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How many of these have you seen sitting idly on store shelves?
The Nintendo DS and Wii owned the video games market during April

Research firm NPD Funworld has released video game sales figures for April 2007, which once again belong much to Nintendo. The Wii and the DS continued to be top sellers, with Nintendo’s handheld taking top spot at 471,000 units and the home console selling 360,000 units.

Sony ruled the two spots after Nintendo, though it is the last-generation PlayStation 2 that takes third at 194,000 units and the PlayStation Portable at fourth at 183,000. The PlayStation 3 places three spots below the PSP at seventh, selling 82,000.

In fifth is Microsoft’s only entry, the Xbox 360, with 174,000 units. Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance, with 84,000 units, placed just above the PS3, while the GameCube held sat at the bottom with 13,000 units sold.

On the software side, Nintendo ruled the top four spots with the two new Pokemon games taking first and second. Pokemon Diamond sold an astounding 1.045 million units, while the less popular Pokemon Pearl moved a still impressive 712,000 copies. A pair of Wii games, Super Paper Mario and Wii Play, took spots three and four, respectively.

Guitar Hero II rocked spot five on Xbox 360 and spot six on the PlayStation 2. The Spider-Man 3 games on Xbox 360 and PS2 took seven and eight, while PS2 games God of War II and MLB ’07 closed out the last two of the top ten.

April represented another strong month for the video games industry, pulling in $838.6 million in U.S. sales – a 20 percent growth over the same period last year.

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What a money maker.
By DeadPooL on 5/18/2007 8:26:46 AM , Rating: 3
You think it would be easy for companies to stay in the black, who wouldn't want a slice of this big fat pie.




RE: What a money maker.
By jpeyton on 5/18/2007 8:52:46 AM , Rating: 4
US PS3 sales dropped almost 40% from March (130,000 --> 82,000) while XBOX 360 sales remained somewhat steady.

Time for Jack Tretton to hit the panic button?


RE: What a money maker.
By KaiserCSS on 5/18/2007 9:49:39 AM , Rating: 5
He still owes $3,600, that weasel.


RE: What a money maker.
By h0kiez on 5/18/2007 9:53:18 AM , Rating: 4
I gotta say...things look awful for Sony at the moment. They're so far behind MS in total sales and they're getting outsold 2 to 1. Exclusive titles may help out, but I'm not sure how much longer 3rd-party publishers are gonna be able to hold out and stay exclusive to Sony.

Wouldn't it be funny if the PS3 flopped completely, yet still somehow managed to single-handedly win the format war for Blu-Ray. I wonder if it would be worth it to Sony...maybe it would.


RE: What a money maker.
By Axbattler on 5/18/2007 11:06:36 AM , Rating: 2
They are preparing for that scenario already: http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6554


RE: What a money maker.
By encryptkeeper on 5/18/2007 2:38:04 PM , Rating: 2
That is looking more and more like a possibility. With Disney onboard BR, it's looking pretty grim for HD. They just aren't securing the great exclusive titles they need. The only thing HD can do is continue to drive down the prices on the players. If they can get them sub 199, they'll be in business.


RE: What a money maker.
By peldor on 5/18/2007 10:23:24 AM , Rating: 2
If I understand the way these things are tracked correctly, by weeks not actual calendar months, the "March" period was 5 weeks while "April" was only 4 weeks. So a 20% drop is to be expected.

In any case, PS3 sales are painfully slow for Sony.


RE: What a money maker.
By mcturkey on 5/18/2007 10:39:22 PM , Rating: 2
That may well be, but the selling days available impact everyone, not just Sony. No matter how you slice it, PS3 sales are slipping pretty badly.


RE: What a money maker.
By OrSin on 5/18/2007 10:05:10 AM , Rating: 2
I actually hate Sony. But has anyone noticed the PS2 is still out sell 360. If SOny is able to prot all teh good games and lower the PS3 price later they will still have a good share of the market.

If I was MS I would be worried that people sitll want the PS2 at all.

One thing that makes no since is why Gods of war is not on the PS3. I understand why the game makes mad it for the large PS2 base but I would made them it for PS3 also.


RE: What a money maker.
By danskmacabre on 5/18/2007 10:15:01 AM , Rating: 2
The fact that the PS2 is selling so well reminds me of years ago with Commodore computers and how they tried to replace the Commodore 64 so many tims and couldn't.

In the end it was a contributing factor to their downfall.


