14
May
33
Sony, Nintendo, Xbox, Other

NPD Reports April 2009 Videogame Sales Figures

RSS by Jacob Mazel on 14 May 2009, 6897 views
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Jacob Mazel

NPD has reported videogame sales data for the four weeks ending May 2, 2009. Aside from the boost in DS hardware sales on the DSi launch,  and an increase in PS2 sales all platforms were down sequentially from March 2009 (five weeks), and year over year when Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart Wii lifted hardware and software volumes to staggering seasonal levels.

Hardware sales for the United States in April 2009 totaled 1.97m units, up from 1.82m units in April 2008.

Platform

NPD April (thousands)

DS

1040

Wii

340

X360

175

PS2

172

PS3

127

PSP

116

Wii sold 601,000 units in March 2009. Adjusting for a weekly basis this is a drop in weekly rates from 120,200 to 85,000 units per week since March had five weeks in the data while April had four. Xbox 360 and PS3 had similar 30-35% drops in weekly rates, as Xbox 360 dropped from 330,000 units to 175,000 units while PS3 dropped from 218,000 units to 127,000 units. With the percentage drops similar, Wii managed to outsell PS3 and Xbox 360 combined just as it had in March. The PSP had a much smaller drop in weekly sales rate – only 10% - but it is in danger of dipping below the 100,000 unit per month threshold in the coming months, perhaps as early as in May. DS sales jumped from roughly 113,000 per week to 260,000 per week – more than doubling thanks to the DSi. PS2 sales grew from 22,000 per week in March to 43,000 units per week in April on the $30 price cut.

The NPD hardware figures were largely in line with the VGC expectations outlined in the NPD April Preview , and they compare well to other sources. All figures are in thousands.

Platform

VGC NPD Est

Difference

DS

1039

-0.1%

Wii

386

+13.5%

X360

234

+33.7%

PS2

125

-27.3%

PS3

145

+14.2%

PSP

116

0.0%

 

Platform

EEDAR

Difference

DS

950

-8.7%

Wii

425

+25.0%

X360

210

+20.0%

PS2

 

 

PS3

160

+26.0%

PSP

130

+12.1%

 

Platform

GAF

Difference

DS

776

-25.4%

Wii

536

+57.6%

X360

273

+56.0%

PS2

124

-27.9%

PS3

180

+41.7%

PSP

151

+30.2%

 

Platform

Sim Exchange

Difference

DS

833

-19.9%

Wii

486

+42.9%

X360

284

+62.3%

PS2

 

 

PS3

189

+48.8%

PSP

159

+37.1%

 

The only preview of NPD with an average margin of error under 15% was Vgchartz. EEDAR came in at 18%, GAF at 40%, Sim Exchange at 42%, and Pachter at 45%. Ignoring PS2, as TSE and Divinich did, the VGC error drops to 12.3%.

NPD also reported the top software for the United States over the period.

1. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board , Nintendo, 471,000 (Wii)
2. Pokemon Platinum , Nintendo, 433,000 (DS)
3. Mario Kart Wii w/ Wheel, Nintendo, 210,000 (Wii)
4. Wii Play w/ Remote, Nintendo, 170,000 (Wii)
5. The Godfather II , EA, 155,000 (Xbox 360)
6. Resident Evil 5 , Capcom, 122,000 (Xbox 360)
7. New Super Mario Bros. , Nintendo, 119,000 (DS)
8. Mario Kart DS , Nintendo, 112,000 (DS)
9. Guitar Hero Aerosmith , Activision, 110,000 (Xbox 360)
10. The Godfather II , EA, 91,000 (PlayStation 3)

Wii, Xbox 360 and DS each had three titles in the top ten. One of reasons Wii is down from last year is that no title comparable to Mario Kart Wii, which released in April 2008 is still in the chart a year later, released this April. The DS titles to chart sell at a consistent rate to DS hardware sales, which is why they rose toward the middle of the chart this month after years on the market. Xbox 360 saw a big drop in Resident Evil 5 sales, but the game has reached 1m units on the system in the United States. Guitar Hero performed best on Xbox 360 for the month as well. EA’s Godfather II also managed to sell 246,000 units across PS3 and 360 this month. At the top of the chart, Wii Fit continues its march toward becoming a $2b revenue game, and Pokemon Platinum remains an enormous hit on the DS. Wii Play has also charted every month since it launched and shows no sign of slowing down just yet, which is a staggering statistic.

In May, DS hardware sales should return to ‘more’ normal seasonal levels, while PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and PSP continue to drop slowly. Wii may see an increase in sales from Punch Out and EA Active which have the potential to simultaneously reactive demand from the core audience and the so called “new audience”. Nonetheless, Wii Fit released in May 2008, so Wii along with every non-DS system should be down at least slightly compared to both April 2009 and May 2008. Terminator Salvation and Infamous have some potential as breakout hits which could elevate the non-Nintendo systems, but the trend downwards is probably sharp enough to prevent a monthly rise and only to slow the fall.

Contact Vgchartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com

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