Fri, Sep 10, 2010 | 20:20 BST
NPD August 2010: Xbox 360 outsells rival consoles again, Madden pushes for the win
NPD has released August sales figures for the US, showing Xbox 360 outsold PS3 and Wii for the third month in a row, and held four games in the software top 10.
While all may be well and good in Xbox 360 Land, the industry as a whole was down.
Worst August on record since 2006
Industry sales fell 10 percent in August to $818.9M compared to $910.3M in the same month last year, making it the worst August on record since 2006.
Once again, NPD blamed an overall 5 percent decline in the US console sector to portable hardware, software and accessories being down 25 percent.
Overall, industry sales sat at $8.37B for 2010, down 8 percent ($720M) year-on-year, and accessory sales were down 6 percent.
Nintendo still dominates US hardware sales despite decline
Hardware sales were down 5 percent year-over-year to $282.9M for August.
Xbox 360 may have outsold both second place DS and Wii as far as units were concerned, but if you combine the Nintendo hardware units the company dominated the chart with 587K units sold.
Wii sales are still in decline, with NPD calling it the worst performance month for the console since it launched.
Microsoft had the best selling console for the month, though, moving 357K units, no doubt still thanks in part to the sleeker 250Gb model introduced at E3 in June.
Nintendo took third spot with Wii at 244K units, and Sony was fourth with 226K PS3s moved.
PSP sales fell 5K units compared to July, selling 79K handhelds.
All in all, both 360 and PS3 platforms saw growth compared to August last year, with 360 contributing to over a third of new retail sales in hardware, software and accessories, and PS3 contributing over a quarter.
US hardware sales in August:
- Xbox 360 – 356,700
- DS – 342,700
- Wii – 244,300
- PS3 – 226,000
- PSP – 79,400
When compared with July figures, PS3 was the only system with a unit sales increase, up 5.1 percent over the month prior. This marks the thirteenth month of consecutive year-over-year growth for PS3.
US hardware year-to-date:
- DS – 3,811,800
- Wii – 2,983,100
- Xbox 360 – 2,695,900
- PS3 – 2,031,500
- PSP – 762,700
Madden reigns supreme, sees growth on PS3
Software sales were down 8 percent to $403.5M, compared to $471.2 million in August last year.
Madden NFL sold over 1.8 million units combined on Xbox 360 and PS3, a 6 percent increase over Madden NFL 10.
August 2009 saw sales of Madden NFL 10 on both consoles come in at 1.6 million, so that’s a 200K year-on-year increase.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 was third, selling 124.6K units, while Mafia II sold 121.6K units on Xbox 360.
According to NPD’s Anita Frazier, September has the potential to be “a huge sales month for Xbox 360,” what with Halo: Reach releasing.
“Looking forward, Halo: Reach releases on 14th September and will kick off the mega-title releases for the remainder of the year,” she said.
“The 360 install base is now about triple what it was when Halo 3 was launched so the potential audience for Reach is significantly larger.
“Between the size of the potential audience, the quality of the game previews, and the hefty marketing program behind the game, we can expect big numbers to be reported with September results.”
Here’s the full chart:
- Madden NFL 11 (Xbox 360) – 920.8K
- Madden NFL 11 (PS3) – 893.6K
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) – 124.6K
- Mafia II (Xbox 360) – 121.6K
- New Super Mario Bros. (DS) 110.4K
- New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
- Mafia II (PS3)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360) (101K)
- NCAA Football 11 (Xbox 360) (87K)
- Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
- Just Dance (Wii)
- Red Dead Redemption (360)
- Pokemon SoulSilver (DS)
- Madden NFL 11 (Wii)
- NCAA Football 11 (PS3)
- Wipeout: The Game (Wii)
- Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
- Dragon Quest IX (DS)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
- Mario Kart DS (DS)
One notable August release missing from the full top 20 chart was Kane & Lynch 2.
