NPD: February sees 34 percent US sales spike

American game market bucks recession, beats analyst expectations with $1.33 billion haul; PS3 bests 360 for second month running; COD4, DMC4 top games.

With stocks falling, housing values plummeting, and the Federal Reserve dishing out emergency loans, most economists agree most parts of the US economy are on the verge of a recession. Conversely, the game industry is on the rebound, according to the latest report from the NPD group. After a mixed January, US retail sales of game software, hardware, and accessories shot up 34 percent in February, topping $1.33 billion and beating analyst expectations.

See that case? It's full of money.

"Even following a red-hot 2007, the video games industry shows no sign of letting up as year-to-date sales through February are up 12 percent over last year," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "Taking the extra week of sales included in the 2007 figures, on a comparable week's basis, 2008 is up approximately 26 percent over last year (through February)."

Of the various sectors, software generated the most revenue, rising 47 percent to nearly $669 million. The month's best-selling title was once again the Xbox 360 edition of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which moved 296,200 units during the month. Hot on its heels was the hellfire-kissed Devil May Cry 4, which sold 295,200 on the 360 (2nd) and 233,500 units on the PlayStation 3 (4th). DMC4's massive combined 528,7000-unit haul made it the best-selling domestic multiplatform game of the month, all but ensuring a Devil May Cry 5 somewhere down the line.

Coming in third was the ubiquitous Wii Play, which sold just shy of 290,000 units by virtue of being bundled with the Wii Remote. Another Wii game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, came in fifth with 222,900 units sold. Rounding out the top 10 were Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS, 205,600 units), Lost Odyssey (360, 203,600 units), Turok (360, 197,700 units), the PS2 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (183,00 units), and Rock Band (360, 161,800 units).

On the hardware front, Nintendo was once again the undisputed victor, with the DS selling 587,600 units and the Wii 432,000. However, the Xbox 360, the third-place finisher for most of 2007, finished at the bottom of the pack once again, coming in fifth with 254,600 units. It was bested by both the PlayStation 2's 351,800 units and 280,000 units of the Blu-ray-disc-playing PlayStation 3, which was boosted by the lighting-quick implosion of the rival HD DVD format last month. Last and, numerically speaking, least was the PlayStation Portable with 243,100 units.

"While hardware inventory issues at retail may still be lingering post-holiday, the fact that all now-gen systems generated significant year-over-year hardware sales increases indicates the situation is coming into balance faster than it did last year," said Frazier. "I was most surprised by the PS2 hardware sales numbers this month. While it certainly has earned its spot among the now-gen slate of console systems because of it staying power in the marketplace, the fact that it realized such significant growth this month is really a testament to its broad adoption and the response of consumers to promotional activity at retail."

Even before NPD released its report to the press, the big three console makers were filling inboxes worldwide with their own spin on the matter. Saying it was "extending its lead" in overall sales, Microsoft claimed that "$332 million was spent on the Xbox 360 platform this month, capturing 39 percent of this generation's ecosystem." The software giant also claimed that the US installed base for the 360 is 9.6 million versus the Wii's 8.1 million and the PS3's 3.8 million.

Unsurprisingly, Sony made much of the PS3's trumping of the 360 for the second month in a row, and played up that sales of the console have increased 120 percent year over year. It also reminded the world of several exclusives for the platform, Gran Turismo 5 prologue (April 15) and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (June 12). Sony also announced there are 3.3 million registered PlayStation Network visitors in North America who have downloaded 56 million pieces of content.

Finally, Nintendo took the obvious approach, noting that 47.6 percent of all hardware sold in the US in February bore its logo. Software sales weren't too shabby, either. "Nintendo DS games topped all software sales, with more than 3.6 million units sold," the company crowed in a statement. "Consumers purchased nearly 2.9 million software units for Wii. Four of every 10 games sold were for Nintendo systems."

US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY - FEBRUARY 2008

Software: $668.7m (+47%)
Hardware: $480.0 million (+19%)
Accessories: $185.3m (+36%)
Total Games: $1.33 billion (+34%)

TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - FEBRUARY 2008

Nintendo DS 587,600
Wii 432,000
PlayStation 2 351,800
PlayStation 3 280,800
Xbox 360 254,600
PlayStation Portable 243,100

TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE - FEBRUARY 2008

Title / Publisher / Release Date / Units
1) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* (360) / Activision / 7-Nov 296.2K
2) Devil May Cry 4* (360) / Capcom 8-Feb / 295.2k
3) Wii Play w/ Remote* (Wii) / Nintendo / 7-Feb / 289.7K
4) Devil May Cry 4* (PS3) / Capcom / 8-Feb / 233.5K
5) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock* (Wii) / Activision / 7-Oct / 222.9K
6) Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS) / Sega / 8-Jan / 205.6K
7) Lost Odyssey (360) / Microsoft / 8-Feb / 203.6K
8) Turok (360) / Touchstone / 8-Jan / 197.7K
9) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock* (PS2) / Activision / 7-Oct / 183.8K
10) Rock Band* (360) / MTV Games, Electronic Arts / 7-Nov / 161.8K

*Includes Collector's, Limited, Legendary, Bundles (Guitars) Editions

695 Comments

  • Bay_Maximus

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:22 pm PT

    Let the fanboy parade commence......first

  • FearTheRain posted Mar 13, 2008 6:25 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    FearTheRain

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:25 pm PT (hide)

    HOLY ****!!!! PS3 RAPED the Xbox 360!!
    WHOO!!!



    COD4 is of course selling well, because it is by far the BEST game out on any console.

  • rulo_rezn0r

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:25 pm PT

    i cant wait for the march figures, the brawl effec is going to be pretty interesting

  • Loucetios

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:26 pm PT

    Sony and Nintendo are banking cash, nintendo with 2 systems and sony with 3, tons of cash in their pockets

  • expanded

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:26 pm PT

    lol you know, most ppl put a boo on ppl who write first..
    and since i said that i would probably too
    anways, love the competition right now.. its great!
    ps3 and 360 neck to neck.. while the wii watching top on a throne
    mm gotta love video games!

  • THE_PREZIDENT

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:27 pm PT

    "It has begun"............... Oh waaaaaaaaaaaait. DA WILL IS STILL ON FIYA!

  • 5FingersOfDeath

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:28 pm PT

    Error report guys "DMC4's massive combined 528,7000-unit haul"

  • VampiricShoe

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:30 pm PT

    Why are people buying Playstation 2's? Usually buying older hardware isn't really an investment, fore shame.

    No comment on the 360 numbers.

  • JangoWuzHere

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:34 pm PT

    lol sonys gt 3 consles on their side easy money their

  • MidniteShadow

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:35 pm PT

    Good to see some healthy sales numbers for the big three in the US,even the PS2's.
    Nintendor is really dominating the Handheld market. and the psp is catching up rite behind it.
    Good thing for Blu-Ray winning the format war and 360 units getting out of stock last month.

  • Pooey_Mess

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:36 pm PT

    I'm actually shocked that DMC4 didn't outsell COD4 on the 360.

    No complaints though. I'm still playing COD4 months after its release

  • fastrozombies

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:37 pm PT

    ps3 sold a 100,000 more units than xbox wow

  • the_real_VIP

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:37 pm PT

    Capcom said they sold 2 million DMC4 in 2 weeks. US sold ~ 500,000 DMC4 for both platforms, guess where the remaining 1.5 million majorly sold... mostly in Japan and mostly on the PS3.

  • tefdesign posted Mar 13, 2008 6:38 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    tefdesign

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:38 pm PT (hide)

    I expect the "there is 360 shortages" excuses to begin pouring into this comment section....

    Or perhaps they will use the M$ corperate response - - - " the 360 sells more games"

    The PS2 continues to proove it's multi-generation.

  • Felaipes

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:39 pm PT

    Lost Odyssey (360, 203,600 units)
    i laugh so hard, cause for a moment, i thought that the game had sold 360 million copies 8(

  • RiceCake

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:43 pm PT

    Interesting spread! I just dont see why so many people are still buying PS2's... UPGRADE TO PS3! I'm glad PS3 is outselling X360, because this should generate some heated competition in prices this year. We'll wait and see

  • Timstuff

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:45 pm PT

    Looks like PS3 is full of win.

  • imperial_agent

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:49 pm PT

    PS3 outselling 360?!

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • zouhou

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:50 pm PT

    wow ps3 is doing good but the 360 could pull a rabbit out of their hat sony better stay on their toes

  • planetpib

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:50 pm PT

    Wow, the PS3 out sold the 360, but wait look at that! the 360 the top 2 games spots in software sold! that means games sell consoles, not blu-ray or anything eles. Thats a real shocker folks.

  • treelog187

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:50 pm PT

    Damn you know Sonys gotta be making a killing off those PS2s. Makes sense though considering theres not a system out there that compete on a selection of great games.

