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US August game-industry haul nearly $1B

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Sep 13, 2007 5:59 pm PT

NPD reports combined hardware, software, and accessories sales hit $993 million last month, spurred by Madden, BioShock, Metroid 3, and the Wii; 360 sales skyrocket post-discount.

Today the NPD Group, North America's primary source of game-retail statistics, released its sales figures for August. As has increasingly become the trend, the numbers beat analysts' expectations.

The month saw $993 million of US retail revenue from non-PC game software, hardware, and accessories, up $67.5 million from July's $925.5 million haul. The figure also marked a massive 46 percent year-on-year increase from August 2006's $679 million, which suggests that having all three next-generation consoles in play is helping the industry to grow.

On the $302 million console hardware front, August saw Microsoft drop the price of the Core, Elite, and Pro Xbox 360s by a respective $20, $30, and $50. As a result, sales of the now- $279, $449, and $349 consoles shot up by 100,000 units, going from a combined 170,000 units in July to nearly 277,000 during August.

"The price cut was a big help, as was Madden 08 and BioShock," NPD analyst Anita Frazier told GameSpot. "Taking the price cut prior to Halo 3 set the Xbox 360 up nicely to have a very strong holiday season." NPD now estimates that from the 2005 launch to the end of last month, 6.3 million Xbox 360s have been sold in the US.

By comparison, the retail boost from the 60GB PlayStation 3's price cut appears to be slowing somewhat. After jumping from 98,500 in June to 159,000 in July, sales of the console fell to approximately 130,600. Since the console's launch in November 2006, an estimated 1.75 million PS3s have sold in the US, according to NPD estimates. Its predecessor, the PlayStation 2, has sold 39.1 million units in seven years at American retail, with 202,000 units being picked up last month.

For the second month in a row, the Wii was the best-selling non-PC gaming platform of any kind. That said, the console's 403,600-unit tally was down from a July high of 425,000 units, which is a surprising decline, given the release of the Wii-exclusive Metroid Prime 3: Corruption during the month.

Frazier believes the downturn was not due to lack of interest in the Wii. "Demand is still meeting or exceeding supply," she told GameSpot. As for the ongoing shortage of the console, Frazier thinks that "We'll see this situation continue through the holidays, and we may see some balancing starting February 2008."

When it came to August's $83 million in portable hardware sales, the story remained much the same, with the Nintendo DS's 383,300 units dwarfing the PlayStation Portable's 151,200 units. (Lifetime-to-date, the handhelds have respectively sold 12.7 million and 8.3 million in the US, according to NPD.) Of note is that, for the first time, NPD has stopped reporting monthly sales figures for the Game Boy Advance. First launched in 2001, the handheld was redesigned twice over its lifetime, and has sold nearly 82 million units worldwide to date.

August's $488 million in software sales was thanks in large part to Electronic Arts' Madden franchise. The Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 08 was the month's top title, followed by the PS2 edition in second place and the PS3 edition in fourth. The original Xbox Madden 08 finished in 11th place, followed by the Wii edition in 12th and the PSP version in 18th.

Given that Take-Two Interactive announced it has shipped over 1.5 million units of BioShock, it should come as no surprise that the 360 version finished third on August's console chart. Contrary to some reports in the European press, the critically lauded retro-sci-fi-shooter handily outsold the month's other major non-NFL release, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, at 490,900 units to 218,100 units.

NPD AUGUST 2007 US HARDWARE FIGURES (All figures approximate)
Wii: 403,600 (4 million LTD)
DS: 383,300 (12.7 million LTD)
Xbox 360: 276,700 (6.3 million LTD)
PlayStation 2: 202,000 (39.1 million LTD)
PlayStation Portable: 151,200 (8.3 million LTD)
PlayStation 3: 130,600 (1.75 million LTD)

