Monthly Visitor - NPD Game Sales for March

[Queasy]

Gamasutra

Hardware Sales:

Wii - 601,000
DS - 563,000
Xbox 360 - 330,000
PS3 - 218,000
PSP - 168,000
PS2 - 112,000

Software Sales:

1. Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, Xbox 360) - 938K
2. Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo, DS) - 805K
3. Halo Wars (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 639K
4. Resident Evil 5 (Capcom, PS3) - 585K
5. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board (Nintendo, Wii) - 541K
6. MLB '09: The Show (Sony, PS3) - 305K
7. Killzone 2 - (Sony, PS3) - 296K
8. Wii Play w/ Remote (Nintendo, Wii) - 281K
9. Mario Kart w/ Wheel (Nintendo, Wii) - 278K
10. MLB 2K9 (Take-Two, Xbox 360) - 205K

Video game industry sales slumped 17 percent in the U.S. during March to $1.43 billion, according to NPD Group.

It's the first time since September 2008 that NPD Group reported a drop in overall industry sales, when a tough comp against September 2007's Halo 3 led to a 7 percent revenue dip.

But NPD analyst Anita Frazier said it's not a time to panic that the recession resistant games industry is beginning to implode.

"While it might be tempting to jump to the conclusion that the sky is starting to fall on the video games industry given this month's results, it's important to remember that two very big things are different this year than last," she said. "First, Easter fell in March last year whereas it fell in April this year, and last March included the release of Super Smash Bros.: Brawl, which went on to become the fourth best-selling game in 2008."

Hardware sales were down 18 percent to $4.55 million, with Nintendo once again leading with the Wii and DS.

Software slid 17 percent to $792.83 million, with Resident Evil 5 driving sales. Across PS3 and Xbox 360, the game sold over 1.5 million units in March, its opening month. Frazier noted that it was a "record-breaking launch for that property."

 

[BoberFett]

There wasn't jack squat for releases, should anyone be surprised? *shrug*

 

[WraithETC]

Were in dry season so its not really shocking.

 

[tw1164]

Wow, RE5 sold a lot better then I thought it would.

 

[erwos]

Story of the month is how badly GTA for the DS sold, despite having such great reviews.

It's a really good month for Sony, too, I should point out.

 

[Kabob]

Yeah, I agree, I picked up RE5 but other than that nothing really looked even remotely enticing.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: erwos
Story of the month is how badly GTA for the DS sold, despite having such great reviews.

It's a really good month for Sony, too, I should point out.

Not just GTA: Chinatown for the DS but Madworld for the Wii as well. There are lots of 'mature' titles that are coming out for the Nintendo systems that just aren't doing well.

Also...Halo Wars sold more than Killzone 2? Killzone 2 only just now broke 1 million in sales? That's got to be disappointing.

 

[UpgradeFailure]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: erwos
Story of the month is how badly GTA for the DS sold, despite having such great reviews.

It's a really good month for Sony, too, I should point out.

Also...Halo Wars sold more than Killzone 2? Killzone 2 only just now broke 1 million in sales? That's got to be disappointing.

Yeah. that stinks. I wonder what their break-even point for the game is. I have a feeling they spent a ton of money on that game and won't make it back

I'm also surprised how much more RE sold on 360. After seeing how close SF4 was, i was expecting to same thing, since RE is a pretty classic Playstation franchise. But 400k more on 360 is crazy

 

[pennylane]

SF4 in February, RE5 in March. Capcom seems to be doing okay.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: UpgradeFailure

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: erwos
Story of the month is how badly GTA for the DS sold, despite having such great reviews.

It's a really good month for Sony, too, I should point out.

Also...Halo Wars sold more than Killzone 2? Killzone 2 only just now broke 1 million in sales? That's got to be disappointing.

Yeah. that stinks. I wonder what their break-even point for the game is. I have a feeling they spent a ton of money on that game and won't make it back

I'm also surprised how much more RE sold on 360. After seeing how close SF4 was, i was expecting to same thing, since RE is a pretty classic Playstation franchise. But 400k more on 360 is crazy

Everything I think will be a huge hit for PS3 just keeps under-performing e.g. R2 and KZ2.

As to the 400k copy difference, It is probably a combo of, larger install base, XBL, and achievements.

 

[herkulease]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: erwos
Story of the month is how badly GTA for the DS sold, despite having such great reviews.

It's a really good month for Sony, too, I should point out.

Not just GTA: Chinatown for the DS but Madworld for the Wii as well. There are lots of 'mature' titles that are coming out for the Nintendo systems that just aren't doing well.

Also...Halo Wars sold more than Killzone 2? Killzone 2 only just now broke 1 million in sales? That's got to be disappointing.

didn't GTA chinatown wars come out at the end of march?

is that 1 mil world wide or 1 mil US?

I'm sure people will the usual excuse. Big Base. For me it was just the controls. The demo turned me off to it and the claims of lag how they intentionally did that wasn't that great to hear. I'll grab it when it hits the clearance end caps at target.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: UpgradeFailure

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: erwos
Story of the month is how badly GTA for the DS sold, despite having such great reviews.

It's a really good month for Sony, too, I should point out.

Also...Halo Wars sold more than Killzone 2? Killzone 2 only just now broke 1 million in sales? That's got to be disappointing.

Yeah. that stinks. I wonder what their break-even point for the game is. I have a feeling they spent a ton of money on that game and won't make it back

I'm also surprised how much more RE sold on 360. After seeing how close SF4 was, i was expecting to same thing, since RE is a pretty classic Playstation franchise. But 400k more on 360 is crazy

I think the difference with SF4 was that the Xbox 360's d-pad sucks. Sales ratios for most cross-platform titles have been pretty close to the ratio of installed base, even for games that were formerly Playstation exclusives (or timed exclusives).

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: herkulease
didn't GTA chinatown wars come out at the end of march?

March 17th, so in the middle[/quote]

is that 1 mil world wide or 1 mil US?

Worldwide

Sales of PlayStation 3 exclusive first person shooter Killzone 2 have exceeded 1 million units worldwide, according to a statement from Sony.