| abstract
| - NPD Group is a leading global market research company founded in 1967 and provides consumer and retail information to manufacturers and retailers. Using actual sales data from retailers and distributors as well as consumer-reported purchasing behavior. NPD has a 25 year history tracking toy and video game sales data. NPD provides the video game sales data for United States and Canadian territories. The monthly reports are only for the United States. They occasionally release a report for Canada indicating a new sales milestone for a platform or game. Only the Top 10 games are provided with sales figures though the top 20 are sometimes released. Reports are published the second Thursday of every month at 3:30 p.m. PDT (6:30pm EST). NPD's US video game tracking dates back to 1989[1] (maybe only 1995). NPD has made reports freely available since November 2006, when all three next-gen consoles were in the market.[2] In late 2007, NPD chose to cease the sales figures reports, but amid heavy online protests, reversed its stance.[3][4] They began tracking Canada's video game market in 2002. "NPD has several different release dates for its monthly video games data. One group of clients receives databases on the second Thursday of each retail month, the same day that NPD releases selected headline numbers to the press. Another group of clients, who subscribe to more limited services, receive their reports several business days later. A third group of clients receives a limited extract (the "IR edition") on Wednesday, a day in advance of the press release. The purpose of the IR edition is to allow clients who receive it to have some time to prepare for inquiries from media and analysts. Recipients who receive the IR edition are under very strict non-disclosure agreements, and the number of recipients is limited in order to minimize the risk of leaks. The IR edition is currently offered on a trial basis only, NPD plans to consult with its partners over the next several months to determine whether or not to make it a permanent offering."[5] To obtain detailed statistics, the interested party must pay considerable sums of money. The clientèle is essentially made up of publishers, developers, and investors. NPD covers roughly 60-65% of the U.S. retailers.[6][7][8] It notably does not cover Toys R Us (since Oct 2007) and Sam's Club retailers, but it has covered Amazon since Nov 2007 and Walmart since Feb 2012.[9][10] Although, NPD does not track Toys R Us, they do estimate Toys R Us and other retailers' sales using various algorithms and estimations. In February 2008, the firm announced they will begin tracking online game subscriptions for PC sales data and Xbox Live online subscribers on a quarterly basis and then start gathering data from digital distribution later in 2008.[11] Note: March, June, September, and December are always five weeks.(explanation) NPD does 4-4-5 (weeks/month) quarters, so that year on year quarterly comparisons are valid. A small factoid: This 4-4-5 reporting period carried out in 4 quarters spans only 364 days, one day short of the full 365 days. A "leap week" is added to January every five to six years in order to maintain consistency with the months throughout the years.[12] January 2007 contained a "leap week". Anita Frazier is NPD Group's primary entertainment industry analyst and spokesperson.
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