NPD report analysis: Sony rules the Madden 09 market with an iron fist
The video game industry is on track for a record breaking year with growth almost every month. Last month, the industry witnessed growth that dropped to the single digits, but analysts are still predicting a record shattering year. In August, for the first time in many months the Xbox 360 overtook the PS3 in monthly sales.
The NPD monthly report shows that all hardware platforms witnessed a slight dip from the previous month with the exception of the Sony PSP. The Nintendo DS still remains on top with the Wii following closely behind it.
August 2008 – Hardware rank
1. Nintendo DS–518,300
2. Wii–453,000
3. PlayStation Portable–253,000
4. Xbox 360–195,200
5. PlayStation 3–185,400
6. PlayStation 2–144,100
Manufacturer Hardware Penetration
- Nintendo continues to take the lead shifting a total of 971,300 units between the Wii and DS. Nintendo truly is an unstoppable force with the largest penetration of casual gamers.
- Sony takes second place penetrating the market by shifting a total of 582,500 units between the PS3, PS2 and PSP. Sony’s three pronged strategy to attack the marketplace by tackling the hardcore with the PS3, casual with the PS2 and handheld with the PSP seems to still lag behind Nintendo’s strategy.
- Microsoft has the least amount of market penetration, shifting 195,200 Xbox 360s. Note – To be fair Microsoft is tackling all of the market fronts with a single platform.
Manufacturer Software Penetration
Overall the top seller for the month of August was Madden 09 (EA) which managed to shift more than 2.3 million units across all platforms. Microsoft managed to sell 1 million units of Madden 09 on the Xbox 360 making it the most sold on a single platform.
Sony managed to sell over 1.3 million copies of Madden 09 on all Playstation platforms, putting it in the lead for having the most Madden 09 sold by a single manufacturer. On the Playstation platforms Madden 09 sold 643,000 on the PS3, 424,500 on the PS2 and an estimated 200,000 on the PSP. Surprisingly, Nintendo only managed to sell 115,800 copies of Madden 09 despite Nintendo’s superior monthly hardware sales.
It is interesting to note the PS2 and the Wii are both marketed to the casual audience yet the PS2 managed to overtake the Wii in Madden 09 sales. This is no doubt due to a large percentage of existing PS2 owners that have not moved onto next gen platforms, in combination with the consumers who are purchasing the PS2 for the first time.
All in all, despite the slight drop in hardware sales, software sales look as healthy as ever, generating $550.7 million for the month of August. NPD analyst Anita Frazier, estimates the industry is on target to generate $22 – $24 billion in revenues this year. Wii Play maintains strong sales with a phenomenal attach rate of 44% as well as making another appearance in the top 10 software sales for last month.
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25 Responses to “NPD report analysis: Sony rules the Madden 09 market with an iron fist”
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September 11th, 2008
Those Nintendo games just keep on selling. I don’t think there’s been a PS3 game that’s sold over 5m yet but there must be 4 or 5 for Wii by now.
September 11th, 2008
HAHAAHHAHA FERRO!!!! That’s coming out of the ‘Sony Defense Force’ book, using the ‘Sony Family’ vs Xbox 360 method. What’s next? You’re going to give the ‘Chewbacca Defense’ a try?
September 11th, 2008
Man Nintendo better take some of the cash bundles created by the Wii and give us a nice fat powerful console next gen. and run a hardware $ loss sales strategy (nothing too large of course).
I just have this feeling they will buying old xbox’s and painting them gloss white or something…
September 12th, 2008
Well everyone in the entire universe has a PS2. I got 6 of them. I’m selling my Xbox 360 to buy PS3 software.
September 12th, 2008
Why on god’s green earth do you have 6 PS2s??
Wait…. why am I trying to reason with Ivan?
September 12th, 2008
I’d like to know how they get their figures. I’m not saying their wrong, but how do they come to these conclusions every month?
September 12th, 2008
No idea, but it’s apparently more reliable than vgchartz.com.
September 12th, 2008
What I find curious is every TV ad I see for Madden 09 has an XBOX360 tag at the end. No mention of either Nintendo or Sony (in my market at least). I guess MS must have paid for some of EA’s marketing expenses for the game, and that would seem to be paying off in X360 vs. PS3 but NOT for X360 vs. the all.
Hmmm…I wonder how many copies of Madden 09 with Brett Favre in Packers attire were sold just because people wanted a “collectors item” version? And then people also bought a copy with Brett in Jets attire to actually play? Too bad we could never know if that is happening (and thus artificially “pumping” Madden 09 sales).
September 12th, 2008
David- I have noticed the 360 logo after almost every multi-plat game commercial. MS must be paying out their arse on marketing. I’m sure it is moving some consoles. It would be interesting to see how much they have to pay for this type of marketing.
September 12th, 2008
@harry sachz,
Interesting you see it that way.. that is this story is somehow pro Sony.
- Thumbs up to Nintendo for shifting most hardware total
- Thumbs up to Microsoft for selling 1 million copies of Madden 09 on a single platform
- Thumbs up for selling the most copies of Madden 09 from a single Manufacturer.
Stop focusing and getting hung up on one aspect of the story, take it all in.
Everyone wins.
September 12th, 2008
So that’s what? 360 wins 2 months so far this year in it’s own backyard?
