Reuters is reporting on the latest NPD numbers where it was revealed United States video game sales fell 17 percent to 1.03 Billion dollars. According to the numbers software sales fell 23 percent to $510.7 million dollars and hardware sales fell 8 percent to $391.6 million. Accessory sales also fell 15 percent.
The reason for the decline according to Daniel Ernst of Hudson Square Research is the lack of big name software titles that were released in April. Specifically “Grand Theft Auto 4″ and “Mario Kart.” launched in April of last year. Ernst stated, “The big driver in games is content, so last year you had two of the biggest games of the year launch in April, and that was not the case this year,”
Summarized on Shacknews the NPD hardware sales for April follow a frequently occurring pattern with Nintendo coming out on top. The Nintendo DS sold over 1.04 million units, the Nintendo Wii sold 340,000, and the Xbox 360 sold 175,000 units. Fourth, fifth, and sixth place went to Sony with the PlayStation 2 selling 172,000 units, the PlayStation 3 sold 127,000 units, and the PSP sold 116,000 units. These results are significant as the PlayStation 2 is still outselling the PlayStation 3 despite the latter being well in to its life cycle.
Nintendo also held the top 4 spots for the best selling video game software in the United States. Wii Fit sold 471,000 copies, Pokemon Platinum sold 433,000 copies, Mario Kart sold 210,000 copies, and Wii Play sold 170,000 units.
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Still like how everyone was clamoring Nintendo should stop making consoles, and stick to making games after announcing the Wii. Now its a non issue and Nintendo is once again market king, focusing on how you play the game rather than how they look.
I remember Kevin Rose going, “Nintendo Wii? Pfft! It’s just a party console.” (or along similar lines to that)
People still try and discount the Wii as something else and yet they are able to hold their own really well in the consol market.