  • Proust

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:50 pm PT

    XBOX lossing so far in 2008 in the only territory it hoped to keep is not surprising to all of those - us prophetic few - who always said Sony would lead. Nothing has changed; the games coming in 2008 were always coming; Blu-ray advantage was there before it even came to market; the better hardware was known (Sony 1st party games look better and better, MS 1st party game are having more and more graphical issues). On and on. Nothing shocking here, nothing new. What I'm saying, on behalf of everyone who said from the start that Sony was the long distance runner to beat ................. We told you so! Sorry, I feel better now. ((I didn't think the Wii would still be selling so much though, nor the PS2 - cheap does very well))

  • ciaxhieu posted Mar 13, 2008 6:51 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    ciaxhieu

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:51 pm PT (hide)

    who buy a nintendo ds wtf.......

  • peoplekiller1

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:52 pm PT

    -fastrozombies-

    "ps3 sold a 100,000 more units than xbox wow"

    acctually the ps2 sold 100,000 more units than the 360 the ps3 only sold 24,000 more than the 360

  • digitalpro

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:53 pm PT

    check it out. the PS3 sold more but no one seem to buying games for it. the 360 has 5 out of ten top seling games. So the PS3 is being use for the blu-ray not games.

  • planetpib

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:57 pm PT

    LOL @ you sony fanboys, look at the software sales, i guess the 360 is doing really really bad.

  • CantBanDaSnoman

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:58 pm PT

    It only sold 26,000 more. Thats nothing too get happy about, mabye if it sold a 100,000 more

  • 09231991

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 6:58 pm PT

    hahahaha, that was funny digitalpro. Anyways, anyone who hasn't played DMC 4 is really missing out, definitely a great game.

  • darkride66 posted Mar 13, 2008 7:00 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    darkride66

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:00 pm PT (hide)

    digitalpro "check it out. the PS3 sold more but no one seem to buying games for it. the 360 has 5 out of ten top seling games. So the PS3 is being use for the blu-ray not games. "
    That's ridiculous. Of course it's not selling as many games in the US as the 360, the 360 has a 5 or six million console lead over it. It doesn't mean the titles don't sell, but they aren't going to break the top ten against 360 in the US yet. Don't be stupid. I think the real story is that new titles like DMC4 and Burnout are almost matching the 360 versions in terms of sales on the PS3, which is amazing considering the installed user base of the 360 is so much more in the US. I think a little perspective is in order.

  • kejigoto

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:01 pm PT

    I thought Sony was gonna overtake the Wii and start outselling it thus closing the still massive gap between the two.... also the Xbox 360 was barely behind the PS3 and if Microsoft is right and their inventory is coming up, then March and April will be theirs and where will all these Sony fanboys be sitting then?

    However I do think its funny that Sony is "coming back" yet they only had one game on the top ten sales. Microsoft controlling five spots and Nintendo having the other four. So Sony is finally selling some consoles to those looking for a cheap Bluray player, and its apparent because software wise the PS3 isn't doing much at all.

    Regardless of what happens between Sony and Microsoft, they still can't touch Nintendo. For a "fad" the DS and Wii are both still doing really great and show no signs of letting up.... and also there is a shortage of Wii's as well too boot.

  • helium_flash

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:02 pm PT

    Where is No More Heroes? NPD predicted that it would sell around 60-70k. I wish they would release a longer list

  • senjutsu

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:03 pm PT

    ps2 winning after the nintendo combo? what the ***

    man, this is wierd. I mean, on the wii, you don't have a lot of 3rd party games... wich is bad, and for the ds... well, the ds have good games so it's selling well, nothing to say, lol. But I dislike portable gaming, I'm more into ipod listening. lol

    It's cool the ps3 is selling a lil bit more, but does it really says something? I think not. I think the x360 will sell more even without getting cheaper, when GTA4 will pop since it cost less. I think the x360 will win the war, but not by far. OR M$ will pop a new console, killing tons of dev sstudios again.... I hope not, and hope yes at the same time. I just want ONE console, not 2 (not including the wii since it's not hardcore gaming and I'm not into casual stuff). It's not cool to pay 499$ for you ps3, then have to buy a used 100$ x360 two years later for the exclusives you missed, and the same in reversed for the x360 owners... It's sad for us gamers. with this money, we could buy more games, so it's sad for devs too... I hope M$ or Sony drop it next time, but I don't think they will... sadly.

  • Timstuff

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:03 pm PT

    planetpib: "LOL @ you sony fanboys, look at the software sales, i guess the 360 is doing really really bad."

    DMC4 sold almost as much on PS3 as on Xbox 360, despite 360 having a 7 million user base lead. Self-ownage.

