December NPD: No wonder you're broke this month
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jan 17th 2008 at 7:19PM }
Welcome to the introductory paragraph, where we discuss the NPD's latest US video game sales data and how it reveals 2007 to be a ludicrously lucrative year for the industry. The gaming hobby which once drew empty stares and disappointed glares from your parental units has capped a phenomenal year with December sales amounting to $4.82 billion. With the year's total sales (excluding PC games) enjoying a 43% increase over 2006 to reach $17.94 billion, it seems the industry can outright buy your uninterested mom and dad with nary a second thought.Perhaps you should consider putting your entire family (they're made out of meat, after all) up for sale in order to recoup your part of December's $2.37 billion spent on software. Unsurprisingly, the best-selling game of 2007 was Bungie's Halo 3, followed by a $10 peripheral pack-in and Infinity Ward's world war now shooter, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. You'll find the software chart after the break.
Finally, those eager to engage in their regular fanboy squabbles need only look at the hardware sales chart below and adjust their pointless arguments accordingly. Though the Xbox 360 came close to closing the gap between itself and the Wii, Holidaze 2007 undoubtedly belonged to Nintendo, shortages and all.
- DS Lite: 2.47m
940K (61%)- Wii: 1.35m
369K (38%) - Xbox 360: 1.26m
490K (64%) - PS2: 1.1m
604K (122%) - PSP: 1.06m
493K (87%) - PS3: 797K
331 (71%)Hardware totals for 2007 (life-to-date in parentheses)
December Software
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) -- 1.47m
- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) -- 1.40m
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) -- 1.25m
- Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) -- 1.08m
- Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) -- 894K
- Halo 3 (Xbox 360) -- 743K
- Brain Age 2 (DS) -- 660K
- Madden NFL 08 (PS2) -- 655K
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360) -- 625K
- Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) -- 613K
- Halo 3 (Xbox 360) -- 4.82m
- Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) -- 4.12m
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) -- 3.04m
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) -- 2.72m
- Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) -- 2.52m
- Pokémon Diamond (DS) -- 2.48m
- Madden NFL 08 (PS2) -- 1.90m
- Guitar Hero II (PS2) -- 1.89m
- Assassin's Creed (Xbox 360) -- 1.87m
- Mario Party 8 (Wii) -- 1.82m
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
RPGJock @ Jan 17th 2008 7:24PM
As long as the PS2 is around in the charts like this, its anybody ball game.......
Bladev1 @ Jan 17th 2008 7:30PM
Starting Flame War in 3...2...1: Wow not a single PS3 game in the top 10....hahahahahahahaah
Hyams @ Jan 17th 2008 7:33PM
Whoop-dee-doo. PS3 software sold poorly in the US; who'd have thought?
Knight Marquise @ Jan 17th 2008 7:43PM
It's obvious where 3rd party devs need to go if they want to make money.
sifer2400 @ Jan 17th 2008 7:46PM
lol poorly indeed i saw COD4 for the 360 then i was like wheres the ps3 version loll
JJ @ Jan 17th 2008 8:30PM
Well of course not.. the PS3 in america has like 1/3rd the install base of the 360.
Is that really surprising most of the top ten games are wii/360?
Now the worldwide scale, it looks a bit different, SOny is doing much better in europe than i had originally anticipated and most of the games that while they dont sell as highly as 360, still do very well... case in point COD4 and Assassins creed both sold well worldwide ont he PS3, having hte same attach rate just about as the 360's sales.
So all is not lost in Sony land, but they do need to step it up, especially in america, if they want to catch up here as of right now their down about 7 mil worldwide compared to the 360
Cyro @ Jan 17th 2008 8:41PM
woot!
RPGJock @ Jan 17th 2008 9:13PM
@Knight Marquise
Yes the PS2, the DS, the Wii, the PSP, the 360 and then the PS3. Whats your point?
Santo @ Jan 18th 2008 12:30AM
A cunning ploy, RPGJock, but install base alone is not what publishers will base their development time on. Attach rates are just as important.
