March NPD: Wii, Smash Bros. on top, software sales surge
by Kyle Orland 
{ Apr 17th 2008 at 7:15PM }
Further down the list, the Xbox 360 regained an extremely slight sales lead over the PS3, mainly due to a slight dip in Sony's system sales. We predict the systems will likely continue trading slight leads like a couple of fading horses in the home stretch of a marathon-length race, until one inevitably dies just short of the finish line. And speaking of dead horses, the perpetual PS2 finally showed some signs of weakening this month, plummeting down nearly 63 percent from February's sales.
- Wii: 721K
289K (40%)- DS: 698K
110.4K (15.8%) [Update: Fixed typo in growth number]- PSP: 297K
53.9K (18.1%)- Xbox 360: 262K
7.4K (2.8%)- PS3: 257K
23.8K (9.3%)- PS2: 216K
135.8K (62.9%)Software sales also met predictions in rising 57 percent to $1.7 billion for the month. Super Smash Bros. rode a wave of hype to a ridiculous 2.7 million sales -- that's more than last month's top ten combined. Shooters had a good month, with the Xbox 360's Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 and Army of Two rounding out the top three for the month (the PS3 version of Army of Two also showed up in tenth place) while Wii Play, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty 4 continued their seemingly endless runs on the top ten. The PSP also made a couple of relatively rare appearances in the top ten, with the God of War and Final Fantasy brands finally making people interested in UMDs again.
March Software
1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 2.7 million
2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Xbox 360) - 752.3K*
3. Army of Two (Xbox 360) - 606.1K
4. Wii Play w/ remote (Wii) - 409.8K
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) - 340.5K
6. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) - 301.6K
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) - 264.1K
8. Major League Baseball 2K8 (Xbox 360) - 237.1K
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 237K*
10. Army of Two (PS3) - 224.9K
* - Includes bundles and special editions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Curtis the Claw:XBL - supapaypamawio @ Apr 17th 2008 7:18PM
In before the "In before the"something""
Anonim @ Apr 17th 2008 7:32PM
Shitstorm?
PS.
Prachet misscalculated again (X360 vs PS3) ?
Anonim @ Apr 17th 2008 7:38PM
BTW.
This is 5 weeks data, isn't it?
So those % are worthless because they compare 4weekvs5week numbers....
mike @ Apr 17th 2008 7:51PM
Patcher is an idiot. Hes wrong 80% of the time. I dont know how he still has a job. Remember, GTA was to be delayed tell holiday 2008 according to him. That guy is a joke.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:54PM
Didn't they research him and find out it was closer to like 50-50?
Benny @ Apr 17th 2008 8:08PM
Flipping a coin tends to have that ratio, yes.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 8:10PM
Ha. That one was good.
Curtis the Claw:XBL - supapaypamawio @ Apr 17th 2008 8:28PM
CGamble is on a roll.
rv @ Apr 17th 2008 9:01PM
Except in the world of predicitons, its usually not one thing or another. There are infinite possibilities. So saying its like flipping a coin is unfair, more like rolling a 1 million sided die. Besides, if it was as easy as flipping a coin, he wouldn't be getting paid so much.
Yishai08 @ Apr 18th 2008 8:17AM
Yeah you'd think that but when some of your predictions include "Wii Fit will sell well" I think it's rather underwhelming.
Curtis the Claw:XBL - supapaypamawio @ Apr 17th 2008 7:19PM
"Is this is how"
*If*
tmacairjordan87 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:19PM
In before fernando saying this is meaningful when nothing else came out
Mr Khan @ Apr 17th 2008 7:26PM
These pre-emptive Fernando attacks need to stop, they are as annoying and pointless as "First Post!"
cold school @ Apr 17th 2008 7:28PM
First!
tmacairjordan87 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:37PM
Feel free to pass by it then when reading the comments page. For now I'll put that down in my tough shit book.
BPM [SSBB: 5026 4120 1186] @ Apr 17th 2008 8:36PM
Fist!
[punches cold school]
hvnlysoldr @ Apr 17th 2008 8:54PM
PK STARSTORM!
Anni @ Apr 17th 2008 10:43PM
"Feel free to pass by it then when reading the comments page. For now I'll put that down in my tough shit book."
