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NPD: June sees Nintendo at the top again
As if anyone didn't see this coming from a mile away, the latest NPD sales data shows Nintendo is still enjoying that crisp and clean air at the top of the mountain. Breathing in deeply and staring out at all of the lands below, Nintendo has been living alone up here for quite some time. It gets a bit lonely, but it's a small price to pay for excellence.Hardware sales: Nintendo DS: 561.9K Nintendo Wii: 381.8K Sony PSP: 290.1K [Updated] Sony PlayStation 2: 270.7K (via Sony press release) Microsoft Xbox 360: 198.4K Sony PlayStation 3: 98.5K Software sales: Mario Party 8 (Wii) Wii Play w/remote (Wii) Pokémon Diamond (DS) Pokémon Pearl (DS) Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (PS2) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (Xbox 360) Pokémon Battle (Wii) Resident Evil 4 (Wii) The Darkness (Xbox 360)
June NPD: Nintendo WiiDS out competition, industry sales grow 31%
Completely unaware of the abysmal news headlines it would generate, the NPD group has released US video game sales data for the month of June. Painting a familiar picture of Nintendo perched atop a mountain of freshly printed money, the results indicate that prosperity is shared throughout the whole industry. GameDaily.BIZ reports that sales for the month are up by 31% compared to last, with half of the year showing a 43% increase over the first six months of 2006. Console hardware sales notably rose by 69% to $268 million, though portable game hardware dropped by 6%.Unsurprisingly, the top-selling system for June was the Nintendo DS, followed by waggle wonder Wii. The PSP wedged itself into third place, (thanks April price cut!), right above the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. We suspect Sony's behemoth will gain enough momentum from the recent $100-off clearance sale to break through the 100,000 sales barrier next month. That'll teach you, GBA! Nintendo DS: 561.9K Nintendo Wii: 381.8K Sony PSP: 290.1K [Updated] Sony PlayStation 2: 270.7K (via Sony press release) Microsoft Xbox 360: 198.4K Sony PlayStation 3: 98.5K [Thanks again for the image, Vince]
PSP sales increase 31% over last year
Sony recently released a statement about NPD sales figures. According to their data, PSP is gaining a lot of momentum, selling 31% more systems this month than last year during the same time. For the month of June, PSP sold an impressive 290,108 units at retail in America, now officially making it the biggest selling PlayStation product that Sony currently sells.Compare that figure to PS3, which sold 98,469 units last month. The PS2 got close: it sold an impressive 270,763 systems last month. However, it's clear that PSP is gaining a lot more momentum. With the redesign coming in September, we're bound to see sales increase even further later this year.
Price drop produces 135% jump in sales
"Preliminary internal data" from Sony shows that PS3 sales have increased by more than 135% at the company's top five retailers since the $100 price cut was announced two weeks ago. $100 is a significant savings -- but we wonder how many of these purchasers rushed to pick up a 60GB system because they're no longer in production. During the same time period, software sales increased 15% and peripherals by 60%.Recently released NPD figures show that PS3 was gaining momentum even before E3's price drop. In June, sales of the console increased 21% over May's figures, with 98,469 units sold at retail. (However, that still doesn't compete with the massive sales of the hugely successful PS2, with 270,763 consoles sold for the month.)In a press release, Jack Tretton, president and CEO of SCEA commented: "The new price on the 60 GB PS3, coupled with our very strong software showing from E3, is certainly paying dividends in terms of impressive sales across the board at retail."[Update: Complete press release is now attached.]
Codemasters says DiRT sold 500,000 in one week
Behold the power of mud! Rally racer DiRT has sold globally 500,000 copies in its first week of release, according to Codemasters. The publisher cites statistics from web site VG Chartz that the Colin McRae-less US version was number one on the Xbox 360 charts, a move that is sure to get the NPD a little hot and bothered.Speaking with Joystiq, VG Chartz president Brett Walton said that the 500,000 shipment figure "is likely to be a shipment figure" (i.e. Codemasters has sold 500,000 to the retailers, not necessarily to the consumer). Walton said that the sales were 110,000 in the US (70,000 for Xbox 360 and 40,000 on the PC) and around 150,000 total in Europe.
