NPD: November cooks up $2.63 billion in game sales

...Why can't anyone be satisfied enough to say that there's basically zero price difference 360 vs PS3 if you take into account bluray, accessories and possible monthly online premiums? Oy. I actually feel bad for people who get tricked into the $199 360 arcade deal because it's soooo stripped. You can bet a lot of those 360 sales were that package--as gifts from "cool parents" who just blankly see the big price gap without understanding why there is one. Imagine their surprise when on the 26th their kids are saying they need $150 more in stuff to make it like their friends'. Actually, you could make the case that that's the only reason the 360 sales were higher. Kudos to Nintendo for a dumbfounding 800,000 Thanksgiving weekend sales though... wow. Just when you think everyone who wanted a Wii had one by now, the numbers just go up even more. Nintendo needs to play their cards on games really well this next year, though... without some new games with new tricks people will slowly lose interest with its charm.

none of the consoles suck. u guys are just saying one of these consoles suck because u dont have the system and u love the system that u have. yes the 360 is doing quite better than the ps3 but the ps3 isnt failing. it does have some very good games. Plus the ps3 is expecting some new games soon. This is all coming out of the mouth of a guy that doesnt have a ps3. i have a 360 but i fully respect all of the other game companies whitch are nintendo, sony, and microsoft

@Emerald101 By the time Blu-Ray will actually begin to matter XBOX 720 will be released onto the market. And, you should know graphics aren't everything. PS2 was the least powerful game console last generation, did that keep it from being the most sucessful? Because it was older it had a great price advantage, XBOX 360 will have the same. Price and the games are most important. XBOX 360 has an advantage in both.

@sampateman: Yes the ps3 might suck now but in a couple of years, you will see the difference of blu-ray to show and over take the graphics tha the 360 already has by miles. The 360 cant change their games in to hd-dvd anymore, its too late. Because of this multiplatform games will always look the best on the ps3 in like i said a couple years time. THINK and PREPARE for the future. Last but not least the 360 has had its glory: Halo 3, bioshock, mass effect and so on. This year the ps3 will start to show it's true blu-ray colours. Game on.

PS3 SUCKS! Overpriced, no games, crappy online play, unpopular compared to the Wii and 360, a 'revoloutionary' six axis system that doesn't copy the Wii in the slightest, same price as the 360 Elite that has DOUBLE the maximum memory the PS3 has, some of the same games as the 360 but (typically) way more £££, look like overgrown toasters, sound like a lawnmower, and the list goes on and on... Sorry, but Sony fanboys keep posting on 360 topics when they have no reason to, so this is an act of REVENGE!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "We shouldn't mock PS3 owners, we should pity them."

One M$ moneyhat presented to Konami for MGS4... and why would anyone buy a PS3?

here you go vass this is for week ending december 29th worldwide nintendo has 8 titles in the top 50 sellers 6 of which are in the top 10 360 has 9 only 1 of which is in the top 10 assassins creed at #9 the DS obviously crushes everyone with 16 games in the top 50 with 3 in the top 10, PSP has 3 titles in the top 50, PS2 has 9 titles with 1 in the top 10, PS3 has 5 titles so as you can see nintendo is actually excelling in the software sales department. their number of games is about the same but the total sales they have with just the wii is amazing over 3.8 million software units sold for the week of xmas, nintendo as a whole is untouchable DS lead with 4.1 million units of software sold 360 came in 3rd with 2.5 million units sold. ps2 was at 2.1 mill, PS3 1.6 mill, PSP 1.15 mill, GBA sold 7,745 software units. In that conclusion nintendo accounted for 7.8 million units of software sold, which is better than the 7.2 million software units sold if you were to combine all the other systems. Make of the numbers what you will they are reliable through video game chartz so their you go come up with a more accurate arguement next time and don't troll out false information

hope for more price wars - might jump on a 360 or ps3 love my DS - psp is growing on me - wii is fun but still needs to grow!

