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Offline Kairon

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Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« on: January 15, 2009, 11:15:50 PM »
The DS, not the Wii, breaks the PS2's hardware sales record and a game released in 2005 returns to the top ten.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=17533

 Given the astonishing 2.04 million Wiis sold in November, many sales watchers were wondering if the Wii would break the PS2's record for units sold in the month of December: 2.7 million units sold in 2002. It didn't. However, the Nintendo DS did.    


December 2008 U.S. Hardware Sales    


DS – 3.04m
 Wii – 2.15m
 XBox 360 – 1.44m
 PSP – 1.02m
 PS3 – 726k
 PS2 – 410k    


Holiday sales are always explosive, and Nintendo's 3.04 million DS units sold and 2.15 million Wii units sold are proof enough of that. In December 2007, they sold 2.47 million and 1.35 million units respectively, meaning this year both consoles made remarkable gains. The Wii managed to maintain, but not exceed, its November 2008 month totals, but failed to post the numbers that many expected. Whether or not this was because of a limited supply of the perennially hot console will be a topic of discussion in the coming weeks. Instead, it was the four-year-old Nintendo DS that broke the PS2's sales record, proving that the handheld is still extremely strong in America.    


The performance of both the Wii and Nintendo DS seem to validate Nintendo's efforts to reach new consumers via their hardware's innovative control methods and a range of unique, approachable software. There have been concerns over whether these consumers, often new to videogames, would somehow lessen their purchases in the current economic climate, but so far Nintendo's continued performance in both hardware and software (more on that later) suggests otherwise.    


Microsoft also performed admirably last month, improving on last year's December Xbox 360 sales by a little less than 200,000 units. Aside from a strong lineup of holiday titles, these sales have also been aided by recent price drops (a budget-version of the Xbox 360 costs $50 less than the Wii) and holiday specials that offered free pack-in games with the purchase of a console.    


Sony, however, saw some worrisome trends in December. Their flagship PS3 more than doubled its November 2007 sales performance but, at just 726,000 units sold for the month, it amounted to roughly half of the Xbox 360's sales, and about a quarter of the Wii's sales. Last generation's sales champion, the PS2, is still on the charts with 410,000 units sold, but is already in a decline: it sold 1.1 million units in December 2007. The PSP, however, showed no decline compared to last year's December sales. In fact, despite the PSP's flat year-over-year performance, it has already proven itself as the most successful challenger to Nintendo's handheld market dominance yet.    


Approximate Lifetime-to-Date U.S. Hardware Sales    


PS2 – 42.35m
 DS – 27.5m
 Wii – 17.54m
 PSP – 14.24m
 XBox360 – 13.88m
 PS3 – 6.47m    


With urging sales, the DS may be within striking distance of the PS2's lifetime U.S. hardware sales within a little over a year. The Wii, however, still has a very large hill to climb if it ever wants to catch up to either the DS or the PS2. However, a closer target is 50% of the next-generation console market in the U.S. Combining the install bases of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 yields a target of 20.35 million units sold, a target that Nintendo's Wii is trailing by a little under 3 million units.    


December 2008 U.S. Top Ten Software Sales    


Wii Play (Wii) – 1.46m
 Call of Duty: World at War (X360) – 1.33m*
 Wii Fit (Wii) – 999k
 Mario Kart Wii (Wii) – 878k
 Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii) – 859k*
 Gears of War 2 (X360) – 745k*
 Left 4 Dead (X360) – 629k
 Mario Kart DS (DS) – 540k
 Call of Duty: World at War (PS3) – 533k
 Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii) – 497k*
   


*includes collector's, limited, legendary, and bundled editions    


Approximate Lifetime-to-Date U.S. Software Sales    


Wii Play – 9.38m
 Mario Kart Wii – 4.88m
 Wii Fit – 4.54m
 Mario Kart DS – 4.3m
  Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii) – more than 1.33m (October sales unknown)
 Wii Music – 865k
 Rock Band 2 – more than 150k
   


Of the top ten games sold in the U.S. market for the month of December 2008, six are on Nintendo platforms.    


