NPD Results & Charts April 2009; Wii Approaches 20 Million Sold

US: Continued Wii Dominance Over HD Consoles

Landmark: Nintendo Passes 500 MILLION Systems Shipped

This is something I really should've noticed before. But better late than never?

As of the quarter ending September 30, 2008, Nintendo's combined shipments of home game consoles (NES, SNES, N64, GCN, and Wii) passed 200 million.

As of the quarter ending December 31, 2008, Nintendo's combined shipments of portable game machines (Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and the variations of each) is nearly 300 million. DS's numbers from the next quarter will probably push it over the edge.


Put together, as of the quarter ending December 31, 2008, their combined shipments of home and portable hardware passed 500 million.

Dissidia Wins Final Week of the Year in Japan; Nintendo Takes Six of Top Ten

Media Create Sales: 12/29 - 01/04 (Software)

Software
01. [PSP] Dissidia Final Fantasy (Square Enix) 104,000 / 770,000
02. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 89,000 / 1,535,000
03. [NDS] Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo) 77,000 / 998,000
04. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 74,000 / 3,125,000
05. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) 73,000 / 949,000
06. [PS3] White Knight Chronicles (SCE) 71,000 / 278,000
07. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion: Girl's Mode (Nintendo) 68,000 / 615,000
08. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) 67,000 / 2,133,000
09. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Best) (Capcom) 62,000 / 271,000
10. [NDS] Momotaro Dentetsu 20th Anniversary (Hudson) 57,000 / 204,000

(20-30 below the charts)

(click to enlarge)

Dissidia is already PSP's 5th greatest-selling game in Japan

11. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (SCE)
12. [NDS] Pokémon Platinum (Pokémon)
13. [WII] Karaoke Joysound Wii (Hudson)
14. [WII] Play on Wii: Pikmin (Nintendo)
15. [NDS] Phantasy Star Zero (SEGA)
16. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo)
17. [NDS] Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5)
18. [NDS] Power Pro Kun Pocket 11 (Konami)
19. [PS2] Gundam Musou 2 (Limted Edition) (Namco Bandai)
20. [PS3] Gundam Musou 2 (Limted Edition) (Namco Bandai)
21. [NDS] Taiko Drum Master 2: The Seven Island Adventure (Namco Bandai)
22. [NDS] Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo)
23. [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami)
24. [PSP] Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (KOEI)
25. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Namco Bandai)
26. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo)
27. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)
28. [NDS] Tales of Hearts: Anime Movie Edition (Namco Bandai)
29. [WII] Wii Music (Nintendo)
30. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (Konami)

NINTENDOMINATION: Media Create Sales: 12/08 - 12/14 (Software)

Japan - Nintendomination. That would be the word for what Nintendo has done to the Media Create software charts this week; every title in the top ten is on a Nintendo platform and seven of them are published by Nintendo/Pokemon.

It gets better (or worse if you're not working Nintendo systems right now). Seven of the top ten titles have sold more than half a million units, and four of those have already sold more than a million!

Just looking at the LTDs for the top ten this week is a mind-boggling affair: it represents over 10.4 MILLION units of software sold on Nintendo platforms, and all of them games that have been out for a year or less. That is staggering.

Software:
01. [WII] Taiko no Tatsujin Wii (Namco Bandai) 105,900 / NEW
02. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) 97,700 / 587,000
03. [NDS] Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe (Nintendo) 94,500 / 629,400
04. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo) 63,100 / 341,700
05. [NDS] Penguin no Mondai: Saikyou Penguin Densetsu! (Konami) 59,000 / NEW
06. [NDS] Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) 57,600 / 492,000
07. [NDS] Pokémon Platinum (Pokémon) 57,500 / 2,066,300
08. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 45,200 / 1,289,400
09. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 43,000 / 2,916,900
10. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo) 34,300 / 1,938,400

