Kotaku
How is 2007 looking for the video game industry so far? Pretty damn good, having crossed the $10 billion revenue mark as of the end of October, with its two biggest revenue generating months still to come. If that's a tough number to wrap your brain around, try to imagine an ocean made of cash. It's a lot like that. October '07 saw the industry pull in $1.1 billion, across hardware and software, ensuring that this year will be its best. Much of that revenue can be chalked up to higher console prices for the Wii and PlayStation 3, plus some very strong selling software.
The best selling games, across all platforms, for the year are as follows, with more year-to-date sales data after the jump.
- Halo 3 - 3,700,000
- Madden NFL 08 - 3,200,000
- Guitar Hero II - 2,800,00
- Wii Play (w/ Remote) - 2,500,000
- Pokemon Diamond - 2,100,000
- Pokemon Pearl - 1,500,000
- Spider-Man 3 - 1,400,000
- Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock - 1,400,000
The year-to-date total revenue is actually at $10.5 billion, up from $7 billion at the same point last year, making for a 49% increase year over year. Total video game hardware sales are now at $4.1 billion, up from $2.2 billion from the previous year. Finally, video game software sales are at $5.0 billion, up 23% from the previous year's take. It's slightly less impressive than the 85% increase in hardware, especially considering the higher price points for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 software, not to mention various flavors of Guitar Hero, which can run up to $99 per SKU.
Anita Frazier from the NPD Group points out that "This year sales have already achieved the annual sales number for 2005 - and the two biggest months are yet to come. I think we'll see not only record-breaking revenues but record-breaking year-over-year growth when the final numbers are tallied."
Yay! Yachts and parking spaces for everyone!
Comments
sad to see spider man 3 up there. Man that game sucked...
What I'd like to know: how many of those 1.4 million Spider-Man 3 purchases were returned the very next day?
Just goes to show these numbers are no indicator of quality....
Damn, you made me think of the game
"Much of that revenue can be chalked up to higher console prices for the Wii and PlayStation 3,"
Where is 360? -_-
@17-A: If only people could return games...especially crappy games.
@LemonproX: My. Thoughts. Exactly!
This is a great thing for gamers everywhere. Great content, a solid three way race, innovation, and cool exclusives on all consoles, its a good time to be a gamer.
Speaks volumes about how many poor saps will buy something just for its namesake.
sad to see Madden08 up there. Man that franchise needs something new...
Very good news for the gaming industry. May this payoff help make next year's titles even better than this years!
@DigitalHero: The Wii and PS3 weren't around last year hence last years revenues were lower I think he is saying.
@Torokun: Many critics felt that this year was a return to form for Madden. Madden 08 is to previous Madden what Mario Galaxy was to Mario Sunshine.
Gonna be close between Halo 3 and the combined Diamond/Pearl sales for top spot. I'm surprised, actually - I thought Pokemon would win handily.
And did anyone actually figure out why Diamond sells so much better than Pearl? Is it just that diamonds are cooler? I don't recall there being a meaningful difference between their exclusive content.
This is great! This generation is actually starting to look very interesting. Sony may have taken its' knocks over the last year but they're showing some strong signs, these days. Wii is dominating, and the 360 is just continuing along on its' course. It really doesn't sound to me like there are any losers in the race... just which console will win MORE.
We're going to see some ass-kicking games in the coming years.
I'm just wondering where the media crete numbers are.
Wii Play is just ridiculous. The concept of throwing crap games with a controller. It shouldn't even be on that list.
@Torokun: COMING SOON TO MADDEN 09! TONS OF NEW FEATURES THAN YOU CAN SHAKE A STICK AT, SUCH AS THE ABILITY TO TURN YOUR TEAM INTO ZOMBIES, WEREWOLVES, ECT.! IT ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO PUT YOURSELF RIGHT IN THE GAME WITH PERFECT STATS AND EVERYTHING! IT ALSO ADDS MASTER CHIEF AND OTHER POPULAR CHARACTERS TO THE MIX FROM THE BEST SELLING VIDEO GAME SERIES! WITH THESE NEW EDITIONS THE ONLINE PLAY FOR THIS ONE WILL BE MANDITORY!... Ok I'm out of ideas, hasn't madden just gotten old yet? Same ol' same ol' but with new models... They could atleast change how the game is played, or mix it up a bit like Pokemon, look at the transition from GBA to DS in changes, it's not the same series anymore with the split of physical and special attacks and with the new Pokemon it's definitely different, unlike those who think it's the same thing over and over, atleast they add new things to the mix now and then.
@Fetus_God_of_Love: No - it's a work of genius. $40 on its own feels expensive for a controller. But throw in a game (that cost Nintendo pennies per copy to develop), even a crap one, for $10 more, and it starts looks like a sweet deal.
I contributed to Wii sales when I bought my brother one on Halloween for Christmas. I'm fixing to buy him Super Mario Galaxy in a few days :p
~Scott
@Shaoko: Zombies and werewolves...God; if they made an updated version of Mutant League Football.
