US video game sales grow 38% in September

Blindsidedork....

Actually, I was a day one owner of the original DS and now have 2 DS lites (one for me and one for my wife). I also have a gamecube which has been getting a lot more play lately then my 360 thanks to teh dreaded red lights of death (currently being repaired/replaced by MS) and I still have my N64 hooked up to my living room tv as well. I am a big Nintendo fan and really want to see the Wii succeed. I just cannot currently see myself playing games the way they want me to. Maybe because it is such a large change from conventional gaming. Since the inception of console gaming every new itteration was built apon improved graphics and processing power that it has become ingrained in the psyche of gamers that better graphics = better gaming. NIntendo is really going out on a limb and has a hard fight ahead of them trying to reprogram gamers into thinking that more interactive gaming = better gaming. Although they may actually be correct, I think it would be an easier sell if they had combined the interactive gaming approach with vastly improved graphic ability over their current gamecube offering. Nintendo has definetly made strides with backwards compatability for the first time in a home console at launch and I applaud them for the forward thinking of their control schema, I do not believe they can "Revolution-ize" gamers conception of good gaming in one generation and thus in this generation of teh home console wars they will once again suffer.

I hope I am wrong, but only time will tell.

Some of these comments are hilarious.

"31. So its gona be

PS2 vs PS3...

Gona be a Tough One...
"


So the only competition for the PS3 is ... the PS2? You don't think the 360 or Wii will sell? Seriously?
Come on man, i think the PS3 is a cool system, and i can't wait to see the great games that are going to be built for it. But it's launching with 500k units, that's nothing. Sony isn't a contender THIS (!) year.
Systems that are in the race: PS2, 360, Wii and the DS.
Looking at these number, the logical order would be: DS > PS2 > 360 > PS3. The only console i'm not sure where to put is the Wii, but i think i might be the biggest seller (this! year). It'll have enough supplies to do great, and the system had some massive positive hype going for it. And don't forget that it's launching with ZELDA! :)

"Nintendo DS has had two product launches, the Chunky DS and DS Lite in a short period of time from each other....

so a boost in sales figure is most apparent and expected for a on-going period...

What you think will happen if PSP Lite version was released...sale Boost...most likely...so not suprised by that at all.

PSP is there for a reason...Im sure with the Games Libary expanding by the day it will reach better expected sales figures..."

No, the DS isn't doing great because there's a new version, it's doing great because it has some great software. New hardware (or colours/colors) can increase sales for a while, but not for 3-4 months (how long has it been ?) at a time (,1-2 month at most. And a boost like that doesn't instantly triple sales, great software does.
Sorry to dissappoint you, but developers are flocking to the DS, so things are only getting worse for the PSP. The DS is starting to dominate just like the PS2 did.

and euhm, lol @ 37
If you hate your DS, just sell it and get a PSP. We won't hate you for it. :)
I never bought a GBA myself, so now i'm enjoying it's great games on my DS.
Zelda: minish cap, Mario & Luigi (I HAVE FURY!), 2 Metroid games, Castlevanias, 2 Fire emblems, 2 advance wars, Final fantasys, Tactics ogre, ...
Again: it's great software that makes a system sell. I do actually like my DS, it's getting way more playtime than all my other systems combined. But hey, that's just me. :)

ps: how the hell did i wind up typing such a long boring post? sorry :/

If you look at the amount of money spent on the hardware platform, you get:
Revenue Platform Price Used to Calculate
52,442,500 NDS 129.99
39,540,700 PS2 129.00
90,807,700 360 349.99
14,169,800 GBA 79.99
34,502,900 PSP 224.99
4,228,180 NGC 99.99

I used the MSRB for the NDS, PS2, GBA, and NGC. For the Xbox 360 I average the core and premium package, so this is probably an underestimate, since the premium outsells the core package. For the PSP, I averaged the value pack and the core package; I don't know what the ratio is, so this could be either an underestimate or an overestimate. I didn't include the original Xbox because it seems that most retailers aren't offering it, and there isn't really a standard price for it. The cheapest price for a new Xbox on Amazon Marketplace is 349.99 dollars.

So the 360 install base is 2.7 million?!?! I guess 'hitting the 10 million sales mark by Xmas' is just more M$ FUD. LOL. PS3 will lap 360 within a year.

The GC has been owning the Xbox 1 in worldwide sales on a monthly basis since August of 2005.

Yes Xbox 1 sales are almost dead...but who's fault is that? Microsoft.

They could have easily waited until this year and included an HD-DVD drive built-in and still under-cut Sony in price and possibly added gyros to their standard controller as well.

All MS's real Japanese-targeted software is only coming on the market now anyway. They might have even been able to speed up their gpu a bit to make it on par with the PS3's.

They really shot themselves in the foot. They could have launched incredibly strong this November.

Really, the Xbox 1 had plenty of life in it outside of Japan, it's not like the 360 has made a dent there at all yet.

Oh well...Nintendo FTW!

@2playedout
lol, good comeback
but the fact of the matter is that a 6yr old console is beating a next-gen console(supposebly the best one)
and thats just sad
/argument over

I see the Wii blowing all other consoles in sales in November. Possibly 1 million...and I am not getting one this year. :)

November will also see the x360 selling over 500k, and above PS2 numbers.

PS3 will sell out and beat PS2 numbers, but not x360.

Gears of War will become the fastest x360 game to sell one million and will sell AT LEAST 800k in month one.

