Posted September 11, 2008 Hardware Unit Sales Nintendo DS 518.3K Wii 453.0K PlayStation Portable 253.0K Xbox 360 195.2K PlayStation 3 185.4K Playstation 2 144.1K Top 10 SKU's August 2008 (includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware) Publisher Release Date Rank # Units 360 MADDEN NFL 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS Aug-08 1 1.0mm PS3 MADDEN NFL 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS Aug-08 2 643K PS2 MADDEN NFL 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS Aug-08 3 424.5K WII WII FIT NINTENDO OF AMERICA May-08 4 394.9K WII MARIO KART NINTENDO OF AMERICA Apr-08 5 328.7K WII WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA Feb-07 6 200.2K 360 SOUL CALIBUR IV NAMCO BANDAI GAMES OF AMERICA Jul-08 7 174K 360 TOO HUMAN MICROSOFT Aug-08 8 168.2K WII MADDEN NFL 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS Aug-08 9 115.8K NDS GUITAR HERO: ON TOUR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD Jun-08 10 111.2K Comments from NPD analyst, Anita Frazier, are below. Overall "August industry sales remain strong and realized a 9% gain over last August, although the month posted the first single-digit percentage growth in 27 months" "Despite smaller growth this month, the industry is up 32% year-to-date and remains on target to achieve annual revenues in the range of $22 to $24 billion" "Across hardware, software and accessories, products for the Wii platform contributed 28% of total industry dollar sales for the month of August" Hardware "The PSP and PS3 systems achieved the greatest percentage gain of all now-gen systems. The sales acceleration of these systems, combined with the recent Xbox 360 price cuts should fuel future growth of this category" Software "Madden NFL '09 was the top-selling game of the month, and launched with 2.3 million units out of retail doors in it's first month, besting last year's '08 title by 2%. Year after year, the industry can count on the Madden release to bring folks into stores during the relatively lazy days of late summer" "Year-to-date, Grand Theft Auto IV remains the top-selling game at 4.8 million units sold in the U.S. through August" "Wii Play continues its remarkable track record, achieving a 44% attach rate to new Wii hardware sales for the month. It has remained a top-10 game each month since it's February 2007 introduction" Accessories "Xobx Live point cards and gold membership cards represented three of the top-10 accessory items for the month which sheds a little light onto the popularity of this service to Xbox 360 fans" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 12, 2008 Thanks Dante, great figures again for Nintendo. Good to see the PS3 back where it belongs - on the bottom of the pile! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 12, 2008 Wii 'Inhospitable' For Third-Party Publishers More consumers in August bought Electronic Arts' chart-topping Madden NFL 09 for the declining PlayStation 2 than for Wii -- does that signify real struggles for third-party publishers on Nintendo's platform? According to NPD results released yesterday, Madden swept the top three spots on the software charts, led by the Xbox 360 version and followed by the PS3 and PS2 editions respectively. But the Wii version of Madden didn't chart until the ninth spot, its performance outdone by Nintendo's own Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Play -- the latter making the top ten for its impressive 19th month in a row. Cowen Group analyst Doug Creutz says that the Wii version of Madden 09 sold 79 percent less units than the PS3 version, and 87 percent less units than the 360 version, despite a larger console install base and a better Metacritic rating. EA Sports' Peter Moore also recently talked to Gamasutra about the Wii edition of Madden, specially designed this year with an "All-Play" feature designed to increase accessibility to the Wii's largely casual install base. "We continue to believe that the Wii is a relatively inhospitable platform for third-party publishers," Creutz says. NCAA Football 09: 5.0 at IGN [53.3% at gamerankings, badest version] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 12, 2008 I personally think the Madden/Fifa/NHL/NBA fans are hardcore gamers looking for high-end presentations with cutting edge online elements. Wii offers none of those things. Wii offers "lite" mechanics alongside a tweaked last-gen model. Unfortunately for EA the trend for these sport updates was set before Wii came to the market - their own endeavours to make these sports titles "high end" and "cutting edge" has, in hindsight ensured that EA appeals to certain fans only. It could be argued that these titles also appeal to the "casual" player yet only by the subject matter could it be classed as casual (sport appeals to all) - not by the game itself. Unfortunately for EA, the vast majority of core EA Sports players are seeing straight through their "lite" mechanics and slapping the All-Play moniker on the front of the package alongside mii characters has hardly helped the image of a once serious franchise. If EA want the whole pie (and they obviously do) then they should release a "hardcore" Fifa/Madden/NHL/NBA title alongside another version of 5 a side "lite" mechanics. Unfortunately that would cost more money so we see the once respected franchises taking a dive bomb on Wii. Just my opinion of course Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 12, 2008 Does it signal that PS2 owners are a bunch of suckers? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 Who the hell still buys PS2 games? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 Who the hell still buys PS2 games? An installed user base of 120 million is not to be sniffed at! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 That NCAA screen is absolutely shocking. Look at the crowd, one of the worst efforts I've seen since N64/PS1 days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 I personally think the Madden/Fifa/NHL/NBA fans are hardcore gamers looking for high-end presentations with cutting edge online elements. Wii offers none of those things. Wii offers "lite" mechanics alongside a tweaked last-gen model. Unfortunately for EA the trend for these sport updates was set before Wii came to the market - their own endeavours to make these sports titles "high end" and "cutting edge" has, in hindsight ensured that EA appeals to certain fans only. It could be argued that these titles also appeal to the "casual" player yet only by the subject matter could it be classed as casual (sport appeals to all) - not by the game itself. Unfortunately for EA, the vast majority of core EA Sports players are seeing straight through their "lite" mechanics and slapping the All-Play moniker on the front of the package alongside mii characters has hardly helped the image of a once serious franchise. If EA want the whole pie (and they obviously do) then they should release a "hardcore" Fifa/Madden/NHL/NBA title alongside another version of 5 a side "lite" mechanics. Unfortunately that would cost more money so we see the once respected franchises taking a dive bomb on Wii. Just my opinion of course What about Tiger Woods? That sold better on Wii didn't it? Also, I think Fifa will be closer, think it will do okay on Wii. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 What about Tiger Woods? That sold better on Wii didn't it? Also, I think Fifa will be closer, think it will do okay on Wii. Yes it did. It's just a matter of the game. Look at how well Guitar Hero 3 sold on Wii. The Wii got the worst version of Madden, that probably has something to do with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 Added to that Madden is much much stronger in the US than in Euro/Japan. This makes a difference since the 360 is strong in the US when compared to Euro and Japan where the Wii does better still. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 How about u put some effort into your Wii editions of games and then people may actually spend money to reward your actual effort EA are going back to their roots here Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 13, 2008 I personally think the Madden/Fifa/NHL/NBA fans are hardcore gamers looking for high-end presentations with cutting edge online elements. Wii offers none of those things. Wii offers "lite" mechanics alongside a tweaked last-gen model. Unfortunately for EA the trend for these sport updates was set before Wii came to the market - their own endeavours to make these sports titles "high end" and "cutting edge" has, in hindsight ensured that EA appeals to certain fans only. It could be argued that these titles also appeal to the "casual" player yet only by the subject matter could it be classed as casual (sport appeals to all) - not by the game itself. Unfortunately for EA, the vast majority of core EA Sports players are seeing straight through their "lite" mechanics and slapping the All-Play moniker on the front of the package alongside mii characters has hardly helped the image of a once serious franchise. If EA want the whole pie (and they obviously do) then they should release a "hardcore" Fifa/Madden/NHL/NBA title alongside another version of 5 a side "lite" mechanics. Unfortunately that would cost more money so we see the once respected franchises taking a dive bomb on Wii. Just my opinion of course Only just seen this thread , and Madden '09 Wii sales don't surprise me. Tapedeck , you pretty much hit the nail on the head with the above and I certainly couldn't have said it better myself. Madden '09 on Wii is the first game that has made me think really hard about having a second console , so well done EA , I hope Sony or Microsoft will pay you ample commission when I (and a few others judging by EAs forums) decide to plunge for multi-console ownership this generation. And don't get me started of NCAA , I was really looking forward to seeing that return to a Nintendo console , needless to say , I never bothered importing it in the end. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 15, 2008 What I find amusing is that Madden NFL 09 also came out for the original xbox Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 15, 2008 Lozzles no ToV, but that had under a week before the end of August, but it sold less than 111k. Wonder if it'll appear in next months. Hella funny if it won't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