I can see why you'd want us to gloss over them, since preemptive Fernando attacks tend to make you look twenty times lamer than Fernando will ever be.
copa @ Apr 17th 2008 7:21PM
Uh oh, looks like PS3 AND XBox 360 are having "supply shortages". They need to start leasing factories from Nintendo!
With GTA4 coming in April, I think Microsoft will be able to get some units back onto the shelves.
Curtis the Claw:XBL - supapaypamawio @ Apr 17th 2008 7:23PM
The strange thing is I actually haven't been seeing PS3's around lately. I saw like 20 360's at Walmart yesterday though.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:27PM
Really?
I was at Costco and they had like 15 with one purchased, and there were the same number of 360's...with none purchased.
Needless to say, all the Wii's were gone...
Curtis the Claw:XBL - supapaypamawio @ Apr 17th 2008 7:55PM
If people would stop picking up Wii's just to make a $10-$30 profit they would be in stock at stores.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:57PM
Then I apologize to the 4 people I screwed.
Curtis the Claw:XBL - supapaypamawio @ Apr 17th 2008 8:02PM
Haha I've done it multiple times as well.
David @ Apr 17th 2008 11:10PM
Well, in the best buy I work for, PS3s are mostly sold by people in home theater... ie. as a blue-ray player with HDTV and audio system.
Tone @ Apr 17th 2008 7:24PM
The battle for second place wages on....
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Apr 17th 2008 7:24PM
In before some fanboy say something retarded.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:27PM
Hey! Its you!
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Apr 17th 2008 7:32PM
...
cept I'm not a fanboy...
I think.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:34PM
No no...it was a personal message. I remember you from last months NPD.
Benny @ Apr 17th 2008 7:24PM
Sony Defense Force: Quick Response Unit to the rescue? Snake? SNAAAAAAKE?
BPM [SSBB: 5026 4120 1186] @ Apr 17th 2008 7:40PM
Snake couldn't respond at the moment, due to being too busy playing Smash Bros. and trying to dye his hair to look younger. He's keeping the 'stache though.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:41PM
Eh...I thought both jokes were stale. Maybe next time.
Benny @ Apr 17th 2008 7:48PM
Ah shucks. There probably won't be a next time.
(My internets is powered by humour).
Benny @ Apr 17th 2008 7:49PM
^Yes, I am aware the above earned me no surf-time.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:50PM
Mike Wasowski!
i_hate_mtv @ Apr 17th 2008 11:55PM
"Sony Defense Force: Quick Response Unit to the rescue? Snake? SNAAAAAAKE?"
I LOL'D
Tranando @ Apr 18th 2008 3:31AM
Anyone else find it funny how the Xbots (and Microsoft) are cracking open the champagne by winning 5k units over a console they were calling dead a few months back.
Pathetic...
Benny @ Apr 18th 2008 7:50AM
That's rich coming from you, Trollnando.
Jake11 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:25PM
Pachter was wrong? Alert the internet!
Benny @ Apr 17th 2008 7:27PM
Oh come on... it was only the fifth monthly prediction he's got wrong this year!
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:36PM
@ Benny
For some reason I was thinking 12 months with 5 wrong...not bad.
But its April. and we've had only 3 monthly charts this year. So something is really wrong with that
Benny @ Apr 17th 2008 7:40PM
Well the guy clearly can't count.
BPM [SSBB: 5026 4120 1186] @ Apr 17th 2008 7:41PM
I'd tell him not to quit his day job... but this IS his day job...
Patcher, quit your day job.
Tim The Enchanter @ Apr 17th 2008 10:02PM
What? My internet must be broken...
inlogic @ Apr 17th 2008 7:26PM
PS3 DOWN
Donald @ Apr 17th 2008 9:11PM
Thanks, I had no idea what that red arrow pointing down meant.
CGamble20 @ Apr 17th 2008 7:27PM
Okay so PS3 and 360 essentially were tied. So if I see any Sony boys screaming and 360 boys raping...I'll be pissed.
Its a draw!
Vcize @ Apr 17th 2008 9:48PM
Which is why the "XXX is dominating in Japan" stuff holds so little weight. A 5k lead in Japan is "dominating", a 5k lead here is "basically tied".
iofthestorm @ Apr 17th 2008 10:09PM
@VCize: Not necessarily, Japanese buy a lot of games, even if those tend to be mostly Japanese-made games, and their sales numbers are weekly, whereas these are monthly, which kind of throws off comparisons and makes it seem like Japan buys much less games than we do.