/crystal ball...off

@#30 - idesignit -
"- MS makes money on xbox sales
- MS loses money on all 360 sales"

You've got that one backwards. MS still loses money on V1 Xbox sales. The Xbox 360 console has already hit profitable status, such that Microsoft IS making money on all 360 sales now.

@49 - aZn_1080p -
"So the 360 install base is 2.7 million?!?! "

No - the UNITED STATES install base is that. The WORLDWIDE install base is over 6 million units. Not bad - almost half of all units sold are just in this country. Of course, Microsoft didn't ignore Europe at launch - and now has systems for sale basically around the world.

Unlike some other company that shall remain nameless, which thinks the world is the US and Japan - and don't even get me started on the "Cell Broadband Engine" load of crap they're putting out...

403,435...

I didn't know that many fat, screaming eight year-olds had birthdays in September.

Come on people, lets be realistic here. If it was up to the gaming community the number one system for the next generation would be the Nintendo Wii. Followed by the Xbox 360 and then the PS3. In the real world its going to pan out like this, The PS3 the XBOX 360 and then the Wii. Not because one is better than the other but because of brand recognition and marketing. Sony has made it aware that they have a system available and most people know this and they aren't the normal gaming public. Sony has made the public want there systems no matter how terrible they are, they know what they are doing. The Wii has many problems against it which I am not going to discuss because I know no one give to flyin shits on my opinion. One of the obsticals they need to overcome is how the public views Nintendo. It might change this time because their new system might unlock a larger audience with its strange gameplay mechanics like it did with the DS.

Microsoft is going to stay in the center of this war for a long time. Just because they are not taking many risks. They don't have enough public awareness and they are backed by a company that most people don't like. In the end all this drama is just that, drama.

@ idesignit

Actually Nintendo hopes that funner games = better gaming.

@ 54 Anonymouse Rep
Uh. Who said Microsoft was profiting off of the Xbox360? Please give us a link to this new information! Microsoft said 2008 at the EARLIEST for getting into the black (making a profit)! Here is a link http://www.gamespot.com/news/6154809.html . This was Microsoft's statement....so unless there was some new press release, these Xbox360 Fanboys are really really lying to themselves.....its pretty sad.

Chessasaur (#7), speaking of the silver PS2, I really wish Sony would release a white PS2 in North America! If they did that, even I would finally buy that system!

#58

There is a difference between per unit profitability and paying off the sunk costs in reach that point. You have to have per unit profits for a good while to make the enterpise as a whole a profitable venture. Microsoft's estimate for that is sometime in 2008.

Well, to clear a few things up, the DS & PSP are neck & neck in the US. For lifetime sales numbers, the PSP is actually only about 1.3 million units behind the DS. The DS released first, but took a year to really pick up steam. When the PSP first released, it outsold the DS monthly for a while, then they sold about equal for a while, but ever since the DS Lite came out, the DS has been literally trouncing the PSP by 150,000+ units every month. This is very bad, because there are more DS games scheduled for release later this year than PSP games, the DS is only gaining momentum and the PSP is losing it.

Of course, the DS is severely trouncing the PSP in Japan and Europe, so the US is pretty much the only place where they're even remotely close.

As for my predictions, all systems are going to see a massive sales increase in November, with the possible exception of the GBA. You're also going to see the next gen systems finally beating out the PS2. Most people seeking Christmas presents are going to go with the new systems. My predictions for November sales are:

DS - 360 - Wii - PS2 - PSP - PS3 - GBA - GC - Xbox

December will see a bit of a different structure, as PS3s will finally be available, and hopefully the Wii will have proven itself as a viable present at that point, so I see the breakdown being more along the lines of:

DS - Wii - 360 - PS3 - PS2 - PSP - GBA - GC - Xbox

Nothing's going to outsell the DS for a while. It has availability (a trait shared only by the 360 and previous gen systems), popularity, and a strong existing library. Shiny newness isn't going to be enough to beat that out for a couple of months at least.

heh...somebody pointed out that the ds outsold t3h PSP by 150k...thats actually 250k...

anyways, im VERY excited for this holiday season, and i greatly await to see how it unfolds.

and i checked an expanded games sales list on IGN, they had the top 20, and there wasnt a SINGLE psp game even in the top 20.

@ Darth Pixel

It is no surprise that the ps2 still outsell 360, consider it has a large selection of softwares with a much larger install base and a cheaper price. Heck, it is only 50k short of what the PS2 after the 10th month of its released with 320k sold and certainly did much better than the XBOX after its 10th month with 132k. So I say the 360 is doing pretty well for a console that is currently price the highest.

"but the fact of the matter is that a 6yr old console is beating a next-gen console(supposebly the best one)
and thats just sad
/argument over"

the PS2 is the most successful console of all time, so that's really not a good example. it's doubtful that any console of this gen will be as successful, as fast, as the PS2 was - partially because of increased competition that will break up the marketplace a little more.

"...if the PSP was priced evenly with the DS those sales figures would be much closer."

Yep.

If they sold the PSP at a $100 loss, the sales figures would be much closer.

"If you look at the amount of money spent on the hardware platform, you get:
Revenue Platform Price Used to Calculate
52,442,500 NDS 129.99
39,540,700 PS2 129.00
90,807,700 360 349.99
14,169,800 GBA 79.99
34,502,900 PSP 224.99
4,228,180 NGC 99.99"

If you looked at the actual PROFIT on sales, I bet only NDS, PS2, GBA, and NGC make money.

360 is probably sold at a bit of a loss.

The PSP is probably still being sold at a very small profit or maybe even a loss... and they still can't get them moved.

Sony keeps shipping... but that doesn't mean people are buying.