February NPD Results – Last Gen On Top Again

The Official February NPD numbers have been released, and they make for highly interested reading. It was a great month for everyone, but there was an unexpected high inflation of PS2 sales, even though hardly anything was released for it in February. Here is the complete list:

• DS – 587.6K
• Wii – 423K
• PS2 – 351.8K
• PS3 – 280.8K
• 360 – 254.6K
• PSP – 243.1K

These numbers are massive for this time of year, increasing on the sales of this time last year. The DS and Wii are having a wonderful time at retail, and Nintendo must be delighted that the DS sold over half a million units in a fairly quiet month for the handheld.

However, it is the PS2 that is the big news this time, as it emerged from nowhere to sell over 350,000 units. Some attribute this to Best Buy's $99 PS2 deal, and it will be intriguing to see where it ends up next month. If Sony reduced the price of the aging little machine to $99 itself, it will definitely sell more than these large numbers. The PS3 has beaten the 360 again this month, but Microsoft has continuously stated that the system is supply constrained. However, if it performs this poorly again next month, they're going to have to invent a new excuse.

Looking at the figures, hardware unit sales were up 19% from this time last year, to over 2.1 million systems sold combined, and the software total was $668.7M, which is an increase of 47% over this time last year. Not to bad for a non-November/December month.

Here is the software top-ten:

1. Call of Duty 4 on 360 – 296.2K
2. Devil May Cry 4 on 360 – 295.2K
3. Wii Play on Wii – 289.7K
4. Devil May Cry 4 on PS3 – 233.5K
5. Guitar Hero III on Wii – 222.9K
6. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games on Wii – 205.6K
7. Lost Odyssey on 360 – 203.6K
8. Turok on 360 – 197.7K
9. Guitar Hero III on PS2 – 183.3K
10. Rock Band on 360 – 161.8K

Call of Duty 4 continues it's dominance at the top of the list on 360, but the PS3 version has dropped out of the top 10. The thing I find most bizarre in this list is that Devil May Cry 4 sold more on the 360 than on the PS3, even though the brand has a rich heritage on the PS2, and it's fair to say that the game is orientated more towards the hardcore PlayStation audience. The other surprise hits are Lost Odyssey and Turok, which both did really well given their low-key launches. Furthermore, it's nice to see Rock Band holding on, but EA and Harmonix need to work on getting the game out in Europe.

Posted by Chris Holmes at 4:30 PM | Comments (5) | Posted to Business |