Nintendo Kicks Butt in Console Sales
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: wii, xbox, ps3, ds, npd | Themes: Digital Entertainment
Both Nintendo and Sony released sales figures for November, however the latter should be embarrassed in comparison to the number of Wii and DS consoles zooming off stores shelves.
NPD Group reports that Nintendo dished out the goods during November despite scares of short supply, selling more than a whopping 2 million Wii consoles in the United States last month, setting a new all-time record for a non-December month. The Nintendo DS came in at a close second in sales and non-December records, selling more than 1.56 million units. So far, the portable DS system has sold nearly 24.6 million units in the United States alone since it hit store shelves back in November 2004; Nintendo’s hit interactive Wii console has sold 15.4 million units since its launch two years ago.
“Nintendo’s record-breaking sales demonstrate that consumers are looking for the best value not only among video games, but also among all entertainment options,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales&Marketing. “Shoppers are looking for gifts that can be enjoyed by the whole family, and Nintendo provides an incomparable range of experiences that gets the whole family involved.”
Sony, on the other hand, didn’t fare so well in November despite PlayStation 3 sales dramatically increasing since January 2008. According to NPD, 378,071 units were sold last month, showing a 100 percent rise in comparison to October sales figures. Hardware sales have actually risen 60 percent since January, with 2.8 million units sold in North America alone since the beginning of the year. The highly underrated PSP portable console didn’t sell quite as well as the others, however Sony mentioned that the Ratchet&Clank: Size Matters bundle actually did well, selling 420,539 units in November.
NPD also reports that 3,552,456 "software units" were sold during the month of November. Hot PlayStation 3 exclusives for this holiday season include the awesome first-person shooter Resistance 2 and the overly addictive platformer, LittleBigPlanet. Other hot 3rd-party games selling big in November were Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Madden NFL 09 and Call of Duty: World at War.
As for Nintendo, four of its games are currently ranking high in the Top 10 U.S. best-seller list, including Mario Kart Wii (#5 with 637,000 units sold), Wii Play (#3 with 796,000+ units sold), Wii Music (#9 with 297,000+ units sold) and the hard-to-find Wii Fit (#4 with 697,000+ units sold).
NPD also reports that Microsoft sold a decent 830,000 Xbox 360 consoles in November, making it the third hottest gaming console this holiday season; 770,000 units were sold in November 2007, showing a slight increase in sales. But while Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft saw increases in sales during November, NPD claims that sales actually saw a decline on Black Friday, a 8.4 percent drop in overall numbers, racking in $2.03 billion this year compared to $2.21 billion last November.
As gamers continue to feed the industry beast, today’s financial hard times continue to hit home to many developers and publishers; Sony even reports that it will be cutting 8,000 jobs as well as cutting back on planned investments (story). Still, consumers spent a whopping $2.91 billion USD on gaming hardware and software in November alone, indicating that times may be tough, but they’re better spent playing Gears of War 2, exercising with Wii Fit, or hanging out with friends in the PlayStation 3’s virtual community, PlayStation Home (which incidentally went open beta yesterday).
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Well duh, the Wii is the cheapest and is geared towards everyone. If everyone had a PS3 it wouldnt be the coolest sexiest blu ray player/HD game player that it is.
One may think someone is creating these numbers... I mean every time I see one of these statistics, Wii has outsold the other consoles by like a million... I still don't understand why people think it's so great, even the Xbox Arcade can out do it IMO..
I can still remember the days where every one made fun of the Wii because of it's "cardboard boxish look" and "it's stupid name". Who else remembers that?
Im pretty anti console but if i got one it would defanitly be a wii.
ps3 does not play true blue ray; it can play blue ray but it is like HDDVD
ps3 does not play true blue ray; it can play blue ray but it is like HDDVD
What? It's a Blu-ray player like any other. Sony has pledged to update the firmware to keep it as up to date.
HD-DVD was indeed a better format, but it lost support from the industry merely because of the penetration of Blu-ray players (PS3s) into the market. However, Blu-ray sales are still not meeting expectations. Too damn expensive, including the PS3.
