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Analyst sees 2008 as a very good year for the DS
When it comes to predictions and the gaming industry, they often involve the name Michael Pachter. Not today, though, as an analyst for Lazard Capital Markets has tossed his own hat into the virtual ring of predictions and sees the DS as having an amazing year, even better than the previous year. Colin Sebastian sees sales improving from 5.9 million total units in 2008 to a far more profitable 6.4 million. We've never been ones to boast any kind of ability in predicting the future, so we would never dare make an estimation of our own. But, we will say that Nintendo knows what they're doing and amazing games keep releasing on the platform, so that's something to consider when looking at the future.
NPD: Nintendo on top with hardware, games
Well, we're all familiar with this sight. Nintendo is on top again, with the NPD numbers for March reporting that the Nintendo kicked ass with the Wii and, you guessed it, Super Smash Bros. Brawl. We won't do any further introducing of the sales figures, as that's what you're here for anyway.Hardware sales in the U.S. for the month of March were:- Wii: 721K 289K (40%) - DS: 698K 110.4K (15.8%) [Update: Fixed typo in growth number] - PSP: 297K 53.9K (18.1%) - Xbox 360: 262K 7.4K (2.8%) - PS3: 257K 23.8K (9.3%)- PS2: 216K 135.8K (62.9%)Well, well, it looks like Pachter was dead on about the hardware figures. Head on past the break for the software sales.%Gallery-3347%
Pachter: More DS domination on the cards for March
Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter has once again whipped out his crystal ball and claimed that the DS (hand-in-hand with the Brawl-fuelled Wii) romped to victory in the U.S. during March.Pachty estimates that the handheld shifted 700,000 units, more than double the number of PSPs sold, which he places at 300,000. An impressive margin to be sure, particularly after the DS coughed and wheezed its way to a narrow 21,000-unit sales victory in January.Will Pachter's predictions be proven correct? We'll know very shortly, as soon as NPD coughs up our monthly data!
Pachter: Wii to sell 700,000 in March
With the official NPD numbers due any day now, Michael Pachter has tossed out his prediction for the winner of March in the U.S.: Nintendo. He is claiming that the Wii will have moved 700,000 units in the month, with Smash Bros. Brawl being the big reason. Even though he says that Nintendo is still sending more units to Europe than the U.S., he says that March will be different because of, obviously, Smash Bros. Brawl.And, even better is Pachter's prediction that April will see Nintendo doing even better, with both Mario Kart Wii and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon sequels being huge draws. Let's hope he's right!
Top 100 games sold in the last year
Perhaps we're just cynics, but we're not at all surprised that this list of the 100 top-selling games in the U.S. and Europe isn't filled with more good games. We understand that not everyone has the tastes of the DS Fanboy staff (as much as we try to ram it down your throat), but some of these are just crazy.Of course, some easy picks like Pokemon Diamond & Pearl and Brain Age 2 populate the list, but where is the love for some other great DS games? Phantom Hourglass at the 23rd spot? For shame. 1.2 million copies of High School Musical: Makin' the Cut sold and Drawn to Life only selling 820,000 copies? For shame.In all, it's an interesting list that you should take a look at.[Via Joystiq]
Hudson plans to ride wave of success, thanks to Wii
Hudson has announced plans to play the peanut butter to the Wii's chocolate, forming a completely symbiotic relationship that, in the end, pays off for us all. They expect to quadruple their profits over the next few years, by focusing on making titles for the Wii. Hey, we like the sound of that!Soon-to-be Hudson president, Michihiro Ishizuka, sees the company's new approach as the best way for them to maximize profits. We're inclined to agree, what with the Wii being the top console and all, and expects an operating profit of 10 billion yen ($97 million) by March of 2011. And with a slew of compelling WiiWare games on the horizon, as well as Deca Sports, we think they can do it.[Via Joystiq]
Strong DS sales mean supply shortage to UK
if you ever keep an eye on sales data in the far-off lands of Not Japan, then perhaps you know that the world loves the DS. It's just a great handheld system, no further explanation necessary. In the UK, the portable gaming system is selling as if it were the year-end holidays in the country, causing a bit of a strain on Nintendo's supply of handhelds to the region."What we sold last week on DS is what previously would have been sold in November – so hopefully retail will understand that it is presenting stock challenges for us," explains Nintendo's marketing director Dawn Paine. Yet the problem of keeping product out there on shelves is a problem for Nintendo at the moment, they couldn't be happier with the continued success. "But three years down the road from launch, the fact that our hardware sales are increasing is very pleasing." The one place you're still not allowed to have one, however, is prison.Any of our UK readers notice the shops lacking DSes on their shelves?[Via Go Nintendo]
