EA targets DS top 20 with Flips range
Keith Ramsdale hopes for 2000-5000 weekly unit sales over the Christmas period
Electronic Arts, which launched a new range of DS reading-based titles called Flips today, is targeting a top 20 placement on the platform chart in the build up to Christmas.
According to the publisher's VP and GM for the UK, Ireland and Nordics, Keith Ramsdale, that's an achievable target based on the numbers that Nintendo's own 100 Greatest Classics sold last year.
"If you look back at the Classics game that Nintendo did - it's our only real reference point - and it's actually quite remote against where this target is, they sold tens of thousands straight after Christmas," he explained at the launch event in London. "They're averaging now around 800 copies per week.
"I would like to think that we can get into the top 20 at Christmas, which would be sales of - depending on how the market goes between now and then - between 2000 and 5000 units per week. I would think that would be a very good place for us to be at that time."
And when asked about if the range is likely to get retail buy-in this Holiday season following the deluge of DS product last year - and the amount of marketing that will be carried out on key core titles, Ramsdale was confident.
"There's been really good interest [from specialist games retailers] and I think they love the innovation. Space is always a challenge at Christmas - are we going to get front of store and windows? No, we're not looking to. We're looking to call out the right space in the right section, and touch wood we'll get that. But retail appetite is strong.
"The market is tough - it's a tough software market this year and we're seeing polarisation. We're seeing FIFA sell extraordinary numbers and some titles from other publishers that you'd expect to do well - I won't name them - that are good quality, haven't performed.
"I think in that space there's going to be a battle, but what's interesting in this space is that it's brand new innovation that I think has a target of its own. As long as we get some call-out in-store I think that's all we actually need at this point."
More details on the Flips range can be found in our launch story.