January NPD: Industry up 13% over Jan. '08, handhelds down 80% from Dec.

by Randy Nelson { Feb 12th 2009 at 9:30PM }

With the 2008 holiday season behind us, this month's NPD sales data brings with it figures showing the inevitable -- and dramatic -- decline in hardware sold for the month of January '09. For instance, last December the Nintendo DS was the top-selling platform, with 3.04 million units moved that month alone. This month? 511K were sold. (It was still the second best selling hardware after the Wii.)

In the battle to decide who's going to play second fiddle to Nintendo, 360 continues to lead PS3 in sales, but the gap isn't nearly as wide as last month (roughly 106K versus December's 714K). Handheld saw the most significant drop-off in sales, with DS and PSP declining 82% and 83%, respectively.

Software-wise, there are only three platforms -- and companies -- to look at this month. Those would be the Wii, DS and 360 on the hardware representing the hardware on the backs of which EA, Activision and Nintendo rode to software sales success. EA's two most recent major releases, Skate 2 and Lord of the Rings: Conquest, both made it into the top 10.

Fun Fact: Three of this month's top games have something in common other than their publishers: they all have "Mario" in the title and they're all a bit ... dated. Mario Kart DS hit in 2005, New Super Mario Bros. in 2006 and Mario Kart Wii in April of last year. That's-a some lasting power!

-Wii: 679K

1.47m (-68%)
-DS: 511K

2.5m (-82%)
-Xbox 360: 309K

1.1m (-76%)
-PS3: 203K

523K (-72%)
-PSP: 172K

848K (-83%)
-PS2: 101K

309K (-75%)

Check out the software sales chart after the break.

Top 10 Games of January 2009

1. Wii Fit w/ balance board - Nintendo - 777K
2. Wii Play w/ remote - Nintendo - 415K
3. Mario Kart Wii w/ wheel - Nintendo - 292K
4. Left 4 Dead - Electronic Arts - 243K
5. Call of Duty: World of War - Activision - 235K*
6. Skate 2 - Electronic Arts - 199K
7. Guitar Hero World Tour - Activision - 155K*
8. New Super Mario Bros. - Nintendo - 135K
9. Mario Kart DS - Nintendo - 132K
10. Lord of the Rings: Conquest - Electronic Arts - 113K
* Includes Collector's, Limited and Bundled Editions

Tags: hardware-sales, npd, npd-monthly, sales-data, software-sales

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2009 9:41PM

Well, I guess PS3 owners are really the ones not buying software...

And hardware wise, I don't think that price is a factor... specially because Sony said that the PS3 was actually cheaper than the 360...

http://i40.tinypic.com/350kt4l.jpg

Phantom @ Feb 12th 2009 9:45PM

You just want to start a flamewar don't you?

SoulBlade @ Feb 12th 2009 9:47PM

Or he has some severe psychological issue when it comes to the PS3. Not even a "yea! go wii60!" Insecure much?

Dave @ Feb 12th 2009 9:47PM

I think I stopped being a fanboy once I bought a 360.

Xta Large, Unfanboy Extraordinaire @ Feb 12th 2009 9:48PM

You silly, they updated that chart a long time ago.

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/26/855758-xboxisfornerds.png

Markez @ Feb 12th 2009 9:51PM

YOU SANDWICH FANBOT! GO PEDDLE YOUR HATE ON BLTFANBOYSTIQ!!1

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 9:56PM

how do you come to that explanation? OMG SALES ARE DOWN ITS ALL THE PS3'S FAULT!!! have you considered that the 360 and wii have way larger install bases so versions of games on those consoles would sell better? no right? that's what i thought.

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2009 9:59PM

slycooper

The reason why I said that is because PS3 always claimed that Wii owners were not buying software... and even after these many months, after every NPD that they are proved wrong, there are still a lot of PS3 fanboys in this site claiming that the Wii doesn't sell software.

Noshino @ Feb 12th 2009 9:59PM

"Well, I guess PS3 owners are really the ones not buying software..."

psh, of course they don't, after all, over 155 million software titles is nothing!

http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps3soft_sale_e.html

"And hardware wise, I don't think that price is a factor... specially because Sony said that the PS3 was actually cheaper than the 360...

http://i40.tinypic.com/350kt4l.jpg"

Huh? if I recall correctly, although it was a rather sad PR spin, what was stated on that PR statement was that the PS3 offered the most for the buck, which in no way is the same to being cheaper....

