NPD Sales Results for October 2009

[EviLore]

Data care of NPD Group
Reporting Period: 10/4 - 10/31/09


PlayStation 2 117.8K
PlayStation 3 320.6K
PSP 174.6K
Xbox 360 249.7K
Wii 506.9K
Nintendo DS 457.6K


UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES (PS3; Oct-09) 537,000
WII FIT PLUS* (WII; Oct-09) 441,000
BORDERLANDS (360; Oct-09) 418,000
WII SPORTS RESORT* (WII; Jul-09) 314,000
NBA 2K10* (360; Oct-09) 311,000
HALO 3: ODST (360; Sep-09) 271,000
NBA 2K10* (PS3; Oct-09) 213,000
FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 (360; Oct-09) 175,000
KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 DAYS (NDS; Sep-09) 169,000
FIFA SOCCER 10 (360; Oct-09) 156,000

(*includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)


---------------------


Analysis from NPD's Anita Frazier:

The video games industry suffered another decline this month as compared to last October. This is the third best October on record, behind October 2007 and October 2008. Based on typical industry seasonality, the industry is on track to generate full-year revenues in the range of $20-$21B in the U.S., which would put it just a bit below last year's sales of $21.3B. The continued economic turmoil, and in particular the troubling unemployment rate, is undoubtedly impacting industry sales. Our latest Economy Tracker indicated that although consumers' general opinion about the economy is improving, their outlook on their own personal situation is worsening. If consumers' personal outlook continues to erode, they could very well be much more conservative with their holiday shopping this year. Across all categories, the Xbox 360 platform contributed the greatest portion of total industry sales, representing 27% of total industry sales for the month. The PS3 was a close second at 26%, an 8 point improvement over last October. With the excitement already being generated by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and the incredible buzz around upcoming titles, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Assassin's Creed 2, November is poised to be a strong month for the industry. Hardware sales were down 17% in units for the month, with the Wii and the Xbox 360 decreasing the most compared to October 2008. Compared to last month, which was a five-week month as compared to four weeks this month, Wii, PSP and NDS sales increased on an average sales per week basis, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 declined. On a year-to-date basis, only the Xbox 360 and the NDS have realized unit sales increases over the same time frame last year. While overall portable hardware unit sales are down, dollar sales are up thanks to an increase in the average selling price of portable hardware generated by the higher price points of the new portable systems and bundles. Year-to-date, the hardware category has experienced the sharpest decline in the industry, with unit sales down 10% compared to the same time period last year. Recent price cuts helped spur a one to two-month increase in unit sales, and this month's Wii sales reflect that boost, but the other platforms have not sustained the sales momentum post price reduction. It will be difficult to discern the impact of the price cut into November and December just because those are always the two best months for the industry anyway, and we'd expect to see a sizeable lift in hardware unit sales as a result of seasonality. The PS3 exclusive game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, captured the top spot for software sales this month, selling 537K units. Software sales decreased 18% for the month, but only 11% on a units basis. The average retail price of software decreased 8%, which led to the greater dollar sales decline. Wii Fit Plus came in second for the month. Roughly half the sales were generated by the bundled SKU, which points to a lot of newcomers to the franchise. The top game for the month across all platforms was NBA 2K10, at 575K units. It was a great launch for the game, outselling last year's NBA 2K9 by 60% in its launch month. Sales on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms improved substantially over last year. The music/dance genre saw big declines this month compared to last year. The genre generated $53 million in sales as compared to $137 million last year. Both Rock Band: Beatles, and Guitar Hero 5 have the potential to be good gifting items for the holidays, so we should expect to see an uptick in sales over the next two months. On a unit sales basis, accessories sales declined the least of any category this month. The Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers were the top two items for the month in both unit and dollar sales.

[The Abominable Snowman]

Wow the PSP takes a beating.

And the PS3 might beat the 360 but the Wii pricedrop was all thats needed.

[jamesinclair]

MASSIVE month on month drop in software sales.

Surprised by wii fit.

Poor PSP. I guess PSPGo is a total fail?

Wii came in lower than expected, 360 too.... I guess we're still in a recession...


And wtf GAF servers...

[Arsenic]

Wii improved a whole lot here in the US compared to Japan. PS3 not so bad, holidays will be interesting.

Great for Uncharted (best debut for a PS3 exlusive?), i wish wish they did better :P. What were Forza 2's numbers?