Unsurprisingly, Wii Play took the top sales spot. Since its release in Feburary 2007, the title has simply refused to leave the sales charts. That staying power may come from its unique value proposition for consumers since the game costs $50 and includes a Wii Remote controller (which costs $39.99 sold separately). Wii Play enjoys a more than 50% tie-ratio with Wii hardware. So, as long as the Wii keeps selling, Wii Play will keep selling.    


Wii Fit took the third top sales spot. Despite a price tag of $89.99 due to the bundled Wii Balance Board, Wii Fit sold just shy of a million units in December. Wii Fit has also been a common sight in sales charts since its release last May, and has sold 4.54 million units in America alone so far.    


Charting fourth is Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii, which has also exhibited constant sales since its release a month prior to Wii Fit. This speaks to the significant accomplishments of both Nintendo's brand and their development efforts. That so many can still be interested in a game more than half-a-year old that Mario Kart Wii enjoyed sales of 878,000 units in a highly competitive holiday season is astounding.    


After three Nintendo-published successes, it's nice to know that third parties can also chart blockbuster sales on the Wii. Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour released on many platforms in October, but it's only ever charted in the top ten in its Wii form. Although NPD data for October is missing, the Wii version of World Tour has sold more than 1.3 million units just in the months of November and December. What makes this an undisputed Wii third party success story is that, since no other single version of World Tour has yet charted in the top ten, NPD data suggests that the game has so far only crossed the million mark on Nintendo's console.    


Another surprise is a game claiming a top sales spot three years after it's been released. Mario Kart DS represented the Nintendo DS on the software charts despite the fact that it was released in America in 2005. With 540,000 units sold last month, this is a key example of how new purchases of hardware can create long-lasting sales of back-catalog titles. Nintendo can certainly thank December's new DS owners, of which there were more than 3 million, for not forgetting a title that was hot in 2005. According to the Nintendo's NPD press release, the game has sold 4.3 million units in the 38 months it's been on the market.    


The last Nintendo platform title in the top ten for December was Nintendo's Animal Crossing: City Folk for Wii. The game sold almost half a million units in December, a number which includes versions of the title bundled with the new Wii Speak microphone accessory. Animal Crossing: City Folk failed to chart during its release month of November and has often been criticized for not improving enough on its N64, GC, and DS predecessors. It will be interesting to see if the game can exhibit a long-term sales strategy that has garnered impressive numbers for so many other Nintendo titles.    


Nintendo also provided some information that extended beyond the top ten games. According to their press release, Wii Music has sold a total of 865,000 units since its October release, well on its way to sell over a million copies in America. Nintendo also claimed that of the top 30 titles of December, 20 of them were for Nintendo systems. Nintendo made sure to point out that "more 3rd party units were sold for Wii than any other home consoles in December for the 2nd consecutive month."    


Speaking of other home consoles, the multiplatform Call of Duty: World at War took both the second highest-selling position (Xbox 360 version) and the ninth (PS3). Versions of World at War have also been released on the Wii, DS, and PS2, but none of these titles have shown up on NPD's charts.    


This will only serve to further fuel discussion over the viability of the first-person shooter genre on the Nintendo Wii, especially with Wii-exclusive The Conduit scheduled for release in spring 2009. In contrast to the genre's questionable representation on Nintendo platforms, every Xbox 360 and PS3 title in the NPD top 10 are shooters, including the Xbox 360's Gears of War 2 (sixth place) and Left 4 Dead (seventh place).    


This report contains information from the NeoGAF Official NPD thread, as well as reports from IGN, and Nintendo's Official December NPD Press Release.

Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
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Offline Kairon

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2009, 11:21:31 PM »
Pity the Wii was supply constrained.
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Bill Aurion

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2009, 11:35:34 PM »
I'm interested in how many people will get a Wii next month to make up for not getting one for Christmas...Another 2 million+ month incoming?
~Former Resident Zelda Aficionado and Nintendo Fan~

Offline Kairon

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2009, 11:46:38 PM »
I'm interested in how many people will get a Wii next month to make up for not getting one for Christmas...Another 2 million+ month incoming?

