Here we see data representing the global sales through to consumers and change in sales performance of the three home consoles over comparable periods for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.  Also shown is the market share for each of the consoles over the same periods.




"Year to date" sales for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 sales are shown in series at the top of the table and then just below a comparison of 2012 versus 2010 and 2012 versus 2011 is displayed.  This provides an easy-to-view summary of all the data.

Microsoft

Xbox 360 - Down YOY 46k, Down YTD 11...

Overview

Sales have stabilized for the moment, as the big drop offs after the holiday period appeared to have stopped. Three games debuted in the top 40 this week. Resident Evil: Revelations (3DS) is this week’s top debut, with sales of 235,000.

Software milestones this week in the top 40: Mario Kart 7 (3DS) passed the five million mark; and Saints Row: The Third (X360) passed the two million mark.

Hardware sales are up for the PlayStation 3, Wii, 3DS and Vita week on week, while year on year sales are down for every platform. The 3DS is the top selling platform.

Worldwide Hardware

Week on week sales are up for the PlayStation 3, Wii, 3DS and Vita, and are down for the Xbox 360, DS and PSP. The 3DS is at the top with sales of 277,000, an increase of 31,000 (13%)...

In an interview for the Wall Street Journal, Kazuo Hirai talked about what he plans to do once he becomes Sony's next CEO in April. Hirai plans to trim the fat and to change the corporate structure that he blames for holding the company back. Sony is currently struggling with stock sales at a two decade low and its credit rating being downgraded just last month. Also the company is expected to lose $2.9 billion in its current fiscal year.

"I thought turning around the PlayStation business was going to be the toughest challenge of my career, but I guess not," Hirai said. "It's one issue after another. I feel like 'Holy s—, now what?'"

His new strategic goal is to teach the company's 168,000 employees that past successes in hardware need to be replaced by focusing on the "user experience." The world has progressed he said, "We can't just continue to be a great purveyor of hardware products, even though some people expect us to do that."

"We really need to buckle down and be realistic," said Hirai...

THQ's uDraw video game tablets, following the success of sales on the Wii, was released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this past holiday. However despite heavy marketing it failed to stir up interest, which resulted in sluggish sales. Less than half of all tablets were sold. THQ sold one million units to stores, many of which remain unsold to consumers. There are also 1.4 million left in warehouses.

"We were confident that uDraw would resonate again this holiday, given last year's robust sell-through," said Brian Farrell, THQ CEO. "Our confidence was misplaced."

The lack of sales, cost $100 million in a reduction of its sales for the holiday period, $80 million of it due to the unsold tablets. The other $20 million is related to poor software sales for the tablet and taking a hit in the reduction of its price at some retailers.

"We were looking at uDraw as a bridge to this core and digital future, and that bridge turned out to be a plank that we walked off of," said Farrell...

Sega Sammy profited nearly $400m in the final quarter of the year on strong software sales from Mario & Sonic (Wii), and Sonic Generations (X360, PS3, PC, 3DS).

No major revelations, performance was in line with projections.

Death is more of a minor annoyance for the modern video game character. Taking one too many bullets will usually just take you back five minutes in time. I’ve personally watched Uncharted’s Nathan Drake die a hundred times in a dozen ways and each time he shook it off and told a joke. So, while NeverDead letting you play as an immortal character isn’t too odd, the fact that he can lose his limbs and keep going is.

Um ... little help?

In NeverDead, you play as Bryce Boltzmann. A demon killed his wife and then made him immortal, because that’s how demons roll apparently...

Three new games were released today in America: one game for DSiWare, one game for the 3DS Virtual console and one WiiWare game, you can check the full details below:

Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword (Nintendo, $6.99) 

Travel a world rife with beauty and danger to rescue the legendary Princess Cherry Blossom. Her kidnapper has placed dozens of blade-wielding henchmen in your path. (For Nintendo 3DS™)

A decent finish to the year for Take Two, ahead of a massive year next year.

THQ had a bad quarter, but still had some highlights - notably digital revenue growth and Saints Row

It appears the rumor about THQ from earlier this week is true. THQ will be laying off 240 staff in order to deal with the company's drop in revenue. Most of the layoffs will take place this March and will be completed by September. CEO, Brian Farrell, has had his salary cut in half. His base pay will be $359,250, compared to $718,500 last year.

