NPD March 2007

[Hardknock]

HW Sales
Nintendo DS 508K
PlayStation 2 280K
Wii 259K
Xbox 360 199K
PlayStation Portable 180K
Game Boy Advance 148K
PlayStation 3 130K
GameCube 22K
Xbox n/a


Top 10 SW

PS2 GOD OF WAR II 833K
360 TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON: ADVANCED WARFI 394K
360 GUITAR HERO 2 W/ GUITAR 291K
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE 273K
PS3 MOTORSTORM 199K
NDS DIDDY KONG RACING 189K
NDS SPECTROBES 165K
360 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K7 165K
PS2 MLB '07: THE SHOW 164K
360 DEF JAM ICON 148K

 

[TheChefO]

Are these Valid?

If so ... ... again.

DS is freakin unbelievable
Wii seems to have hit a manufacturing snafu
xb360 is hitting par
ps3 is establishing a disturbing trend
and ps2 has grown six legs ... it just, wont, die.

 

[Corwin_B]

Are these Valid?

If so ... ... again.

DS is freakin unbelievable
Wii seems to have hit a manufacturing snafu
xb360 is hitting par
ps3 is establishing a disturbing trend
and ps2 has grown six legs ... it just, wont, die.

Yep, real deal from SonyCowboy@GAF.

It seems the rumors of Nintendo hoarding Wii supplies because they already beat their fiscal year's forecast were accurate, since large amount of Wiis apparently appeared through US and Europe early April.

 

[woundingchaney]

Nin sitting on a damn gold mine. This is a 5 week month correct??

 

[TheChefO]

Yep, real deal from SonyCowboy@GAF.

It seems the rumors of Nintendo hoarding Wii supplies because they already beat their fiscal year's forecast were accurate, since large amount of Wiis apparently appeared through US and Europe early April.

I wouldn't say "large amount". A local retailer said they were getting a shipment. Asked the day prior they said "yes a dozen". The morning of, they received 3.

 

[Tap In]

GH II in only 4-5 days I believe.

and 360 software in general on track as usual.

Wii supply constrained

PS3 lower per week compared to 4 week February...under 150k 2 months in a row...needs more software

X360 ~200k is not bad but about 50 under expectations...impacted by the elite announcement perhaps?

 

[22psi]

http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=40511

 

[Teasy]

Amazing DS sales, almost three times as much as PSP in one month :O PS2 is still alive which suprises me, Wii needs more stock badly (even though it sold well it could have been much better if it wasn't still sold out), 360 did ok and PS3 is in even worse trouble then I thought, next month, in a 4 week reporting period, could it dip below 100,000?..

 

[NovemberMike]

X360 ~200k is not bad but about 50 under expectations...impacted by the elite announcement perhaps?

March last year was 192k, so it seems ok (not great, but reasonable).

 

[Corwin_B]

I wouldn't say "large amount". A local retailer said they were getting a shipment. Asked the day prior they said "yes a dozen". The morning of, they received 3.

In that case, it seems Europe got larger shipments, probably because of the PS3 launch. My local (French) store has received several 20+ shipments over the last weeks (each shipment sold within the afternoon, though).

Back on NPD, I'm a bit worried at the 360 performance, especially considering how well SW sold. Do you think the Elite announcement hurt MS ?

 

[Corwin_B]

March last year was 192k, so it seems ok (not great, but reasonable).

It was still supply-constrained last March, though. IIRC, 360 supply stabilized after April in the US.

 

[RobertR1]

Sony needs to figure something out. I thought that Motorstorm would help sell a lot of consoles. It didn't.

 

[TheChefO]

It was still supply-constrained last March, though. IIRC, 360 supply stabilized after April in the US.

Right around E3 if I recall. Up till this point, it was much like Wii now: You could get one, if you waited in line before the store opened early enough.

 

[TheChefO]

Do you think the Elite announcement hurt MS ?

Possibly. Market could just be drying up for the $400 price point. They could fix it with a slight adjustment to the periph pricing.

 

[thatdude90210]

Interesting, especially considering March is a 5 week month for the NPD.

Everything looks to be expected, March is normally a slow month but PS2 seems to have benefited from a major release in GOW2.

I don't know why some were expecting 200k for the PS3, neither Oblivion ('cmon, old- been on pc & 360 for almost a year), nor Motorstorm (sure some graphic whores were raving about it but outside of that, not much buzz) are system sellers. I suspect the pool of people willing to pay $600 for a console is shrinking each month. It needs a price cut bad.

The 360 looks like it could use a price cut too, but... MS is bringing out a higher priced SKU instead.

 

[TheChefO]

The 360 looks like it could use a price cut too, but... MS is bringing out a higher priced SKU instead.

Biggest bonehead move of theirs this gen.

 

[Tap In]

Possibly. Market could just be drying up for the $400 price point. They could fix it with a slight adjustment to the periph pricing.

yea... what 17, 18 mos at launch price and still selling 40k per week in US.

not bad

The Elite will help next couple months but I expect a nice steady 180 - 215k per month from 360 through the summer and then a Price drop (if they're smart) with GTAIV and Halo 3 and then boom.... 300 - 400k/month leading up to holidays

 

[RobertR1]

Biggest bonehead move of theirs this gen.

May's numbers will tell that tale. If they can bring out a new SKU, hype it up enough and keep their sales high during generally slow months of the season, they're in an even better shape to do price cuts in fall. It's a risky strategy but one that could pay off.

 

[whatever7]

The "current gen" seem to be winning the war over "next gen".

Also the DS is selling stupid huge number. Anyone has comparable GBA number (2 year after the GBA launch)?

 

[Cheezdoodles]

yea... what 17, 18 mos at launch price and still selling 40k per week in US.

not bad

The Elite will help next couple months but I expect a nice steady 180 - 215k per month from 360 through the summer and then a Price drop (if they're smart) with GTAIV and Halo 3 and then boom.... 300 - 400k/month leading up to holidays

If i was MS, i would do a Forza 2 bundle+X360 Core @ $200 in europe, and basically conquer that region. We Europeans are suckers for good driving games.