Kotaku: only in the usa

Madden's Millions Rule August Software Sales

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:20:01 MDT

Why is this man smirking? His EA Sports division sold over 2.3 million copies of Madden NFL 09 to U.S. gamers last month, putting a serious hurting on the competition and lining up with his "prediction." Madden performed best on the Xbox 360, with over a million copies sold for that platform alone. The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 2 versions sold over a million combined, so we doubt Peter Moore will be playing favorites.

While Madden intercepted the top three spots in August's NPD software sales chart, Nintendo nabbed the next three, with Wii Fit, Mario Kart and Wii Play continuing to show well.

But what about August's other attention grabbing debut, Too Human? See for yourself.

01. Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360) - 1,000,000
02. Madden NFL 09 (PS3) - 643,000
03. Madden NFL 09 (PS2) - 424,500
04. Wii Fit (Wii) - 394,900
05. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 328,700
06. Wii Play (Wii) - 200,200
07. Soulcalibur IV (Xbox 360) - 174,000
08. Too Human (Xbox 360) - 168,200
09. Madden NFL 09 (Wii) - 115,800
10. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS) - 111,200

Not a bad showing for Silicon Knights' Xbox 360 exclusive, especially in light of Too Human's mixed reception, but not exactly a good one either. We're a little more than impressed by Soulcalibur IV's second month showing on the charts, given its solid sales the previous month. Given that it was released here very late in July, however, we can't say we're too surprised.

And Wii Play? We'll let NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier convey just how well that title continues to perform.

"Wii Play continues its remarkable track record, achieving a 44% attach rate to new Wii hardware sales for the month," Frazier wrote. "It has remained a top-10 game each month since it's February 2007 introduction." And with no Wii remote shortage!

Overall, folks in the United States dropped $550.67 million on video game software in August.

Thanks to the NPD Group for providing us with monthly software sales data.

Nintendo Rules U.S. Hardware Sales In August Amid Slowing Growth

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:40:52 MDT

Nintendo was in no danger of giving up the American console crown with its performance in August, selling just shy of another million Wiis and Nintendo DSs. More Nintendo hardware was sold to U.S. consumers than on all other platforms combined.

Hardware sales were mostly down — save for the PSP — with the PlayStation 3 seeing its three month streak of dominance over the Xbox 360 broken. Microsoft's recent price cuts on the 360 should go a long way to helping it next month as well. But we're getting ahead of ourselves...

Hit the jump for of Console War's August casualty count.

Nintendo DS - 518,300
Wii - 453,000
PSP - 253,000
Xbox 360 - 195,200
PlayStation 3 - 185,400
PlayStation 2 - 144,100

NPD analyst Anita Frazier highlights the Wii's success for the month, writing "Across hardware, software and accessories, products for the Wii platform contributed 28% of total industry dollar sales for the month of August."

"The PSP and PS3 systems achieved the greatest percentage gain of all now-gen systems," Frazier noted. "The sales acceleration of these systems, combined with the recent Xbox 360 price cuts should fuel future growth of this category." Yes, it was a rather impressive month for the PSP.

August's monthly take on the hardware side was $394.53 million, just 3% better than the previous August. Total hardware sales for the year amount to $3.73 billion, a much more positive 20% improvement for the same period from 2007.

Thanks to the NPD Group for providing us with monthly data.

Game Industry Reaches 17.9 Billion Dollars In 2007

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:40:00 MST

The video game industry saw dollar sales in the U.S. of $17.94 billion last year, an impressive increase of 43% over the previous year, when it sold $12.53 billion worth of video games, consoles, portables and accessories. Sales were up across the board, with the biggest boosts coming from console hardware sales ($5.12 billion in business, up 73%) and accessories ($2.26 billion in business, up 59%). December alone saw $4.82 billion worth of video game goods sold, with over $2 billion worth of video games sold bolstering those figures.

More expensive hardware on the market for the full year certainly contributed to those impressive console hardware sales, but the 8.5 million Nintendo DS portables sold in 2007 had a lot to do with that, too. Look, everyone just made tons of cash, okay?

