"Safe and steady" was the theme of May's NPD figures, with no console either enjoying a majestic surge or suffering a crushing collapse -- the DS simply registered a decent if unspectacular 9% rise in hardware sales. As it turns out, that bump was timely, because it meant the console reached 20 million units sold in North America, a landmark that has now been passed in allmajorregions.
Of course, we could snicker at how the PSP only clinched 29% of the handheld market, and so we will.
Ouch! Only the Wii escaped a big drop in hardware sales this month (thanks, we suspect, to Mario Kart), with DS numbers tumbling a hefty 40.6% (perhaps that Metallic Rose model is arriving in the nick of time?).
Fortunately for Nintendo, every other rival platform chose this month for a dramatic plummet -- we can't be the only ones surprised that Grand Theft Auto IV didn't give the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 a bigger end-of-month bump?
While its opponents largely stumbled and stuttered through March like rundown old carthorses, the magnificent Nintendo stallion romped to an emphatic victory. In any typical month, the DS might have been expected to lead the charge, but March was the month of Brawl, and there was much rejoicing. Not for the first time, the Pacht-meister was right on the money.
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!
Sales were up across the board in February, which is really the best kind of news (yes, even better than the kind that lets us be jerks to consoles with falling sales). Even bester is that our old friend the DS is back on top of the charts, having sold a remarkable 336,000 more units in February than in January. If pressed, we would guess that this is because there are now DS Lites in stores. Some of those Lites were in a fancy new color, as well, which may have driven some repeat sales.
Software sales were ... not awesome for the DS, unfortunately. Only Mario & Sonic represents the handheld on the charts. At least its sales went up.
The good news this month is that yet again, the DS Lite occupies the top spot on an NPD list. The bad news: that's only true if you organize the list by the percentage in which sales dropped since December. Keep in mind that Christmas is over -- a phenomenal success of a Christmas, at that -- and we're back to normal sales levels. In fact, we're not even back to normal sales levels yet, thanks to hardware shortages.
Still, there's no way we can make a 90% drop look good. Speaking of not good (for us), the software sales are after the break. The DS brings up the rear in software sales as well, with the top 10 showing attributable entirely to Mario's leisure time.
It's the weirdest thing. Right around November and December of every year, sales of luxury and entertainment items go way up. December of 2007 was no exception for our favorite entertainment item. How much of an exception was it not? How about 2.47 million units in one month alone? 2007 was already a fantastic year for the DS, with 8.5 million systems sold. But considering the constant chart-topping success of the DS, it's pretty remarkable that fully one-third of the year's total DS units sold were sold last month.
Let's look at some little arrows to help put the numbers in perspective.
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 the December software charts, where we welcome an old friend back to the chart. We've also got the 2007 totals posted, which are, of course, DS-eriffic in the hardware section.
Between the holiday demand and perhaps the influence of a few particularly sweet bundles, sales of the DS Lite tripled in November in the U.S. Yes, folks, that's like taking a Lite and turning it into Lite-Lite-Lite. Oh, and it must be said -- we're back on top, as well. But with 1.5 million units sold, how could we not be? Not only is the DS in demand, but it's actually available. We hear that's a huge plus.
On a hilarious side note, no DS games made it into the top ten in sales. It's all about the hardware. Or maybe there are just so many games from which you may choose (though you wouldn't know it from our tastes) that no one game managed to crawl to the top.
NPD doesn't see fit to provide us just with monthly sales figures, apparently, as they also conduct research in their secret underground bunker. There, beakers full of bright, colorful liquid of an indiscernible nature and men and women in long white coats conduct experiments. Tirelessly disassembling current hardware on the shelves and occasionally injecting caged monkeys with unknown fluids, these vigilant smart types have come to a conclusion regarding the association between stress and video games.
According to the NPD, 63% of U.S. citizens play games. 30% of these gamers say they're playing more games than they did last year. Many also cite that games are a way to alleviate stress and help them unwind. We can understand it, because there is something almost zen-like in fishing in Animal Crossing: Wild World. Actually, just about everything in that game is calming and helps us unwind, even picking weeds.
Well, to be honest, we belong in the top position, but we won't begrudge the Wii a little love when it comes to sales numbers, since we know there are still people suffering the slings and arrows of fate (and Best Buy) to get their hands on a console. No, we're cool with sharing the spotlight. We don't even have to move a lot of software to stay up there, either; two DS games appeared in the top ten, and neither above the midway point. People just like the hardware, and really, who can blame them?