While the software chart doesn’t factor in revenue from used, digital downloads, DLC, rentals, subscriptions, mobile or social network games, NPD will include these figures in a quarterly report on the total market in the near future.
Frazier did mention, though, that Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty sold over 300K during August, contributing to the 35 percent year-over-year increase in the PC sector.
31 comments
#1
Razor
10/09/10, 1:13 am
That’s pretty incredible PS3 Madden growth, considering it’s some 7 million behind the 360 in the US.
#2
SOMI
10/09/10, 1:38 am
“US hardware life-to-date:
1. DS – 45,610,258
2. Wii – 32,522,881
3. 360 – 23,252,086
4. PSP – 19,468,336
5. PS3 – 13,403075
”
you need a thousand seperator between then 403 and 075
#3
SOMI
10/09/10, 1:38 am
Also did anyone notice that New super mario bros DS is back in the charts
! that game has sold over 22M WW.
#4
Robster1979
10/09/10, 1:53 am
September will be interesting, we’ll get to see the impact of the “Halo effect” and just how “massive” it is.
MS are certainly on a roll in the US and I cant see it stopping anytime soon with Halo, Kinect, new bundles and Xmas all coming up.
#5
Razor
10/09/10, 2:06 am
Wow, holy shit, I didn’t even read…PS3 is 10 million behind the 360?
That’s just insane. I’m tired of saying Sony need to step it up in the US, but this is just bonkers. They’re miles behind. It’s a good job the RoTW is bailing the PS3 out.
#6
Stephany Nunneley
10/09/10, 2:18 am
@5 Technically, it’s 8,169,390
#7
Razor
10/09/10, 2:37 am
Did you stealth edit Steph…I swear that said 23 million before
Still, the point stands regardless. Sony are crap in the US.
#8
guapo
10/09/10, 2:53 am
Didn’t know psp was 4 and a half million ahead of ps3. Interesting….
#9
NoxNoctisUmbra
10/09/10, 4:34 am
maybe popular PS3 and Xbox games sell well on Xbox, but I wonder about normal games, Seems PS3 has more to offer then just sports and shooter games. So on PS3 people buy more genras over Xbox.
#10
Crysis
10/09/10, 5:22 am
why is super mario bros so popular? i can play it on my damned browser!
#11
Michael O’Connor
10/09/10, 6:37 am
@10 Because they’re great games that cater to all audiences, casual and hardcore alike.
I can 360 sales exploding even more with Halo Reach coming out. Sony had a really strong first party line-up for 2010, the best of any of the consoles this year; but it doesn’t seem to have been enough.
It seems that the mega-franchises are all that decide a console’s success nowadays, and Sony really seems to be lacking those.
#12
Razor
10/09/10, 6:51 am
I don’t see 360 sales exploding for Reach, much like console sales didn’t explode for MW2 last year.
Software went bonkers, but the hardware didn’t.
#13
DiodeX
10/09/10, 8:05 am
So, the more Madden sell, the worse it is!
Its a fecking shambles this year!
#14
M2Kx
10/09/10, 8:12 am
I’m kinda surprised because alot of you are surprised about this. It’s chrystal clear: MS owns the West, Sony owns the East and the middle is a bit even, but I think that Sonys a bit in front.
/e: what? MW2 almost as much as Mafia 2? that’s crazy.
#15
DrDamn
10/09/10, 8:40 am
@11
I tend to agree with Razor. Who are all these people who are going to get a 360 for Reach who have currently poo-pooed it for Halo 3 and Halo:ODST? You may get some, or even people coming back to the platform for it, but I don’t see a load of people who have been holding off for Reach before diving in. Improvements in the 360 numbers in the coming months will be more related to the slim model, holiday season and Kinect if anything. I suppose there may be some PS3 owners who may make the purchase too – but again I’d argue that would be more a combination of factors.
What Sony did this gen is fail in the US market quite badly. The 360 has had a great and consistent line-up for the market and the PS3 didn’t get it’s big guns for that market out the door quick enough.