RPGJock @ Jan 18th 2008 1:12AM
@ Santo
Yea and did I miss something. Look what has three titles in the year end sells. PS2. Honestly, thanks in partly to the Wii, the PS2 is still kicking it strong. Lack of Wii hardware at retail outlets and the viability to port games from the Wii to the PS2 and back again. (Resident Evil, anyone?) I mean PS2 is dragging the Wii down while the Wii is keeping the PS2 alive. Like I said before, Nintendo needs to get tough with 3rd party developers about what they are producing for the console or we will be call it the Wiitari.
I am just saying...
Killjebus @ Jan 17th 2008 7:33PM
Considering how crappy the economy is right now, the big three are all very happy with Dec. sales. I cannot believe the PS2 still sold over 1 meeeeelllion consoles in its 8th Dec. WOW!
jsn @ Jan 17th 2008 7:38PM
crappy economy? really? ok..
Cheezeman3000 @ Jan 17th 2008 8:15PM
Those numbers are making it look like a pretty good economy to me, jebus.
elmersglue @ Jan 17th 2008 9:49PM
Actually, I'd say the fact that the ps2 outsold the ps3 by so much would lead me to think that the economy really is fucked. The PS2 shouldn't even be on this shit anymore, come on people, stop buying your kids useless shit just cuz you cant afford what they really want...
samfish @ Jan 17th 2008 11:35PM
"crappy economy? really? ok.."
Most economists are saying we're in a recession or on the absolute verge of one.
That's a crappy economy to me.
Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Jan 18th 2008 9:54AM
Its only a crappy economy when you personally can feel the clinch.
Most economists are basing their recession theory on the fact that housing crashed and gasoline is up. Every other factor in the economy is doing quite well.
cache @ Jan 18th 2008 10:26AM
Other than high gas prices and the housing bubble the economy is doing well? Really? Ok... Guess you didn't hear that inflation in 2007 was the highest it's been in 17 years.
Liquid @ Jan 18th 2008 10:39AM
"Its only a crappy economy when you personally can feel the clinch."
So the economy works on an individual level? Ahhh, that must be why the presidential candidates ignore it.
GRANTED @ Jan 18th 2008 10:40AM
anyone that considers videogame sales a bellwether for the nation's economy is an idiot and deserves to live in his parents' basement. i'm looking at you, Cheezeman.
cache @ Jan 18th 2008 10:52AM
Well guys, inflations up to record levels, national debt is at a record high, unemployment is on the rise, housing prices are falling, gas prices are up, we make less (adjusted for inflation) than 30 years ago... but I'm not feeling a crunch personally and video game sales are great! The economy is fine!"
GRANTED @ Jan 18th 2008 11:15AM
anyone that considers videogame sales a bellwether for the nation's economy is an idiot and deserves to live in his parents' basement. i'm looking at you, Cheezeman.
BJ Sisco @ Jan 19th 2008 9:43AM
People worrying about the economy should stop watching the news in high def on their big screen TVs.
Jechtshot78 @ Jan 17th 2008 7:33PM
Some of those for the top this year are pretty sad to see...
Jim @ Jan 17th 2008 7:34PM
DS in one month beat PS3's lifetime sales.
Wii games finally selling well too.
PS3 couldn't break 800k, shows what bullshit artists Sony's PR people are.
Killjebus @ Jan 17th 2008 7:37PM
Unless 3.25M is LESS than 2.47M....uh, I think you better check your math again Jethro Bodine.
Still, thats alot of handheld hardware in 1 month.
Killjebus @ Jan 17th 2008 7:38PM
It was not BS, Sony included the numbers STARTING with Black Friday...so that is where the 1.2M or whatever it was comes in.
Dude, do some research b4 you flame or I will start calling you Michael Patcher.
BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 17th 2008 8:30PM
Dude, that's low. Calling him Patcher...
You may not agree with the man, but try to keep civil, huh?
motang @ Jan 17th 2008 7:35PM
Dang those are some good figures! Yeah no wonder none of us gamers don't have money this month ;-)
Cyro @ Jan 17th 2008 8:47PM
Very true.... lol.
And I still have to buy DMC4 this next month. :(
J.Goodwin @ Jan 17th 2008 7:40PM
Wow, Wiiplay didn't beat Halo 3.
That's surprising.