Correction,the Wii is not the cheapest.The Xbox360 Arcade is @ $199.And I still for the life of me can not figure out who is buying all these Wii's.I own all 3 (360,Wii,PS3).The Wii hardly ever gets played by my kids or myself.I was using the PS3 as a BluRay player that is until the $199 BluRay players hit the market.Out of all 3 my 360 is played the most.
The problem with the Wii is not so much the console itself, but the market and the games.
They usually end up collecting the most dust because most of the games try to be 'pick-up and play', versus a real gaming experience with any sort of complexity or depth.
I just hope that next generation we don't see underpowered consoles with huge abundances of glorified mini-game collections, because share holders of companies point at Nintendo and say "Why aren't you doing that!".
lol @ all the ppl here that think that just because THEY dont play Wii the most out of their 3 consoles, that everyone in America is the same.
quote from Dieseldre2k
"lol @ all the ppl here that think that just because THEY dont play Wii the most out of their 3 consoles, that everyone in America is the same."
Whats not to get The Wii is by far the most over hyped console of the three all it really has going for it is the controllers which after using them for about 10 minutes you wish you had normal controllers to play with. The Wii is by far the most least developed console as well it is under powered for todays games which is a very big negative for any hardcore gamer. Also at the moment you can get a 360 for less than a WII so to me it would be a no brainer if I was in the market for a new console it would be either the Xbox 360 or a PS3 the Wii is not even in the running for me. The Wii is a nice cool toy to play with for about an hour then you start wondering hey what would this game look like with graphics that made your HDTV dazzle you.
I also fail to under stand why the Wii is even in the same price bracket as the Xbox 360 because with the hardware it has in it it should not be costing as much as it does.
Then again I also seen people scooping up the PS2 consoles at our local wal-crack for $140 each when a nice new 360 was sitting about 10 feet away for $189 so I guess as long as people are that out of touch with things the Wii will always do good in sales....its just funny to watch it happening.
Oh & I am a PC gamer so I am not a fanboy for any of the consoles.
ps3 does not play true blue ray; it can play blue ray but it is like HDDVD
Definitely a Blu-ray player - in fact, many web sites rate the PS3 as the best player to get versus the dedicated players as far as features and quality.
One may think someone is creating these numbers... I mean every time I see one of these statistics, Wii has outsold the other consoles by like a million... I still don't understand why people think it's so great, even the Xbox Arcade can out do it IMO..I can still remember the days where every one made fun of the Wii because of it's "cardboard boxish look" and "it's stupid name". Who else remembers that?
Why does the Wii outsell so much? The vast majority of consumers are NOT serious gamers.
As a parent concerned about your child's activity level, are you more likely to invest in a Wii with a Wii Fit or dance pad or a PS3/X-Box 360? As a parent of an 8 year old who really wants a game system for Christmas, do you want your child getting games for the Wii or for the pS3/X-Box 360?
Also, as a typical consumer - you know, the ones who make Solitaire one of the most popular games around - do you want to invest the time in learning to play the PS3/X-Box 360 games or pick up and play a Wii game? This is not to say that only the Wii has pick up and play games, only that they are marketing themselves as such while the others don't. If you look at the commercials, Wii games show people of all ages playing the games while the other systems often advertise their games like movie trailers.
Although no serious gamer would ever prefer the Wii, but it sells so well due to the economies of scale. I would not be surprised to learn that the casual gamers outrank the serious gamers by a factor of two or three orders of magnitude.
ps3 does not play true blue ray; it can play blue ray but it is like HDDVD
what?! its one of the best Blu-Ray players out there.
Between my roommate and I, we have all 3 of the next-gen systems. I typically play the 360, he typically plays the ps3 and Wii, but when we have people over it's the Wii all the way. It's much more fun for people who aren't gamers to play Wii games, they are much more intuitive and more designed for fun than competitiveness.
It isn't for everyone. If you are posting comments on Tom's Hardware, you are more than likely already about 1000 levels above the casual games player, and just don't understand.
Why the Wii outsells the others:
15-35 male demographic < everyone else.
If you cannot get yourself to look from an overall perspective instead of just your own little niche gaming segment, then you'll never understand it.
