The PlayStation family didn't have an ideal November, but Sony's not letting an across-the-board decline bring it down. Nope, we're only five words into the company's NPD response before it throws it out there. "Momentum."
True, year-to-date the PlayStation 3 has been improving, moving a total of 2.8 million consoles this year, so just looking at one month doesn't paint an accurate picture. And the whole PlayStation brand moved more than a million hardware units in November. And $663 million in a month isn't bad. So there's that!
But we're guessing that someone's going to take issue with the claim that the PlayStation 3 had an "unmatched holiday line-up of blockbuster first and third-party titles." Yes, 3,552,456 games sold on the platform in November is good, but "unmatched"? Ballsy!
Even more sales numbers, percentages and bragging straight from Sony after this.
PlayStation by the Numbers November 2008
PlayStation Brand Continues Strong Sales Momentum Into the Holiday Season; PS3 Hardware Sales Grow 60% Year-to-Date
Total PlayStation Hardware Unit Sales in November 2008 Top 1 Million
The PlayStation brand began the holiday season by posting solid sales at retail across its three platforms, with more than 1 million hardware units sold in November 2008, a 93% growth from the October 2008, according to NPD.
PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) has continued its strong momentum during the holiday season with 378,071 hardware units sold in November, representing an increase of almost 100% from October. From January to November 2008, more than 2.8 million PS3s have been sold in the U.S., representing a year-to-date hardware sales growth of more than 60%.
Fueled by an unmatched holiday line-up of blockbuster first and third-party titles, more that 3,552,456 software units were sold for PS3 in November, representing a year-to-date growth of 150%.
* Top-selling exclusive games for PS3 in November included hot titles for the hardcore gamer and family alike, from the pulse-pounding first-person shooter Resistance 2, to one of the best-rated games of the year, LittleBigPlanet. Third-party must-have titles — including Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War, Midway Games’ Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and Electronic Arts Sports’ Madden NFL 09 – rounded-out the best-selling games for the platform.
* In November, the PlayStation nation continued to turn to the PlayStation®Network for entertainment content, including: new PlayStation games such Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix and Age of Booty; original content such as Qore: Episode 5 and Xam’d: Lost Memories, Season 2; and new blockbuster additions to the video delivery service, including Hancock and Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. There are currently more than 15 million registered PlayStation Network accounts worldwide.PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and the Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters PSP Entertainment Pack proved to be a popular choice for movies, games and entertainment content on-the-go in November, with 420,539 units sold. This represents an increase of 118% from October.
PlayStation®2 (PS2) and the LEGO Batman: The Videogame PS2 Entertainment Pack posted solid sales in November, with 205,944 hardware units sold, a 51% increase from the previous month.
Power of the PlayStation Portfolio
The PlayStation brand generated strong sales across all three platforms, earning $663 million in November.
* Year-to-date (Jan-Nov), the PlayStation brand generated more than 5 billion in revenue, representing an 11% growth year-to-date.
* PlayStation total hardware revenue was $261 million in November, representing a year-to-date growth of 9%.
* PlayStation total software revenue in November was $352 million, representing a year-to-date growth of 16%.