Kotaku
The NPD Group today revealed its findings for U.S. hardware and software retail sales for the month of October, following a brief scare that led us to believe that NPD would no longer provide precious, life-giving hardware figures. Last month, Microsoft's Xbox 360 pushed its way to number one, boosted by strong Halo 3 sales. For the month of October, however, Nintendo's Wii surges past the 360, with the PlayStation brand resting uncomfortably in the lower half of the chart. Next month, we'll know tangibly how successful Sony's recent price drop for the PlayStation 3 was, as it went into effect on November 2nd.
Monthly sales follow, with more hardware numbers after the jump.
- Wii - 519,000
- Nintendo DS - 458,000
- Xbox 360 - 366,000
- PSP - 286,000
- PlayStation 2 - 184,000
- PlayStation 3 - 121,000
Total video game hardware sales reached $469.7 million for the month of October 2007, compared to $207.1 million for the year prior. That 127% increase can largely be attributed to the higher cost and availability of the latest hardware generation, specifically the Wii and PlayStation 3.
Of that $469.7 million, $349.6 million was spent on console hardware and $120.1 million was earmarked for portable hardware. All numbers were up considerably over the year prior as more consumers made the transition to new platforms.
In addition to all that impressive spending, some $130 million worth of accessories were purchase by gamers in the U.S.
Comments
"PS3 takes it up rear"
Admit it, you misread it too.
Well, Halo 3 could only keep the Xbox on top for a whole month. I suppose 1 month is better than none. I imagine if the Xbox still kills the PS3 next month, the piling on will officially begin.
PS3 is doomed........not really.
@db2: I admit it.
PS3 sales will be different in November NPD. They had a price drop and 40GB SKU launch. Not to mention Uncharted, Ratchet are good exclusives with HAZE in December.
In other news, the sun rose this morning to the shock of analysts everywhere, who suspected we were in for a 24-hour night.
Is Wiiplay an accessory or a game?
So that is the "surge" due to the 40gb? Looks like life is back to normal.
Damn, even the PS2 is kicking the PS3's ass!
@darkcambria:
No, the 40GB came out on Nov 2nd.
If one were to look at the numbers on the company level, it would o:
1. Nintendo
2. Sony
3. MS
No? So, a silver lining there. Mayhaps.
...it would be*:
Sigh.
that is quite good going for the X360 - considering it has been out so much longer than the other two systems. It will be interesting to see what effect the PS3 drop has.
But the sales of the DS scare me. Is there anybody left who doesn't have one by now?
@darkcambria:
"...we'll know tangibly how successful Sony's recent price drop for the PlayStation 3 was, as it went into effect on November 2nd."
Yep. You don't read the article before posting on them.
@yoni: That's cool, as long as I get the count the install base of Windows.
Would have been nice to see Sega on that list ... ah, the good old days.
Wow, Wii beat the DS for once. I don't remember the last time I saw it on top.
@Moonshadow101:
Moonshadow101 just owned YONI XD
No MGS4, GT5, or GTA4 make PS3 a sad boy. The Paramount/Dreamworks HD DVD shift was just kicking the poor boy while he was down. It will be interesting to see what impact the price drop has as it picks up folks looking for a less expensive Blu-ray player as well as a game machine. But I suspect we have to wait until Little Big Planet to see another big jump in PS3 sales.
MS isn't looking too good though considering they have the largest library of the best games overall in addition to Live, yet even Halo 3 wasn't able to get them back to a sustained lead.
@DigitalHero: @Moonshadow101:
Woah woah woah... that's like the nuclear option then...I was referring to just the company level based upon these numbers...obviously if talking about the install base of Windows, MS wins hands down no contest.
Or could I mention the number of movies that Sony owns?
That change anything at all? (Probably not)
Ah the monthly console figures... such sweet rapture...
Predicted spin:
Nintendo: We rock. Largest Wii number sold to date. DS rules. We are gods. Neener neener. Just wait for the Mario numbers.
Microsoft: Only a slight falloff from last month's numbers, indicating a clear favoring of the Xbox 360 and Halo brands. Christmas will be a great time with blah blah blah.
Sony: Playstation brand continues to do well with $X million in revenue. Expect next month's numbers to continue to rise as a price drop coupled with our heavily anticipated games blah blah blah.
But how did the GBA do? And yes, db2, that is exactly how I read the title of the post the first time as well...
@kasplat: People picking up the PS3 as a Blu-ray player isn't going to help Sony much in making the PS3 a winning *gaming* machine. Most of the AV people will only be using it to watch movies and developers are going to be keeping a close eye on game attach rates in determining whether or not to bring exclusives to the PS3.
Its funny 2 years ago the sells chart would have been identical to todays but turned upside down.
@kasplat: Dude, the 360 has sold 366,000 units, thats "not looking to good"? I think theyre doing well for themselves if you ask me.
@Soldrak: People picking up the PS3 as a Blu-ray player isn't going to help Sony much in making the PS3 a winning *gaming* machine.
But the NPD numbers don't track what people are doing with their hardware, just who is buying them. If somebody bought a dozen 360s to use as space heaters, that counts just as much as a dozen gamers who buy them for the games.
I think Kasplat was specifically referring to the NPD numbers and not the attach rate.
@Soldrak:
People picking up the PS3 as a Blu-ray player isn't going to help Sony much in making the PS3 a winning *gaming* machine.
