May NPD: PS3 up and PS2 out; GTA IV in and CoD 4 out

by Christopher Grant on Jun 12th 2008 7:41PM

This month's NPD report was greeted with a collective "Huh" upon its arrival at Joystiq HQ. Not because the PS3 is way up or because the Wii showed the greatest loss, but for a handful of other reasons. First, after some seven plus years in the North American market, the PS2 has finally been removed from the official NPD results ... in the same month that the PS2 version of craptacular movie-to-game cashgrab Iron Man made the top ten. Stay golden, little PlayStation ... stay golden ...

Also making us tilt our heads quizzicaly: the totally missing hardware boost for the two Grand Theft Auto IV-capable consoles. While the PlayStation 3 saw a very welcome 11.5% boost, it hardly accounts for the nearly half-million copies of the game that were sold on the platform. And though the Xbox 360 release of GTA IV easily outsold the PS3 version by a margin of nearly two-to-one, sales of that console remained relatively flat from last month.

Lastly, where's Call of Duty 4? Infinity Ward's superb shooter has been a staple of the NPD charts since its release in November and now, for the first time, it didn't make the top ten. Makes sense: after selling over ten million copies, people have to stop buying it some day. Nevertheless, we'd like to dedicate these colored arrows to its memory: Call of Duty 4, you've served with honor!

- Wii: 675.1K

39.1K (-5.5%)
- DS: 452.6K

37.8K (+9.1%)
- PS3: 208.7K

21.6K (+11.5%)
- PSP: 182.3K

10.4K (-5.4%)
- X360: 186.6K

1.4K (-0.7%)
- PS2: Update: Sony sent the numbers along! 132.7K

8.3K (+6.7%)

You'll find the top ten in software sales after the break.

May Software

1. GTA IV – Xbox 360 – 871.3K*
2. Mario Kart Wii – Wii – 787.4K
3. Wii Fit (w/ Balance Board) – Wii – 687.7K
4. GTA IV – PS3 – 442.9K
5. Wii Play w/ remote – Wii – 294.6K
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Wii – 171.1K
7. Iron Man – PS2 – 130.6K
8. Guitar Hero III – Wii – 116.8K
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness – DS – 107K
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time – DS – 102K

Source

Tags: BreakingNews, NPD

Reader Comments (127)

**CORRECTION**

Nintendo is making an absolute killing.

I don't know about you, but when I go to buy a Wii or DS game I have to sift through about 200 kiddie games, party games and other shit. I'm not ragging on Nintendo, expanding the audience was their primary goal with these systems, and they've pulled that off flawlessly.

No he was right the first time. They'd be getting shit rubbed in their faces again like last generation if it wasn't for the casual crowd constantly devouring the garbage they put out 90% of the time.

I find it so funny where I work. I ask people all the time, "so do you guys play any videogames?"

Quite a few respond with, "No. We really don't play any videogames, but we do have a Wii."

Wii =/= videogames.

And the Nintendo fanboys would be fine with it if our system was getting kicked around again, since we were having too much fun on the GameCube to really care, and we're having too much fun on the Wii now

It just seems to be the "Pyrrhic victor Xbox" and PlayStation2 fans that are really hurt about losing, since they seem to rationalize it all the time

Yay another month of meaningless numbers that don't really change the trolls or the allegiances of anybody on this site. Wow the Wii outsold the competition again. Wow there are excuses all around.

Who the hell cares? Are you having a good time with the system(s) you own? That's all that matters. Numbers mean shit unless you actually want to stop and think that video game companies give a shit about you and only care about cash.

NPD is good for the business side.. but fanboys.. man.. just compete on XBL or PSN or whatever. Enjoy life.

Here is what happen. All the PS3 fanboys who own a Xbox 360 bought GTA IV for the 360. In their dumbass logic they expect Xbox owners to run and buy a PS3 when MGS4 is released.

Suckers! I ain't buying that crap console. You can keep your overrated Snake Eater.

What?

Dude don't bash Solid Snake in his week.

The SDF will eat you alive...

And yes MGS4 is a very good game. Excellent quality. I just went and played it at a friends house last night and it looks pretty good and is something the PS3 fanboys should be proud. It hurts me to say this because I am not a fan of the PS3 but you have to give credit when credit is do. Now Besides it being a great game, there is nothing revolutionary about it in any particular part. Graphics are very good but not the "BEST EVER IN ANY CONSOLE". Gameplay/mechanics is good, but not the best ever either.

I wont talk down MGS4, but I wont praise it as the best game ever either. Gameplay is kinda of slow for my taste, but thats just me. And too many damm cut scenes. And I real mean too many.

Did you manage to think that by yourself or you got a cue card from Wii60Warrior?

Lol the ps3 will sell big for a month or 2...due to MGS4 and then it will fall off as it deserves to.

Love Fernando and how he frustrates the arrogant SDF. Its amusing how seriously they take this shit.

The ps3 is still a horrible overpriced piece of sh*t machine that happens to play games. And at that it only has like 5 games worth mentioning.

Dude what ever happened to letting the competition enjoy their 2 minutes of glory ? Chill out.