#16
Michael O’Connor
10/09/10, 8:46 am
Exclusives always shift units, especially ones of this magnitude. I’m pretty confident it’ll push a fair few extra units. Guess we’ll see next month.
#17
Erthazus
10/09/10, 8:52 am
@15 Reach looks better than Halo 3 and it’s the last Bungie Halo game and marketing campaign behind it is huge.
Will GT5 increase console sales? I doubt that. It’s not PS1 or PS2 era.
#18
Blerk
10/09/10, 8:53 am
Surprising to see the 360 so far ahead again – I was sort of expecting it to drop off a bit this month and then surge again next month for Reach. Are there still price-reduced old models out there driving this, I wonder?
Quite the gap between Madden and ‘everything else’ this month.
#19
Razor
10/09/10, 9:01 am
@17 So Halo is allowed to shift units, yet GT5 isn’t? Okay.
If anything, for me, GT5 has the most potential impact on increasing hardware sales as there is not a main GT game in the market for people to buy; yet anyone who wants to play Halo will surely have a 360 buy now. If someone hasn’t bought a Halo 360 game after all this time, why would they buy a 360 for Reach now?
It’s the software that will sell well…hell, it may even surpass the record set by Halo 3. But will it significantly increase 360 sales? I just don’t see it.
#20
DrDamn
10/09/10, 9:01 am
@16
Yes it will shift units, I suppose what I’m arguing more is who those buyers are. Brand new buyers? Or upgraders / current PS3 owners. I think the argument is likely moot as we won’t be able to separate any increase from the multitude of other factors.
@17
Still doesn’t get away from the fact that if you are a fan then there are already 2 great Halo games out on the 360 that you have been ignoring for what reason? They don’t look so nice? At least with GT5 it is delivering something which is currently not available on the PS3 – a full and comprehensive GT title.
#21
Blerk
10/09/10, 9:06 am
Interesting to see that that’s the Wii’s worst month since launch. Time for a price cut? Or will Christmas save it again. I’m kind of thinking… a bit of both.
#22
Patrick Garratt
10/09/10, 9:06 am
I’ve adjusted those figures slightly so they’re not rounded up. Amazing graph added.
#23
No_PUDding
10/09/10, 10:52 am
Wow. Thank god the Wii is finally dying.
#24
cookiejar
10/09/10, 11:23 am
Surely more or less everyone who will get Reach will have a 360 anyway? I would of though Halo 3 would of been a bigger system seller because it was still early on the cycle.
That Reach SKU will sell pretty well though.
#25
itsucks
10/09/10, 11:32 am
Crymoar, crybabysis and erzatwat & Ciasonybots
#26
Callum
10/09/10, 6:01 pm
A price cut of the wii at the right time before Xmass, and prehaps a bundle with some extra controllers and a copy of mario will boost the wii back up easily. It aint dead yet.
#27
Callum
10/09/10, 6:02 pm
Also, should I play one of these Madden games at some point? I feel like im missing a significant part of gaming culture by not playing them lol.
#28
Stephany Nunneley
10/09/10, 8:18 pm
Full top 20 has been added there.
#29
AHA-Lambda
10/09/10, 8:34 pm
OUCH! K&L2 wasnt even in the top 20!?!
#30
DSB
10/09/10, 8:37 pm
Geeze. Madden has only sold 2 million copies? How have the mighty fallen.
Looks like everybody finally owns a Wii now
I bought my first Wii yesterday, for my 4 year old nephew. Since I owned a Genesis I was more of a Sonic “man” myself, but he knows every character in the Mario universe already.
I got him some Brawl and some Mario Kart. I know he’s gonna love the Kart, but is Brawl any good if you have no clue how to play?
#31
Michael O’Connor
10/09/10, 11:48 pm
Gran Turismo is going to shift units. That goes without sayinbg.