11. [PS3] Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 (Konami)
12. [PS2] Dragon Ball Z: Infinite World (Namco Bandai)
13. [NDS] Tamagotchi Star School (Namco Bandai)
14. [WII] Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat Wii (Nintendo)
15. [NDS] Chrono Trigger DS (Square Enix)
16. [WII] Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes (Capcom) 24,100 / NEW
17. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (SCE)
18. [NDS] Tongariboushi and the 365 Days of Magic (Konami)
19. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (Capcom)
20. [NDS] Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo)
21. [WII] Wii Sports (Nintendo)
22. [PSP] Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (KOEI)
23. [PSP] Kenka Banchou 3: Zenkoku Seiha (Spike)
24. [WII] Wii Music (Nintendo)
25. [PSP] Gundam vs. Gundam (Namco Bandai)
26. [WII] 428: Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de (SEGA)
27. [WII] Wii Play (Nintendo)
28. [NDS] Mario Kart DS (Nintendo)
29. [NDS] Inazuma Eleven (Level 5)
30. [NDS] Taiko Drum Master 2: The Seven Island Adventure (Namco Bandai)

Notes and questions for consumption:
1. Pokemon Platinum recently crossed 2 million.

2. Wii Fit is quickly closing in on 3 million sold.

3. Rhythm Tengoku Gold has not-so-quietly been one of the best selling games this year. Interesting counterpoint to Wii Music.

4. Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel will certainly pass 500k next week. Third in the series and almost guaranteed to get yet another sequel. If you were Level 5, would you attempt this formula on a different system like the Wii?

5. Wagamama Fashion looks like the next in line of offbeat hits for Nintendo. Between this and their other titles targeted towards the fairer sex, is there any question who owns that mindshare?


Famitsu Charts:

(click to enlarge)

*please note that Famitsu charts are based on data one week older than this week's Media Create data, but for visual purposes function exactly the same.*

November 2008 NPD Results - Wii Sells 2 Million!

Sorry for the delay on this post. Family in town and various other distractions. I wish I had been here earlier to post this amazing story, but this will have to be it for now. I'll post the totals and one small chart and the rest of the charts should be up throughout the weekend. Also, HOLY SHIT at Wii sales!

Hardware
Playstation 2 206k
Playstation 3 378k
PSP 421k
Xbox 360 836k
Wii 2.04M
DS 1.57M



GEARS OF WAR 2* (360) 1.56 million
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* (360) 1.41 million
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE (WII) 796K
WII FIT (WII) 697K
MARIO KART (WII) 637K
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (PS3) 597K
GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* (WII) 475K
LEFT 4 DEAD (360) 410K
RESISTANCE 2* (PS3) 385K
WII MUSIC (WII) 297K

Stay right here for all the latest charts. Coming Soon: Full NPD charts and breakdown, Media Create Hardware, Consoles and Handheld charts. All will be out before the weekend is up. Enjoy!

Gears of War 2 Passes 3 Million

Kris Graft of EDGE is reporting that Gears of War 2 has passed three million in worldwide sales.

Launching only four weeks ago, the sequel to the 5-million-selling megahit reached the three-million mark six weeks quicker than the original.

Epic Games VP Mark Rein said in an e-mail, "Microsoft [the game's publisher] confirmed to me this afternoon that Gears of War 2 sell-through surpassed 3 million units as of last week."

This is certainly good news to GoW fans, hardcore gamers, and investors alike; when a game like GoW and its sequel can sell eight million combined it shows that the market will still support quality games in the male 18-35 demographic.

Source

Japan: Nintendo Sells 820k+ Software in One Week, Sony 290k

Media Create Sales: 11/17 - 11/24

The latest Media Create Top 30 has been released and it appears that Japan has forgiven Nintendo for Wii Music and has instead decided to have a little party of "let's buy everything that we can!"

Between Animal Crossing: City Folk, Chrono Trigger DS, and several others, Nintendo moved more than eight-hundred thousand units of software in one week.

The anticipated 360 RPG The Last Remnant (SE) had a great week at 100k, and Namco Bandai's Gundam v Gundam did extremely well at 267k.

The PS3 was nearly shut out of the top 10 but was able to squeak in with Way of the Samurai 3 at around 20k.

