NPD: Nintendo still is boss, PS3 sees 88% growth and XBOx 360 surprises all

It's that time again folks, time to see how the gaming industry performed for the month on November, and according to Anita Frazier of the NPD, things were not so bad, in fact this past November was the second best in the industry's history.

The hardware numbers:

PS2 - 203.1k

PS3 - 710.4K

PSP - 293.9K

Xbox 360 - 819.5K

Wii - 1.26M

DS - 1.70M

The software numbers:

Modern Warfare 2 Xbox 360 - 4.20M

Modern Warfare 2 - PS3 - 1.87M

Super Mario Bros Wii - 1.39M

Assassin's Creed II - Xbox 360 - 794.7K

Assassin's Creed II - PS3 - 448.4K

Left 4 Dead 2 Xbox 360 - 744.0K

Wii Sports Resort - 720.2K

Wii Fit Plus - 679.0K

Dragon Age: Origins Xbox 360 - 362.1K

Mario Kart W/Wheel - Wii - 315.0K

As you can see, MW2 destroyed all in its path selling over six million copies on Xbox 360 and PS3 combined. Assassin's Creed did extremely well also, with over 1 million in combined sales.

But it's on the hardware side of things where all the talk is. Xbox 360 outsold the redesigned PS3 Slim with Microsoft's flagship console selling well over 800,000 units. PS3 however had its best November since release, selling over 700,000 units, that's an 88 percent rise above last year's.

Good numbers all around, but don't you just love the PS2's indurance?

12/11/09 Ernice Gilbert

NPD: 82 Percent of American Kids Say They're Gamers

Our very good friend from the NPD Group, David Riley, has just sent in some rather intriguing news, if you're between the ages of 2-17, then most likely you're a gamer.

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK – According to Kids and Gaming 2009, the most recent report from leading market research company, The NPD Group, among all kids in the U.S. ages 2-17, 82 percent, or 55.7 million, are current gamers. Of these gamers, 9.7 million are ages 2-5, representing the smallest segment, while 12.4 million are ages 9-11, and represent the largest segment.

At 10.6 hours per week, gamers ages 12-14 are spending the most time playing video games, with the time spent playing dropping off among older teens, ages 15-17. Teens 15-17 and females are the groups that are most likely to report spending less time gaming and playing online this year versus last year.

"The decline in teen usage of video games is likely due to diversifying, maturing interests, which translates into stiffer competition for their mind and wallet share," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. "In addition to competition from other areas of the entertainment space, more school work, activities, and parent-imposed time limits on gaming are factors which the data suggests may be contributing to this dip in older teen engagement."

According to the report, across all age groups, kids use an average of 2.5 systems or devices for gaming, with kids ages 9-11 and 12-14 using the most (each about 3 system/devices on average). Gaming on non-traditional gaming devices such as cell phones and PDMPs becomes more popular as kids get older and peaks among older teens ages 15-17.

When it comes to online gaming, over half (51%) of kid gamers play games online, and are more inclined to be male, ages 9-14.

Methodology

The report is based on online survey responses from over 5,000 members of NPD’s online consumer panel ages 2-17 (respondents age 2-12 were captured via surrogate reporting). Respondents had to report that they currently, personally play video games on a PC/Mac, video game system or device used for gaming. Final survey data was weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals age 2-17. The survey data is weighted to represent the U.S. population of individuals ages 2 and older. Fieldwork was conducted from September 10-17, 2009.

12/03/09 David Riley (NPD GROUP)

NPD: U.S. sales down 19% year-on-year

In America, the drought of the videogames industry continues. When compared to 2008, the market is down a substantial 19%.

Total sales fell from $1.32 billion last year, to $1.07 billion this year.

Hardware sales were also down significantly, with that market seeing 23% in declines from $496.96 million in 2008 to $380.74 million in October.

Peripherals managed to stay up despite the cloud of negative results that surrounded, with sales dropping only 2% from $120.95 million last year to $118.88 this year.

Software sales were also down 18% year-on-year from $698.35 million to $572.73 million this year. Weak indeed.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier:

"The video game industry suffered another decline this month as compared to last October. This is the third best October on record, behind October 2007 and 2008," she said.