May NPD: the N stands for Nintendo
... and the P stands for Pokémon. The May NPD numbers are out, and-- no surprise-- the DS came out on top yet again. The Wii also did quite well, probably exactly as well as it could have given the supplies. Nintendo DS: 423K Nintendo Wii: 338K Sony PSP: 221K Sony PlayStation 2: 187K Microsoft Xbox 360: 155K Sony PlayStation 3: 81K There were only two DS games on the software chart this month, and they're basically one game. Pokémon Diamond (DS) Mario Party 8 (Wii) Spider-Man 3 (PS2) Pokémon Pearl (DS) Wii Play w/remote (Wii) Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (Xbox 360) Spider-Man 3 (Xbox 360) Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (PS2) Good for those other consoles for having so many games on the list this month. They try so hard. God bless' em.
NPD: Nintendo rocks yet another month
Nintendo does it again, as they manage to utterly dominate the competition for yet another month. The latest NPD sales figures for May show Nintendo's DS and Wii topping the charts, with a surprise third place contender in Sony's PSP handheld (likely due to a price drop). The hardware break down is as follows: Nintendo DS: 423K Nintendo Wii: 338K Sony PSP: 221K Sony PlayStation 2: 187K Microsoft Xbox 360: 155K Sony PlayStation 3: 81K Aside from the hardware sales, Nintendo's software also kicked some tail climbing to the top of the charts. Not only were the obvious poking men on the chart, but also some Nintendo software you might not otherwise have thought could have sold so well in May. The software figures are: Pokémon Diamond (DS) Mario Party 8 (Wii) Spider-Man 3 (PS2) Pokémon Pearl (DS) Wii Play w/remote (Wii) Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (Xbox 360) Spider-Man 3 (Xbox 360) Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (PS2)
NPD: Xbox 360's May sales are good enough
Gather around kids, it's NPD numbers time! May's NPD hardware/software sales just hit the news wire and aren't anything overly Earth shattering. The Xbox 360 did just fine in May, moving 155,000 units with four of the top ten selling games being 360 titles. So, things are going pretty good. Why not great? Because Nintendo is still grinning ear to ear as they unloaded an amazing 338,000 Wiis and are gaining ground on the 360's marketshare. But things aren't all that bad, because the PS3 is under performing selling only 81,000 units with no games listed on the top ten sales chart. The numbers speak for themselves and should make it pretty obvious where Microsoft needs to focus their evil. It's on Mario ... it's on.
May NPD: Nintendo still on top, industry sales up 49%
The latest US video game sales data, as compiled by the NPD group, indicates that the popularity of Nintendo's delightful money-printing machines shows no sign of, well, change. The DS and its host of pocket monsters dominated hardware and software sales in May, a month marked by a 49% increase in overall industry sales to $815.5 million. GameDaily BIZ reports that the considerable rise was due in part to console hardware sales climbing 79% to $221.4 million. The NPD has not yet provided a complete breakdown of hardware sales per platform, but the initial sales ranking gives more than enough food for thought. Sony's PSP grabs the number three spot behind the DS and Wii, trumping the PS2, the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Perhaps that early April price drop is paying off. We'll add the exact sales numbers into the ranking below as soon as they become available. As always, you'll find the software's top ten after the break. Nintendo DS: 423K Nintendo Wii: 338K Sony PSP: 221K Sony PlayStation 2: 187K Microsoft Xbox 360: 155K Sony PlayStation 3: 81K [Update: additional numbers added from a Bloomberg report.]
Pachter places prediction on May NPD numbers
No week is complete without a look in Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter's crystal ball. Now channel your chi (qi and ki are proper variants on the same concept as well), open up your chakras and let the Holy Ghost possess you, cause here's what Pachter predicts to be the NPD numbers for May. Humina, humina, humina, ding! May software sales will be up by $333 million or 16% due to the combined sales of last-gen and current gen hardware and software sales. And for the fanboys? The Wii will outsell the PS3 4 to 1. Pachter expects sales of 400,000 for the Wii and 100,000 for the PS3. The Xbox 360? It'll safely chug along at 225,000 according to the ball of crystal. The official NPD data will be released late this Thursday. We'll see how Michael did then, but expect the data to be similar to last month, and the month before that, and the month before that. Wanna see my Pokemans?[Via Press Release]
Young gamers smoking the game pipe earlier
We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control. Kids are adopting gaming at younger ages according the the latest NPD group research data. The first time kids take the red pill has dropped from 8.1 years of age to 6.7 in 2007. Doesn't mean they like what they play. Just that they're indoctrinated.Portable game systems lead the pack in child adoption rates with 39%. Console systems come in at 29%. Given the sales of the Nintendo DS and the Pokémons, that doesn't seem very surprising. Anita Frazier, industry analyst for The NPD Group, says, "[Children] appear to have no fear of technology and adopt it easily and without fanfare, making these devices a part of their everyday lives." Now if only their parents weren't so frightened of the "pokemans".