<--- would be SO happy
@Fetus_God_of_Love: I'll be getting it when I purchase my Wii. I had fun playing pool with some old friends last weekend, and it got me accustomed to using the Wii remote quickly. That and it's $10, why not?
@EndersGame: Hopefully someone from their site visits this page? XD it'd be interesting to see that in any sports game. (maybe I should write my ideas down and see if in the future we could get a bizarre WTF game in the series...)
its a goddamned shame that a piece of shit like Spiderman 3 is selling over one million while Bioshock gets nowhere near that amount.
I'm really dissapointed to not see Silent Hill: Origins up there, Its a really solid, and deep game (storyline wise) and deserves to be up there with Halo.
Disregard what i just said. I didnt realise it was for the year and not for the week.
@Cell9song: Agreed
I'm suprised how well Wii Play is doing.
higher console prices for the Wii and Playstation 3? Man I thought the Wii was cheap, but for the content, haha :P
Why does it piss me off to see Madden 08 as #2?
@Fetus_God_of_Love:
True that, Wii Play is a joke
Those numbers obviously don't account for subscription revenue, or else we'd be seeing Blizzard sitting far above everyone else looking down from their own private mountain o' cash.
9.3 million subscribers.
$15 a month.
10 months into the year.
I'll let you do the math there. :P
@Shaoko: Werewolves. That's BRILLIANT. I would buy that game in less than an instant.
@Shaoko: I really think you're onto something here. I'm not a fan of Madden...but with werewolves? Hell yeah. Werewolf and zombie football for the win!
@EndersGame: I have been wanting to see a new Mutant League Football as well.
Sweet memories of continuously calling "Kill the ref." as a play during my childhood days when I had rented that game.
You need to count both Pokemon games as one much as you would count all versions of Guitar Hero as Guitar Hero sales.
I would love to see the sales numbers Valve has from Steam.
I never got the hate for WiiPlay, It never aims to be more than a ten dollar game. So why all this hate directed towards it?
Madden 2007 selling that well is one of the reasons why incompetent talentless companies like EA continue to eat up smaller, more creative studios like Bioware. Why do people keep buying Madden, it's the same crap that they've been releasing year after year, don't they realize that?
@One_Way_Mule: Because it's stealing sales-chart-spots from legitimate games, like Elite Military Violent Zombie Force CXXIV
@DigitalHero: Last year the 360 was roughly the same price as it is today. The Wii and the PS3 on the other hand, hadn't been released yet.
Diamond < Pearl.
It's sad that so many of you complain about the high quality games not receiving large amounts of sales, however, this is how it is in every industry (except the movie industry to a certain extent). Perhaps we need a "Pop" section for gaming, ala music. I'm sure most of you can't stand the majority of pop music that sells hundreds of thousands, even millions of CD's, yet this doesn't stop the indie bands and even artists that, while a lot of people know about them, they say "But that isn't for me".
If you're scared about the gaming industry going the way of the "casual" gamer, don't be scared -- we'll all just fall back into the nerd/gaming niche like we used to.
1.4 mil for GHIII already? Wow, that's impressive, especially with Rock Band on the horizon.
@4dSwissCheese: Possible reason Pokemon Diamond sells more than Pearl:
The word 'pearl' has a more feminine connotation attached to it, more than 'diamond'. So, if you ask a 13 yr old boy which of the two Pokemon games you want to buy, he'll say "diamond". Also, most kids would tend to say diamonds are 'cooler' than pearls.
If Nintendo had named the 2 current iterations, "Pokemon Blood Diamond" and "Pokemon White Diamond", I'm sure the "Blood Diamond" version would have sold more (would sound cooler to them).
On another note, why all the hate for 'Wii Play'. IMHO, this game package is THE BEST value for your money in terms of what you are getting... for such a cheap price
A lotta people like Diamond more than Pearl.
Less girly.
five ways to prove you're an idiot on Kotaku:
1. dis nintendo
2. dis sony
3. dis halo
4. dis madden
5. make lists
Diamond and Pearl should have been put together, if all 3 (or 4?) versions of Guitar Hero were put together.
@LemonproX:
I actually liked Spider-Man 3 except for the horrible, awful camera (you try and look around with the right stick while you're moving, and the second you let go it snaps back, it was INFURIATING). That and it ran like absolute crap on PC. But if they ever fixed it with a patch, I would buy it again.
@rainofwalrus: LOL
I can see halo 3 increasing its lead by the time the year finishes. Also, nice numbers on GHIII through all the platforms. Is it just me or is Rock Band set-up for a major fall in terms of numbers versus GHIII.
@Fetus_God_of_Love:
Totally agree. I find it a joke Wiiplay can even be considered a game. Maybe Microsoft and Sony should put an arcade game on a disk and put it with the 360/Sixaxsis controller at no extra cost... Yeah people buy Wiiplay for the controller, it shouldn't even be listed.
@Tull: totally agree. I think they're shooting the moon with Rock Band... enough is enough is enough.
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