@KultofCows, Hey SIM admin- I bet MSFT will keep releasing numbers so you should keep that future up, I can't imagine they don't release Halo numbers either. I also think Sony will release sales data as the PS3 is doing much better than a year ago. My guess is Nintendo put the pressure on NPD b/c of the wii sales plunge.
NPD informed us yesterday that they will no longer be providing any unit sales numbers to the public. Subscribers are still allowed to release numbers regarding their own products; however, this negates our ability to do Monthly Sales Futures that are based on NPD data. We will hold the futures and see if NPD reverses this policy. If not, we will roll them back.
The last line of the article gives me a bit of hope:
"NPD tried a similar tactic back in 2007, which lasted all of six days. As we said back then: "There's always a hunger for this data and if the NPD isn't going to give it up, people might just turn to less reputable sources."
NPD's monthly public report on video game software and hardware sales in the US will change this month. The most noticeable alteration will be the removal of hardware and software unit sales. The company will still provide a monthly list of the top ten selling "physical purchases" (i.e. brick-and-mortar retail) on consoles, but by title and not by individual platform SKUs -- meaning multi-platorm games will be clumped in one sum.
Reports have been circulating since the beginning of June that on-demand TV show streaming service Hulu would be the latest multimedia addition to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Today, Hulu made it official. Along with formally unveiling its $10 premium service, the company confirmed that Hulu would be available through Sony's and Microsoft's console.
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I'd be concerned that different self reported numbers use different variables, making them <insert nice word for untrustworthy>.