Tag Archives: may npd 2008

The internet’s rubbish. There’s too much of it. If you wanted to put all the news from last night’s May NPD release in one place in a meaningful way, you’d have to get up at a ridiculous hour and type like an idiot to cover everything. Luckily, we’re here for you.

You’ll find absolutely everything you need to know about US games and hardware sales in America last month below. Alternative, hit this for the full list.

• May NPD: PS3 outsells 360, Wii nearly beats 360 install base
• May NPD: Total sales hit $1.12 billion, show 37% YoY increase
• May NPD: GTA IV beats Mario Kart to top spot
• May NPD: Year-to-date sales hit $6.58 billion
• May NPD: Sony statement focuses on beating 360
• May NPD: Microsoft’s statement keeps attention on “blistering GTA”
• May NPD: Nintendo reaction focuses on Mario Kart and Wii Fit
• May NPD: Lack of GTA hardware boost is a “surprise,” says Frazier
• May NPD: Guitar Hero III leads “battle of the bands”

Sony, unsurprisingly, focused on hardware sales in its post-NPD statement last night, after PS3 sales were shown to have moved past 360′s by an eyebrow-raising amount in May.

In fact, the first line of the company’s press release stated: “PS3 Eclipses Xbox 360 Hardware Sales; PS3 Hardware Sales Growth Exceeds 155 Percent Year-Over-Year”.

“PS3 continued its break-out year, selling 208,709 hardware units in May,” the statement continued, “22,106 more units than Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

“Spurred by enthusiasm for Grand Theft Auto IV and the exclusive releases of SingStar for PS3 and Haze, 1.26 million software units were sold for PS3 in May, representing an increase of 234 percent from this time last year.”

SCEA CEO Jack Tretton’s comment stuck with the theme.

“Leading into a pivotal season packed with blockbuster titles and unique online service offerings, consumers have chosen the PS3 as their home entertainment console of choice – showcased by its year-over-year sales growth of 155 percent,” he said. “With its commanding line up of software titles and enhanced movie playback capabilities, the PS3 has seen phenomenal momentum with a software sales increase of more than 234 percent and additional studio support of delivering content in the Blu-ray format.

“The dual platform release of the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV title reaffirmed its legacy on the PlayStation platform with a 6 percent higher attach rate than Xbox 360, reinforcing consumer choice of PS3. Poised for continued momentum, PS3 is delivering on its breadth and depth of exclusive titles to its gaming fans with today’s prized exclusive title launch of Metal Gear Solid 4. The media have hailed 2008 as the year of the PS3, and with solid sales and growth opportunities ahead, we feel consumers are saying the same.”

Full thing after the link. Read the rest of our May NPD coverage here.

More »

Microsoft’s post-NPD press release last night stayed firmly on GTA IV sales, while sticking with the now familiar line that Xbox 360 is the best selling console for third-party software sales.

“With 871,000 total unit sales in May, Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox 360 outsold the other platform’s version 2:1,” said the statement.

“With $110 million in third party game sales in May, Xbox 360 continues to move more third party games than any other console. Lifetime-to-date Xbox 360 has generated $3.9 billion dollars at retail for third party publishers, or 59% of the total in this generation.”

Moving swiftly on from the fact PS3 outsold 360 by a decent margin in the US in May, the firm also promised surprises for E3.

“We still have quite a few aces left up our sleeve,” said the release. “See you at E3 next month!”

Full thing after the break. Read the rest of our May NPD coverage here.

More »

Nintendo chose to lead on Mario Kart and Wii Fit sles in its response to last night’s NPD data, with gigantic hardware figures taking a back-seat – winning in the console space is becoming normal for the firm, clearly.

“The Wii Wheel and Wii Balance Board accessories make game play fun for new gamers while presenting new challenges for those who have been playing a long time,” said NoA marketing head Cammie Dunaway.

“The diversity of the seven Nintendo games represented in NPD’s top 10 for May demonstrates how Nintendo has something for everyone.”

Not to waste the opportunity, obviously, the firm remembered to detail the fact that Wii represented 63 percent of all current-generation consoles sold in May, DS showed 71 percent share of the portable market in the US last month, lifetime sales of Wii now stand at nearly 10.2 million and lifetime DS sales are now at more than 20 million.

As you do. Press release after the link. Read the rest of our NPD coverage here.

More »

NPD analyst Anita Frazier said last night that the lack of a US hardware sales boost thanks to GTA IV has come as a “surprise”.

“I was surprised by this month’s hardware sales because I did believe we’d see a boost in May,” she said. “GTA IV sales remained very strong so you can’t point to waning interest in the title as contributing to slower hardware sales.”

The data showed that GTA IV sold more than 1.3 million units in the US last month, but that combined PS3 and 360 hardware sales sat at 395,300 – only a slight increase on the 375,100 consoles sold in April.

Read more of Anita’s analysis of May’s NPD data on GameDaily. Read the rest of our NPD coverage here.

Wii and DS contined to destroy the competition in American hardware sales in May, selling well in excess of 1 million units between them last month.

PS3 outsold Xbox 360, despite Michael Pachter’s prediction that the situation would be reversed. The news will comes as a blow to Microsoft, who had banked on GTA IV moving hardware for the firm. Full list below.

1. Wii – 675,100
2. Nintendo DS – 452,600
3. PlayStation 3 – 208,700
4. Xbox 360 – 186,600
5. PSP – 182,300
6. PS2 – 132,000

The data also shows that Wii’s install base in America has now hit 10.2 million units, and looks set to easily pass 360′s 10.27 million console sales next month.

Read the rest of our May NPD coverage here.

May’s NPD data has shown that Guitar Hero III is leading the rhythm action stakes in the US over Rock Band this year.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier said, “A lot of folks are interested in the battle of the bands. Year-to-date, Guitar Hero III has sold 2.5 million units compared to Rock Band’s 1.3 million which lands them both in the top 10 titles for the year so far.”

Neither game, however, features in May’s top ten.

Thanks, GameDaily. Read the rest of our May NPD coverage here.

May NPD data has shown that total industry sales in the US hit $1.12 billion last month, a year-on-year increase of 37 percent.

Software sales rose 41 percent to $536.9 million, while hardware figures increased 34 percent to $428.6 million.

Sales of accessories were up 30 percent to $150.8 million.

Read the rest of our NPD coverage here.

May’s NPD data has put GTA IV firmly at the top of US sales, with the 360 version alone being the biggest selling game in America last month. With the game’s PS3 and 360 SKUs combined, the game sold more than 1.3 million units in the US in May. List below.

1. GTA IV – Xbox 360 – Take-Two – 871.3K
2. Mario Kart Wii (w/ wheel) – Wii – Nintendo – 787.4K
3. Wii Fit (w/ Balance Board) – Wii – Nintendo – 687.7K
4. GTA IV – PS3 – Take-Two – 442.9K
5. Wii Play (w/ remote) – Wii – Nintendo – 294.6K
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Wii – Nintendo – 171.1K
7. Iron Man – PS2 – Sega – 130.6K
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock – Wii – Activision – 116.8K
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness – DS – Nintendo – 107K
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time – DS – Nintendo – 102K