Late last Thursday, the NPD Group released the sales numbers for the video game industry for the month of July. Those of you who happen to own a calendar may have noticed that today is Tuesday. You see, what happened was…..
Nevermind.
A quick note as usual before we begin: NPD Group numbers are U.S. sales only and do not include online or downloadable sales.
Let’s start off as usual with the breakdown of the console sales numbers. The big news in the June NPD Numbers was that the XBOX 360 outsold the Wii, thanks in part to the release if the new slimmed down model as well as price cuts on older models. The big question going into this month was, can they keep the momentum rolling? The short answer is yes. Take a look:
- 360: 443,500 (down from 451,700)
- DS: 398,400 (down from 510,700)
- Wii: 253,900 (down from 422,500)
- PS3: 214,500 (down from 304,800)
- PSP: 84,000 ( down from 121,00)
For the first time in recent memory, there is not a Nintendo console on the top of the sales charts. So congratulations to Microsoft for taking over the crown, if only for a month. While all consoles saw a dip in sales over the previous month, the XBOX 360 held fairly steady with only a 8,200 unit drop. Clearly the new console redesign and price cuts on the older systems is having an effect on the market. Meanwhile, despite Sony touting “significant momentum” today at their press event at Gamescom, the PS3 continues to languish in 3rd place among the home console systems here in the US. Obviously, they have fared much better than the 360 in other markets (ie: Japan) and have certainly picked up a lot of momentum worldwide. But here in the US, thing haven’t been as rosy for the the company that demolished the competition just last console generation.
Now let’s move on to the games. Red Dead Redemption had dominated the sales numbers for the past two months. Would they stay on the top of the pile, or is there a new king of the mountain for July?
- NCAA Football 11 (360): 368,000
- NCAA Football 11 (PS3): 298,800
- Crackdown 2 (360): 208,800
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii): 193,000
- LEGO Harry Potter, Years 1-4 (DS): 141,700
- Red Dead Redeption (360)
- LEGO Harry Potter, Years 1-4 (Wii)
- Dragon Quest IX: Sentinals of the Starry Skies (DS)
- New Super Mario Bros. (Wii)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360)
So let’s not fool ourselves; overall those numbers aren’t great. We’re not overly surprised that NCAA Football 11 topped the charts this month, as in our opinion it’s slightly better than Madden NFL 11 this year. And we fully expect that Madden will take the top spot next month. Despite coming in 3rd, Crackdown 2′s numbers have to be considered a disappointment compared to how well the original sold. And other than Dragon Quest IX (review coming soon), every other game on the list has been out since at least the previous month.
So what do you guys think? Anything here surprise you? Is there anyway that Madden doesn’t take the top spot in August?