NPD AUGUST 2007 US SOFTWARE FIGURES
1) Madden NFL 08 / 360 / Electronic Arts / Aug-07 / (E) / 896,600
2) Madden NFL 08 / PS2 / Electronic Arts / Aug-07 / (E) / 643,000
3) BioShock / 360 / 2K Games / Aug-07 / (M) / 490,900
4) Madden NFL 08 / PS3 / Electronic Arts / Aug-07 / (E) / 336,200
5) Wii Play (with remote) / Wii / Nintendo / Feb-07 / (E) / 256,800
6) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption / Wii / Nintendo / Aug-07 / (T) / 218,100
7) Mario Strikers: Charged / Wii / Nintendo / Jul-07 / 10+ (E10+) / 147,400
8) Guitar Hero II (with guitar) / PS2 / Activision / Nov-06 / (T) / 145,400
9) Mario Party 8 / Wii / Nintendo / May-07 / (E) / 138,300
10) Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s / PS2 / Activision / Jul-07 / (T) / 127,100
11) Madden NFL 08 / Xbox / Electronic Arts / Aug-07 / (E)*
12) Madden NFL 08 / Wii / Electronic Arts / Aug-07 / (E)*
13) Brain Age 2 / DS / Nintendo / Aug-07 / (E)*
14) Two Worlds / 360 / Southpeak Interactive / Aug-07 / (M)*
15) Pokémon Diamond / DS / Nintendo / Apr-07 / (E)*
16) High School Musical: Makin' The Cut / DS/ Disney / Aug-07 / 16) (E)*
17) Guitar Hero II (with guitar) / 360 / Activision / Mar-07 / (T)*
18) Madden NFL 08 / PSP / Electronic Arts / Aug-07 / (E)*
19) Pokémon Pearl / DS / Nintendo / Apr-07 / (E)*
20) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 / 360 / Electronic Arts / Aug-07 / (E)*

*NOTE: Sales figures for last 10 titles not provided to public.

379 Comments

  • XboxGuyxx

    Posted Sep 30, 2007 9:29 am PT

    Tor, Tor, Tor. You need to stop that 360 hating. Everyone can see the slant you try and put on things. Last month the 360 was barely staving off the PS3, and now that it doubled your fanboy console (PS3) you have to try and bring up PS2. Look man just get a 360 and learn that the PS3 is going to fail no matter how much you try to slant your news to make it look good. If you need money for counseling to deal with your 360 hatred I'll pay for it man. Seriously.

  • mergirox

    Posted Sep 29, 2007 8:09 am PT

    My proof is there in that list of sales. Where is Madden for the Wii? @vdevpro:Just below the original XBox version. The ONLY 3rd party software title the Wii has had any moderate success with is RE4... a remake. There have been no other 3rd party Wii titles in the top 10. Those are facts. In your long winded rant, you neglected to include any. Still waiting evidence that contridicts my conclusions...
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------who the hell buys a wii for the 3rd party games, ya dumb***.
    Ya thid party games are fun, but the wii was solely made for first party games. The wii doesnt need 3rd party games, as you see.Sure if they had a lot of third party games it would be even better, but who cares? Ea has to be my leat favorite devoloper EVER.Everything other than thier sports games SUCK.

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 3:30 pm PT

    Hey, a PS3 game in the top 4!

    Weird how it's behind.

  • Wolverine

    Posted Sep 20, 2007 11:43 am PT

    If graphics didn't matter they wouldn't have to make nex gen consoles. You could still be living it up playing the nes. Everyone knows that good graphics play a part in success of the gaming industry.

  • console-deity

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 7:20 pm PT

    Is this vbdevpro guy for real, does he actially believe hard core gamers care about graphics all that much? Sure they may look nice but the art style counts for more. I personally have over 315 games and live, breath, and worship games and grpahics aren't my biggest concern, gameplay is. That's why I only ever played to games on my Wii so far: RE4 and MP3, I would have gotten Zelda Twilight Princess had I not already finished it on GC. The only problem with the Wii is it severally lacks good games unlike my 360.