Apple notebook sales up 94% in April
According to AppleInsider (quoting UBS Investment Research analyst Ben Reitzes), Apple's April retail sales of Mac portables were up 94% year over year in the US. Total Mac unit retail sales were up a 62% overall. This information comes from research firm NPD, showing Apple to be solidly out-performing the overall PC market. With the iPhone around the corner, Leopard in the fall, and presumably a round of hardware updates due across the board, the near term for Apple looks strong.
The console sales at their six month birthday
Six months since the release of both the PS3 and Wii, Infendo put together a comparison chart based on the latest NPD data of where the most recent consoles ranked during the same time. The Wii is ahead of where the PS2 was at the six month mark, and both the Xbox 360 and PS3 rank behind the Gamecube (and we all remember how that ended). The first six month sales of the consoles rank in digits for North America as: Wii (2,470,000) PS2 (2,200,000) Xbox (1,900,000) GameCube (1,540,000) Xbox 360 (1,384,000) PS3 (1,271,000) Infendo's Blake Snow says, "[This] means fans of motion-controls can expect to see a boatload of good games with fewer titles gracing 'real next-gen' platforms. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!" If only the first six months showed the end game. Look at how small the difference between the Xbox and PS2 is in this chart after the first six months, and we know how that one ends too. The PS2 is still selling well while the Xbox has passed on. Although, it's getting hard to ignore the massive growth of the Wii as it gets older (insert typical quip about how it would be nice to have some more original Wii games here). With Iwata already expecting the Wii to hit 14 million units by next March, how big can the Wii get?
Nintendo dominates April's NPD
Remember the days when Nintendo's hardware was at a permanent and incredibly depressing third place in the sales charts, month after month? We sure can't; all this success has gone to our heads.The April NPD numbers, tracking hardware and software sales in North America, were released recently and Nintendo once again obliterated the competition. The Nintendo DS and the Wii took the top two spots for the fourth month running, with 471,000 and 360,000 units sold, respectively. Both of these figures more than double their nearest competitors (PSP and the Xbox 360), and the PS3 could only move a paltry 82,000 units.It's the same story in software. Nintendo took home the top four spots across all systems with the releases of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl and Super Paper Mario, along with the still oddly popular Wii Play. The Pokemon titles, of course, were only available for a single week in April, yet still captured the top spots with a combined 1.7 million units sold.It just makes you all tingly inside, doesn't it? For the full hardware and software figures, click after the break.
April NPD: Let us show you our dominance
Someone (and everyone they know) must really be all about the Pokemans, because the Pokémon powerhouse rolled over everything else last month. Though Diamond and Pearl were released at the end of April, they still managed to move a staggering number of units to take the top spot by a wide margin over ... Super Paper Mario. And everybody's extra Wiimote (aka Wii Play) took the fourth spot over both Guitar Hero II titles.Honestly, it was not pretty. We're almost a little ashamed, but what can you do when you're just this awesome? Oh, hey, and it looks like everyone picked up a new DS Lite in celebration, because the little handheld money machine dominated hardware sales as well.It was a good month to be Nintendo. The numbers themselves are tucked away after the jump, but you already know the story: the big N is officially the juggernaut of the moment.