Sony's biggest mistake with the PS3 was making the 40GB model NON-backward compatible. I know people who bought the Wii and ditched their PS2s because of it. They simply bought GC versions of their favs (Prince Of Persia, Tony Hawk, Madden, etc...) and play them on their Wii. I'm still holding on to my GC and games so I can play them on the Wii...if I can ever get the damn thing. I'm considering getting a XBox 360, but the hardware failure rate has me worried. And will I be able to play '360 games on MSs' next console? OR use the $100 harddrive on the next console? Remember, MS burned ALOT of gamers on the original XBox when they introduced the '360.

damn ps3 is flopping.... hopefully it'll get more good games and so all this talk about which system will end because it's annoying just enjoy the games

At my place of employment, we got double the amount of the Rock Band bundle for the Xbox 360 than we did of the PS3 version (I think 8 of one and 4 of the other) on release day. The 360 version was gone before Black Friday, and the PS3 one still had one unit left after Black Friday. Since then, we've received only about 6-8 more of the 360 version, which have sold in fewer than 2 days after getting them in. Apparently, trying to capitalize on the popularity of the game, but not being able to secure many of the 360 units, we received 12 of the PS3 units two weeks ago. As of today, we still have 11 left, and the 12th one that DID sell was returned the next day because the customer thought that it was for the PS2. The 360 bundles are flying out the door as soon as retailers can stock them, but the PS3 versions are stiffing. Of course, this should be surprising to no one, but I just thought I'd mention it.

I'm not surprised to see these numbers.

Dont think everyone here get it. It isent the consols that makes the money for Sony and Microsoft, its the software. And they sell more then enough of that. The Wii on the other hand is the other way around. The 360 and PS3 is alot more expensive to create, so they depend on good software sales. Right now, you can see the Wii selling pretty good software, but it isent often you see games like GHIII and Super Mario Galaxy released for that systems. Most Wii owners just want a Wii, and odnt give a **** about games.

ROCK ON DS!!!!! And Wii...if I can ever get one. (sniffle)

Kudos to twindagger. At $400 a system better damn well support backward compatibility. If it wants to sell.....

Not much of a suprise. I'm telling y'all, Sony and Microsoft are going to keep ignoring price and backward compatibility and they're going to hand the #1 spot to Nintendo. Those guys are f---ing up.

"Microsoft can't release a new system - it's too busy building replacement 360s" haha oh snap! sony and ms should just join forces, sony providing the hardware, MS providing the software. cause at this rate neither one of them is going to catch up with the other's area of expertise.

"The answer to your question is becouse japanese consoles, and games are better than their american counterparts." "not anymore their not. i can't remember the last japanese game i played (probably dead or alive 4) and the best system out is the 360" yeah, America is fairly new to the game, but no one does entertainment better than America. That's about the only good thing we do for the world. all the big games are american. gears, halo, gta, god of war, heavenly sword, R&C, call of duty, uncharted, any ubisoft game (canada is in north america)

oh I forgot to mention you can actually understand everyone clearly when in an online game on XBL. THAT is really what matters.

"and the fact that it has all the relevant features that make Xbox Live good - for free!" please. I only own a PS3 now but I used to have a 360. XBL is far and away better than PSN. invites, universal friends list, join session in progress, in-game dashboard. I'll gladly pay $4.50 amonth for those features on PS3.

*shrug* PS3 is awesome, you fanboys should worry less about THIS particular article right here. I like the fact that it's compatible with practically everything (including Xbox Live peripherals like the camera, though I wouldn't put money down on another MS product if I could avoid it) and the fact that it has all the relevant features that make Xbox Live good - for free! Now give me a thumbs-down if you're ignorant.

"Vass, I assure you, as a Nintendo Wii owner, I've already bought seven games... and that's not even talking about the Virtual Console. I know friends who own at least ten Wii games... and, I'm pretty sure they aren't casual." Also keep in mind that a large portion of the demographic of Wii owners is 360 owners. You dont have to dig very far into the software charts to see that 360 owners buy games. And if you look at those same sales charts, you will see quite a few Wii games up there in the top tens as well. Wii software sales are already more than respectable, and there will be a noticable rise as soon as the hardware install base becomes more stable (You have to remember that with the rapid rate of hardware sales, a lot of Wii owners havent even had their console long enough to have gone and bought new games).

