State of the Sales Numbers (July NPDs)

The NPDs are out. (The software ones, too.)

So here are the basics of how the gaming market in the US (minus online sales / subscriptions and WalMart and whatever else the NPDs don't cover) is looking.

Overall, it was a good month for the industry with sales of over one billion dollars.

Hardware
Nintendo still dominates. The DS sold over 600k. The Wii sold over 550k. Yes, over a million Nintendo hardware platforms shipped (yet again).

Sony's Metal Gear Solid 4 bubble seems to have burst with sales of over 220k PS3s (down from over 400k last month). Even though I call the Blu-Ray victory and Metal Gear Solid 4 events "bubbles", it does seem that the PS3 may finally be able to sustain some momentum. It has an over six million unit install base gap to make up in the US, but as long as it continues to dominate Japan and keep a firm lead in Europe, I don't think Sony will be too upset.

The PSP also moved over 220k.

And the 360 came in at over 200k. If the rumored price cuts go through next month, the low end 360 will cost less than the Wii, so Microsoft's probably not too concerned about being in last place.

And the good old PS2 is still in it with over 150k sales.

Software
We generally only get NPD data for the top ten sellers. So there's obviously a lot of missing information here.

Proving that I should probably shut my dumb mouth and stop calling the Wii a Wii Sports machine, Wii games take positions 2, 4, 7, and 8 on the top ten with total sales of over 990k. Of course over 280k of those were Wii Play which is a $10 pack in with additional controllers, so that number is a little deceptive.

Rock Band was the only third party Wii game to crack the top ten (at number 8 with over 160k sales). This is why third parties still don't like the Wii. :P Plus, if Wii Music is turned into a fun experience by the time it ships, even third party successes like Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band may find themselves shoved completely out of the top ten.

360 titles continue to outsell PS3 versions, but not nearly by as much as the install bases would suggest they ought to. NCAA Football 09 sold 1.6 to 1. SoulCalibur 4 sold 1.4 to 1. My understanding is that the 360 still has a better than 2 to 1 install base lead in the US. But if they've got 20% of those units in for repairs, that could account for the discrepancy. :P