But yah, I forgot it is you Nando....

Noshino @ Feb 12th 2009 10:03PM

"there are still a lot of PS3 fanboys in this site claiming that the Wii doesn't sell software."

Uh, that's not right, what many of us are saying is that the Wii doesn't sell 3rd party software that much over sholveware.

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 10:07PM

fernando

yeah but i'm pretty sure most stopped a while ago. i haven't seen many comments like that in a while.

Longhorn4Life @ Feb 13th 2009 12:01AM

Sales dont matter (for now), what matters is that we get awesome games while yall get nothing, having playing Halo: Milked Edition

Kodros @ Feb 13th 2009 2:43AM

"why I said that is because PS3 always claimed that Wii owners were not buying software"

Ya know, you've gone through this song and dance before many times. The funny thing is that everytime you say it, I look at what Wii software made the top 10 and it's always the same games. So yes, the Wii owners buy software, but it seems that they only buy Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Mario Kart.

Marty @ Feb 13th 2009 12:19PM

The reason why PS3 doesn't have as good an attach rate as other consoles is because many people opted to buy them as their Blu-Ray player, since they were cheaper than other BRD players for a long while (I don't think that is the case anymore).

Markez @ Feb 12th 2009 9:50PM

Understandably the #s dropped, but that still seems pretty substantial. I suppose the DS is a pretty simple stocking stuffer for folks out there.

If I had more 360 buddies I'd probably pick up L4D, but what I'm really wondering could Skate 2 conceivably get me back into that genre? I really fell off and lost interest after Tony Hawk 2 back in the day...

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2009 9:54PM

Well... of course the sales will be lower than in December.

But compared to last year, the Wii, DS and 360 had higher sales than in January 2008, and both the PS3 and PSP saw a decrease compared to 2008. In fact, the Wii is now the console with the bigger sales for any January to date.

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 9:58PM

Wii down 1.47 million
DS down 2.5 million

that's a great january.

Kenology18 @ Feb 12th 2009 10:01PM

Sly Rocker, you really expect a console to sell millions of units in a January? That was a rather weak attempt to spin Wii and DS numbers negatively.

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2009 10:01PM

sly...

That's the decrease from last month, December 2008... not January 2008.

January 2008 was:

Nintendo Wii -- 274k
PlayStation 3 - 269k
PlayStation 2 - 264k
Nintendo DS -- 251k
Sony PSP ----- 230k
Xbox 360 ----- 230k

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 10:11PM

yes, fernando i realize that. i said "that's a great january" as in january '09. sorry if i wasn't clear, that really was my bad.

kenology, yeah i know but i was just saying that fernando is pointing out how the PSes are dropping so i'm pointing out the ninties are dropping too. in this economy, any sales are welcome in my book. and yeah, it seemed like i spun it negatively, but when you report sales and comment on it, there's no way to be 100% impartial. fernando's comment can be seen as horribly negative as can mine. my bad again.

OMGOMG @ Feb 12th 2009 9:56PM

Wow, the Wii sold more than the 360 and PS3 combined.

And no Prince of Persia to be seen on the chart. Ruh roh for Ubisoft.

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 10:17PM

surprise? the wii has a bunch of people running out to buy it even ones that don't know why. the ps3 is seen as too expensive (not an unreasonable argument) and i know a lot of people holding out on 360's because of all the extra things to buy for the best experience (live, wireless adapter, etc.) and their solution? save up or buy a wii. my dad's friend just bought a wii and invited all his friends over to stare at it and bask in his glory. and when they left, he asked me to set it up because he couldn't.

and for those too lazy to read it: nintendo has one hell of an advertising team.

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 10:19PM

and about my 360 comment, i know you don't need that stuff to play or enjoy yourself, its just that they just want the full experience instead of part of it with the rest coming later.

Lieutenant @ Feb 12th 2009 11:35PM

That's pretty much the reasoning for not getting a PS360 I hear all the time.

Duscrom @ Feb 13th 2009 2:38AM

I Keep wondering why people consider a Wireless adapter a part of the Whole Xbox 360 Experince. I don't know anybody with a WiFi adapter for their 360, nor anybody who wants one. Wired is a faster connection, less likely to lag from interferince because the 2.4 Ghz spectrum is crowded as hell.