"as for the ps3, it simply doesn't have enough of a user base yet and there aren't as many good exclusives but it's still very early days" That argument doesnt wash anymore. The PS3 has been out over a year now. The 360 had a good number of its fully matured and high selling titles release at or just before its first anniversary. The PS3 now has an install base at about 40 or 45% of that of the 360, but yet, total software sales for the PS3 are nowhere near 50% of the current 360 numbers (or even close to equal to 360 software sales at its 1 yr anniversary when its install base was not greatly larger than the PS3 has now). There is a reason why Sony dropped BC on the PS3 to force owners to purchase PS3 games, and there is a reason why R&C, a serious GOTY contender in a lot of lists, has sold less than 300K copies worldwide in about 3 mos of release. PS3's are being purchased for reasons other than gaming. You cant even use the quality or quantity of good releases argument anymore (evidenced by the dismal sales of R&C). PS3 owners make a lot of fanboy noise, but they dont buy games.

Vass, I assure you, as a Nintendo Wii owner, I've already bought seven games... and that's not even talking about the Virtual Console. I know friends who own at least ten Wii games... and, I'm pretty sure they aren't casual. Even casual people will end up buying things like Wii Play and Wii Fit -- be careful what you say about Wii owners.

"What saves Microsoft is their software sales. Is this because more hardcore gamers buy more next gen games of higher quality for the 360? Microsoft must have a high volume of gamers that buy more games?" despite the nintendo marketing a lot of wii owners are children who can't afford many games. then you have the casuals who buy about 2 games a year and the proper gamers who don't buy many because there simply isn't much worth buying. as for the ps3, it simply doesn't have enough of a user base yet and there aren't as many good exclusives but it's still very early days

"The answer to your question is becouse japanese consoles, and games are better than their american counterparts." not anymore their not. i can't remember the last japanese game i played (probably dead or alive 4) and the best system out is the 360

sure is alot of boxes and packaging going into land fill.

Hordaak wrote: too bad we americans aren't like the janpanese who only buy japanese systems. I wonder why? We would keep the money in the US instead of handing it over to the japanese. The japanese stick behind their products. why can't we? The answer to your question is becouse japanese consoles, and games are better than their american counterparts. (although I might actually get myself a 360 because I want NG2 so badly :P)

Congrats to all parties. End the system wars. Peace.

HAHAHAHAHA i love it :P ps2 is even outselling ps3 its so great. but they're still in there, that Sony. with ps2 and PSP sales, its keepin' them alive, no thanks to the ps3.

too bad we americans aren't like the janpanese who only buy japanese systems. I wonder why? We would keep the money in the US instead of handing it over to the japanese. The japanese stick behind their products. why can't we?

Rock Band's lack on retail sales in Canada also had something to do with it. 1 month delay much.

go nintendo:P go

I owned a Sega Saturn, Playstation, N64... I owned a Dreamcast, Playstation 2, GameCube, Xbox... This gen I bought a Xbox 360 right around launch and a PS3 about 6 or maybe 7 months ago. I sold my 60gb PS3 2 months ago. It just made since to me... I could sell this black box that wasn't collecting games but dust instead and use the money to buy games for my 360. I tried to go out of my way to buy games for the ps3 but nothing on it that was exclusive seem to grab me except maybe Warhawk and Virtua Fighter 5 and now VF5 is on 360 with online multiplayer to boot. As for the Wii.. just not my thing but i'm glad its doing well and bringing in other/more casual gamers. Gran Turismo 5 and to a lesser extent MGS4 are the only reason for me personally to own a PS3 and by the time those games come out I'll be able to buy a 80gb PS3 for the same amount I got on the trade-in for my old 60gb (or close to it). Okie this ends the meaningless comment for which I have already forgotten the reason I was going to post. wee...

Point taken raahsnavj...I will watch my verbage a little more closely in the future....I dont want to mistakenly imply that I think the PS3 user base has any substantial weight in this gen. My bad.

see COD4 pwns all. sony is winning. just wait the WII will die in time

I think Sony's and Nintendo's way are both wrong. Ninty doesn't give real games, and Sony doesn't give games at all... Microsoft has the best games. It is pitty that Ninty isn't making great games that used to. I think that they are focused to Gunpey's creation... :(

Homerj : "the PS3 user base is ignoring it in droves." To ignore it in droves you actually need droves first.