(click to enlarge)

Software
01. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) 305,000 / NEW
02. [NDS] Chrono Trigger DS (Square Enix) 271,000 / NEW
03. [PSP] Gundam vs. Gundam (Namco Bandai) 267,000 / NEW
04. [360] The Last Remnant (Square Enix) 101,000 / NEW
05. [NDS] Saka DS: Touch and Go (SEGA) 72,000 / NEW
06. [NDS] Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe (Nintendo) 55,000 / 418,000
07. [NDS] Wagamama Fashion Girls Mode (Nintendo) 25,000 / 209,000
08. [NDS] Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo) 25,000 / 1,184,000
09. [NDS] Pokémon Platinum (Pokémon) 24,000 / 1,941,000
10. [PS3] Way of the Samurai 3 (Spike) 20,000 / 100,000

11. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo)
12. [NDS] Tongari Boushi to Mahou no 365 Nichi (Konami)
13. [PSP] Prinny (Japan's Software)
14. [PS3] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (SCE)
15. [PS2] Nightmare Princess??? (Yeti)
16. [360] Otomediusu (Konami)
17. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (Capcom)
18. [NDS] Fushigi no Dungeon Fuurai no Shiren DS 2: Sabaku no Majou (SEGA)
19. [NDS] DS Nishimura Kyoutarou Suspense 2 Shintantei Series:… (Tecmo)
20. [NDS] Ryuusei no Rockman 3: Black Ace (Capcom)
21. [WII] Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo)
22. [WII] Wii Music (Nintendo)
23. [PS3] Rachet & Clank: Maru Hi Ignition (SCE)
24. [PS3] Grand Theft Auto IV (Capcom)
25. [PS2] The Shield of AIGIS (Alchemist)
26. [PS3] Resistance 2 (SCE)
27. [PS2] Hitman Reborn: Forbidden… (Marvelous)
28. [WII] Family Ski World Ski & Snowboard (Namco Bandai)
29. [NDS] Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo)
30. [NDS] Personal Trainer: Walking (Nintendo)


TOP 30
NDS:12
Wii:5
PSP:4
PS3:4
PS2:3
XBOX360:2

Capcom All-Time Sales Data

Capcom updated their all-time sales data at their investor relations site. Notably, two PSP games are in the top 10 (both Monster Hunter) and Devil May Cry 4 weighs in at 8th.

(click to enlarge)

	Title	Platform	Units
1.	Street Fighter II	SFC	6,300,000
2.	Resident Evil 2	PS	4,960,000
3.	Street Fighter II Turbo	SFC	4,100,000
4.	Resident Evil 3 Nemesis	PS	3,500,000
5.	Resident Evil	PS	2,750,000
6.	Monster Hunter Freedom 2 G	PSP	2,550,000
7.	Dino Crisis	PS	2,400,000
8.	Devil May Cry 4	PS3,Xbox360	2,350,000
9.	Monster Hunter Freedom 2	PSP	2,250,000
10.	Devil May Cry	PS2	2,160,000
11.	Onimusha : Warlords	PS2	2,020,000
12.	Resident Evil 4	PS2	2,050,000
13.	Super Street Fighter II	SFC	2,000,000
14.	Onimusha 2 : Samurai's Destiny	PS2	1,990,000
15.	Devil May Cry 2	PS2	1,700,000
16.	Street Fighter II' Plus	MD	1,650,000
17.	Ghosts'n Goblins	FC	1,640,000
18.	Resident Evil 4	GC	1,600,000
19.	Onimusha 3 : Demon siege	PS2	1,520,000
20.	Mega Man 2	FC	1,510,000
21.	Lost Planet Extream Condition	Xbox360	1,500,000
22.	Final Fight	SFC	1,480,000
23.	Resident Evil Outbreak	PS2	1,450,000
24.	Resident Evil 4 Wii edition	Wii	1,400,000
25.	Resident Evil Code Veronica X	PS2	1,400,000
26.	Dead Rising	Xbox360	1,400,000
27.	Resident Evil	GC	1,350,000
28.	Mega man Battle Network 4	GBA	1,350,000
29.	Devil May Cry 3	PS2	1,300,000
30.	Resident Evil 0	GC	1,250,000
31.	Resident Evil DC Dual Shock	PS	1,200,000
32.	Monster Hunter Freedom	PSP	1,200,000
33.	Dino Crisis 2	PS	1,190,000
34.	Mega Man X	SFC	1,160,000
35.	Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles	Wii	1,150,000
36.	Resident Evil Code Veronica	DC	1,140,000
37.	Commando	FC	1,140,000
38.	Resident Evil Director's Cut	PS	1,130,000
39.	Super Ghouls'n Ghosts	SFC	1,090,000
40.	Mega Man 3	FC	1,080,000
41.	Final Fight 2	SFC	1,030,000
42.	Street Fighter Alpha 3	PS	1,000,000

source:
http://ir.capcom.co.jp/english/data/million.html

Famitsu 10/27 - 11/02 (early returns)