April NPD: 360 sales double PS3, DS still on top
The NPD numbers for April have arrived, and things are looking good for Microsoft ... depending on how you look at it. Microsoft managed to sell 174,000 Xbox 360s in the month of April, more than doubling the 82,000 PS3s sold (incidentally, the Game Boy Advance sold 84,000). If you buy Microsoft's interpretation of the console war -- as in: our competition is the PS3, period -- then the Xbox 360 is kicking ass. Still, Sony and Nintendo have something to smile about, as the PSP, PS2, Wii, and DS all outsold the Xbox 360 in April. It's worth noting though, that the gap between the Xbox 360 and PS2 is significantly smaller than it was in March. It will be interesting to see if the revelation of Halo 3's release date will have an effect on Xbox 360 sales. Nintendo DS: 471K (10.9 million total) Nintendo Wii: 360K (2.5 million total) Sony PlayStation 2: 194K (38.2 million total) Sony PSP: 183K (7.4 million total) Microsoft Xbox 360: 174K (5.4 million total) Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 84K (35.7 million total) Sony PlayStation 3: 82K (1.3 million total) Nintendo Gamecube: 13K (11.7 million total) Microsoft Xbox: N/A [Via Joystiq]
PS3 sales worse than predicted
The dire prediction that PS3 would only sell 100k units in April was way off target. It was too high.NPD released their numbers today, and unfortunately, the situation is so grim that Sony's PR machine may not be able to come up with a suitable spin. Sony's latest console endeavor sold through only 82k units. In comparison, the Xbox 360 sold through 174k units (which is also, admittedly, disappointing).All hope is not lost, of course. NPD's Anita Frasier spoke to GameDaily about the state of the PS3: "Undoubtedly the sales results are not encouraging to date, but I for one am not counting out the PS3," she said. "While there has been good content available for the platform, there hasn't yet been the 'killer' title that tends to drive hardware sales acquisition among the broader audience. As the content ramps up, I'm confident the hardware sales will too. Rather than revisit this each and every month, particularly as we head into traditionally slower months of the year, I think we should really wait to see what the picture looks like in 6 months. Everything will be much clearer then."
April NPD: Nintendo dominates, industry sales up 20%
The NPD group has released US video game sales data for April, a month which left Nintendo laughing and others playing the fool. Industry sales are up by 20% over last month, generating a grand total of $838.6 million. Software sales dropped by 1% to $389.8 million, though a 54% increase in hardware revenue to $338.4 million lessened the impact.GameDaily Biz reports that Nintendo's hardware took the top two spots (for real this time), with the Wii showing an increase in sales for the first time in several months. The system's shortage situation has enjoyed some improvement, though unfortunately the same can't be said for Sony. Despite the PSP trumping Microsoft's elite offering, it seems the crippling "shortage" from March has become even more debilitating for the PlayStation 3. Nintendo DS: 471K (10.9 million total) Nintendo Wii: 360K (2.5 million total) Sony PlayStation 2: 194K (38.2 million total) Sony PSP: 183K (7.4 million total) Microsoft Xbox 360: 174K (5.4 million total) Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 84K (35.7 million total) Sony PlayStation 3: 82K (1.3 million total) Nintendo Gamecube: 13K (11.7 million total) Microsoft Xbox: N/A
Pachter estimates only 100k PS3's sold in April ... ouch
Wedbush Morgan analyst David Pachter just can't seem to stay out of the spotlight -- he's already been quoted on here today claiming a price cut for the PS3 is due this summer. Now he's estimating console sales for April and it seems like he's decided that April was the worst month for the PS3 so far. Citing a mere 100,000 consoles sold for the US (these are NPD numbers, so it's just the US), this is about 30,000 fewer units than the previous month and way lower than the competition. He estimated 300,000 Wii's sold, 175,000 360's, the usual dominance of the DS and the PS2 selling better than both the PS3 and 360.Software sales are up 24%, he estimates. Chances are this is no thanks to the PS3 since it released zero exclusive titles. He says that upcoming multiplatform games (like those based on movies) will sell the best on the PS2. This is probably due to userbase, plus cost of games for the PS2 seems to have dropped to a $39.99 price point (at least, around Georgia it seems that way). Sales of the PS2 may taper off once people replace the system for a next-gen one (but want to keep their current library), but that's only if the PS3 can show its muscle. In the coming months, that seems very likely.[via GameDaily]
Apparently, the majority of gamers are online
NPD, the source of all things American numbers (exaggeration), has recently divulged the public with a survey regarding the amount of people playing video games online. The numbers aren't all that surprising, but compared to, say, five years ago, they are astounding. 62% of all gamers admit to having played video games online. Ooh, we worded that like it was a disease. Perhaps "62% of gamers ecstatically thrust their hands in the air and issued a triumphant hurrah when asked if they play video games online." Either way, the result is the same. Most people like online gaming.What's even more interesting is that a good slice of that 62% admitting to playing games online are women -- yeah, imagine that. That female character in World of Warcraft might actually be a girl after all! Hmm, maybe not. Either way, the advent of online gaming on consoles really should deliver a message to Sony. They've been vague with their online strategy and apparently, if they got that straight, it'd help a whole lot with sales. Let's hope that Home will really signal a new way to play online with consoles, even if it's straight out of Second Life and The Sims.
