VG Chartz

Infobox Website
name = VG Chartz

url = http://www.vgchartz.com
type = Video game sales tracking
registration = Optional (free)
owner = Brett Walton
author = Brett Walton
launch date = June 2006

VG Chartz is a video game sales tracking website that provides weekly sales figures of console software and hardware by region. The site was launched by Brett Walton. [ [http://www.cinemablend.com/games/CB-Games-Interview-VG-Chartz-Speaks-Out-4825.html CB Games Interview: VG Chartz Speaks Out ] ] VG Chartz is ranked amongst the top 5,000 websites in the United States and serves over 3 million page impressions per month. [ [http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details/vgchartz.com vgchartz.com - Traffic Details from Alexa ] ] VG Chartz has defended the credibility of its sales data using numbers published by NPD Group [cite web | url=http://www.vgchartz.com/news/news.php?id=564 | title=NPD Data vs. VGC Data for the September 2007 Sales (9/2/07 to 10/6/07) | author=TheSource | date=2007-10-19 | accessdate=2007-11-10] .

VG Chartz provides tools for data analysis and charting. Regular written analysis of the data referencing major news in the video gaming industry is provided. [http://www.vgchartz.com/welcome.php VGChartz.com | ] ] News organizations such as BBC, Forbes, Fortune, The New York Post, and The New York Times often use VG Chartz for sales data in their publications. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/newsbeat/newsid_7618000/7618515.stm Xbox 360 gets UK price cut - BBC] ] [http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/08/future-video-games-tech-future07-cx_mn_de_0211game.html The Future Of Videogames - Forbes.com ] ] [ [http://bigtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2007/08/20/nintendo-philosophy-dominates-us-video-game-charts/ FORTUNE: Big Tech Nintendo philosophy dominates U.S. video game charts « ] ] [ [http://www.nypost.com/seven/08292007/business/sales_of_madden_hit_1_8m.htm SALES OF 'MADDEN' HIT 1.8M - New York Post ] ] [cite web | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/technology/21wii.html?ref=business | title=NYT Article (4/21/08) | author=JEFF MUSKUS | date=2008-04-21 | accessdate=2008-04-21]

History

VG Chartz began in September of 2005 when Brett Walton created a small site which collected together publicly available video game sales data in one place for users to view. [http://www.thebitbag.com/2007/10/18/the-bitbag-interviews-brett-walton-president-of-vgchartzcom/ The Bitbag » The Bitbag Interviews Brett Walton, President Of VGChartz.com ] ] . The site began to gain media attention after some of its figures were quoted in mainstream publications.

VG Chartz earns money from advertising banners and programs such as Amazon.com stores. [ [http://www.vgchartz.com/advertising.php VGChartz.com | ] ] [ [http://www.vgchartz.com/astore.php VGChartz.com | Store ] ]

In February 2008, Forbes editor, Michael Noer, cited VGChartz in his "The Future Of Videogames" article.

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. [ [http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2008/06/data-on-the-web-vgchartz-vs-np.html Data on the Web: VGChartz vs. NPD - O'Reilly Radar ] ] However, in the same month Simon Carless wrote an article in which he criticized VG Chartz for the poor tracking of low selling video games and for adjusting the numbers after other sales tracking firms released their numbers, explicitly he talked about Metal Gear Solid 4, for which the numbers for Europe were an educated guess based on Japanese and American sales of the game.. [ [http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/06/analysis_what_vgchartz_does_and.php#more GameSetWatch - Analysis: What VGChartz Does (And Doesn't) Do For The Game Biz ] ]

Content

VG Chartz tracks the sales data of video game consoles sold by Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, as well as software for those consoles. VG Chartz has a database which lists sales for many historic video game consoles, but the regular updates focus on the seventh generation video games consoles [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_video_game_consoles_%28seventh_generation%29] . These include the home consoles, the Microsoft Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii, and the Sony PlayStation 3, as well as the current generation of handheld consoles, the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP.

In addition to the sales data, VG Chartz has a large community of members who contribute content to the website.

VG Chartz has an active community with 31,137 (as of September 21st, 2008) registered users and subforums for discussing the website, sales data, gaming news in general and by manufacturer, and an off topic section. Each member has a customizable profile, on which they can post a limited amount of information about themselves and their game selection.

Certain members can contribute analysis, industry news and editorials to a site news section, which users can then comment on.

A prediction league is operated by VG Chartz for entertainment purposes; members can predict the exact sales of console software and hardware in a specific region for the following week, and then are awarded points based on the accuracy of them. A league table is updated with the highest-scoring participants.

VG Chartz hosts a user-run database of console game information. Members enter games to the database, and can then submit information such as publisher, release dates, a bit of info about the game, screenshots and comments. Each game in the database has its own page combining user-contributed information with VG Charts sales figures and a divided bar chart of its sales in the three major regions (Americas, Japan and Other, primarily Europe).

Analysis Tools

The sales figures database can be analyzed with tools on the site for data analysis and graphical representation purposes. Tools available include:

* Hardware by date: Users can select start and end dates or hardware from launch, the specific region of sales and which consoles they would like to be displayed (up to three at once); a line chart is then shown. Data can be displayed as weekly or cumulative sales. [ [http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php VGChartz.com | Hardware Comparison Charts ] ]

* Periodic sales summaries: Users can view weekly, monthly, yearly, or total summaries of data by region, giving a software sales chart as well as hardware and software sales figures with pie charts of sales share. Software sales by publisher are also given.

* Hardware table: Users can see a subset of the data in table form by region and console between set start and end dates. [ [http://vgchartz.com/hwtable.php VGChartz.com | Hardware Comparison Charts ] ]

* Million sellers: A table of console software that has sold over a million copies according to the publishers' data is shown. [ [http://vgchartz.com/worldtotals.php VGChartz.com | Worldwide Million Sellers ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.vgchartz.com/ VG Chartz]