Abuzar @ Jan 17th 2008 9:58PM
Well Halo is a great game. If you think otherwise that's all right. Some of us only have time for a quick match on the weekends and Halo is good enough for that.
tec2030 @ Jan 17th 2008 7:42PM
That is surprising that Wii Play didn't be Halo 3, but I'm glad that Halo won out in the end. It is the better game. The only reason that Wii Play did well is because of the controller Pack-in...
tec2030 @ Jan 17th 2008 7:42PM
Also...super mario galaxy should be higher.
--------------------------------
Support the Bionic Commando Wii Petition!
Show Capcom Wii gamers want hardcore games too!
http://www.petitiononline.com/0819/petition.html
RPGJock @ Jan 17th 2008 9:30PM
Not to jump off subject, but the whole thing with the petition. First, you know they will, if they haven't already, put the original up on VC. Second, if they did want to do Rearmed for the Wii, you are going to download it to what again? I mean put it on a disk I suppose but that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
Just asking questions that others are think.....
Fernando Rocker @ Jan 17th 2008 9:34PM
They can put the game on WiiWare... and save the game on the Wii system memory... it should not be more than 50MB.
mike @ Jan 17th 2008 9:35PM
I bought wii play for my brother for xmas and he simply threw the wii play game in the garbage lol. I bought it because he wanted a controller and wiiplay was on sale for $10 less then an actual controller.
I really dont think wiiplay should be considered in any of these figures.
Fernando Rocker @ Jan 17th 2008 9:40PM
mike
so, what about the first million seller or the PS3? So, Motorstorm should not be counted either.
At least Wii Play is a $10 dlls game. Motorstorm is a free game. That game definitely should not be counted.
Killjebus @ Jan 17th 2008 9:51PM
Damn, Motorstorm is free? So what was that $60 I gave to Gamestop for then eh Fernando?
FYI
Games have not ever been counted as sales in system bundles.
RPGJock @ Jan 17th 2008 9:53PM
@Fernando
I don't know man, I looked at that video again. That game has be at least 120mb. How big of a SD card can you guys use?
Fernando Rocker @ Jan 17th 2008 9:57PM
It can be saved on the 512 MB internal memory of the Wii. And no way is a 120 MB games... maybe 80 MB, but definitely not over 100 MB.
deaftly @ Jan 18th 2008 10:18AM
didn't know you guys were game programmers
josh @ Jan 18th 2008 4:36PM
FYI I dont know about NPD, but VGchartz.com seems to count pack ins as sales.
playwhutyalike (makes it a Metroid Prime Weekend) @ Jan 17th 2008 7:43PM
Congrats to all.
Secura @ Jan 17th 2008 7:53PM
I remember the days when I didn't care about these numbers. It was just about the games. Where have those days gone?
sifer2400 @ Jan 17th 2008 8:02PM
there gone buried in some ditch. NEW ERA MUahahhahahaa
Prince King @ Jan 17th 2008 8:13PM
do you remember the days when lovers of different systems got along? those were the good ol days...
BPM4:Guns of the Idiots @ Jan 17th 2008 8:32PM
When the hell was that?
I grew up knowing "Sega does what Nintendon't" and "Nintendo is what Genesisn't". There was always blood on this battlefield.
Unless, of course, you're Switzerland. And by Switzerland, I mean multi-console owners.
Geist @ Jan 17th 2008 8:55PM
Prince King: What? What voodoo land are you living in? I remember the battles between Sega and SNES fanboys waaay back in the day.
umm....hello??? @ Jan 17th 2008 8:02PM
sooo.....not many ppl shelling out for RockBand, I guess.
interesting to see the hardware totals...if Nintendo had produced more Wii's they'd be ahead of MS...as it is, they'll probably easily beat the 360 soon. I was thinking that the PS3 would've sold more, considering the BluRay camp hyping.
whatever, awesome news for my NTDOY stock.
Probot @ Jan 17th 2008 8:36PM
A high priced game with limited availability? Even if it sold out, it wouldn't come close to the top 10.
By last count (after November's NPD numbers) Rock Band sold about 360,000 units across all three platforms. That's a good number for a $170 game.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3165109