NPD March 2007

Motorstorm could be a system seller, but only if the console was cheaper. I think that as the console's price goes up, the amount and quality of software needed to reach "system seller" status goes up too.

I really hope they move forward with a price cut.

 

wii,xb360 + ps3 + psp all performing quite a bit worse than i expected ( ps2+ds above par though)

heres the extrapolated USA figures (hmmm need to extend that to mar2008)
anyways at the current rate theres no way the ps3 will catch the xb360 in the united states

 

yea, I'm thinking they are trying to keep system sales profitable at these prices for as long as possible. If PS3 were selling 250k, then I'd imagine they'd feel differently. I can only imagine that they have a big plan forecast to coincide with the upcoming software surge later this year.

Europe is a key though and the Forza/core (add a memory card) bundle just to get more systems in place would IMO be smart.

but, hey... they get paid to figure this stuff out.

 

Top 20 software:

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/782/782103p1.html

1. God of War II (PS2) Sony
2. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (360) Ubisoft
3. Guitar Hero 2 W/ Guitar (360) Red Octane/Activision
4. Wii Play (Wii) Nintendo
5. MotorStorm (PS3) Sony
6. Major League Baseball 2k7 (360) 2K Games
7. MLB '07: The Show (PS2) Sony
8. Def Jam Icon (360) Electronic Arts
9. Guitar Hero 2 W/Guitar (PS2) Red Octane/Activision
10. God of War (PS2) Sony
11. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PS2) Rockstar
12. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Wii) Electronic Arts
13. Crackdown (360) Microsoft
14. Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii) Sega
15. TMNT (PS2) Ubisoft
16. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) Nintendo
17. Gears of War (360) Microsoft
18. Major League Baseball 2K7 (PS2) 2K Games
19. Warioware: Smooth Moves (Wii) Nintendo
20. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PS3) Bethesda

 

I don't know that I'd even classify those 360 sales as "OK". They are pretty bad for a 5 week month. Only saved from being terrible by the Wii supply problems and the PS3's even worse sales. I think that the announcement of the Elite SKU did hurt the 360's numbers this past month, though. How much? Tune in next month to find out.

Most disturbing for Sony? A 5 week month, LBP, Home, Motorstorm and several BluRay releases had next to no positive impact on their sales. Imagine, if you will, what the sales might have been without the preceding factors in their favor.... It couldn't have gone down too well to be outsold by the GBA, either. The GAF is having a field day with that one.

PS2's sales are still surprisingly (at least to me) strong. I guess there are still people who hadn't bought one yet who were just waiting for.....?????

Wii is obviously supply constrained and still beats the 360 and PS3 handily. Amazingly enough, (and as I've mentioned before) make a product that people want and charge a price that they are willing to pay and people will buy it. Genius.

 

I don't think Elite sales will help X360 at all. Next month's NPD will prove me right.

 

At this point I dont either. There may be a minimal increase but nothing remarkable.

 

I can see ~25k people that may have bought a 360 in the last couple days of March, first week of April, (counted in thes NPD) holding off for the elite. so in that regard... I'm saying sales for MARCH NPD may have been closer to ~225k without the announcement.

 

Elite sales impact (+ or -) will be shown in June when the May figures come out.

 

i am surprised (again).

i still wouldn't judge SCEI or MS performance until after this christmas. its too early in product life cycle for me. but i reckon ps3 should have at least $50 price cut

 

it's actually impossible to determine

it'll all be speculation on who woulda bought what if it had NOT entered the market.

see my above post for a more complete explanation of my speculation of the elite's impact.

 

Wow, these numbers represent a major slide for 360. This was a five week month no less (afaik?), and the 360 actually lost sales from last month (4 week). Kind of odd, I'd almost like to attribute it to people waiting for the Elite but, I'm not very convinced of that, since I dont think MS announced it til early April.

Wii sales also very low. Supply of course, but still very low. PS2 sales still excellent. Truly amazing really. 1.5 years in and 360 is STILL not beating PS2. Time for a price cut, Redmond.

PS3 sales are weak but, comparatively it actually could be considered an improvement, at least it was beaten by 360 by less than last month.

The bright spot for 360 is still the software charts, where it tends to dominate even the PS2 for some time now.

And of course DS hardware is an absolute juggernaut, even though software tie ratios always seem to be very low for a handheld.

 

A spike in sales during slow months would certainly show if it had an impact. Yes, it's impossible to determine the exact number but one can still form a decent opinion based on the numbers presented. Ofcourse the wild card is always the impact of game sales effecting console sales. Forza 2 should help ofcourse.

 

I know what you mean but I expect (based on my above speculation) that 25k more x360s will be sold in April NPD compared to had they not introduced the SKU.

so now how do we know what they would have been without it? 25k is not enough of a difference to impact trends IMO. If we were talking 100k swing, then of course we would notice that but 20-30k swing is going to be hardly noticeable.

to be clear... as for the elite SKU itself I certainly do NOT expect that it adds more buyers to the 360 market overal, just that they shift their purcahse from Premium to Elite. My original comment was solely based on a number of people that decided to wait for an elite rather than buy a Premium this month.

 

I have a very hard time believing PS3 will ever catch the 360 in NA in the next 5-6 years now. It's tracking about 4m units behind the 360 now right? That would mean nearly 70k more units sold per month each month for the next 5 or so years before they break even.

 

Time for Sony to dust off the laughable "Closing the gap" spin, it seems... Anyway, talk about lowered expectations. If anyone had predicted those atrocious PS3 sales last year (even after the price annoucement), he would have been laughed at.

 

things have definitely shifted

 

You knew it was coming.

 

I've seen that GIF a bazillion times already, but it still cracks me up.

Back on topic, it seems SCEA is trying the old "I'll pay you $1200 if you find me a PS3 on shelves" (AKA "We were supply-constrained") card :
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/news/?id=15871

They also try to spin the actual week-over-week decrease as an increase (March was 5 weeks for NPD, against 4 for February). Unbelievable.

 

March was supply constrained. 200k is bad for 360 for a 5 week month, probably the worst month since last april when the supply constraints lifted, it's been doing 50k/week ever since.

What's the consensus on the Wii? Losing steam or is it still out of stock?

And, does anyone else see gathering price drops gathering on both sides??