Or maybe January will see the real impact of the economy, and the holiday season has just been hiding it from us all this time.
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
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Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline Bill Aurion

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2009, 11:58:09 PM »
For comparisons sake... =)

              Wii          PS3        360         DS        PSP
Dec-06   604000   491000  1100000  1600000   953000
Jan-07   436000   244000   294000    239000    211000

Dec-07  1350000   797600  1260000  2470000  1060000
Jan-08   274000    269000   230000   251000   230000
~Former Resident Zelda Aficionado and Nintendo Fan~

Offline NWR_pap64

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2009, 12:01:15 AM »
LOL at Wii Music "bombing" hard...
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Offline Bill Aurion

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2009, 12:02:56 AM »
LOL at Wii Music "bombing" hard...

It actually has an interesting sales pattern...

Oct: 81,000
Nov: 297,000
Dec: 487,000
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Offline NWR_pap64

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2009, 12:06:51 AM »
I suspect one of the following...

1. Word of mouth pushed Wii Music into great sales
2. The game shined the best during the Holidays

Either way, its great seeing the title doing so well. Its an incredibly niche title that received a TERRIBLE first time presentation, the indifference of the gaming industry and Nintendo's confusing marketing. To see it do so well means that there ARE people who get the concept behind Wii Music (and yes, I know some of those sales were from people who only saw the Miis and Wii in the cover and snatched it up).
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Offline Kairon

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2009, 12:08:13 AM »
Just a note: I updated the article with Rock Band 2 numbers from the few days of December it was out.

LOL at Wii Music "bombing" hard...

It actually has an interesting sales pattern...

Oct: 81,000
Nov: 297,000
Dec: 487,000

Oh dear god it's GROWING!!!!!!
Carmine Red, Associate Editor

A glooming peace this morning with it brings;
The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things;
Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished:
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Sega and her Mashiro.

Offline NWR_pap64

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #9 on: January 16, 2009, 12:16:25 AM »
Just a note: I updated the article with Rock Band 2 numbers from the few days of December it was out.

LOL at Wii Music "bombing" hard...

It actually has an interesting sales pattern...

Oct: 81,000
Nov: 297,000
Dec: 487,000

Oh dear god it's GROWING!!!!!!

That's what she said WHOAH!!!

...OK, bad joke I am sorry.
Pedro Hernandez
NWR Staff Writer

Offline RABicle

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #10 on: January 16, 2009, 02:20:45 AM »
Good to see that the Wii's TRUE MULTIPLAYER SOLIDER is dominating. **** that Smash Bros ****, Mario Kart is the original dream. The only dream.
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Offline GoldenPhoenix

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #11 on: January 16, 2009, 03:06:16 AM »
The Wii Music sales do seem to indicate word of mouth. This games look to be a good example of something the critics attacked but the public actually enjoys.
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Offline Michael8983

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #12 on: January 16, 2009, 03:49:24 AM »
It's good to see the casual titles like Wii Play and Wii Fit sharing the top-selling chart with hardcore titles like Mario Kart and Guitar Hero. I know certain people now call the latter two "casual" as well but Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's most long-standing franchises and Nintendo's most loyal fans complained for years about not getting their own edition of Guitar Hero. Now we not only have our own, but it's the best selling version.

Offline EasyCure

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2009, 09:05:37 AM »
It's good to see the "casual" titles like Wii Play and Wii Fit sharing the top-selling chart with core titles like Mario Kart and Guitar Hero. I know certain people now call the latter two "casual" as well but Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's most long-standing franchises and Nintendo's most loyal fans complained for years about not getting their own edition of Guitar Hero. Now we not only have our own, but it's the best selling version.

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Offline AV

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2009, 10:17:44 AM »
no smash brothers brawl to date ? I thought it was pretty high up in sales like 3 million plus

Offline UltimatePartyBear

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #15 on: January 16, 2009, 11:51:41 AM »
I'm pretty sure I saw some Mario Kart DS commercials in the last couple of months.  It's possible Mario Kart Wii's success revived interest in the title, too.