  • Kenji_Masamune

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:07 pm PT

    Nintendo is still going to be strong no matter what because of the kiddy factor. I don't care what cool movie you've seen, put the sales of that against any kiddy movie and it'll be crushed. Spiderman 3? Yeah dominated by Bee Movie. 300? Shrek 3 pwnd that one. Nintendo is doing what they've been doing since inception: teaching young ones to be gamers who will eventually grow up and play more, better games. Same thing with pokemon, start them off young and eventually they'll graduate to dragonball.. or berzerk. This gen is still starting though, we won't start to see a clear picture (or 3 way tie) until year 5. By the time all the bugs and blockbuster titles will be out for all systems.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:08 pm PT

    damm, wii play is for ever.

  • bgres077

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:09 pm PT

    I foresee Super Smash Bros Brawl leading the pack next month.

  • JigSawX

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:10 pm PT

    Tim dmc is looked as a ps franchise so the 350 outselling it is sorta surprising. We cant deny the poor software sales from ps3.

  • Obliterati

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:10 pm PT

    I can't believe there's still 350,000 people left in the entire world that don't already own a PS2. Well, it's nice to see that at least somebody besides oil companies are making money these days.

  • darkride66 posted Mar 13, 2008 7:11 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    darkride66

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:11 pm PT (hide)

    CantBanDaSnoman mentioned "It only sold 26,000 more. Thats nothing too get happy about, mabye if it sold a 100,000 more."
    Don't worry your pretty little head, the PS3 started outselling the 360 consistently since last November. Analysts predict the PS3 will have erased the 360's year and a half lead in Europe this summer, and if you take the worldwide figures less North America the PS3 has already pulled ahead (easily verified on vgchartz.com). Even the US is coming around now.

  • ashuncc2

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:12 pm PT

    Considering that buying a game is cheaper than one night out on the town, I can see video game sales increasing during slower times.

  • MikeE21286

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:13 pm PT

    I swear people on here are dense or just plain not smart sometimes......

    Of course the 360 is gonna have most of the top 10 games released. 1. Most of their games on that list are multiplat releases (of course they're gonna sell way more on 360......it has 3x the install base of the PS3 in America) or games that were just released this month (i.e Lost Odyssey )

    2. The only big game PS3 had release this month was DMC4, and where is it , at number 4 ( who woulda thunk?)

  • JigSawX

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:14 pm PT

    dark he means npd which is the u.s. it definitely didn't outsell it nov or dec. ps3 wont take american this generation.

  • Racer_XLR

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:15 pm PT

    Wow this is preatty impressive for the Ps3. But the Wii will sell more and more considering its probably more popular in Japan and China. Brawl will be the top sell game next month, that game is awesome!!

  • mariokart64fan

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:17 pm PT

    wii has lots of 3rd party games senjutsu, maybe you dont like wii but what ever,, no more heroes re uc re4 wii edition driver farcry red steel manhunt 2 the god father nfs madden and more .. are 3rd party titles, on the wii the only next gen platform to play most of these games are the wii why would any one claim gta is any more important , saints row is better as was driver from the get go and if i wnted i got a 360 and ps3 if i want repeats from last gen like gta iv. ill take original ips over rehahes like gta, halo or tomclancy ,, new games are only available mostly on wii for example= zack and wiki , medal of honore heroes 2 , history channel war game. and the wii makes those other games we know from last gen like re4 manhunt series driver series smg ssbb mariokart wii ,etc are better on wii even madden scored way better on wii then xbox or ps3 versions, , that tells you somthing ,, saying wii has no 3rd party games what so ever is already proved wrong since day one ,, only 3 of the 12 launch games are nintendos and overall theres 800 titles total to choose from no way is all of them nintnedo made, i havent seen a single platform with only 800 nintendo brand games,

  • teknicz

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:19 pm PT

    Yup, I see SSBB extending that lead by yet another month.

  • higgs64

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:19 pm PT

    It doesn't come as much of a surprise that the PS2 sales have been steady (and pretty substantial last month). Sony for the time being has phased out all backwards compatibility on the PS3 since their one model currently on sale intentionally does not support last gen games. This forces people who want to tap into the large stock of good quality PS2 games to buy a PS2 rather than the PS3 (or perhaps in addition to).

    While I've been considering picking up a PS3 for some time, it certainly won't be a model that doesn't play old PS2 games.

    Expect much larger numbers for Wii sales for the month of March since Nintendo diverted more supply to the states for the SSBB release (like they did for the Japanese release previously)

  • gifteddie

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:20 pm PT

    wow im impressed by DMC4. Thought it was going to be a sleeper hit

  • JigSawX

    Posted Mar 13, 2008 7:21 pm PT

    landau492,ps3 sucks.it got outsold all last year in the npd.

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