[:enemyglider:]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEE4mvqi4pc

[Grecco]

Lots of people said wii fit plus would bomb. Guess not.

[Penguin]

Good numbers for Uncharted.

And awesome at Borderlands.

Ouch at no Ratchet (a few days I know) and no Brutal Legends.

[Frustrated_me]

Nice to see Uncharted 2 & borderlands selling so well. Both games deserve it. Kinda surprised the 360 wasn't near 300k, but then again PS3 & Wii both had price drops. NOV/DEC are the fun months for NDP, lets see if MS does anything different in order to fight off the $299 PS3 this holidays.

[Spasm]

Grats Naughty Dog! Totally deserved!

D: at Forza 3 Bomba. Though those numbers could probably be adjusted upward 600,000 to 1 million.

[thuway]

Wii on top post price drop, not surprising.

PS3 FPS shooter sales no where to be seen. Talk about an ouch. It must be the controller. Was hoping to see PS3 borderlands in the list.

I am happy to see Uncharted 2 top off the list. Lets hope those legs extend it and give it a good lifetime sale of 4 million.

If I remember right, someone had a ban bet between Uncharted 2 and Wii Fit Plus .

[Kard8p3]

I'm glad to see Kingdom Hearts made the top ten this month.

[Oni Jazar]

The PS3 has an impossible time finding a million seller on NPD.

[Y2Kev]

Brutal Legend bomba, mmarsu licking wounds

I think Forza 3's opening month is a decline from Forza 2.

[Classic_Gs]

Gesssh, attack of the 500s. Anyhow, PSP Go bombs and WOW at Borderlands (but where is the PS3 version, top 20?). The numbers for everything software wise seem low to me compared to last year's top 10. Oh, and big drop off for ODST too.

[Nirolak]

It seems that Brutal Legend is #11, as Microsoft doesn't count handheld games as part of the top 10 and mentions Brutal Legend as a top 10 game.

Still far from a great performance though.

Microsoft focused on the fact 360’s the only console showing year-to-date growth in its NPD response today, as well as dwelling over a majority holding in America’s October top ten. Xbox 360 sold 250,000 units in the US last month. Six 360 titles were in the chart this month, including two exclusives in ODST and Forza 3. US consumers spent $289 million on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories in October. PR after the break. With worldwide accolades for “Project Natal,” industry-leading growth in year-to-date console sales, exclusive games topping the charts and record-breaking gameplay on Xbox LIVE, here are some highlights from Xbox 360… “Project Natal” Earning Accolades for Groundbreaking Innovation Xbox 360’s “Project Natal” today received recognition as one of TIME Magazine’s 50 Best Inventions of 2009, an award acknowledging the best new gadgets and breakthrough ideas from around the world. This is the third major honor “Project Natal” received this past month, in addition to the Popular Mechanics 2009 Breakthrough Award and Popular Science Best of What’s New Grand Award, both recognizing industry-changing innovation. Xbox 360 Games Dominate NPD’s Console Top 10 in October Xbox 360 featured a total of six titles – including two exclusives “Forza Motorsport 3” and “Halo 3: ODST” from Microsoft Games Studio – in the console top 10 list this October. Rounding out the console top 10 include Xbox 360’s “NBA 2K10” and “Borderlands” from Take-Two, as well as “FIFA Soccer 10” and “Brutal Legend” from Electronic Arts. Third-party titles continue to find success with Xbox 360, generating more sales than any other system, topping $151 million in October. We expect this sales trajectory to continue – just two days ago, Activision launched “Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 2,” the most anticipated game of the year. Shortly after the launch, Xbox LIVE reached a new record of more than two million people on the service at the same time. Xbox 360 Leads Year-to-date Growth of Next-Gen Consoles Xbox 360 is poised for its best year yet heading into the holiday shopping season. Announced today, Xbox 360 reached 10 million units sold in EMEA. U.S. console sales of 250,000 units in October contributed to a 7 percent rise in year-over-year sales for the first ten months of 2009. Xbox 360 remains the only console showing year-to-date growth, and consumers spent $289 million on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories in October, more than any other platform. Xbox 360 Provides More Exclusives, More Value and More Fun Time With a starting price of just $199, Xbox 360 delivers breakthrough gaming and entertainment experiences that can’t be found anywhere else. Xbox 360 features the best exclusive games, including critically acclaimed “Forza Motorsport 3,” “Lips: Number One Hits,” “Halo 3: ODST,” “Left 4 Dead 2” from Electronic Arts, and new downloadable content for the highest-rated title of this generation, “Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City” from Rockstar Games. Beyond gaming, Xbox LIVE Gold members will have access to incredible social entertainment experiences when Facebook and Twitter, Last.fm, and Zune Video* in instant-on 1080p HD movies and TV shows show up on consoles starting next week – Tuesday, November 17th.