You will get what you want when MS cut's the price of the 360 and comes out with Too Human, Fable 2 and Gears of War. You'll see what happens then.

MS does have the strongest line up for the holidays. No way Resistance 2 will be bigger than Gears of War 2.

Gears 2 will sell through the roof!!

Microsoft can cut the price of the 360 all they want at this point...it isn't really going to do them much good anymore. They dug their own grave when they hyper-focused on the "hardcore" gamer. Now they're going to top out at around 25-30 million units sold, tops. They really don't have anything coming out to attract the kind of people who will propel them to the 100 million+ mark, like the PS2 and probably the Wii eventually.

Samfish: you know MS is working hard to attract the casual gamer. At least give them credit. They will probably do something about that and start pumping out craptastic games just like the ones on the Wii.

I'll just say...

1. Good for nintendo they've been around the console business for so long and were on the verge or becoming stale. It is nice to see them doing well again. I bought the wii and I fall under the "played it for a month and lost interest" group. If it were not for RE4 wii edition and the occasional SSBB game night. I don't think I would have turned it on in the last month.

2. Good for Sony keeping up with strong sales shows that gamers have faith in your company due to how great PS2 was. I bought the PS3 then sold it... then bought it again in order to own the 60 gig before it was an ebay relic. I went out and bought MGS4 based off of reviews, because I hate tactical espionage games and I have to admit it is a master piece.

3. Good for Microsoft. The xbox was one of the only consoles ever that I did not own because it didn't offer me anything different than the PS2. I was really hesitant about getting the Xbox 360 and it took me a few months to convince myself to get it and I've never regretted it once. It has become one of my favorite consoles ever. Even with the RROD that was such a big issue a deterrent for potential buyers, it happened to me I sent the box in it took 5 days to get it back and was really no big deal. I'm glad that things have turned around for MS this generation.

The sad thing is, your comment is so rational and neutral no one will vote you up and move on to the idiots ranting and raving. And thus, the problem with the Joystiq comments.

Looking at the abuse of the plus and minus system, it seems there are a lot of butthurt Nintendo haters here in the audience tonight.

I'm looking at you tmacairjordan87

I'm not butthurt cause I actually have games to play that aren't designed for 10 year olds or my grandma. You can enjoy the wii's success, although I'm not sure what it does for the NDF cause they still put out 1 or 2 decent games a year, and even they are just rehashes of their past successes.

He's not butthurt because eventually you just get used to it and it stops hurting.

People seem to forget that Xbox 360 sales are strictly game sales. PS3 sales are a mixture of games and Blu-Ray. I have all three systems.

80% of my gaming time is on the 360. Just have too many friends on XBL

I use the PS3 for games, but it's mostly used for Blu-Ray movies. I stop buying Blu Ray movies b/c they are just too damn expensive, but Blockbuster now rents Blu Ray movies for the same price as regular DVD's. I renewed my Blockbuster! Jumpers on Blu-Ray is Awesome!

My wii is pretty much a $250 board game that I use when neighbors come over.

I am shocked that GVTIV did not move 360s. The only explanation I can offer is that its a hardcore game with a reputation for immorality, so only hardcore gamers bought it and they all already have consoles.

This also pops the myth of GTAIV's 10 scores. Its not really a 10 game if it doesnt move consoles.

Nintendo is God. It has won this product cycle hands down.

Its now a battle for 2nd.

2nd place is more interesting to me this generation because I seek technologically cutting edge games and the best online experience, which is not Ninty's focus.

2nd place is 360's to lose. 360's has struck gold for most developers at this time. MS now needs to pick up its own game by revamping XBL and getting than non-gaming angle down (netflix needs to happen). Home may yet turn out to be Apple-quality interface, although its easy to hope with lack of hard info about it.

What the hell are people playing on the Wii?

Games, mostly.

...although I've seen some videos on the internets of girls finding other ways to play with the Wiimote...
>_>

Um, RTFA. They are clearly playing Mario Kart, Wii Fit, Smash Bros, and Guitar Hero.

Okami and Radiant Dawn

And some Brawl in between, there's a local tourney coming up

I see a lot of wii bashing on this forum, which doesn't bother me that much, but to call nintendo's games "tired, boring, rehashed games..." or even "last generation... archaic" is a show of your own ignorance on the topic. The Wii is a symbol of nintendo's ability to think outside of the box, and TRULY produce NEXT-GEN systems. I own a ps3, and I can tell you right now, that system is not NEXT gen, its just an improvement on this generation, its the same gameplay and games but with better graphics, yada yada. However, if you look at nintendo's games, they are truly orginal. This is the same company that saved the video game industry in 85, the same company that created the modern day platformers and RPGs. If nintendo and Miyamoto weren't around, there would be no Xbox 360, and surely no playstation (if you know anything about the playstation's history). Nintendo Wii is truly next gen, because it understands that to be the next generation, you must be original and new. What truly seperates nintendo is it's desire to TRY, to always be the first one.

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May NPD: PS3 up and PS2 out; GTA IV in and CoD 4 out

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