"Based on typical industry seasonality, the industry is on track to generate full year revenues in the range of $20-$21 billion in the US, which would put it a bit below last year's sales of $21.3 billion.

11/13/09 Ernice Gilbert

NPD September 2009: That's What Happens With Price Cuts

The PS3 is up, significantly up. Half a million consoles sold in North America just in the month of September, a testament to what price cuts can do.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 did significantly better also, selling 353k units, up 138k, the equivalent of 64%.

All in all, it was a good month for the industry, with sales being up slightly year-over-year, the second best September since 2007. Here's the full breakdown:

-DS: 524K29K (-5%)
-PS3: 492K282K (+134%)
-Wii: 463K186K (+67%)
-360: 353K138K (+64%)
-PSP: 190K50K (+36%)
-PS2: 146K40K (+38%)

Great month for the industry indeed.

10/20/09 Ernice Gilbert

Aaron Greenberg: “We’re the only console that grew in the first half of the year.”

Aaron Greenberg, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Xbox Live group product manager was more that happy to speak to Gamasutra about NPD Results in the light of his company’s positive showing. Xbox 360 sales had a 9% year-over-year increase, selling just over 240,000 units making the console the only bright spot in the hardware department this month.

This must’ve been sweet music to Microsoft’s ear, because though the Software giant’s console has a decent lead on PS3, it is facing stiffer competition as Sony has been recently turning up the pressure on it’s competitor with major exclusives, more advertising and forging partnerships that will help build the offerings of the PS3 as an entertainment hub that goes way beyond games. But that’s not all, speculation has been rampant about a new PS3 (PS3 Slim) that will hit the market soon accompanied by a price cut of $100.00. If this happens, many believe Microsoft will follow suit and drop the price of the Xbox 360 to counter Sony’s move.

It’s a full blown war between the two giants, a war that breeds innovation, creativity, perfection and sometimes contempt. But gamers are the winners. How can we loose? They make the games and we play them; fight amongst yourselves Sony and Microsoft, it’s okay, just keep on bringing the goods and we will remain under the tent as happy campers.

What do you think about the war going on between Sony and Microsoft? Is it healthy for gamers being that it’s the right formula for competitiveness? Or is there way too much fan boy lambasting going on? Let us know what you think.

07/21/09 Ernice Gilbert

NPD JUNE 2009 RESULTS: Prototype is in your city

They’re in gamers! The NPD sales figures are here, and although sales are up from last month, year-over-year is a totally different story. The industry saw declines of a disheartening 31% from 2008, in what amounts to a lackluster $1.17 billion.

The open-world action packed game Prototype propelled it’s way to the number 1 spot on the Xbox 360 generating 419.9k copies, while the PS3 version did not make it to the top 10. Infamous on the other hand managed to shock it’s way to number 10 selling over 192k copies.

EA seems to be the only third party publisher who knows how to cash in on the wii effectively, with two games on Nintendo’s system showing on the top 10. EA’s Fight Night Round 4 also had a positive showing, with both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions posting strong sales. Ghostbusters is no where to be found and wii play finally vanished amongst the crowd.

NPD JUNE 2009, SOFTWARE:

1. Prototype - Xbox 360 - Activision Blizzard - 419.9K
2. UFC 2009: Undisputed - Xbox 360 - THQ - 338.3K
3. EA Sports Active Bundle - Wii - Electronic Arts - 289.1K
4. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10* - Wii - Electronic Arts - 272.4K
5. Wii Fit - Wii - Nintendo of America - 271.6K
6. Fight Night Round 4 - Xbox 360 - Electronic Arts - 260.8K
7. Fight Night Round 4 - PS3 - Electronic Arts - 210.3K
8. Mario Kart Wii - Wii - Nintendo of America - 202.1K
9. Red Faction: Guerrilla - Xbox 360 - THQ - 199.4K
10. inFamous - PS3 - Sony - 192.7K

Hardware:

DS: 766K132K (+20%)
-Wii: 361K71K (+24%)
-Xbox 360: 240K65K (+37%)
-PS3: 165K34K (+26%)
-PSP: 164K64K (+64%)
-PS2: 153K36K (+31%)

We all know the situation will get better later on in the year, but seriously, folks are really keeping their hard earned cash underneath their soft pillows; the theory which described the video games industry as recession-proof is so 2008.