July NPD: Everyone sees red, Nintendo still on top

After everyone saw gains last month (with one devilish exception), July's NPD figures revealed North American hardware unit sales declined across all companies, but otherwise the list is the same as it was in June. What's starting to unnerve us is Nintendo's data. To be able to say a company went from 666 to 555 (a difference of 111) is a bit creepy, dontcha think?

In terms of software, the Xbox 360 version of NCAA Football 09 barely eked out Wii Fit, while Wii Play w/remote still manages to move up a slot from 5 to 4 this month. Here are this month's NPD hardware sales figures:

- DS: 608K

175K (-22.35%)
- Wii: 555K

111K (-16.7%)
- PS3: 224.9K

180.1K (-44.5%)
- PSP: 221.7K

115.3K (-34.21%)
- Xbox 360: 204.8K

15.2K (-6.91%)
- PS2: 155.5K

33K (-17.6%)

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

July Software

1. NCAA Football 09 - Xbox 360 – 397.6K
2. Wii Fit - Wii – 369.6K
3. Guitar Hero: On Tour - DS – 309.7K
4. Wii Play w/ remote - Wii – 284K
5. NCAA Football 09 - PS3 – 242.5K
6. Soulcalibur IV - Xbox 360 – 218.9K
7. Mario Kart w/ wheel - Wii – 174.5K
8. Rock Band Special Ed. Bundle - Wii – 165.8K
9. Soulcalibur IV - PS3 – 155.8K
10. Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution - Xbox 360 – 147.6K

Reader Comments (130)

As a long-time Nintendo fan (and, yes, as someone who even likes the Wii), I say...

WHO CARES?!

Hate to ask...but where's Metal Gear Solid 4 on this list?

It's already far exceeded expectations (Like 4 maybe 5 million already), and had a very nice sales burst. Now, like the other MGS games it will just sell steadily for a year or so as more and more ps3's are sold.

yeah numbers, where is that picture from.

The picture? It's my left nipple. I had plastic surgery done to make it look that sexy, y'know. (I'm getting the right one done next year.)

Lol its just a paint brush, dipping in some red paint.

...i think

Mario Kart Wii's still on the list, but GTA IV has dropped off? I would of thought GTA would last longer than Mario Kart.

Don't forget that there are 30 million Wiis out there and, by the end of June (according to Wikipedia), Mario Kart had sold 6.4 million copies (already more than Double Dash sold during its run).

I guess I'm saying that Mario Kart is one of those games that will continue to sell well, especially when there are lots of Wiis out in the wild. And I _guarantee_ that for nearly every Wii given away for Christmas this year, a copy of Mario Kart will be given, too.

Well remember, this is NPD, and the 360 and Wii install bases are about the same in the US.

Excellent point, sir...excellent point...

This is not meant to be a jab on the whole hardcore vs. casual stigma, but it actually makes sense when you think about it.

The 360 has more hardcore console owners, and these people know about upcoming games. They anticipate them, and can hardly wait. So, they're more likely to get a huge spike early on and then taper off quickly, since everyone knew the game was coming, could barely wait for it, and has such has already bought it.

On the Wii side, a huge percentage of the console's owners are casual and don't track release dates of upcoming games. Many probably didn't even know the game had been released or was coming anytime soon at all. Their sales are more likely to hold strong because mom may walk into Walmart 4 months after the game has been released, see it, and say "oh wow, I didn't know there was a Mario Kart game for the Wii, cool".

Tagged Nintendo Gamecube? Is that a subtle jab? :)

Ross does this from time to time. But, unlike JRW or Alexander, he doesn't mean it as an attempt to troll the Wii, just a rushed mistake. No biggie

Oh I'm sure it's a mistake, but it's still funny!

Ah, hey Miller, just a quick note, July is a 4 week month for NPD so it is not actually as red as it looks.

(That said, the Wii actually gains in weekly sales, regardless, from 133 thousand to 138 thousand a week. *shrugs* The power of Wii...)

I think the biggest news here is that Rock Band: Gimped Wii Edition sold pretty well.

Maybe that's why they're taking the Wii Rock Band 2 seriously?

It's so sad that Rock Band managed to make it into the top 10. If ever there was a game that deserved to fail, it would be the Wii version of Rock Band. "Special Ed." indeed!

Its the video game crash of 2008!

or july is just always a really slow month, I vote we panic, there by, from comparison, the out look can only be better.

Does anyone look at the decrease of the consoles? People are stating things such as "The 360 is going to fail now (not exactly that, but you know what I mean)". When comparing the PS3's sales to the 360's sales.. look at the difference.. it's a 20k difference that can almost not even be noticed. Not to mention the fact of how it lost 44.5% sales compared to the 360's 6.91%. Which would mean in theory, it will continue to decrease at this amount. Though, this is really good for the PS3 that it's selling well this year.

The 360 has peaked.

GTA IV didn't help.
Price cut didn't help.
Loserass, hick, trailer-trash fanbase didn't help.

.......right.

that instantly made me want to watch The Blob,Anyone else.

i feel like this is a place where the Princess Bride logic comes into play quite often.

I guess the DS has finally reached its saturation point?

The NPD's months are of wildly different lengths. Difficult to compare.

Is Microsoft doing well anywhere?

They did good in japan this week, but that was only because of tales of vesperia. It'll go back to nothing within the next couple weeks.

Didn't know that could happen.

http://www.squidoo.com/doughboy

What is that a picture of?

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July NPD: Everyone sees red, Nintendo still on top

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Posted: Aug 14th 2008 10:50PM BPMOmega XBL PSN Steam said

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