Source: http://www.vg247.com/2009/11/12/octo...re-domination/

[Jonsoncao]

oops PS3 ruined my prediction, I thought PS3 would do 400k or higher

and my prediction on Borderlands 360 sale is so accurate

[expy]

Pretty much what I expected, Wii>PS3>360. Holidays are looking promising for Sony.

[DMeisterJ]

Uncharted Charted! :O

Time for a name change. Congrats to the Naughty Gods, great game, great sales, kudos to them.

Top 10 looks fine, Borderlands really did not sell on PS3 at all. And PS3 holds up very well month over month.

[SilverLunar]

500 - Internal Server Error

Wii 506.9K

Wii crashed NeoGaf?

[The Abominable Snowman]

Wow the PSP takes a beating.

And the PS3 might beat the 360 but the Wii pricedrop was all thats needed.

[cooljeanius]

I was wondering why the 500s were so bad all of a sudden...

[Archie]

Where is Brutal Legend?

[schuelma]

PS3 seems like a decent number.

Wii recovers as expected.

360 seems low to me. Am I offbase?

[DMeisterJ]

From the Keighley:

FYI, Brutal Legend sold 215.4K across PS3 and Xbox 360 versions

[Earl Cazone]

no BL?

and 360, what have you become :(

[Danthrax]

Wow, the Wii even outsold the DS? That's insane.

I'm impressed by FIFA charting.

[Regulus Tera]

When did PSP Go come out, again?

[Count Dookkake]

Year of the PS3 back in full effect!

[Des0lar]

Where is Brutal Legend?

11

[gofreak]

Good for UC2.

Surprising 360 number. That's 100k or more shy of any previous October its had. What's up with that? 100k off from last month too for no apparent reason (?)

[Keyser Soze]

Cool beans for Borderlands

[MightyHedgehog]

I guess we're still in a recession...

We're more likely just in the eye of the storm.

I'm honestly really impressed that PS3 has kept its hardware sales so high...even besting the X360 by a fair margin...and it looks as though the first real first party winner has shown up in UC2. Wii still seems destined to sell more than either of the others, though. DS...man...insane. X360 software is still relatively good, but the sales of all things gaming have indeed suffered under the economic downturn.

[The Faceless Master]

CHARTED!!! #1!!!

nice numbers for Borderlands!

Forza :(

looks like that 360 Banwave might help November NPD

PSP Slim launched in November rite? (lol, JK)

[Liquid_Bike]

Hot damn Borderlands kicked some serious ass!

[Grecco]

Also 1.Shock and Awe at Brutal Legend bombing. Will Tim Schafer ever have a good seling game?

and 2.AMAZING sales for Borderlands. Almost matching Uncharted

[chubigans]

Forza bomba, GT PSP bomba, end of the racing genre it seems. :(

It was a fun ride.

[grandjedi6]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEE4mvqi4pc

yeah.... you might want to leave the "humor" to more capable hands.

[operon]

Good numbers all round, wii still going like mad, november going to be interesting.

[soco]

where is borderlands PS3?

was there really that much of a difference?

[faridmon]

whoa at Kingdom Heart DS.
I never thought it will do that huge numbers.

Holy crap. :o

[WickedLaharl]

pspgo didn't go very far

[Doc Evils]

Viva Uncharted 2!

Bomba Forza.

[JaCy]

Good numbers for Uncharted 2, one of the best games this year.

[Archie]

Where is DJ Hero?

11

Good to know.

[gbovo]

CHARTED!

[velvet_nitemare]

Go Uncharted, Go!

[Y2Kev]

Dear Insomniac,

Please stop making Ratchet games.

[V_Ben]

keighley said:

"FYI, Brutal Legend sold 215.4K across PS3 and Xbox 360 versions."

not too shabby.

[Wes]

I wonder how many sales of FIFA for the PS3 there were.

And holy crap at those Wii nmbers still.

[JosM88]

The 500's were epic!

That drop for the PS3 was pretty sharp, but Uncharted makes up for it. The Wii is a monster(has it ever topped the DS before?).

Congrats to Naughty dog, borderlands, and Nintendo.