Offline Bill Aurion

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #16 on: January 16, 2009, 12:06:01 PM »
no smash brothers brawl to date ? I thought it was pretty high up in sales like 3 million plus

Already posted in the Sales thread...

WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL 4.17M
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Offline NWR_pap64

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #17 on: January 16, 2009, 12:09:12 PM »
I'm pretty sure I saw some Mario Kart DS commercials in the last couple of months.  It's possible Mario Kart Wii's success revived interest in the title, too.

Yeah, Nintendo released a commercial which showcased three of its best selling DS titles (Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing and Nintendogs).

Its great knowing that these titles, despite being nearly 3 years old, are still selling and captivating audiences around the world.

...Damn, now I feel the hankering to play Mario Kart DS...and I sold the game last year :(
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #18 on: January 16, 2009, 03:48:05 PM »
Hm, reminds me, I don't think I played MKDS much, especially since the DS doesn't lend itself to local multiplayer (and I didn't have WLAN back then). Mostly played the challenges IIRC and overall regretted the purchase because I should have known better than to buy another MK game after playing MKDD. Speaking of which, I don't remember any MKDS tracks besides bowser's fortress while I do remember plenty of MKDD tracks...

Offline UltimatePartyBear

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #19 on: January 16, 2009, 04:21:13 PM »
I thought MKDS had the best track design in the series, hands down.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get over the intense pain playing the game caused, so I left it unfinished.

Offline Ymeegod

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #20 on: January 17, 2009, 07:36:08 PM »
Those numbers would have been higher but nintendo still doesn't make it's quota so there's still alot of shortages in the state. 

Recall an article about Nintendo shipping more WII to Europe since the european dollar is worth more than the US.  I wonder if there's shortages overthere as well? 


Offline GoldenPhoenix

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #21 on: January 17, 2009, 07:49:39 PM »
Those numbers would have been higher but nintendo still doesn't make it's quota so there's still alot of shortages in the state. 

Recall an article about Nintendo shipping more WII to Europe since the european dollar is worth more than the US.  I wonder if there's shortages overthere as well? 



That was a long time ago. I really doubt that is happening now with the global economy being in the tank. 
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Offline KDR_11k

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #22 on: January 18, 2009, 05:13:16 AM »
1. it's called the Euro
2. That story was made up by Pachter who has gained fame for being completely wrong on everything related to Nintendo.

Offline Kenology

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #23 on: January 18, 2009, 11:02:35 AM »
Speaking of other home consoles, the multiplatform Call of Duty: World at War took both the second highest-selling position (Xbox 360 version) and the ninth (PS3). Versions of World at War have also been released on the Wii, DS, and PS2, but none of these titles have shown up on NPD's charts.    <P>
This will only serve to further fuel discussion over the viability of the first-person shooter genre on the Nintendo Wii, especially with Wii-exclusive The Conduit scheduled for release in spring 2009. In contrast to the genre's questionable representation on Nintendo platforms, every Xbox 360 and PS3 title in the NPD top 10 are shooters, including the Xbox 360's Gears of War 2 (sixth place) and Left 4 Dead (seventh place).    <P>
This report contains information from the NeoGAF Official NPD thread, as well as reports from IGN, and Nintendo's Official December NPD Press Release. <P>

But the Wii version WAS shown on the chart... just not the top 10.  It charted 19th.  So yeah, it did really well.  Better than LBP.  Better than Resistance 2.  How 'bout that.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21906
« Last Edit: January 18, 2009, 11:05:29 AM by Kenology »
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Offline ShyGuy

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Re: Nintendo Leads December NPD Sales Results
« Reply #24 on: January 18, 2009, 11:51:09 AM »
Thanks Kenology. Shaun White sold at least 150k, so COD:WaW Wii sold more than that. I'm guessing a cool half million world wide overall for its sales life. I think that's good enough for a port of Call of Duty 6 this year right?