September 12th, 2008
Harry,
High five for being the first to predict Pachter being wrong AGAIN for the 500th month in a row…
-Arvis
September 12th, 2008
All my friend have over 10 PS2 the reason was everyone that owned the game SOCOM II rank up using turbo controllers and PS2 to become #1 which we did. I have 3 Xbox no reason collecting dust 1 360 2 PS3 60GB 80GB both backwards compatible.
September 12th, 2008
Oh and FERRO;
‘In August, for the first time in many months the Xbox 360 overtook the PS3 in monthly sales.’
360 beat PS3 3 months ago. Since when is 3 month MANY months????
September 12th, 2008
harry sachz:
Do you have or want a Sony PLAYSTATION 3? Just asking, is good having both consoles trust me i will know. It doesn’t really matter how many times Microsoft have beaten Sony in console sales. Because if you look at the numbers Microsoft is losing. Sony’s PS3 is catching Microsoft’s Xbox 360 really fast faster with 1 year behind. Imagine if the PLAYSTATION 3 had been launched with the Xbox 360.
PLAYSTATION 3 Launched November 11, 2006
2.36M Japan
5.77M America
7.19M Others
Total 15.32 Million
Xbox 360 Launched November 22, 2005
0.69M Japan
12.32M America
7.58M Others
Total 20.58 Million
September 13th, 2008
“Man Nintendo better take some of the cash bundles created by the Wii and give us a nice fat powerful console next gen. and run a hardware $ loss sales strategy (nothing too large of course).”
Great Idea. Nintendo should copy Sonys stratergy because it worked so well for them
SW, you’re a fool.
September 13th, 2008
me:
The problem is Nintendo is not as rich as Sony and Microsoft. I don’t think Nintendo can compete against Sony or Microsoft in real technology. Especially not Sony they the most innovative company in the world creating
MOVIES
MUSIC
HARDWARE
SOFTWARE
COMPUTERS
MP3 PLAYER
HDTV
RADIO
BLU-RAY
PLAYSTATION
And many more hot shit like that. I hope they do try to compete with Sony with high tech even if they get buried.
September 13th, 2008
Ivan, no, I don’t have nor want a PS3 currently. There just isn’t enough ‘bang for the buck’ with PS3 currently. If these games that you constantly list are actually any good, I might change my stance, but I honestly can’t see value for money for what I want.
September 13th, 2008
Wow i know you don’t really mean that. Because PS3 has a serious list of must have kick ass games a lot. PS3 should cost at least $1000 for everything it has. PS3 has just value too bad you don’t wanna see it. I proudly own an Xbox 360 i don’t denied because i enjoy my Xbox 360 but i really enjoy more the PLAYSTATION 3. I have a Sony HDTV 70 inches rare model and i can only enjoy on Xbox playing games while on PS3 i enjoy it for music tv shows movies and obviously games.
September 13th, 2008
No, I really mean that. I can’t justify spending a crapload of money for a machine that plays MGS4 and Uncharted (the only 2 PS3 games that have piqued my interest) and blu-ray movies. I know money is just paper to you, but I don’t plan on throwing mine away.
September 13th, 2008
2 games (according to you) is way better than none don’t you think? Some buy PS3just because it has Blu-ray support, but most people buy for this couple of reasons. I can add millions.
1. Awesome price for what you get.
2. Amazing must have kick ass jaw dropping exclusives.
3. Reliability
4. Free online service that actually works with no lagers or cheaters.
5. The most audio and video codec.
6. Well because is kicking Xbox 360 ass at everything it does.
September 13th, 2008
@ me:
Point out where I said that strat. would sell a bundle of consoles for the big N?
I didn’t, darn. Sucks to be you.
I said I, ME, MYSELF, wanted a powerhouse from Nintendo.
On top of that, was I being %100 serious, nope, do I expect Nintendo to say ‘O look SW wants us to do that!’ No I don’t.
Do I want to see GOOD new IP from Nintendo in huge expansive worlds where every character doesn’t look like a serrated knife? Where the world reacts (AI and physics wise) more like it does in the ‘real’ world?
Yes I do.
But thank YOU for calling me a fool, it shows pure class.
*gets off high horse*
In short, stop being a cock.
September 13th, 2008
“I can add millions.”
So 1,000,000 – 6 = 999,994 reasons to go.
Please give us the rest.
@Harry
I’ve come to the conclusion that this generation you only really need to own either a 360 OR PS3.
I own both and guess what 2 disc based games I own for my PS3? Ill give you a hint! I didn’t own a 360 when GTA was released
( I do own other stuff off the PSN, such as GT4:P, pixel junk etc.)
So neither machine is crap, but there are so many x-platform stuff its hardly worth owning both for a couple of games on each console. I only still own my PS3 due to hope that there should hopefully be some amazing games further into its life such as god of war etc.
I just couldn’t bring myself to sell it (as was the original plan).
September 13th, 2008
SW:
Don’t worry i posted already more than 200 reasons why PS3 is better than everything else. If you the complete Googolplex i will give to you. And I’m glad you have a PS3 hopefully it can play PS2 games. PS3 is full amazing games. Xbox 360 is crap. God of War 1, 2 and Chains of Olympus kick ass and as for III we know is gonna be perfect.
Googolplex= The biggest number that exist.
September 13th, 2008
SW, agreed. However if some of these exclusives that Ivan keeps mentioning are any good, I may have to reconsider.
Ivan, none? So Gears Of War, Mass Effect, Halo 3, Ace Combat, Lost Odyssey etc are worthless in your eyes? Damn….