1) Do people think that they're big or clever when they use the word "guestimate"? Trust me, they're not.
2)Where's your evidence. Where's your proof? What information do you have that can disprove VGChartz as a tracking firm?
NPD? Guess what, they just use estimations as well. Same as every other tracking firm out there.
Sony/MS/Nintendo shipment figures? The clues in the title. "Shipment" figures. ie - how many units they have...
What a lovely, deep article. I quite enjoyed the part when he analysed the possibilities.
/sarcasm
This is actually not true. VGC gets its data the exactly the same way as Famitsu and MediaCreate does.
Not to mention the fact that one of the analysts on the site posts a preview to the Japanese data (which is usually very accurate) before any other Japanese figures are out.
Wow, I'm loving the non-biased writing here. It really did paint a full picture in my mind.
@ 1.7
Many people have multiple accounts. I, for one, have purchased CoD4 or the PS3 once (and for the 360/pc once), and yet my machine has played online with four different accounts: mine; my 2 brothers; and a crappy account I have for playing about with when friends come over.
Sony announced that they had sold 3 million copies of Resistance, yes. But they had sold 3 million copies of the game to shops, not to the consumers. VGChartz tracks software sold from shops to customers.
Sony tracks: Warehouse -> Shop
VGC tracks: Shop -> Our grubby mits
Also, about the Singstar comments, Singstar may have sold well on the PS2, but that by no-means means that they will continue to sell well on the PS3. The PS3 has a completely differ...
Yes, I do.
And although it was started as a hobby, the creator of VGC has recently made running VGC into his job. They also have a few other hobbyists who work on crunching the numbers.
Does the fact that the owner has left his old job make the numbers any more or less reliable?
Also don't use phrases like "do you even have a clue", that implies that I don't know what I'm talking about. Which would be wrong.