Games Releases & Cool Numbers

Compiling a list of all games released on the current gen systems has lead to a nice bonus: I can chart, graph and analyze the number of games released over time for each system to my heart’s content.

Note that all numbers include releases up to June 2011 for the USA and Canada.

Also note that I’m not claiming that any particular system releasing more games is better, or even that releasing fewer is better. I’m just entertaining myself by studying the numbers.

You can click any image for an expanded view

Let’s start with a simple chart...

Games Released on Each System by Year

Yes, that’s not a misprint: there are 1528 games for the Nintendo DS and 1068 games for the Wii. There is a period of time for both systems where a game was essentially coming out every day (or 7 a week).

For those of you mocking the 3DS over how slowly games are coming out for it, consider that the Wii was the fastest out of the gate and it took 12 months to release 100 games. The DS was the slowest at 16 months (and look where it is now). GameZen currently has 88 games scheduled to be released for the 3DS by the end of 2011.

Overall, notice that game releases seemed to peak by 2009. That makes sense considering the lifetime of the various game systems: the DS, PSP and Wii have been or will soon be replaced, so developers are likely focusing on next-next gen titles.

Now let’s look at a graph:

Games Released by Date

Interesting: the PSP seemed to be keeping up with the DS for two years before the systems started going in different directions.

Also, in August 2008 the Wii caught up with the Xbox 360. So, it took the Wii took 21 months to make up for being released a year later. Unfortunately I haven’t collected stats on how many mini-game collections are on the Wii :)

And this past June, the PS3 finally caught up with its older brother the PSP.

Now let’s adjust that graph so we can compare the systems directly:

Games Released by Month After System Launch

Wow. So all the systems are about even for the first year then the Wii takes off, releasing almost twice as many games as the Xbox 360 and PS3 from that point onward. The tipping point for the Wii is the 2007 Holiday season.

Quick test: without looking, which system do you think was the second fastest to reach 200 titles?

Did you guess the PSP? Yes, it reached that goal in 21 months, which was 3 months faster than the Xbox 360.

Finally, let’s take a look at one more set of numbers:

Games Released per Million Systems Sold

I think the interesting thing here is how close together all the numbers in red are. This makes sense, as developers and publishers would generally try to release games for systems with the fewest games available per user, and this should stabilize over time.

However, even though all the numbers are close, it is curious to note that the systems with the lowest and highest numbers are the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 respectively. I had always thought/heard/assumed that the PS3 had the fewest games, and indeed it did until this June, but it also has the highest number of games available compared to its install base. 

Yes, that’s a pretty meaningless number, but it’s still a fun fact to trot out at parties (assuming you go to the right parties).

Enjoy!

How to Add Hundreds of Games to Your List “Quickly”

This may be obvious once you’ve used GameZen a bit, but just in case this is the fastest way to mark games as owned (or wanted). For people that have hundreds of games, every second counts!

1. It’s best to add games one system at a time, so starting at the main menu select:
   
   - View Games
   - By System
   - Choose Console or Handheld
   - Then pick a system
2. Click the search button (Magnifying Glass Icon).
3. Start typing part of the game name. You usually only need a few letters.
4. When you see your game, you can tap the left column to toggle the game status to Owned (green). You can also tap the game, view the detail screen and box art, then click the Own button and the Back button.
5. Click the little ‘x’ in the Search Bar to clear it and start again.
6. Return to step 3. 

Note that you can also save time if, for instance, you have a lot of Mario games, just type “Mario” then tap the left column beside each of the games that you own.

This is basically how my wife and I created our game list, and once we get going we can add 10 games a minute (when we're trying to be speedy).

GameZen: Find it, List it, Search it, Fast!

GameZen is now available on the app store (or will be any minute now).

My goal was, and still is, for GameZen to be the best app for keeping track of the games that you want and own, and to have information at your fingertips regardless of whether you have an internet connection or not. And, as a bonus, if you do have an internet connection you can use GameZen to find tons of information online with the Search Companion feature.

It's by no means complete; I still like to add more systems and a few more features.  But we'll have to see how people like it first. And by "like" of course I mean buy.

And of course I've already found a few issues (like the database isn't auto-updating properly) , so there's already an update that should be released later this week.

Anyway, I hope that others find it as fun and useful as my wife does :)

Enjoy!

Shape Search Zen Now Available!

At last, Shape Search Zen - Wordsearch Without Words is available for the iPhone/iPod Touch on the App Store!

Hey! What are you doing still reading this? Check out the exciting links on the right side of the page to find out more!

Here’s hoping everyone (and more) enjoys the game!

Youtube... Trials and Tribulations

You'd think that embedding a simple YouTube movie would be, well… simple.

And it is, assuming that you only want it to work on desktop computers.  However, it's imperative that this site work nicely on iPhones, since I expect/hope that I'll be getting visitors from the App Store wondering what "Shape Search Zen" is all about.

So, in an ideal world, I'd like iPhone visitors to be able to see a video link, click on it, watch it full screen and then return back to this site. Everything except for the last item was fairly easy to do.  Not trivial, mind you, but not impossible.

The last one though was a royal pain, as almost everything I tried opened up the iPhone's YouTube App, played the video, then stayed in YouTube.  The user would have to quit YouTube and rerun Safari.  Admittedly, Safari would still be on the same page it was before, on the page with the original video link, but I really didn't like the idea of putting that disconnect between watching the video and hopefully returning to this site or the App Store to make a purchase.

Click to read more ...