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 13th 2009 3:20PM

@ Duscrom

which is exactly why i put that disclaimer. "i know you don't need that stuff to play or enjoy yourself, its just that they just want the full experience instead of part of it with the rest coming later." it's just that they have huge houses and a couple of them have their modems downstairs. they don't want to run a long ass cable from one floor to another. it's not practical.

Ordeith @ Feb 14th 2009 1:46AM

So you think MS should market the 360 like the Wii and simply not offer any extras?

Fanboy #23 @ Feb 12th 2009 10:01PM

No PlayStation 3rd games in that list? What the fuck is going on?

sonicspike41 @ Feb 12th 2009 10:51PM

You forget it seems to include all versions of the games on all platforms.

To put it another way... you gotta little PS3 software sales in with the Xbox 360 GH:WT numbers, and so on.

What, is no one gonna comment on how bad PCs had it last month?

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2009 11:01PM

sonicspike

The chart is individual... and actually, the version you see here in the chart, is the Wii version.

Fernando Rocker @ Feb 12th 2009 11:05PM

But don't believe me... check by yourself:

http://kotaku.com/5152705/americans-still-buying-wii-fit-at-alarming-rates

Noshino @ Feb 12th 2009 11:07PM

yah, he is right, but don't give hits to Kotaku, here is the list:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22294

Anyway, I would like to see the top 20 list to see how far apart are the other titles.

sonicspike41 @ Feb 12th 2009 11:14PM

Yes, I was incorrect. I was misreading the "* Includes Collector's, Limited and Bundled Editions" as if it includes the editions from every platform.

Fernando, perhaps you'd have made yourself appear more credible by stopping after the ellipsis. A quick google search (after posting) proved me wrong. I was just curious how long before someone corrected me (or before I corrected myself).

Fanboy #23 @ Feb 12th 2009 11:18PM

I still don't see any PlayStation 3rd games in those lists.

jumpshot @ Feb 13th 2009 9:59AM

Hey Noshino, not to sound dumb, but why not give hits to Kotaku? Are they bad? I only ever go to Joystiq. Honest question, even if the answer is just your opinion. I'm curious.

DonGeronimo @ Feb 12th 2009 10:03PM

Sony has lost half their market share to Microsoft and NOT ONE GAME for any Sony console in the top ten....Jesus that ship has sunk!!!

Xta Large, Unfanboy Extraordinaire @ Feb 12th 2009 10:08PM

The only 360 exclusive I see up there is Left 4 Dead.

Phantom @ Feb 12th 2009 10:14PM

360 exclusive?

Well, I'm off to play Left 4 Dead on my PC.

slycooper_rocker (The Agent of Orange) @ Feb 12th 2009 10:21PM

march sales should be good for ps3 because of killzone 2 and other big releases. february sales probably would be similar to january's.

Xta Large, Unfanboy Extraordinaire @ Feb 12th 2009 10:22PM

@Phantom

I meant as far as the consoles go. That's the only 360 game up there that isn't also on the PS3.

Lieutenant @ Feb 12th 2009 11:39PM

Those games may be multiplatform but those are the stats of the 360 versions you're seeing.

AkaMagi @ Feb 13th 2009 9:14AM

@ Xta Large, Unfanboy Extraordinaire

Funny, I didn't see anyone say anything about exclusives.

Fact is there are 4 Xbox 360 games on that list. Exclusive or not, that's 4 Xbox 360 games and 0 PS3 games.

On a semi-related side-note, I will NEVER accept Wii Play as a game sale. No one would ever buy that POS if it weren't bundled with a controller. It should count as an Accessory sale with a bundled game, not a game sale.

It's sort of like MS offering an Xbox 360 bundled with Gears of War 2, and then saying every one of those bundles was a game sale, not a system sale.

Xta Large, Unfanboy Extraordinaire @ Feb 13th 2009 5:36PM

Three of those games are also on the PS3, moron.

josh @ Feb 16th 2009 8:20PM

XTA, the games are on for their 360 versions tho:

1. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 777K
2. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 415K
3. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 292K
4. Left 4 Dead (Valve/EA, Xbox 360) - 243K
5. Call of Duty: World at War (Treyarch/Activision, Xbox 360) - 235K
6. Skate 2 (EA Black Box/EA, Xbox 360) - 199K
7. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Neversoft/Activision, Wii) - 155K
8. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, NDS) - 135K
9. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, NDS) - 132K
10. Lord of the Rings: Conquest (Pandemic/EA, Xbox 360) - 113K