Well personally I am a hardcore gamer as I have been gaming pretty much since the late 80's. I play everything from basic games to the newest titles that require a lot of hardware to play them. I have just as much fun playing either a basic game of solitaire to the most demanding first person shooter & I also play a online MMO & no its not wow.
I do this from either my PC or xbox 360 & even my PS3 but mostly on my PC. The Wii is cute & all but it can not hold a candle to these other platforms I play on & yes I have used a Wii it was fun for about 2 hours then it just could not hold my interest any longer. The Wii is perfect for a lot of people as it is easy to use which is fine for them. Someone also commented on the Wii being easy to use here well how hard is it to pickup a game controller on the PC or xbox360 or PS3 & start tapping buttons the PC of coarse being the hardest platform to under stand because of having to install the game & install drivers for your hardware & also understanding Windows & how to use it.
So for me & many others a Wii is not worth the investment.
i agree, a Wii is simple enough for non gamers, fun too.
i've seen non gamers enjoyed tennis and boxing on the it.
i agree, a Wii is simple enough for non gamers, fun too.i've seen non gamers enjoyed tennis and boxing on the it.
But very few games make it to a depth that I've come to enjoy as a gamer. The majority of Wii games are pretty vapid.
Personaly im not a console fan. Wii is still fun to fill gaps in my day where im bored with real games. Wii is just fun i play real games on my pc which would make my HDTV dazzle as was mentioned unlikes any console i have played yet. I really also dont want to get into a dibate here but the only thing HD DVD had on blue ray was it was available and cheaper other then that it wasnt up to snuff.
Getting a wii doesnt make you out of touch dont be so narrow minded ffs. get over it wii is fun for what it was ment for. Has it ever accurd to anyone that maybe some people liked the ps2 games more then the crap xbox has?
Xbox and ps3 have the same games i like NORMALY that i can also buy on pc making them useless and a waste of money for me. Wii normaly doesnt but thier games are more casual anyways and more family friends party oriented. Simple doesnt always mean less fun. I mean people play wow and thats freaking simple and highly boring to me.
My high school bought six Wii for the school and a two senior center that I know bought three Wii each. So, just between them is twelve Wii...
Also my economics teacher just got a wii just because of his WIFE not DAUGHTERS!!!!!!!! So yeah, just like Brain Age for DS...
One may think someone is creating these numbers... I mean every time I see one of these statistics, Wii has outsold the other consoles by like a million... I still don't understand why people think it's so great, even the Xbox Arcade can out do it IMO..I can still remember the days where every one made fun of the Wii because of it's "cardboard boxish look" and "it's stupid name". Who else remembers that?
I'm not a console guy. Haven't played on one since the gray nintendo, but I had my eyes on the wii when it was released. I don't remember the days where everyone made fun of it - I do remember times just before its launch and people were critical about it's performance. But that chatter was gone when it was released and everyone and their dog wanted one. Hell even I considered buying one.
I think the wii is popular because 1) it doesn't cost much more than a ps2 2) people who don't know much about computers don't know there are 3 choices for a 'modern' console. They know the playstation or xbox because someone they know have the old versions, and they know the wii, because it's different.
So basicly everyone who wants a system for their kids knows what the wii is, but may or may not know about the ps3 or 360. Eventually the ps3 is too expensive for a 'toy for the kids' and the 360 isn't really popular, left is the wii.
In short. You get a wii if you don't know much about consoles, or if you like the concept. You get a ps3 if you are looking for a standalone blueray player or your kids specificly demanded such one, and you get the 360 if you're on a budget and don't want a wii.
I've had a Wii for a long time now. Personally, i have mixed opinions with the controller. I love the fact that you can just point at the screen and use it as a mouse cursor. I hate the shaking part of it. For the last 6 months I haven't even turned on my wii, but just recently I have been getting into wiiware titles. Those are amazing and so much fun! Also i've been delving into homebrew too, which is really exciting for the wii.
Overall, if my wii wasn't modded, i would have sold it long ago. I use it for small puzzle games and quick online games, ie bomberman, tetris, etc.
If I want to play deep games, nothing beats my PC.
So IMHO, Wii(modded) + PC = Fun... Wii by itself is a fail.