  • vbdevpro

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 2:40 pm PT

    ""vbdevpro
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Dude, your rants are pointless conjectures fueled by blind hatred for the Wii. There are no publishers lamenting about poor sells for the Wii (Typical pathetic claims from fanboys who can't back up their arguments). Quit the contrary, as the new Star Wars has been announced to ship alongside the 360/PS3 counterparts (I even threw in a quote from Capcom...I threw you a bone to chew on for god's sake). You seem to be hung up on EA. Sports games have never sold particularly well on Nintendo systems. And if it's as hardcore as you say it is than why would "the hardcore" choose the Wii version anyway?? But even if the Wii version sells a quarter of what the 360 sells than it has pretty much made it's production costs back. Your logic is somewhere in space. As for Boogie...the game just wasn't good. Do you expect people to just go out and buy crap? Do you think that as if by magic a bad game is going to automatically be good because it's on the Wii? The point I was trying to make with the VC is that there is even a market for games with 2d sprites. But since you're so hung up on "GRAFIX" that point went over your head. Your lame arguments are only relevant to your own reasoning. Nintendo is laying the blueprint game after game. No amount of ranting from you or any other fanboy is going to change the numbers. it is what it is. Accept it and move on. I got a 360 when it came out. It hasn't disappointed me yet. Neither has the Wii. Sorry fanboy but you're in the minority...... "

    My proof is there in that list of sales. Where is Madden for the Wii? Just below the original XBox version. The ONLY 3rd party software title the Wii has had any moderate success with is RE4... a remake. There have been no other 3rd party Wii titles in the top 10. Those are facts. In your long winded rant, you neglected to include any. Still waiting evidence that contridicts my conclusions....

  • DeadReckoning19

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 1:03 pm PT

    ""pencilpusher69

    Isn't it odd that they didn't mention that MP3 was only out for a week, versus the near month that Bioshock was out?

    I see 218,000 in 7 days as better than 490,000 in 21+days""

    Dude your smoking crack. Bioshock was released the 21st of the month, and Metroid was shipped the 27th. That is a small 6 day difference. I own them both, and contributed to both of the sales haha.

    But anyway, Bioshock sales will slow down when Halo 3 hits, and Metroid will slow down when the next big Wii game hits...which I think is not till Mario Galaxy

  • Wolverine

    Posted Sep 19, 2007 10:51 am PT

    Good thing they are selling antiquated hardware (Wii) to make up for the loss in third party games moneywise. LoL BRING ON HALO 3, Mwahahaha! Yes, I am a 360 fanboy because it obviously owns the hard core gamer sector of consumers.

  • getoconnection

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 10:16 pm PT

    "vbdevpro
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Dude, your rants are pointless conjectures fueled by blind hatred for the Wii. There are no publishers lamenting about poor sells for the Wii (Typical pathetic claims from fanboys who can't back up their arguments). Quit the contrary, as the new Star Wars has been announced to ship alongside the 360/PS3 counterparts (I even threw in a quote from Capcom...I threw you a bone to chew on for god's sake). You seem to be hung up on EA. Sports games have never sold particularly well on Nintendo systems. And if it's as hardcore as you say it is than why would "the hardcore" choose the Wii version anyway?? But even if the Wii version sells a quarter of what the 360 sells than it has pretty much made it's production costs back. Your logic is somewhere in space. As for Boogie...the game just wasn't good. Do you expect people to just go out and buy crap? Do you think that as if by magic a bad game is going to automatically be good because it's on the Wii? The point I was trying to make with the VC is that there is even a market for games with 2d sprites. But since you're so hung up on "GRAFIX" that point went over your head. Your lame arguments are only relevant to your own reasoning. Nintendo is laying the blueprint game after game. No amount of ranting from you or any other fanboy is going to change the numbers. it is what it is. Accept it and move on. I got a 360 when it came out. It hasn't disappointed me yet. Neither has the Wii. Sorry fanboy but you're in the minority......

  • vbdevpro

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 7:13 pm PT

    "vbdevpro
    harcore gamers prefer better graphics
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total Virtual Console games sold as of July 11, 2007: over 5.6 million[56)

    Xbox 360

    Xbox 360 games that have sold one million copies or more. * Gears of War (4 million)[16]
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Alright which one of you "HARDCORE" gamers have been purchasing Virtual console games, lol!!!!"

    Typical pathetic fanboy response. Gears of war is 60 dollars. What's a VC game cost now? 2 Bucks? Try again.

    Everyone who qouted my post completely ignored and failed to respond to the most damning evidence of all. Madden sold crap on the Wii, period. Madden for crying out loud. Think about it for a second... of the 4 million Wii owners in the US, how many of them do you think own 360s as well as Wiis. Probably at least 50 percent? And the people who own both are almost definantly "hard core" if they spend money on 2 systems. So if the multi system owners bought madden for the 360, doesn't that pretty much prove my point?

