Crispy Gamer News

With no real killer app to move hardware in the month for Sept. (last year it was Halo 3 for the Xbox 360), it’s no shock that the NPD hardware numbers are down from last year’s. The game industry enjoyed total sales of $1.27 billion, down from $1.35 billion from a year ago. While the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Wii continued to kick ass and take names, the Xbox 360 enjoyed a 78 percent increase, mainly due to the dramatic price cut as Microsoft prepares to do battle with Nintendo and Sony.

The Wii sold 687k units, the DS 536.8K, and the Xbox 360 347.2K. Full list - including year to date unit numbers - after the break. One thing to note - the PSP is beating the Xbox 360 and is just a tick away from catching up with the Wii.:

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September’s NPD retail sales numbers for the month of Sept. show that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was the most popular software title for the month, raking in a combined 1,158,000 units across three platforms (Xbox 360 – 610K, Wii – 223K and PS3 – 325K). Wii Fit came in at number 2 with sales of 518K, and Rock Band 2 came in third at 363K units. Full list after the jump.

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Analyst Michael Pachter, who some believe is the second coming, says that that the interactive entertainment is pretty much recession proof. Is the video game industry bullet proof when it comes to our lagging economy? The Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst thinks that, while there might be a slight decline in the sector for Sept., it will nonetheless be pretty darn profitable. But Pachter attributes this mostly to not having a killer app like Halo 3 to bolster software and hardware sales - at least for Microsoft and not the state of the economy or consumer confidence.

So what are his predictions for the Sept. numbers coming this Thursday from NPD? Sales will be down six percent to $620 million, compared to Sept. 2007 numbers due to no killer apps like Halo 3 - he says that if you ignore the Halo 3 effect, the numbers would show an increase of 44 percent. Other predictions include 600,000 Wii sales, 550,000 DS sales, around 300,000 Xbox 360 sales, PS3 sales of 175,000 and PSP sales of 200,000.

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EA Maxis is happy that Spore has regained the top spot in the US PC charts for week ended September 27, according to data provided by NPD Group.

EA’s MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning dropped a one spot to number 2, followed by Take-Two’s Civilization IV: Colonization at three and Crysis Warhead in the fourth spot. Of course, the usual suspects - The Sims 2 and World Of Warcraft - round out this week’s chart. Full top ten list after the jump:

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A new study by the NPD Group entitled “Girl Power: Understanding This Important Consumer Segment,” reveals that girls 2 - 14 years of age are spending more times playing games. This data is a no-brainer given the push by companies like Ubisoft to tap into the girl gamer market. This in and of itself is sad, because Ubisoft and other companies now catering to this demographic should really focus on creating games for age groups rather than pandering to gender.  Kids need more games like Drawn To Life and fewer games based on franchises like Bratz and Barbie. Of course, that’s just my opinion and I could be wrong.

According to NPD industry analyst, Anita Frazier, 50 percent of girls ages 2 - 14 years old still play with traditional gender-focused toys like dolls, arts and crafts and stuffed animals. The study also finds that the increase in the use of virtual worlds and social networking sites are not being properly monetized by publishers.

While Metal Gear Solid 4 was technically the best selling software title in June According to NPD Group, LEGO Indiana Jones had the most sales  (if you lump together all platforms), easily beating Konami’s PS3 exclusive. Metal Gear Solid 4 sold an impressive 774,600 units in North America during the month of June; and if you factor in the special MGS4 PS3 bundles that number swells to 1 million units.

But even if you factor in the bundles, Metal Gear Solid 4 couldn’t beat the popular LEGO Indiana Jones, which had combined sales (PS2, DS, Wii) of 1.1 million. Other notables for June included Guitar Hero On Tour (400,000 units) for DS, and the Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Gaiden II (372, 000 units). Top ten list below:

June Software Sales

1. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PlayStation 3, Konami) - 774,600 Units
2. Guitar Hero World Tour (Nintendo DS, Activision) - 422,300 Units
3. Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360, Tecmo/MGS) - 372.700 Units
4. Wii Fit w/balance board (Wii, Nintendo) - 372,700 Units
5. Wii Play w/remote (Wii, Nintendo) - 359, 100 Units
6. Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360, EA) - 346,800 Units
7. Mario Kart (Wii, Nintendo) - 322,400 Units
8. Lego Indiana Jones (Wii, LucasArts) - 294,500 Units
9. Lego Indiana Jones (DS, LucasArts) - 267,800 Units
10. Lego Indiana Jones (PS2, LucasArts) - 260,300 Units

Nintendo’s Wii has finally surpassed the Xbox 360 as the best selling home consoles system in North America, according to the NPD Group’s June 2008 retail numbers. As of June, the Wii hit the magic number of 10.85 million units, finally outpacing Xbox 360 who landed at 10.46 million units sold as of June. While the PlayStation 3 was at 4.85 million at the end of June, Sony’s console managed to sell 405,000 units in June on the success of Metal Gear Solid 4 and select bundles. Things sure are heating up. What was being called a “console war” before is truly becoming an epic war for the hearts and minds of consumers. Hard data below:

June 2008 Hardware Sales

1. DS - 783,000
2. Wii - 666,700
3. PS3 - 405,500
4. PSP - 337,400
5. 360 - 219,000
6. PS2 - 188,800

Life to Date Hardware Sales

1. Wii: 10.85 Million
2. Xbox 360: 10.46 Million
3. PS3: 4.85 Million