Dayum. Nintendo is killing.... even with the shortage of Wii supply. PS2 is still outselling the PS3; even a year after the PS3 launch. Sony, you sure you wanna discontinue supporting backward compatabilty?

What I find amazing is that I keep thinking that Sony is under performing. But, then this article makes me realize that they are pushing three platforms each with about a half million in sales. So, that puts Microsoft in third with less than 800 thousand sold, Nintendo with a staggering 2.3 million sold, and Sony with 1.5 million sold. So, I think Sony is still in there. What saves Microsoft is their software sales. Is this because more hardcore gamers buy more next gen games of higher quality for the 360? Microsoft must have a high volume of gamers that buy more games? I think I will post this question in the general gaming area...

thats a big chuck of change

Now I realise why publishers like to release games in the holidays. The sales are really staggering. Every console maker is doing well, every good game is doing well. I am doing well. You should be doing well. Happy Holidays.

@getoconnection: I completely agree, but you should edit the part about Konami's "million dollar" investment to "multi-million dollar" investment.

greater_bird The PS3 has no hope of being the system you buy your 8 year old for Christmas so they can play Singstar and licensed cartoon games, but the PS2 meets that need at a comparable price to a handheld. Taking that away would just create even more demand for the next cheapest console - the Wii - especially since Nintendo are already doing the best job possible of targeting the entry-level gamer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I've been saying this but that type of logic eludes the respondents on this board (when I said it, I got -2 thumbs down). The PS2 is the ONLY way Sony can stave off the Wii. If they drop the PS2 the flood gates will open. They are really between a rock in a hard place. Nintendo and MS are knocking at the door. All it takes is a $199.99 360 price tag and Nintendo to keep pulling casuals and it's curtains. To be honest I think GTA4 will be the nail in the coffin for the PS3. If the 360 vs PS3 sales of CoD4 are any indication of things to come, I see no light at the end of the tunnel for Sony. Their fans didn't even buy Ratchet, arguably the best game on the system. What hope do they have of selling MGS4? Make no mistake, Konami is looking at those numbers and I'm sure they are becoming increasingly worried about their million dollar investment.

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

another thing is, not that many people own ps3 compared to 360's

"Still, I was shocked that games like R&C, Heavenly Sword and Uncharted didn't sell 500,000 in their first 2-3 weeks of being released. These titles were hyped to hard, I thought every PS3 owner whated them. " I am only shocked about one of those games. Uncharted is formulaic and derivative...almost seems like it was developed by committe or focus group. Heavenly Sword had a ridiculously short amount of gameplay for a single-player, story driven game. Its R&C that I dont understand. From what I've heard, seen and played of it, its one of only two games so far that make the PS3 worth owning, and the PS3 user base is ignoring it in droves. Third party devs will ignore the PS3 entirely if all the Sony fan boys do is make noise, and not buy even quality games at a reasonable rate.

@Proust "Microsoft can't release a new system - it's too busy " counting all the money its making from dominating the software sales charts and fielding calls from 3rd party devs that cant wait to get their games on the 360....I couldnt agree more.

**** **** yea. go Nintendo! suck that PS3. It just goes to show you that people don't want a super powerful system if it costs too much and has few good games

AngelsongCA Software sells a great deal on XBOX 360, all year this year. All year last year. Why isn't it the same for the PS3 in this year at least? If it's so great, why doesn't the software sell? Not even the first party titles sell a lot of copies. Drake's came out where is it? Ratchet came out where is it? Software sales speak volumes, people aren't interested. ***************************************************** i can answer that question pretty easily. At least 20-25% of the people who are buying the PS3 are buying it for Blu-Ray only. That % is probably a lot higher in Europe. Many people buy the system could care less about the games on it. These buyers may buy 1 or 2 titles for the system, buy they are not the hardcore buyer who will buy 10-15 games a year. Even though this is just my opinion, I'm sure I'm not very far from being right on. The other reason is there are only 6 million PS3 sold so far. So their sales are not going to be as great as the Wii or XBox 360 right now. Still, I was shocked that games like R&C, Heavenly Sword and Uncharted didn't sell 500,000 in their first 2-3 weeks of being released. These titles were hyped to hard, I thought every PS3 owner whated them.