Hardware
DSi: 171.000
PSP: 50.000
PS3: 36.000
WII: 25.000
DSL: 17.000
PS2: 6.800
360: 6.300

*DS Total = 188.000

Software
1. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) 122.000 [122.000]
2. Valkyrie Profile: Toga o Seoumono (NDS) 74.000 [74.000]
3. LittleBigPlanet (PS3) 47.000 [47.000]
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (360) 38.000 [38.000]
5. Wagamama Fasion: Gals Mode (NDS) 38.000 [125.000]
6. Pokémon Platinum (NDS) 37.000 [1.831.000]
7. Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III (PS3) 34.000 [34.000]
8. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (NDS) 33.000 [1.001.000]
9. Cid to Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon: Toki Wasure no Meikyuu + (NDS) 28.000 [28.000]
10. Wii Music (Wii) 23.000 [164.000]

11. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP the Best) (PSP) 20.000 [20.000]
12. Devil Summoner: Kuzunoha Raidou tai Abaddon Ou (PS2) 17.000 [94.000]
13. Personal Trainer: Walking (NDS) 17.000 [17.000]
14. Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida Or 2 (PSP) 16.000 [107.000]
15. Avalon Code (NDS) 15.000 [15.000]
16. Wii Fit (Wii) 15.000 [2.681.000]
17. Yes! Precure 5 Go Go Zenin Shu Go! Dream Festival (NDS) 14.000 [14.000]
18. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) 11.000 [1.800.000]
19. Bokujou Monogatari: Waku Waku Animal March (Wii) 10.000 [10.000]
20. Thunder Force VI (PS2) 9.800 [9.800]
21. SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation (PS3) 9.700 [9.700]
22. Shape Boxing: Wii de Enjoy! Diet (Wii) 9.200 [9.200]
23. Dynasty Warriors 6 (PS2) 7.900 [203.000]
24.
25. Dr. Slump & Arale-Chan (NDS) 6.700 [6.700]
26. Culdcept DS (NDS) 6.500 [70.000]
27. Inazuma Eleven (NDS) 6.500 [133.000]
28. Bleach: Soul Carnival (PSP) 6.400 [24.000]
29. Macross Ace Frontier (PSP) 5.800 [140.000]
30. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (NDS) 5.500 [26.000]

xx. Vitamin Y (NDS) 5.100
xx. Scarlett: Nichijou no Kyoukaisen (PS2) 3.400
xx. Suigetsu Portable (PSP) 3.100
xx. MySims Kingdom (Wii) 2.700
xx. Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway (360) 2.300
xx. Yumemi Hakusho: Second Dream (PS2) 1.900
xx. Tales of Innocence (Welcome Price 2800) (NDS) 1.500
xx. Rockman Rockman (Best Price!) (PSP) 1.300
xx. Fracture (360) 540

Thanks to Captain Smoker @ neogaf.

Sony Q2 Results: Games Division Loses $379

From Sony's Consolidated Financial Results for the Second Quarter Ended September 30, 2008:

Game
(Billions of yen, millions of U.S. dollars)
Second quarter ended September 30

2007 2008 Change in yen 2008
Sales and operating revenue ¥243.4 ¥268.5 +10.3% $2,582
Operating income (loss) (96.7) (39.5) - (379)

Unless otherwise specified, all amounts are on a U.S. GAAP basis.

Sales increased 10.3% year-on-year (a 15% increase on a local currency basis) to ¥268.5 billion ($2,582 million).

Hardware: Overall hardware sales increased as a result of an increase in sales of PS3 and PSP. Sales of PlayStation®2 (“PS2”) decreased year-on-year.

Software: Despite an increase in PS3 and PSP software sales, overall software sales decreased as a result of a decrease in PS2 software sales.

An operating loss of ¥39.5 billion ($379 million) was reported, an improvement of ¥57.2 billion year-on-year.

The decrease in operating loss in the current quarter was primarily due to PS3 hardware cost reductions and increased sales of PS3 software, as well as strong sales of PSP hardware.