Europe is the wind beneath the wings of No More Heroes
We're making your BFF bracelet right now, Europe. As folks that are very good at taking credit when they have absolutely no business being within the same room as it, we thank you for listening to us and buying this amazing game called No More Heroes.According to MCV (via Chart Track), the game was #4 in the Wii charts for sales following the game's release. And in the All Format charts, the game took a rank of 20th. The strong sales for No More Heroes are something that we're glad to report (we have a hard time shutting up about this game) and hope helps lead to one thing: a sequel.%Gallery-4611%
Cooking Mama still fueling Majesco profits
The new casual approach for Majesco is working wonders for the company, as the latest sales stats pouring in show the company's profits are up. In fact, the company saw a profit of $2.7 million during Q1, doing a total of $18.7 million in sales. The majority of their profit comes courtesy of the Mama herself, as the company reports 77% of their sales came from handheld titles.Jesse Sutton, CEO of Majesco, commented that the company "benefited from a strong domestic sales performance, driven by sales of our Cooking Mama games, which delivered a revenue increase of 47 percent versus the same period last year." Sutton added that Majesco is "focused on expanding the number of titles we publish and strengthening our retail distribution."Majesco also announced that Cooking Mama 8: Mama Bakes in Space is due for a summer 2027 release.
February NPD: Nintendo reigns supreme yet again
February was one awesome month for gaming. Figures showed that sales were up across the board, with the Wii selling quite a bit during the month. Perhaps it made for the best Valentine's Day gift imaginable? Or maybe it's just the perfect any day it doesn't matter gift? Or maybe it's just perfect? Yeah, that last one sounds about right.February's console sales are as follows: DS Lite: 587.6K 336K (134%) Wii: 432K 158K (58%) PS2: 351.8K 87.8K (33%) PS3: 280.8K 11.8K (4%) Xbox 360: 254.6K 24.6k (11%) PSP: 243.1K 13.1K (6%) Head on past the break for the software breakdown.
January NPD: Always in December's shadow
See all those red arrows? That means that you January just got served. Wii: 274K 1.08m (80%) PS3: 269K 528K (66%) PS2: 264K 836K (76%) DS Lite: 251K 2.22m (90%) PSP: 230K 830K (78%) Xbox 360: 230K 1.03m (82%) After a stellar holiday season, we could have guessed that everything would fall in the month of January. The Wii managed to squeak out in first, despite the fact that sales decreased 80% from December. But hey, first is first.Even though sales dropped, demand for the Wii is still high, leading some folks to speculate about the console's shortages. Analysts from Wedbush Morgan (including Michael Pachter) and simExchange venture that supply was low because many Wiis were diverted to Japan for the launches of Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.As per usual, there's more sales goodness after the break.
BDA gloats over selling 2 million Blu-ray Discs in Europe
It's almost comical how quickly the Blu-ray Disc Association gets its thoughts and feelings out to the world after crossing any milestone, and yet again we see the BDA rushing to pat itself on the back after moving some 2.37 million BD titles in Europe. According to recent sales figures, 79-percent of all high-definition movies purchased across the pond year-to-date have been of the Blu variety, and as expected, Sony's PlayStation 3 is given quite a bit of credit for the results. According to David Bishop, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, passing the 2 million mark in Europe will allow supporters to "focus less on winning a format war and more on addressing the needs of the consumer in adopting the Blu-ray format." Confident, are we?[Image courtesy of Messe-Berlin][Via Tech.co.uk, thanks L. R.]
EA: Wii will continue to dominate
EA has decided to put on the Michael Pachter Hat apparently, as the company is betting that the Wii is going to continue its trend of crushing all of its competitors in the games space throughout this year. How do we know this? Well, let's just put it this way: many Bothans gave their life to get us this information.Actually, IGN published EA's projected numbers, which show the Wii selling between 5.5 - 6.5 million units in North America and 6.5 - 7.5 million units in Europe throughout the 2008 calendar year. This fantasy world in which EA has built for itself also has a nice gumdrop waterfall, we hear.We're not saying the Wii can't do those figures (we don't really have much experience in predicting the future), and EA's backing of Nintendo seems to be a sound enough strategy, but we're not sure we'd put the farm on Europe pushing more Wii units than North America this year.