Neither does the "get it cause its cool" soccer mom crowd buying the Wii.
Game makers also look at attachment rates. And thus the reason not much dedicated games for Wii. And all the reason 360 gets love.
Attachment Rate!
@yoni:
LOL! Yeah, that was the red button indeed.
@yoni: Nice piece of spin right there. But in the real world software sales mean something as well. And when it comes to software the 360 is kicking the shit out of everything else in sales.
@DigitalHero: PS3 sales will be different in November NPD. They had a price drop and 40GB SKU launch. Not to mention Uncharted, Ratchet are good exclusives with HAZE in December.
November will be different because of the new PS3 pricing. But the games you just listed aren't system sellers. They will join the ranks of Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Resistance and Heavenly Sword. Cool games, but not to go out and by the system for.
@kasplat: Microsoft isn't looking "too good"...how?
Compared to Nintendo...agreed.
The battle for first place in this generation has already been decided for the moment. The REAL fight is for second place.
If outperforming your competition by 300% (Xbox 360 - 366,000 to PS3 - 121,000) counts as "not too good" in your books. Whoah to Sony if MS has a "great" month.
The STILL can't sell more PS3s than PS2s...
it was probably a mistake to bet so heavily that american families would go out and shell 1,000 + $ on a HDTV when they have relatively zero media to display on it, and then shell out 300$+ for a game console to play it on.
how can either the 360 or ps3 inherit the ps2's place in the market given they require a very very expensive purchase to work as intended?
The next 2 months numbers will be the most interesting and telling. November with the price cuts and new SKUs from both Sony and MS and December to see who the King of Christmas was.
Of course in the real world, it doesn't really matter to me. Only one I'm missing is the PS3 and I'm sure its not going anywhere for at least another 2 years. Of course, if it doesn't continue to get cheaper, that time line could be shortened. Same could be said of the X360, though.
looks like the PS3 price drop is going to boost sales a vit. Thast and the several good titles that have been coming out.
[ap.google.com]
@this_is_sparta: Games can still be fun on the 360/PS3 in SD.
Every single game these days has someone shooting something/someone. Amazing.
Amazing.
@Green-clad gamer dude:
Actually, the Wii has beaten the DS before.
For example, Wii sold 501,000 units while the DS sold sold 495,800 units in September. In August, Wii sold 403,600 units while the Ds sold 383,300 units. There may have been more times when the Wii has sold more than the DS.These are from U.S. hardware sales by the way.
LOL Someone needs to post this on the PS3 fanboy sites that were going "PS3 AM WINNZRS NOW!"
@this_is_sparta: You act like PS2 was cheap when it came out. The truth is, gaining a massive install base like that takes years upon years combined with the right circumstances. With the competition as sturdy as it is right now, I doubt it is possible that we will ever have such a huge market share with one console this generation.
Is this a bad thing? Not persay. This competition drives down the price of hardware (good for us) and causes more studios to adopt a multi platform development cycle(just look at the general lack of big exclusives this holiday season).
@DigitalHero: Ratchet, Uncharted and Haze are NOT system sellers. They're validaters. They take a good step towards making the early adopters actually feel validated in the purchase of their PS3.
@EnigmaNemesis: Game makers also look at attachment rates. And thus the reason not much dedicated games for Wii. And all the reason 360 gets love. Attachment Rate!
How many of those Xbox 360 "attach" games are Perfect Dark Zero? Kameo? King Kong?
Attach rate is a ratio of games sold versus consoles sold. If you're only selling one console a month, and the million gamers who already have the console buy a game, the attach rate is going to increase but the console's userbase is no longer expanding.
So yes, developers look at attach rate but by itself it means nothing. You have to look at the context of "How many consoles are out there" in order to see whether a gaming system is growing or stagnating.
@yoni: @DigitalHero: @Moonshadow101:
THe truth is everyone is wining on the surface because everyone is growing their install base. The truth behind these numbers is that only Sony isn't seeing any profits from hardware sales. It's going to take them probably another year to actually start seeing profits from their combined hardware sales so they just have to hang in their till they do.
I'm still wondering if the proclamation Sir Howard ran out and made yesterday was to soften the blow of this news. I'm veering towards it had to have been otherwise in light of these numbers, investors would be worried.
According to the the new numbers they sold over twice what they sold this month in just over two weeks. We will just have to wait and see but I really wonder if the truth in that will be smothered by the sure to be strong holiday sales of the other two systems?
We shall see :)
I think that the month of October is not that significant in terms of telling who's the winner in the consoles war. I think that the NDP reports for November and December will be more meaningful due to the Christmas season, many people will be more willing to spend more money on what they want. Also I'm sure that some people will be buying HDTVs for sure because price will goes down, moneys will be flying all over the places on all 3 home consoles and the 2 handhelds. If people are going to say who dominates the hardware, they should wait until Christmas's over...
@EndersGame:
I love how people post opinion as fact. Some folks may, just MAY, think it's worth it for one of those games.
@Wickerman1972: Because of one game too. Imagine if Microsoft didn't have that one game..
@EnigmaNemesis: How come the XBOX 360 is so popular? doesn't it end up costing about as much as a PS3 in the end when you factor in you have to pay for it just to go online, and the PS3, DS, Wii, and PSP all come with it standard and built in Wi-fi instead of needing to buy an adapter... correct me if I'm wrong, but are the XBOX Live payments really worth it? O.o