RE: What a money maker.
By darkpaw on 5/18/2007 11:30:11 AM , Rating: 2
Two big things going for the PS2 at this point:

Dirt cheap and large library that still is having some big new releases

To big things against the PS3 at this point:

Very expensive and small game selection.

Right now the biggest thing going for it is blueray, but as standalone prices continue to fall that will lose a lot of its advantage.

No other game system has ever managed to be sucessful at such a high launch price. I don't think the PS3 will completely tank, but until it is priced within reach of more people it will have a slow adoption rate and the 3rd party developers take note of that. Sony is really in a catch 22 here, they can't drop the price more because they are already losing tons of money, but they won't sell more until the price comes down.


RE: What a money maker.
By joemoedee on 5/18/2007 1:16:00 PM , Rating: 2
One has to look at the overall picture of the whole Sony vs MS battle.

PS2 is outselling the Xbox 360. PSP is outselling it as well. On those two "technologically dated" platforms I'm sure the profit margin is pretty high. If you add all three systems together, I'm sure they're doing ok.

Of course, if Sony pulled a MS and just dropped all manufacturing and support for the PS2 (a la Xbox 1) I'm certain you would see a higher adoption rate of PS3s, but I'm sure it would not be as high as they would like currently, so that won't happen anytime soon.

Currently Sony can push out the cheaper to make products at a higher profit margin to help offset the costs of a PS3. As we all know the prices to make the PS3 will ultimately drop, and as they do I'm certain you'll see more support for it. (More Sony exclusives, possible price drop, etc)

I'm not a Sony, Nintendo, or MS fanboy by any means. Whoever puts out the most games that I enjoy, I'll buy their system. As it stands currently (After owning both a 360 and a Wii) I'll just stick with my original Xbox until the game libraries grow.


RE: What a money maker.
By Samus on 5/18/2007 8:30:38 PM , Rating: 2
I'm glad to see the videogame industry is doing well. Sometimes its scary when sales are poor and the small time shops can't operate. At least the ones EA hasn't bought yet.


Poor Sony
By tkSteveFOX on 5/18/2007 10:27:12 AM , Rating: 2
Well if things continue like that in six months the PS3 may be obsolete.Cause game developers want to make games for popular consoles , so that their games would sell.And even if Sony came out with DMC4 and GoW3 by the end of the year and they both fail that would be calling it quits for them.Their "nintendo" approach with Little Big Planet may yet become their biggest ace in the game.




RE: Poor Sony
By Blu Bear on 5/18/2007 12:18:16 PM , Rating: 2
"Nintendo approach" Lol you are so blinded. Little big planet is original. Has Nintendo done it before??


RE: Poor Sony
By NotAok on 5/18/2007 12:50:17 PM , Rating: 2
lol, "nintendo approach"... So in order to succeed Sony must rehash the same franchise over and over again... Or for their next system they should just re-release the PS3 and add a gimmick.


RE: Poor Sony
By robber98 on 5/19/2007 7:08:06 PM , Rating: 2
PS3 itself is gimmick at this point, just look at the sales number.


RE: Poor Sony
By jadedeath on 5/18/2007 12:57:07 PM , Rating: 2
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, dude, clean off your head, you have ass on it.

GoW3 isn't coming out by the end of the year, they just released GoW2, and that took them about 2-3 years to finish. Much in the same way that there won't be a Halo4 anytime soon {and don't try to sell me on the fact that they won't be making one, cuz that's like Microsoft saying that they won't add a Blu-Ray even though they already have}

The big releases that Sony has for the PS3 look alot better than what 360 has coming out exclusive {over the next little while at least} Little Big Planet, Stranglehold, Heavenly Sword, Final Fantasy, Ratchet and Clank, Metal Gear Solid.

X360 has Halo 3, which will help them immensely, but it won't sway that many more people over to their side if it's anything like the difference between Halo 1 and Halo 2 {I can use 2 guns now? wow... color me impressed!}

Other than that they're all fighting for the same games with the multi-platform stuff.

Logan


RE: Poor Sony
By bkm32 on 5/18/2007 1:25:23 PM , Rating: 3
Now, consider "Halo 3" bundle with $100 price drop. That "cha-ching" was brought to you by the friendly folks as MS. Thank you and vote responsibly.