Cartoonish caricature of the console wars warms our cockles [update]
Update: The embeddable player gave us some difficulty, so we cut it from the post. Hit up the "read" link below to check out the video.What better for a Monday than a cartoon talking about the console wars, wouldn't you say? Wait, do you smell that? It's fanboy debate, simmering at a nice temperature and waiting to be turned into a full-on boil. We know you're ready to break the doors of our post down and leave your two cents. So, have at it!Oh, and watch if only for the PS3's role as an ottoman for the Wii. It's pretty funny.
Wii Fit has serious money-printing potential
Over the last four weeks, Wii Fit has enjoyed a top spot on the Japanese sales charts. Actually, it's enjoyed the top spot, as the bundle has been selling like crazy in the Land of the Rising Fun. If you're one who likes to keep track of the sales numbers for the region, then this is old hat to you. We know you're impressed though, because you can bet we definitely are.And, as you are undoubtedly already pondering, this could be the very same scenario when Wii Fit releases to North America and Europe later this year.%Gallery-4745%[Via Joystiq]
For every Wii sold in December, 8.1 games were sold with it
Accordng to IGN, the NPD numbers for December hold more worth than just comparing figures for hardware and software sales in the U.S. during that month (or fueling fanboy debate). December's numbers show that the Wii enjoyed a tie ratio of 8:1, meaning that for every console sold, around 8 titles went along with it. Impressive.Considering the top titles for the month were Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Play and Sonic & Mario at the Olympics, it's a safe bet that copies of them went off the shelves with the consoles. Of course, this isn't meant to be taken as a literal statistic, as should 7 individuals walk into a store and pick up a copy of Super Mario Galaxy and 1 individual buys a console with the game, the statistic would still hold true.[Via Joystiq]
Wii serves over 5 million in Japan
In little over 60 weeks, the Wii console has managed to sell over 5 million units in its home territory of Japan. As impressive as this is, it falls short of the DS, which achieved sales figures of this nature in 56 weeks. But, the Wii did manage to beat the PS2, which cracked the 5 million mark after 66 weeks on the market.A system is only so good as its games though, right? Well, in Japan the games pushing the Wii are Wii Sports (2.6 million copies sold as of now), Wii Play (2.1 million copies sold as of now), Mario Party 8 ( 1.1 million copies sold as of now) and Wii Fit (1.1 million copies sold as of now). Super Mario Galaxy comes in fifth place in the country, only selling a total of 843,961 copies.
Mario & Sonic wins UK post-holiday period
Before the holiday season at the end of 2007, we reported on a weird betting practice in the UK: wagering on video game sales data. Hey, if they'll head out-of-country (as close as it may be) for a Wii, then we guess they'll do just about anything. More power to them!But, as solid of a bet as it was before Christmas, the title's supplies dipped and it wasn't able to take the number one spot. Now that supplies have made their way back to the UK, we see how much those in the country dig on the combined Sonic and Mario flavor as the first sales figures for the country have emerged.%Gallery-4697%
Pachter: Nintendo to make more than $14.5 billion in 2008
Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter has made a career out of predicting what's going down in the gaming industry. His latest prediction sees Nintendo upping their financial forecast for this year, where he thinks the company will bring in more than its current 2008 projections for $14.5 billion in revenue. We imagine that's around how much it costs to build a Death Star."Nintendo's recent financial performance has been spectacular and we continue to believe its FY:08 guidance is conservative," said Pachter. He continued on to say "We believe that global DS sales were likely around 12 million units during the [third] quarter, and that global Wii sales were around 7 million, placing the company on track to exceed guidance for the fiscal year,"
December NPD: Holy hand grenade that's a lot of hardware sold
Wow. There were a lot of Wiis and DSes sold in the U.S. in December, as one might imagine. But, we don't think many can imagine this many consoles and handhelds sold. How many of you gifted a Wii or DS this holiday, or received one as a gift?Hardware sales for December 2007: DS Lite: 2.47m 940K (61%) Wii: 1.35m 369K (38%) Xbox 360: 1.26m 490K (64%) PS2: 1.1m 604K (122%) PSP: 1.06m 493K (87%) PS3: 797K 331 (71%) Head past the break for more.