Nintendo Wii: 519K (5 million total)
Nintendo DS: 458K (13.6 million total)
Microsoft Xbox 360: 366K (7.1 million total)
Sony PSP: 286K (8.8 million total)
Sony PS2: 184K (39.4 million total)
Sony PS3: 121K (1.9 million total)
Mosey on past the break to see the top-selling games.
Following yesterday's news that the NPD would be scaling back their monthly gift of console hardware and software sales figures, the NPD has come out to answer the hordes of screaming gamers who look to this information every month to be ... well, informed about their hobby and passion. NPD spokesperson David Riley doesn't want us to think it's such a bleak future, however, as he explains it could very well be a decision left up to the console makers.
Turns out, up until November 2006, it wasn't policy to share the data. But, due to a torrent of media requests and some internal conversations, the company eventually came to the conclusion that the numbers would be released. So, given that, if the go-ahead is given by the console makers, then this could all be a lot of nothing and NPD will continue to do things as usual.
You know, as people obsessed with gaming, we often find ourselves relentlessly looking over screens for upcoming games, video trailers and sales numbers. For fanboys (and fangirls), it's often the ammunition that fuels their "lol ur console is teh suk" cannons, allowing the great and wonderful internet debate to rage on in message boards far and wide.
Now, the NPD is attempting to take that away from North American gamers, as word hits that the monthly NPD figures will no longer be accessible to the public proper. So, where it might have been possible to see console sales figures and top ten software sales, we're now only going to have access to the top five software sales. Of course, console manufacturers Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft can still release the information ... if they wish.
Normally, we'd be unhappy with third place in the NPD sales round-up, but just look at the sales last month! It seems like everyone bought something, so we really can't complain. We can afford to be magnanimous about it; after all, we'll be back on top soon enough.
All jokes aside, it is interesting to note that sales of the Nintendo systems didn't really drop -- rather, Xbox 360 sales simply increased, thanks to the incredible power of Halo 3. No matter what happens with the rest of the industry, Nintendo is looking more and more like a rock in the volatile market.
Microsoft Xbox 360: 527,800
Nintendo Wii: 501,000
Nintendo DS: 495,800
Sony PlayStation 2: 215,000
Sony PSP: 284,500
Sony PlayStation 3: 119,400
Which two DS games slid into the top ten last month? Hit the break to find out.
Okay, so the number of DS (and Wii) systems sold in August was smaller than the number sold in July. That's okay! Everything else sold fewer units this month, too, except the Xbox 360-- and 106,000 fewer of those sold than did DS Lites. As long as everyone did worse than Nintendo, we're still happy, because we're bitter, horrible people!
Thanks, everyone who didn't buy one of the other systems, for making up for the people who didn't buy a DS this month! It's just not as much fun if we're not on the winning team.
Nintendo Wii: 403K
Nintendo DS: 383K
Microsoft Xbox 360: 277K
Sony PS2: 202K
Sony PSP: 151K
Sony PS3: 131K
The DS didn't fare as well in software sales this month, with the first DS game on the list (Brain Age 2) coming in at #13. We've provided the top 20 here so you could see some DS games on the list.
1. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) 2. Madden NFL 08 (PlayStation 2) 3. BioShock (Xbox 360) 4. Madden NFL 08 (PlayStation 3) 5. Wii Play (Wii) 6. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii) 7. Mario Strikers: Charged (Wii) 8. Guitar Hero 2 Bundle (PlayStation 2) 9. Mario Party 8 (Wii) 10. Guitar Hero Encore (PlayStation 2) 11. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox) 12. Madden NFL 08 (Wii) 13. Brain Age 2 (DS) 14. Two Worlds (Xbox 360) 15. Pokemon Diamond (DS) 16. High School Musical: Makin' The Cut (DS) 17. Guitar Hero 2 Bundle (Xbox 360) 18. Madden NFL 08 (PSP) 19. Pokemon Pearl (DS) 20. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Xbox 360)
The DS can't always be on top when it comes to sales numbers. Sometimes, we must step gracefully aside and allow someone else to share the spotlight. As long as that "someone else" is also manufactured by Nintendo, however ... then things are alllllright. Considering our trusty handheld had only one title in the top ten games sold in July -- Pokémon Diamond, which rang in at #7 -- moving another 400,000 units is pretty great. At least, it's better than those other guys, which is what really matters.
Nintendo Wii: 425K
Nintendo DS: 405K
Sony PS2: 222K
Sony PSP: 214K
Microsoft Xbox 360: 170K
Sony PS3: 159K
Nintendo GBA: 87K
We can't wait to see what happens this holiday season. We have a feeling things are going to get crazy.
39.1K (5.5%)
37.8K (9.1%)
_thumbnail.jpg "Prince of Persia: The Fallen King")
