NPD: May game sales top $815 million

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Jun 15, 2007 1:46 pm PT

Industry-wide sales surge 49 percent; consoles up nearly 80 percent, software up 33 percent.

Though the NPD group painted a mixed picture of the game industry in April, its just-released monthly assessment was downright rosy. During the May reporting period, some $815.5 million in non-PC game software, hardware, and accessories were sold at retail in the US, an impressive 49 percent increase over May 2006.

The biggest increase came in hardware, which racked up $319.3 million in revenue. After enjoying a banner April, consoles roared ahead with $221.4 million in sales--a whopping 79 percent increase from the year before. The month's best-selling full-sized machine was once again the Nintendo Wii, with 338,000 units, followed by the PlayStation 2's 188,000 units. Some 155,000 Xbox 360s were sold, nearly twice the PlayStation 3's 82,000 units. NPD did not provide figures for GameCube or original Xbox sales.

Portable hardware was also up in May, rising 45 percent to $97.9 million. The returning champion was the Nintendo DS with 423,000 units--the most of any platform--followed by the rising PlayStation Portable's 221,000 units. The month also saw 81,000 units of the venerable Game Boy Advance come off store shelves.

Industry software sales for May totaled $380.8 million, a 33.2 percent year-on-year increase from May 2006, when sales slid 10 percent. Of that, $274 million was console software--a 31 percent year-over-year increase--and $106.6 million was portable software, a 39 percent increase.

After triumphing in April, Pokémon Diamond was the month's top non-PC title, with 331,200 units sold. Its sibling, Pokémon Pearl, came in fourth with 238,000 units; no other portable titles made NPD's top 10 list. The best-selling console title was number-two finisher Mario Party 8 (Wii), followed by Spider-Man 3 (3rd, PS2), Wii Play (5th, Wii), Forza MotorSport 2 (6th, 360), Guitar Hero II (7th, 360), Spider-Man 3 (8th, 360), Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars (9th, 360), and Guitar Hero II (10th, PS2).

Half the top 10 games were first-party, with four from Nintendo and one from Microsoft. Nintendo was the month's biggest publisher, with a 22 percent share in the US console software market. That isn't necessarily good news for the rest of the industry, though. According to UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter, "continued first-party strength this [console] cycle is a key risk for third-party publishers...as Nintendo rebounds and Microsoft focuses on and improves its AAA titles."

However, one third party was definitely smelling the May flowers. Activision had four titles in the top 10, a 151 percent year-on-year increase in revenue, and 20 percent market share during the month. According to Schachter, the company's Guitar Hero franchise accounted for 7 percent of all US software revenue for the month.

Last, and in some estimations, least, nearly $115 million of non-PC game accessories were sold at retail in May, according to NPD.

MAY 2007 US RETAIL HARDWARE SALES (All numbers approximate)
1) DS: 423,000
2) Wii: 338,000
3) PlayStation Portable: 221,000
4) PlayStation 2: 188,000
5) Xbox 360: 155,000
6) PlayStation 3: 82,000
7) Game Boy Advance: 81,000

MAY 2007 US RETAIL SOFTWARE SALES (By volume; all numbers approximate)
1) Pokémon Diamond (DS - Nintendo) 331,200
2) Mario Party 8 (Wii - Nintendo) 314,400
3) Spider-Man 3 (PS2 - Activision) 248,700
4) Pokémon Pearl (DS - Nintendo) 238,000
5) Wii Play (with Wii Remote - Wii) 249,000
6) Forza Motorsport 2 (360 - Microsoft) 217,300
7) Guitar Hero II (with Guitar - Xbox 360 - Activision) 183,600
8) Spider-Man 3 (360 - Activision) 139,800
9) Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars (360 - Electronic Arts) 137,700
10) Guitar Hero II (with Guitar - PS2 - Activision) 130,900

MAY 2007 US SOFTWARE MARKET
Publisher / Market Share / YOY Revenue Change
1) Nintendo / 22% / 139%
2) Activision / 20% / 151%
3) Electronic Arts / 17% / -10% /
4) Microsoft / 7% / 408%
5) Sony 6% / 18%
6) Ubisoft 5% / 2%
7) Take-Two 4% / -43%
8) THQ 3% / -4%
9) Disney 3% / 298%
10) Sega 2% / 31%

293 Comments

  • fiendvampire13

    Posted Jul 18, 2007 1:04 pm PT

    nintendo ds is one of the greatest things that nintendo has ever come out with

  • elite_ferns1

    Posted Jul 18, 2007 5:11 am PT

    Wow and sony fanboys told me that the ps3 was going to be an instant sucess.

  • surppo

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 11:25 am PT

    i dont care who sold what i wanna play some good games which is surprisingly hard to do these days

  • Taylor_Riel

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 11:47 pm PT

    Wow...look at Nintendo sitting at no. 1 & 2 in Hardware and No. 1 in Software. What a turnaround. Though I'm a sony fanboy (just bought a 32inch LCD Bravia ohhh baby!) it's great to see Nintendo avoid the fate that befell Sega. Microsoft must be banging their heads agains the wall...with only one entry in Hardware sales at no. 5. You'd think if they only had one product to worry about, that they would be able to build it right!!!!