For a full breakdown of annual spending, plus comments from NPD analyst Anita Frazier, continue.

Video Games - $17.94 billion (+43%)
Video Games Hardware - $7.04 billion (+54%)
Console Hardware - $5.12 billion (+73%)
Portable Hardware - $1.92 billion (+19%)

Video Games Software - $8.64 billion (+34%)
Console Software - $6.64 billion (+39%)
Portable Software - $2 billion (+18%)

Video Game Accessories - $2.26 billion (+52%)

NPD Analyst Anita Frazier said of the year "While I wouldn't count on similar growth in 2008, I would expect to see 2008 increase over 2007, with more growth (proportionately) coming from software sales. While we will continue to see strong hardware sales, particularly if prices come down again, the spotlight now turns from hardware to software."

Regardless of what happens in 2008, I bet some video game executives are going to spring for appetizers at TGI Fridays this year. Go on, millionaires, live a little!

Nintendo DS Bigger Than Jesus This Christmas

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:20:00 MST

We won't trot out itprintsmoney.gif this time, because that animated image simply doesn't do justice to newly released hardware sales data from the NPD Group and the staggering figures coming out of Nintendo. The Nintendo DS sold an amazing 2.47 million Nintendo DS units to shoppers in December 2007, nabbing the number one spot and nearly doubling sales of its closest competitor, the Wii. Nintendo DS sales represent about a third of billion dollars in hardware sales alone.

The Wii also had a very good month, beating out console competition the Xbox 360 by a solid 90,000 and trouncing the PlayStation 3, who brought up the rear with a respectable six-figure showing. The December casualty report from the US Console War of 2007 is below.

Nintendo DS - 2,470,000
Wii - 1,350,000
Xbox 360 - 1,260,000
PlayStation 2 - 1,100,000
PSP - 1,060,000
PlayStation 3 - 797,600

Call of Duty 4 Killed The Christmas Competition, Nabs Top Spot

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:00:10 MST

NPD sales figures for December show that Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare took the top spot this holiday season, selling 1.47 million copies of the Xbox 360 version alone. The Activision published shooter just narrowly beat out Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii, which settled for number two and 1.4 million sold to software hungry Wii owners.

The rest of the list features familiar faces, with Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero III selling ludicrous amounts. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for Wii takes the tail end of the top ten, making the Sega-predicted 4 million copies sold seem that much more reasonable.

01. Call of Duty 4 (Xbox 360) - 1,470,000
02. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 1,400,000
03. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) - 1,250,000
04. Wii Play with Remote (Wii) - 1,080,000
05. Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) - 893,700
06. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - 742,700
07. Brain Age 2: More Training In Minutes A Day (DS) - 659,500
08. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) - 655,200
09. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360) - 624,600
10. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) - 613,000

Halo 3 Beats Out Wii Play For Best Selling Video Game of 2007

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:40:00 MST

Today's NPD sales numbers reveal that Bungie's Halo 3 was the best selling game in the United States in 2007, with a whopping 4.82 million copies sold. Nipping at Master Chief's heels was Nintendo's own Wii Play. It sold through a staggering 4.12 million units to the masses.

Despite generally negative review scores, it would seem that Wii owners were consumed by the prospect of more mini-games (and a second Wii remote) nearly on par with the thirst that Xbox 360 owners had for more Halo. An impressive feat for Nintendo, but more impressive for Microsoft, considering Wii Play had a seven month head start on the first-person shooter.

The top ten best selling games in the USA for last year are after the jump.

01. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) - 4,820,000
02. Wii Play with Remote (Wii) - 4,120,000
03. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 3,040,000
04. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) - 2,720,000
05. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - 2,520,000
06. Pokemon Diamond (DS) - 2,480,000
07. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) - 1,900,000
08. Guitar Hero II (PS2) - 1,890,000
09. Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) - 1,870,000
10. Mario Party 8 (Wii) - 1,820,000