Seriously, you make a good point, but...FF13 is due out next year, Stranglehold comes with the movie "Hardboiled" in BR, but it's hardly exclusive, and MS has Too Human, Mass Effect (yeah, those KOTOR guys), Bioshock, Forza 2, PGR 4, 2 RPGs by the creator of FF (Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Splinter Cell Conviction, and uh, what's that other one? Oh yeah, HALO 3!

That's quite a line up if you ask me, plus consider the fact that you can get GTA4 for $300 less (for thos e still sitting on the next-gen fence and can't find a Wii) by going with the X360. Plus, HALO 3! What was the last game that made over $120M in the first 24 hours that wasn't GTA or Madden (on multiple systems)? It's unknown if Halo 3 will mirror that success, but just the fanboys alone (you know, the ones that wonder what Master Chief looks like under that armor, but secretly hope he's a she (as in BsG-Cylon-Six-she)) will account for twice that total at the regular $60 version. Who am I kidding, the fanboys are probably all getting the Legendary version. I'm not dissing the fanboys. I'd be one one too...if I could afford it. That's a lot of hardwork to aspire towrads. Hats off to the fanboys of the world!


RE: Poor Sony
By bkm32 on 5/18/2007 1:59:37 PM , Rating: 2
Now, consider "Halo 3" bundle with $100 price drop. That "cha-ching" was brought to you by the friendly folks at Bungie Studios. Thank you and vote responsibly.

Seriously, you make a good point, but...FF13 is due out next year, Stranglehold comes with the movie "Hardboiled" in BR, but it's hardly exclusive, and only MGS4 and Heavenly Sword are the PS3's only compelling content. Let's be real, MGS hasn't sold a bunch systems, and has a relatively small, diehard following with a complicated control scheme and storyline that pushes away the more general appealing Sam Fisher-wanna-bees of the world. And despite the beauty of Heavenly Sword, its an unknown. BTW, how's Motor Storm doing in its second month in relation to PS3 sales?

NOTE: MGS and its sequels are outstanding, genre-defining games, my point is they don't appeal to large number of gamers, much like FPSs in Japan or dating sims over here.

On the other hand, MS has Too Human, Mass Effect (yeah, those KOTOR guys), Bioshock, Forza 2, PGR 4, 2 RPGs by the creator of FF (Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey), Splinter Cell: Conviction, and uh, what's that other one? Oh yeah, HALO 3!

That's quite a line up if you ask me, plus consider the fact that you can get GTA4 for $300 less (for thos e still sitting on the next-gen fence and can't find a Wii) by going with the X360. Plus, HALO 3!

Seriously, what was the last game that made over $120M in its first 24 hours that wasn't GTA or Madden (on multiple systems)? It's unknown if Halo 3 will mirror that success, but just the fanboys alone (you know, the ones that wonder what Master Chief looks like under that armor, but secretly hope he's a she (as in BsG-Cylon-Six-she)) will account for twice that total at the regular $60 version. Who am I kidding, the fanboys are probably all getting the Legendary version.

I'm not dissing the fanboys. I'd be one one too...if I could afford it. That's a lot of hardwork to aspire towards. Hats off to the fanboys of the world!

Anyway, in 08, you've got Halo Wars, Gears2, plus whatever Peter Jackson's Studio is coming up with, and price dropping on the HD-DVD drive (most likely as the Matrix Trilogy revitalizes HD-DVD sales and puts it over the top). Include new DLs of Halo, Gears, and GTA4 maps, no foreseeable price drop for the PS3, and we're looking at a 2-way race with the Wii finally hitting its software stride with Super Smash Brothers, SMG, Whatever Pokemon is next and some compelling 3rd-party exclusives like TR-Anniversary, RE:UW, a probable price drop, and expected shortages continuing into 09.

Whew, breathe! I could be wrong, but Sony's got a lot of work to do if they're going to not only win but just be a contender. Currently, they're pulling a Mike Tyson (refering to his preparation for the "Buster Douglas" fight, in which he was KO'ed and became a B-List fighter).

Personally, I'd like to see Sony pull it out because competetion is good for everyone.


RE: Poor Sony
By encryptkeeper on 5/18/2007 2:47:18 PM , Rating: 1
most likely as the Matrix Trilogy revitalizes HD-DVD sales and puts it over the top

Hate to remind you of this, but betting on the Matrix Trilogy is pretty stupid. The first movie was great, to be sure, but people won't bother buying the trilogy since the other two were so awful. They'd be better with a Star Wars, Indy, LoTR, or Jaws or ANYTHING that doesn't include the Matrix 2 and 3.