  • n_igma_nsider

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 5:00 pm PT

    I like the fact that Pokémon is the top-selling title, even when Diamond and Pearl's sales are registered separately. A great franchise indeed.

  • Duckers923

    Posted Jul 7, 2007 1:28 pm PT

    thq no make game lol

  • 2TrickedOut

    Posted Jun 22, 2007 11:58 pm PT

    -7thRonin Thats probably because the ps2 is still cheaper then the 360 and has a lot of games still. Its sad to see the ps3 is still selling slow. Where are all the games sony? The wii also needs to start geting some decent games.

  • 7thRonin

    Posted Jun 21, 2007 5:21 am PT

    wow ps2 still selling more than x360... or x360 selling less than ps2... mmph ?

  • Imconfused2007

    Posted Jun 20, 2007 1:42 pm PT

    Every time I see these articles, I laugh. Mostly at the ps3 fanboys, who cannot deal with having gone from top dog to bottom rung in one fell swoop.

  • avlin1122

    Posted Jun 20, 2007 11:15 am PT

    White Mage – Flow and Rub-a-dub are 2 games that are FULLY Sixaxis. You may say that these aren’t “real” games (especially Flow – it’s like a weed-heads dream) because they were available on the PSN, but they are there and they are fun for some mini-games.

  • nev70

    Posted Jun 20, 2007 10:38 am PT

    XBOX sucks Had a bad night but writing all this crap for the past 10 minutes .................................................................................................................................................................................... Yes you do write CRAP , you said it yourself.

  • Camaro4ever19

    Posted Jun 19, 2007 10:11 pm PT

    I'm amazed that Forza 2 didn't score higher... anyways, I've had a PSP for almost 2 years and love it, it looks so much sleeker and professional than a DS, glad to see other people catching on to that...

  • Bigboss232

    Posted Jun 19, 2007 7:54 pm PT

    I agree the wii is no fad neither was the ps2 in its moment of success just admit it fanboys nintendo is back hopefully theve learned a lesson from the ps1-2 success.

  • HeartBreakKID1

    Posted Jun 19, 2007 6:14 pm PT

    My favorite system, The PS2, is still selling strong, in games, and in systems! It makes you wonder why the hell they even created a PS3! I'm shocked!

    And the PSP is still sitting tight with the best of them.

    But, just as I suspected, the cheapest system is selling the best,
    Its quite a no-brainer actually. Who the hell wants to buy a $600+tax PS3, when you can buy a DS or Wii, and some games for them?

  • THE_WHITE_MAGE

    Posted Jun 19, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    1. For those shocked by the sudden uptick in PSP sales, come on. The PSP just had a price drop, so of course its sales will rise. Their software lineup is still kinda on the slim side though. This holiday will change that somewhat, with Final Fantasy Tactics Anniversary, Castlevania remake, and God of War: Chains of Olympus. If Sony is smart, they will drop the price again around October or November. I think 149.99 will be the magic number for them. Again, IF Sony is smart.....
    2. The Wii is not a fad! Enough with this argument. While it may not be a must have 3 years from now, I think it will do just fine. This fall Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Brawl, and next year the inevitable Mario Kart, Fire Emblem, Crystal Chronicles. 3. People keep on saying these sales are normal for Sony, and that this is what happened the last two times before Sony became the market leader. Partially true, but Sony lacks two things this time that it had both the other times: a head start and almost all the exclusives. This time Sony was way behind, holding back so they could copy Nintendo's innovative idea of a motion controller. Also, Microsoft has stolen almost all the high quality exclusives. Is Killzone (especially if it is like the first one), FF 13, and MGS4 (which it has been hinted might not be Sony-exclusive in the end) enough to push 100 million systems over the next 6 years? I am not seeing it. 4. To ThatOneKid7, I have heard of Chrono Cross and played it. And Chrono Trigger was a much better game plot-wise and gameplay-wise. No, it didn't have amazing FMV sequences, but it was much better than Cross by a longshot. And even putting either of those games in an analogy to the PS3 is an insult to the series. PS3 right now is simply not worth having. It has literally a total of 3 good games for it (Motorstorm, Resistance, Virtua Fighter 5, am I missing one, um no I am not). Also, why not wait for the inevitable Slim-line PS3 that will be cheaper with a better hard drive and cheaper parts? 5. Home is so overhyeped and overrated, just like the PSP when it first came out. Everyone is talking about it like it will save the PS3. It will be a nice feature, but not a must have. More likely will be a water-downed mysapce clone with still less functionality than Xbox Live's service. And LittleBigPlanet, sure, it's good. But is it going to change the face of gaming forever? Not so much.

  • ThatOneKid7

    Posted Jun 19, 2007 4:03 pm PT

    Just because the PS3 is down in sales doesn't mean that it's bad. Look at Chrono Cross. It was one of the greatest games I've played EVER and many people have never heard of it. It just goes to show you that popularity is not necessarily better.

  • kiki1243

    Posted Jun 19, 2007 2:38 pm PT

    Go Nintendo GO!!!

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npd   sales   nintendo   sony   activision   ds   may   microsoft   ps2   ps3   thq   ubisoft   wii   815 million   hardware   psp   xbox 360   . ea   first-party   game industry
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