October NPD: Wii Back On Top
Posted by Rod Oracheski on 11.12.2009
The Wii enjoys a month-over-month sales increase while the competition falls back.
October's NPD numbers are out, and the Wii has regained the top spot. Nintendo's console managed a month-over-month increase in sales from September's numbers, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 both saw declines.
In the handheld arena, Nintendo's DS/DSi hardware continues to outsell Sony's PSP/PSP Go, even charting a game in the top ten of software sold.
Here's the numbers:
Consoles:
Nintendo Wii - 506.9K
PlayStation 3 - 320.6K
Xbox 360 - 249.7K
PlayStation 2 - 117.8K
Handhelds:
Nintendo DS/DSi - 457.6K
PSP/PSP GO - 174.6K
In software, Uncharted 2 proved king of October's sales with over 500,000 units sold. The release is significantly better than the original, which failed to chart at all with only 117,000 copies sold. Borderlands surprised skeptics, including Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who claimed the game had been "sent to die" at retail, moving over 400,000 copies on the Xbox 360 alone.
The NBA 2K series debuted strong, moving 500,000 copies between the PS3 and 360 SKUs, while Halo 3: ODST slumped in its second month, moving just 271,000 copies for a total of 1.79 million units sold since its release in late September.
Forza Motorsport 3 charted in eighth spot at 175,000 copies. With only four days of sales in the reporting period, it will be interesting to see if the simulation racer charts again in November.
The Kingdom Hearts franchise continues to show strength, with Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days (DS) charting in the number nine spot.
Notably absent from the top 10 is recently-released action/RTS/music game hybrid Brütal Legend. Microsoft's PR release, which doesn't include handhelds along with console releases, includes the game as a top 10 seller, which hints it finished in 11th place - selling somewhere under 156,000 units.
Posted By: mike (Guest) on November 13, 2009 at 06:31 AM
It appears we have ourselves a console war after all. Glad the PS3 is doing well. How long before (if) Microsoft panics?
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on November 13, 2009 at 10:04 AM
They were outsold by 70k units the month after the PS3 dropped the price $100. With a 7 million unit lead, it'll be about 8 years before Sony catches up in the US at that rate. Microsoft probably has time to consider their options (a $99 Arcade?) before doing anything.
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on November 13, 2009 at 01:12 PM
You remember when people actually talked about the 360 eventually catching the Wii? I guess only Nintendo can only stop themselves (N65, Gamecube). Nothing Microsoft will ever do will allow them to dominate Nintendo. To beat Sony this generation, what was the cost?
Posted By: Guest#7126 (Guest) on November 13, 2009 at 04:51 PM
i love how americans think there market
is the only one that matters. the ps3
will pass the xbox 360 in sales worldwide very quickly with the price drop.
Posted By: Guest#2858 (Guest) on November 13, 2009 at 08:49 PM
What does Europe have to do with the NPD numbers, which are North American only?
Posted By: Rod Oracheski (Registered) on November 14, 2009 at 01:38 AM
the american market IS the only one that matters...
Posted By: mike (Guest) on November 15, 2009 at 07:47 AM