  • vbdevpro

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 7:07 pm PT

    "vbdevpro
    The Wii has had only one third party title in the top ten sales since it's launch. One. That is bad news for the Wii--how many 3rd party developers are gonna invest in development money on your platform?
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A Q&A With THQ CEO Brian Farrell On Supreme Commander, Stalker, And Making Big Bets On Big Original Games

    Q: Are the Wii titles coming out at half the cost?
    A: Yes, and sometimes even less than that. Where costs are occurring in this generation are in asset and content creation. And since the Wii is not high-definition, and it can still look good. You have to remember a lot of game systems aren’t yet hooked up to high-def TVs. Content creation is costing all the money. With the Wii, you can look great at a third of the cost sometimes. The business model on the Wii works.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    And there you have it folks---straight from the horse's mouth. A game doesn't even have to be on this list to make money on the Wii....SIGH....you picked the wrong one tonight fanboy...."

    They cost half the price for a reason, dude. They are half the quality. Mark my words... after EAs massive investment and loss in that stupid rythem game, you will not see a whole lot more from them until they see more 3rd [arty action on the sales charts from the Wii.

    And no... I didn't pick the wrong one tonight. Like I said... the proof is in the pudding. The only titles selling for the Wii are the first party titles.

  • frostbach_basic

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 5:50 pm PT

    Jeez....Are there really that many people that don't have a PS2??? Microsoft should continue to see high sale numbers for now (Halo 3 of course)

    "If the PS3 is "future-proof" and houses more powerful architecture than the 360, why do games such as Madden '08 and NCAA '08 run at 30 fps while the same games on 360 run at 60?"

    You obviously have never heard of developer learning curve...

  • pencilpusher69

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 6:23 am PT

    Isn't it odd that they didn't mention that MP3 was only out for a week, versus the near month that Bioshock was out?

    I see 218,000 in 7 days as better than 490,000 in 21+days.

  • rockstar_88

    Posted Sep 18, 2007 2:58 am PT

    I'm glad for Nintendo and all since I grew up on their systems, but this news of them constantly kicking ass in sales is starting to get kind of numb. Every five articles that I find on video games talks about how well the Wii is selling, or how there's always a shortage, or that Wii/DS software sales are always on the top 20, etc. I get it Nintendo, you're winning back the throne you once sat on once a long time ago, but please make an attempt at being humble about it.

  • getoconnection

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 8:14 pm PT

    vbdevpro
    harcore gamers prefer better graphics
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    PlayStation Portable: 151,200 (8.3 million LTD) ----------------
    DS: 383,300 (12.7 million LTD) -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    :-(

  • getoconnection

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 7:46 pm PT

    vbdevpro
    harcore gamers prefer better graphics
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Total Virtual Console games sold as of July 11, 2007: over 5.6 million[56)

    Xbox 360

    Xbox 360 games that have sold one million copies or more. * Gears of War (4 million)[16]
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Alright which one of you "HARDCORE" gamers have been purchasing Virtual console games, lol!!!!

  • Chief_Kuuni

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 7:37 pm PT

    Wii is kicking butt

  • getoconnection

    Posted Sep 17, 2007 7:27 pm PT

    vbdevpro
    The Wii has had only one third party title in the top ten sales since it's launch. One. That is bad news for the Wii--how many 3rd party developers are gonna invest in development money on your platform?
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A Q&A With THQ CEO Brian Farrell On Supreme Commander, Stalker, And Making Big Bets On Big Original Games

    Q: Are the Wii titles coming out at half the cost?
    A: Yes, and sometimes even less than that. Where costs are occurring in this generation are in asset and content creation. And since the Wii is not high-definition, and it can still look good. You have to remember a lot of game systems aren’t yet hooked up to high-def TVs. Content creation is costing all the money. With the Wii, you can look great at a third of the cost sometimes. The business model on the Wii works.
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    And there you have it folks---straight from the horse's mouth. A game doesn't even have to be on this list to make money on the Wii....SIGH....you picked the wrong one tonight fanboy....

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