Xbox 360 Repeats as Top-Selling Videogame System in U.S.
The Xbox 360 repeated as the best-selling videogame system in the U.S. for the fourth straight month despite continued strength from the PS3 and 3DS following late summer price cuts on those systems, according to data released late Friday by NPD. Wii and DS sales improved from October this year, but were weaker than November 2010. PSP sales continued to be weak, an industry source said Monday.
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Xbox 360 sales totaled 1.7 million in the U.S. in November, Microsoft said, citing data from NPD, which stopped providing each system’s sales data to reporters. That was better than the 1.37 million sold in November 2010 (CED Dec 13/10 p3) and 393,000 sold in October this year (CED Nov 15 p4). Its U.S. installed base grew to an estimated 30.99 million. Black Friday week “marked the biggest seven-day sales period in Xbox history with Xbox 360 selling more than 960,000 consoles” in the U.S., Microsoft said. Of those, “more than 800,000 were sold within a period of 24 hours,” it said. Microsoft also said it “saw continued demand for Kinect for Xbox 360, selling more than 750,000 sensors” in the U.S. during Black Friday week.
Sony Computer Entertainment America said PS3 sales jumped 70 percent from November 2010. It didn’t say how many units were sold this time, but PS3 sales totaled about 530,000 in November 2010, so an estimated 901,000 were sold last month. The result was also a significant improvement over the 250,000 sold in October this year. The PS3’s U.S. installed base grew to an estimated 18.55 million -- still far behind the 360 and Wii. PS3 had “the best ever Black Friday sales period in the console’s five-year history,” said SCEA spokesman Patrick Seybold. Consumer demand was “very strong for our holiday bundles and for recent” first- and third-party games including its Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim from Bethesda Softworks and Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, he said.
SCEA didn’t provide any PSP sales data again. But an industry source said sales were down 21 percent from November 2010, when about 288,000 were sold. So, PSP sales totaled an estimated 228,000 last month. PSP sales have slumped in the U.S. for a long time and are likely only going to continue being weak with the looming launch of the PlayStation Vita.
Nintendo’s best-selling system in November was the Wii. But the more than 860,000 consoles that Nintendo of America (NOA) said were sold last month in the U.S. were weaker than the 1.27 million sold in November 2010. Sales improved from under 250,000 in October this year. Its U.S. installed base grew to 37.7 million, NOA said.
The 3DS had “its biggest single month of sales” in the U.S. in November, with more than 795,000 moved -- growth of more than 215 percent from the more than 250,000 sold the prior month, NOA said. Its U.S. installed base reached “nearly 2.5 million units,” at 2.37 million, NOA said. NOA said sales of all other DS systems totaled more than 350,000 in the U.S. last month. That’s an improvement over the less than 180,000 sold in October this year, but down from the 1.54 million sold in November 2010. Combined sales of the 3DS and all other DS systems last month, at about 1.15 million, failed to match sales of the DS systems alone in November 2010, before the 3DS shipped. The U.S. installed base of all DS systems except the 3DS grew to an estimated 50.53 million.
Total U.S. physical game industry sales inched up 0.4 percent from November 2010 to $3 billion, NPD said. That includes software, hardware and accessories. Total U.S. physical videogame software sales, excluding PC games, grew 15 percent to $1.67 billion. Overall physical U.S. game sales, including for PCs, inched up 0.16 percent to $1.74 billion. But total U.S. videogame hardware sales fell 9 percent to $982.4 million, while total U.S. physical videogame industry sales, excluding PC games, dipped 0.5 percent to $2.93 billion and total U.S. videogame accessory sales tumbled 34 percent to $273.8 million. Most of the decline in accessory revenue “can be attributed to” specialty controllers due to “tough comparisons against last year when the Kinect launched,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for the 360, PS3, Wii and PC was the month’s top-selling game, NPD said. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the 360, PS3 and PC was No. 2, while Battlefield 3 for the same three platforms from Electronic Arts, fell to No. 3 after topping the chart in October. Rounding out the top five were Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations for the 360, PS3 and PC at No. 4 and its Just Dance 3 for the Wii and 360 at No. 5.
Last month was “the best November on record for sales of new physical content,” Frazier said. November 2008 was “the best November on record” prior to last month, she said. First month sales of Modern Warfare 3 topped last year’s entry in the same series, Black Ops, by about 7 percent, she said. In one month, Elder Scrolls V sales were “just about half a million units shy of matching” Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in lifetime sales, she said. First month sales of the new game represented “a five-fold increase over Oblivion’s first month sales,” she said.
Only one Nintendo game reached the top 10 in November, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii, at No. 9. The game had “the biggest first day in franchise history and sold more than 600,000 units in its first week” alone, NOA said. Its Super Mario 3D Land for the 3DS sold more than 625,000 copies in the U.S. and became “the fastest-selling portable Super Mario title” ever in the market, it said.