Worldwide hardware unit sales (increase/decrease year-on-year):
→ PS2: 2.50 million units (a decrease of 0.78 million units)
→ PSP: 3.18 million units (an increase of 0.60 million units)
→ PS3: 2.43 million units (an increase of 1.12 million units)

Worldwide software unit sales (increase/decrease year-on-year):
→ PS2: 23.1 million units (a decrease of 14.9 million units)
→ PSP: 11.8 million units (a decrease of 0.8 million units)
→ PS3: 21.1 million units (an increase of 10.7 million units)

Inventory, as of September 30, 2008, was ¥243.2 billion ($2,338 million), which represents a ¥4.6 billion decrease compared with the level as of September 30, 2007. Inventory increased by ¥83.7 billion, or 52.5%, compared with the level as of June 30, 2008, due to increased inventory of PS3 and PSP hardware for the holiday sales season.

Nintendo Producing 2.4 MILLION Wii Systems Per Month

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime told the L.A. Times, "Nintendo has continually raised the production levels of the Wii hardware. We're now producing 2.4 million units a month worldwide.

"Last year, we made 1.6 million a month. So we've made a 33 percent increase."

For those keeping score at home, that's 28.8 million per year.

Read the entire article @ EDGE.

Gears of Money: Epic Games In Talks To Be Bought By Legendary Pictures

Epic, based in Cary, is the developer of the successful “Gears of War” game franchise, which has sold more than 5 million copies around the world. The company also makes money licensing its Unreal Engine – widely used software that helps other developers make their games.

Variety’s report that acquisition talks are under way cited “multiple sources close to the companies.”

Legendary is a private equity-backed film production company based in California. The company, which has helped finance movies including this year's mega-hit “The Dark Knight,” already has ties to Epic Games: It’s co-financing a movie based on “Gears of War.”

Read the entire article HERE.

[Update]
Edge spoke with Epic VP Mark Rein:

Epic VP Mark Rein told Edge in an e-mail that the buyout report "is just another rumor," stopping short of flatly denying talks are in process.

Read the entire denial HERE.

Media Create Sales: 10/13 - 10/19 (Hardware)

Hardware | This Week | Last Week | Last 4 Weeks |    YTD    |    LTD    
DS       |    29,839 |    31,914 |      161,985 | 2,468,544 | 23,641,598
PSP      |   159,816 |    23,901 |      235,433 | 2,992,962 | 10,658,039
WII      |    26,024 |    22,877 |      100,545 | 2,264,389 |  6,880,528
360      |     7,856 |     7,763 |       35,181 |   212,785 |    721,230
PS2      |     7,261 |     6,982 |       32,709 |   405,272 | 21,332,312
PS3      |     4,725 |     5,734 |       25,966 |   699,941 |  2,341,617

USA Today: Music Games Generate $2 Billion in 2 Years

"There are a lot of new games coming out for this genre," says Anita Frazier of market tracking firm NPD Group. "Some will do well, some won't. The challenge for each newcomer to the genre is to differentiate and communicate how it's special or brings some new magic to the table."

Music-game sales have risen from $132 million in 2005, when Hero was first released, to more than $1.2 billion last year and $896 million so far this year.

The category, Frazier says, "was very small before Guitar Hero and Rock Band came on the scene."

Read the entire article HERE.

Casual Games, Serious Audiences: Bejeweled Hits 25 Million Sold

This is a perfect example of a game that can transcend genres, labels, and audience demographics by creating an easy-to-learn objective with an addictive "just one more time" scoring system.

Just like Tetris, Bejeweled has tapped into that basic need of fun, diversion, and scoring-improvement that is independent of audiences.


Gamasutra:

More than 350 million trial editions of Bejeweled and Bejeweled 2 have been downloaded from the web, says PopCap, which estimates the casual gaming audience at between 350 and 450 million. Total Bejeweled downloads account for a third of PopCap's claimed one billion total downloads across all its titles.

Read the entire article HERE.

Questions for Analysis
Can game publishers learn from this? Does Nintendo's Blue Ocean strategy, and Ubisoft's and EA's casual divisions prove that console publishers are catching on? Are they missing the mark by segmenting audiences even further under the guise of going casual? Are gamers at fault by assuming anything not targeted towards young adult men means that a game must be casual?

Pachter: Wii May Push 1 Million Per Month

He's a bit late to the party, but his reasoning is sound.

The Wii has been able to outsell Xbox 360 and PS3 combined in recent months in the U.S., but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says it could sell even more per month thanks to a slightly stronger dollar.

What do you think? Can the Wii sell more than a million per month for...longer than a month?

Read the whole article HERE.