After all of the talk about which system was dominating Black Friday sales, and which system was about to become ancient history, NPD's release of its November report for the United States almost seemed anticlimactic. I mean, when has Michael Pachter ever been wrong?
But, lo and behold, there was quite a surprise awaiting all of us in the November 2009 report:
The Nintendo DS sold 1.70 million units? Take that PSP!
But seriously, in the battle hardcore gamers follow, the "left for dead" Xbox 360 managed to outsell the PS3 by almost 110,000 units. The Nintendo Wii continued its dominance this generation and sold an impressive 1.26 million units despite a less than stellar game library.
Here's a look at the November hardware sales numbers:
- Nintendo DS -- 1.70M
- Nintendo Wii -- 1.26M
- Microsoft Xbox 360 -- 819.5K
- Sony PS3 -- 710.4K
- Sony PSP -- 293.9K
- Sony PS2 -- 203.1K
While these numbers were a nice surprise for Microsoft, Sony has to be pleased as well since this was a huge year-over-year improvement considering the PS3 only sold 300,000 units last November. It looks like the price cut, new design, and great advertising campaign is working for the PS3.
However, Sony is not likely to be as pleased with November's software sales.
Modern Warfare 2 sold 4.2 million on the Xbox 360 and just 1.87 million on the PS3. Somewhat more surprising is that Assassin's Creed 2, which had been heavily advertised in conjunction with the PS3, sold almost 800,000 units on the Xbox 360 and about 450,000 on the PS3. Though, the biggest surprise was Uncharted 2, which did not make it into the top ten, even though it was released in October and is clearly one of the best games of 2009.
Here's the breakdown of the top-ten software sales for November:
- Modern Warfare 2 (360) -- 4.20M
- Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) -- 1.87M
- New Super Mario Brothers (Wii) -- 1.39M
- Assassin's Creed 2 (360) -- 794.7K
- Left 4 Dead 2 (360) -- 744.0K
- Wii Sports Resort (Wii) -- 720.2K
- Wii Fit Plus (Wii) -- 679.0K
- Assassin's Creed 2 (PS3) -- 448.4K
- Dragon Age: Origins (360) -- 362.1K
- Mario Kart w/Wheel (Wii) -- 315.0K
Overall, the sale of consoles and video games fell 7.6% when compared to last November. Despite this, NPD analyst Anita Frazier noted that 2009 was a very good year overall and reminded readers that we "all have to realize the incredible year that was 2008."
Sources: Shacknews.com; CNet.com