Game Reviews Index
One of the most anticipated set of NPD numbers for the year of 2008 is finally in, showing the success of Grand Theft Auto IV, and the fact that once every person on planet Earth owns a Wii, Nintendo will probably just begin shipping them to other planets. Anyways, we’ve got the breakdown of NPD sales date, followed with the “unique” observations given by the big three.
US Hardware Sales for April 2008:
Nintendo Wii – 714,200
Nintendo DS - 414,800
PlayStation Portable - 192,700
Xbox 360 – 188,000
PS3 – 187,100
PS2 – 124,400
Nintendo’s Response
The behemoth that was GTA seemed to have little effect on the big N, as the Wii sold 714,000 units, far ahead of either the PS3 or 360, bringing the console’s installed base to 9.5 million. Nintendo attributed much of this success to the release of Mario Kart for the Wii, which sold over 1.1 million units, making it the second best selling title of the month. In their statement, Nintendo once again reiterated their goal to reach the broadest audience as possible, something that will no doubt be achieved with the release of Wii Fit next week. Nintendo performed extremely well once again with the two top spots in hardware, as well as dominating the slots of the software charts with six games in the top ten.
Microsoft’s Response
April was really all about GTA IV for Microsoft, and it couldn’t be more evident in their victory cries of winning the battle over which system gamers prefer to play Rockstar’s latest title on. The company just narrowly managed to sell more consoles than Sony, but it places most of its focus on the fact that GTA IV sold 1.8 million units, grabbing the number one spot on software sales charts. Microsoft also took time to mention that once again 360 gamers seem to have the deepest wallets, with an attach rate of 7.6 games per console, and $9.7 billion in total spent on the Xbox 360 brand to date. MS also prided itself on being the first console of this generation to reach an installed base of 10.1 million units; however, the Wii is following closely behind, and the PS3 gaining steam, so the hold of first place is definitely slipping.
Sony’s Response
As usual, Sony’s numbers are all about progress, with 187,100 PS3 systems sold for the month of April making for a Year-Over-Year growth of 127%. The PS3 version of GTA IV may have sold less than the 360, but Sony made sure to state that more PS3 gamers bought the system for the game, with a 29% higher attach rate. The company also attributed PS3 sales to increasing acceptance of Blu Ray, as “the definitive high def standard.” Sony ended by reminding everyone that the big releases are not done yet, and plenty more system sellers are on the way with Socom: Confrontation and Metal Gear Solid 4.For a full list click here.
GTA IV
Is GTA really important enough for its own analysis? Maybe, but we’d like to remind everyone, Microsoft and Sony included, that GTA IV did release at the tail end of April. Thus, the real effects of the title’s impact will probably only be evident in next month’s numbers, as the NPD analysts themselves have stated: “ It was surprising not to see bigger hardware sales for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 given the release of GTA IV. However, since the game was only in the market for 5 days during this reporting period, that sales lift could very well be evident in May data.”
And if we didn’t give you enough stats here are the software sales numbers for the month of April:
1. Grand Theft Auto IV - Xbox 360 – Take-Two – 1,850,000
2. Mario Kart - Wii - Nintendo - 1,120,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV - PS3 – Take-Two – 1,050,000
4. Play w/ Wii Remote - Wii - Nintendo of America - 360,000
5. Super Smash Bros. - Wii - Nintendo of America - 326,000
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue - PS3 - Sony - 224,000
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness - DS - Nintendo of America - 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time - DS - Nintendo of America - 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III - Wii - Activision - 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4 - Xbox 360 - Activision - 141,000
US Hardware Sales for April 2008:
Nintendo Wii – 714,200
Nintendo DS - 414,800
PlayStation Portable - 192,700
Xbox 360 – 188,000
PS3 – 187,100
PS2 – 124,400
Nintendo’s Response
The behemoth that was GTA seemed to have little effect on the big N, as the Wii sold 714,000 units, far ahead of either the PS3 or 360, bringing the console’s installed base to 9.5 million. Nintendo attributed much of this success to the release of Mario Kart for the Wii, which sold over 1.1 million units, making it the second best selling title of the month. In their statement, Nintendo once again reiterated their goal to reach the broadest audience as possible, something that will no doubt be achieved with the release of Wii Fit next week. Nintendo performed extremely well once again with the two top spots in hardware, as well as dominating the slots of the software charts with six games in the top ten.
Microsoft’s Response
April was really all about GTA IV for Microsoft, and it couldn’t be more evident in their victory cries of winning the battle over which system gamers prefer to play Rockstar’s latest title on. The company just narrowly managed to sell more consoles than Sony, but it places most of its focus on the fact that GTA IV sold 1.8 million units, grabbing the number one spot on software sales charts. Microsoft also took time to mention that once again 360 gamers seem to have the deepest wallets, with an attach rate of 7.6 games per console, and $9.7 billion in total spent on the Xbox 360 brand to date. MS also prided itself on being the first console of this generation to reach an installed base of 10.1 million units; however, the Wii is following closely behind, and the PS3 gaining steam, so the hold of first place is definitely slipping.
Sony’s Response
As usual, Sony’s numbers are all about progress, with 187,100 PS3 systems sold for the month of April making for a Year-Over-Year growth of 127%. The PS3 version of GTA IV may have sold less than the 360, but Sony made sure to state that more PS3 gamers bought the system for the game, with a 29% higher attach rate. The company also attributed PS3 sales to increasing acceptance of Blu Ray, as “the definitive high def standard.” Sony ended by reminding everyone that the big releases are not done yet, and plenty more system sellers are on the way with Socom: Confrontation and Metal Gear Solid 4.For a full list click here.
GTA IV
Is GTA really important enough for its own analysis? Maybe, but we’d like to remind everyone, Microsoft and Sony included, that GTA IV did release at the tail end of April. Thus, the real effects of the title’s impact will probably only be evident in next month’s numbers, as the NPD analysts themselves have stated: “ It was surprising not to see bigger hardware sales for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 given the release of GTA IV. However, since the game was only in the market for 5 days during this reporting period, that sales lift could very well be evident in May data.”
And if we didn’t give you enough stats here are the software sales numbers for the month of April:
1. Grand Theft Auto IV - Xbox 360 – Take-Two – 1,850,000
2. Mario Kart - Wii - Nintendo - 1,120,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV - PS3 – Take-Two – 1,050,000
4. Play w/ Wii Remote - Wii - Nintendo of America - 360,000
5. Super Smash Bros. - Wii - Nintendo of America - 326,000
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue - PS3 - Sony - 224,000
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness - DS - Nintendo of America - 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time - DS - Nintendo of America - 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III - Wii - Activision - 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4 - Xbox 360 - Activision - 141,000
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