENTERTAINMENT 78,273 2,540,622 154 NFL 2K3 SEGA OF AMERICA 77,585 3,849,684 175 NHL FACEOFF 2001 SONY 62,954 2,234,887 179 NBA HOOPZ MIDWAY 60,844 2,357,051 184 NCAA GAMEBREAKER 2001 SONY 56,777 2,375,460 193 NBA SHOOTOUT 2001 SONY 52,907 2,061,730 201 HIGH HEAT BSBALL 2002 THE 3DO COMPANY 51,193 2,480,315 220 WORLD TOUR SOCCER 2K2 SONY 43,040 1,613,231 221 SALT LAKE 2002 EIDOS INTERACTIVE 42,802 1,764,982 230 RUGBY ELECTRONIC ARTS 38,164 1,530,455 247 ESPN NBA 2 NIGHT KONAMI OF AMERICA 32,670 1,318,446 255 NFL PRIMETIME 2002 KONAMI OF AMERICA 29,202 1,411,611 273 ESPN NATIONAL HOCKEY KONAMI OF AMERICA 22,270 741,672 280 REDCARD SOCCER 20-03 MIDWAY 18,427 827,446 293 NCAA FOOTBALL 2K3 SEGA OF AMERICA 13,595 675,400 296 NFL GAMEDAY 2003 SONY 12,317 505,925 304 SOCCER AMERICA HOT-B USA 10,218 366,468 305 ESPN NBA 2 NIGHT 2002 KONAMI OF AMERICA 9,989 492,187 306 ESPN MLS EXTRA TIME KONAMI OF AMERICA 9,935 483,145 314 LEGO SOCCER MANIA ELECTRONIC ARTS 6,139 247,416 317 NCAA GAMEBREAKER 2003 SONY 5,267 217,383
As long as the EA keeps MLS in the title.. they will always have one less unit sold here in Florida. ;-)
What difference does it make that MLS is in the title? It is exactly the same game with different box art.