April NPD

3

NPD sales figures for America, the reporting period includes 5 days of GTA IV sales.

714k – Nintendo Wii
415k – Nintendo DS
193k – Sony PSP
188k – Microsoft Xbox 360
187k – Sony PlayStation 3
124k – Sony PlayStation 2

So the Nintendo steamroller continues, what is frightening is that the 714K is supply constrained. If they could have made more they would have sold more, how long till every home in America has one? It is statistically impossible to continue for ever at this rate unless people start buying multiple Wiis per household. So just when will Wii sales hit the brick wall? Not soon because we have the Wii fit phenomenon which reaches a whole new demographic.

 The PSP is having a major resurgence but it doesn’t have much to do with games, it has become the low cost media player of choice.

The Sony PS3 figures are excellent, especially when you compare price. This reflects the fact that the PS3 is at long last starting to be worth buying as a gaming machine with the catalogue of games beginning to look half decent. And the PS2 just keeps on selling. It is a great pity that Microsoft couldn’t (or wouldn’t) buy the chip rights to the original Xbox to keep it going as part of a two product lineup, the results would have been very interesting.

And Microsoft must be wondering what they have to do to win.Their machine is the best value for money, has a far better game lineup than the PS3 and a vastly superior online offering in Live. Even with GTA IV the exclusive content isn’t giving them a higher attatch rate than for the PS3. It is getting increasingly difficult for their marketing people to construct good news stories. Which brings us to the software sales figures.

1.85m – GTA IV (360)
1.12m – Mario Kart (Wii)
1.00m – GTA IV (PS3)
360k – Wii Play (Wii)
326k – Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
224k – Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PS3)
202k – Pokemon MD: Explorers of Darkness (DS)
202k – Pokemon MD: Explorers of Time (DS)
152k – Guitar Hero III (Wii)
141k – Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360)

Where the big surprise is Mario Kart, released on the same day as GTA IV and slipping under everyone’s radar, except for the 1.12 million people who bought it.

What is for sure is that gaming is immensely strong as it continues it’s push into mainstream.

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3 Comments


  1. Mario Kart was not released on the same day as GTA4, it was released several days earlier.


  2. The Wii hasn’t sold as many as the 360 has in the US. But give it 2-3 more weeks and it will. And Wii fit will be huge in the US. And why is MK Wii such a surprise? Its a well known series that will have longer legs than GTA 4 and will outsell it. Maybe not this year but by Xmas 2009 it will be a long way in front.


  3. I’m kinda confused here. You say the 360 and PS3 sold almost exactly the same numbers in hardware, then say “Even with GTA IV the exclusive content isn’t giving [the 360] a higher attach rate than for the PS3”. Then in the very next line you quote figures showing the 360 version of the game selling almost twice as many as the PS3 one.

    Twice as many games for the same number of consoles IS a higher attach rate. Much higher.

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