With the holiday season right around the corner, consumers are eagerly awaiting the latest video-game releases—a list that varies considerably by console, according to the Nielsen Game Rank for Q4 2012. Halo 4 continues to rank highest for Xbox 360 gamers, while Call of Duty: Black Ops II is an extremely close second for Xbox 360 (0.25% behind), and also tops the PS3 list. Just Dance 4 still provides the greatest degree of allure for Wii gamers.
NBA 2K13 and WWE ’13 rank in the top six and top eight, respectively, for all three current-generation consoles (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii). And while not releasing on Wii, Assassin’s Creed III and Resident Evil 6 rank between 96 to 98 percent for both Xbox 360 and PS3. The new reboot of Need For Speed: Most Wanted also lands in the top six titles for both of those consoles as well.
Apart from Halo 4, the other first-party exclusive title from Microsoft cracking the top ten for Xbox 360 is Fable: The Journey, while Sony’s exclusive LittleBigPlanet Karting rounds out the top ten for PS3. Transformers Prime: The Game hits the top ten for Wii, and though it is not exclusive to Wii, it is offered only on Nintendo platforms.
Narrowly missing a top ten ranking was the recently released and industry-acclaimed Dishonored. A brand new property in a sea of sequels and powerhouse franchises, it stands to reason that–apart from the avid gamers– the general gaming public may not have been as acutely aware of this title when the data was collected over the past month.
| 2012 Title for Xbox 360 | Release
Date |
Game
Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Halo 4 | 11/06/2012 | 99% |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II | 11/13/2012 | 99% |
| Assassin’s Creed III | 10/30/2012 | 98% |
| Resident Evil 6 | 10/02/2012 | 96% |
| NBA 2K13 | 10/02/2012 | 87% |
| Need For Speed: Most Wanted (2012) | 10/30/2012 | 82% |
| Medal of Honor: Warfighter | 10/23/2012 | 77% |
| WWE ’13 | 10/30/2012 | 75% |
| Hitman: Absolution | 11/20/2012 | 74% |
| Fable: The Journey | 10/09/2012 | 72% |
| 2012 Title for PS3 | Release
Date |
Game
Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II | 11/13/2012 | 99% |
| Assassin’s Creed III | 10/30/2012 | 98% |
| Resident Evil 6 | 10/02/2012 | 98% |
| NBA 2K13 | 10/02/2012 | 91% |
| WWE ’13 | 10/30/2012 | 83% |
| Need For Speed: Most Wanted (2012) | 10/30/2012 | 82% |
| Hitman: Absolution | 11/20/2012 | 80% |
| 007: Legends | 10/16/2012 | 76% |
| Medal of Honor: Warfighter | 10/23/2012 | 74% |
| LittleBigPlanet Karting | 11/06/2012 | 67% |
| 2012 Title for Wii | Release
Date |
Game
Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Just Dance 4 | 10/09/2012 | 98% |
| Zumba Fitness Core | 10/16/2012 | 95% |
| LEGO The Lord of the Rings | 10/30/2012 | 88% |
| Just Dance: Disney Party | 10/23/2012 | 87% |
| Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two | 11/18/2012 | 83% |
| NBA 2K13 | 10/02/2012 | 83% |
| WWE ’13 | 10/30/2012 | 80% |
| Transformers Prime: The Game | 10/30/2012 | 79% |
| Skylanders Giants | 10/21/2012 | 62% |
| Nickelodeon Dance 2 | 11/06/2012 | 62% |
Read as: Halo 4 on Xbox 360 is performing better in overall aggregated U.S. consumer anticipation than 99 percent of all previous Xbox 360 titles at the same point in their release cycles
Source: Nielsen
Methodology
The overall anticipation level among gaming consumers was derived from leveraging several key consumer metrics (including Awareness, Purchase Interest and others) into one overall score. That score was then compared to scores from all previous games released on the same platform at the same point in their release cycles, to determine the percentile ranking of the upcoming title (aka the Nielsen Game Rank™).
Consumer data was collected from September 9 to October 6, 2012, via online surveys of more than 4,800 male and female active gamers between the ages of 7 to 54. Respondents must own at least one current generation console and actively play on and purchase games for that console in order to qualify for the survey.
Titles included in the analysis are those expected to release on at least one current generation console (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii) from October to December 2012.
