In times of recession, we hardly ever think we could hear the word ‘record’ and the word ‘sales’ in the same sentence, and I don’t mean a record low. Last month, NPD Group announced record sales for the month before the holiday season, and expressed high hopes for December. Well, they were not wrong, and as always, Nintendo stays ahead of all competitors.
The gaming industry sales figures did not meet the $22 billion expectations at the end of the year, but they were as close as it gets, with $21.33 billion. December sales alone went up 9 percent compared to the same period last month, to $5 billion, significantly higher than in the previous month, when they totaled $2.91 billion.
Console makers had a lot of reasons to be happy about, with console sales going up from $1.21billion in November, to $1.88 billion in December. Video games sales almost doubled compared to November, accounting for $2.75 billion of last month’s earnings. Accessory sales also surged to $662 million, almost three times the November sales.
Overall, the video games industry went up 19 percent in 2008 compared to the previous year, but the most extensive growth was in software sales, which went up 26 percent year-over-year. December was a record breaking month, ending a record breaking year in terms of sales, the NPD report shows.
But although it might seem things went great for everyone, NPD analyst Anita Frazier explained why there have been so many layoffs lately in the industry: This is not a case of the rising tide lifting all boats. The increases are not being enjoyed equally by all manufacturers and publishers.
December proved once again to be Nintendo’s month with both its consoles: if in November, Nintendo DS was surprisingly breaking the 2 million units sold mark, in December it added a million more to that, selling over 3 million units. Nintendo Wii came second in December, breaking another record with 2,150,000 units sold.
Microsoft has won the battle against rival Sony, after its Xbox 360 console sold 1,440,000 units, compared to just 726,000 PS3s sold last month. If Nintendo opens up the top by occupying the first two positions, Sony’s consoles close it with the bottom three: PSP (1,020,000 units sold in December), PS3 and PS2 (410,000 units sold in December).
Wii games occupy half the top 10 in NPD’s report, and its positions are only disrupted by Call of Duty: World at War (Xbox), which came second with 1,330,000 units sold, Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead, both on Xbox, but also Call of Duty: Worlds at War for PS3 and Mario Kart DS for Nintendo DS.
Overall, in 2008, Nintendo completes the top 4 selling games with its hit titles Wii Play, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, followed by Xbox releases GTA IV, Call of Duty: World at War, and Gears of War 2. GTA IV for PS3 occupies the 8th position, followed by Madden NFL 09 (Xbox), and Mario Kart DS (NDS).
GAMES INDUSTRY Sales 2008: $21.33B
Software: $10.96B
Hardware: $7.81B
Accessories: $2.57B
Top-selling HARDWARE December 2008:
1.Nintendo DS - 3,040,000 units
2.Nintendo Wii - 2,150,000 units
3.Xbox 360 - 1,440,000 units
4.PlayStation Portable - 1,020,000 units
5.PlayStation 3 - 726,000 units
6.PlayStation 2 - 410,000 units
Top-selling SOFTWARE December 2008:
1. Wii Play (Wii) - Nintendo - 1,460,000 units
2. Call of Duty: World at War (360) - Treyarch/Activision) - 1,330,000 units
3. Wii Fit (Wii) - Nintendo - 999,000 units
4. Mario Kart Wii with Wheel (Wii) - Nintendo - 979,000 units
5. Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii) - Neversoft/Activision - 850,000 units
6. Gears of War 2 (360) – Epic Games/Microsoft - 745,000 units
7. Left 4 Dead (360) - Valve/EA - 629,000 units
8. Mario Kart DS (DS) - Nintendo - 540,000 units
9. Call of Duty: World at War (PS3) - Treyarch/Activision - 533,000 units
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii)- Nintendo - 497,000 units