This is following the news that THQ is facing a possible stock delisting by NASDAQ. The stock needs to rise to at least $1 per share for at least 10 consecutive days by July. The stock has risen from 65 cents on Monday, up to 74 cents at the time of this writing.

Konami is seeing remarkable SNS growth which is offsetting its weak video game sales - more inside.

Capcom had a healthy Q4 2011 profit, as Monster Hunter for 3DS performed well.

A look at Sony's results, and some math speculation for why PS4 is coming in 2013 based on Sony's software data.

Four new games were released today in Europe: two new games for DSiWare, one game for the 3DS Virtual console and one WiiWare game, you can check the full details below:

3D Classics: Kid Icarus (Nintendo, €6/£5.40) 

Game Description: Join angelic warrior Pit as this iconic Nintendo action-platformer returns, with remastered 3D visuals in 3D Classics Kid Icarus™. Pit must save goddess Palutena from evil Medusa to defend Angel Land.  Using his trusty bow and arrow he must seek out the Three Sacred Treasures on a journey from the underworld to the sky.

Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (Nintendo, €5/£4...

EA's financial results for the three months to December 2011 have just arrived.  On revenues of $1.061b on a GAAP basis, the company lost $205m in the December 2011 quarter. For the 12 months to December 2011, EA revenue came to $3.865b (up nearly $400m from 2010), with a loss of $173m on a GAAP basis (down from a $397m loss). On a non-GAAP basis, which calculates totals with fewer expenses, EA profited $334m on revenue of $1.651b for the quarter. Yearly profit on the non-GAAP basis came to $311m on $4.204b in revenue.

Compared to last year, revenue in Q4 grew by only $8m, but losses decreased from $322m in Q4 2010 to $205m in Q4 2011.

Non-GAAP revenue for the quarter was forecast at $1.55b - $1.65b, so EA just beat its forecast, as did the non-GAAP profit results which came in about 5% above the high end of expectations. In light of the new data, EA expects revenue for the March 2012 quarter to reach $1.425b - $1.475b on a GAAP basis, with a profit of $1.45-$1.59 per share...

Armored Core V topped the Media Create's weekly software sales chart, the PS3 version sold 164,000 units in the first spot while the 360 version was at the 6th spot with 24,719 units. Resident Evil: Revelations debuted with 147,000 units in the second place. Tales of Innocence R for PS Vita, the remake of a DS Tales game, was in the third position after selling 54,853 units in its first week. In the hardware side, the 3DS continued its reign, the Nintendo portable sold 84,789 units and beat all the other consoles combined. PlayStation Vita saw a slight boost, the system made it back above PSP into third place with 18,942 units sold.

Here's the full software top 20 for January 23 through January 29:

Konami has announced a new European president. Former US president, Shinji Hirano, has replaced Kunio Neo. There is no word what Neo's new role with the company is yet, or if he remains part of the company. Hirano will be working from Konami's Frankfurt headquarters and will work closely with the London, Paris and Madrid offices. He will oversee the business strategy for the company's gaming division as well as its trading card division.

"I am proud and delighted to have been given this challenge," Shinji Hirano stated. "I am keen to support the diversity the European territories offer, and looking to ways our business can best support the different tastes and opportunities they possess. Konami is a publisher with an enviable line-up of titles, and we will be making strides to ensure these titles gain the recognition they deserve."

Sony has announced that Kazuo Hirai will be taking over the role as President and CEO of the company on April 1, 2012. The current president Howard Stringer will become the chairman of the board of directors in June. The current chairman, Yotaro Kobayashi, will retire from his role.

"Kaz is a globally focused executive for whom technology and the cloud are familiar territory, content is highly valued, and digital transformation is second nature," said Stringer. "I believe his tough-mindedness and leadership skills will be of great benefit to the company and its customers in the months and years ahead."

"As challenging as times are for Sony now, were it not for the strong leadership of Sir Howard Stringer these past seven years, we would have been in a much more difficult position," said Hirai. "The path we must take is clear: to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses - primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and game; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables us to create new business domains...