Wii still king in US
Yet to leave the building, despite April sales slippage
US sales of the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 all declined last month, but the Nintendo console remained head and shoulders above its rivals, according to the latest market analysis.
Console movement watcher NPD found that, during March, US consumers bought 262,000 Xbox 360s and 257,000 PS3s. But the following month, sales of both had dropped, leaving the arch-rivals almost neck-and-neck. During April, the Microsoft sold 188,000 Xbox 360s to Sony's 187,100 PS3s - down 28.2 per cent and 27.2 per cent, respectively.
The Wii’s sales also dropped between March and April, but only from 721,000 units to 714,200 - a fall of less than one percentage point. As a result, the Wii not only outsold the combined sales of all other stationary consoles during April but also increased its lead.
The humble PS2, sales of which fell by 91,600 units between March and April, still managed to rack-up 124,400 sales in April. This was the lowest figure for any non-portable console.
According to NPD, the Wii’s US success is a mixture of plentiful supplies heading into US stores and a strong selection of games - such as Wii Fit, which has only just become available in the country.
NPD estimated that total games industry sales reached $1.23bn during April – an increase of 47 per cent on the same period in 2007.
Unsurprisingly, Grand Theft Auto IV was the most popular title in the US during April – selling 1.85m copies for the Xbox 360 and another 1m for the PS3. Mario Kart for the Wii sandwiched itself between the two as the second most popular title overall, with sales of 1.12m units.
COMMENTS
@ Iain
hmm i must admit that the TV advert looks interesting for Evo on the wii....
my problem is that the remote just isnt that accurate for me (i.e the cursor moves around even when the controller isnt moving - such as on a table) i also find it hard to accurately increase small movements - dodgy arm i think :( )... might get it rented for a weekend to see. i might even then start using the wii again :) i could even use it upstairs and leave the mrs to neighbours etc :)
btw - my mrs loves the ps3 so that kisses goodbye to all the misconception about women and consoles. although she is only 23 (10 years my younger) so from a different generation almost :)
I think folks are missing the point
The wii appeals to the other half of the market - women ... remember them? Bet most of the posters on this page are men.
Although there are notable exceptions, most women aren't terribly enthralled by the latest graphics hardware or ultraviolent FPS. For us men who are, the difference between PC / Xbox / PS3 may be of interest ... for the fair sex, there is really only one option.
Ditto for parties / older folks (many of whom seem to enjoy the Wii).
Nintendo has cornered the market for everyone but young male FPS players. Which is why I'd reckon a lot of the posters on this page aren't impressed by it - it's not aimed at you, lads. It's aimed at your other half.
Really, Liam?
I found the new Pro Wiivo to be far more exciting and "next gen" with its point 'n' shoot controls than the slightly increased rez of the PS3 release. It might feel like a gimmick for the first 30 minutes, but it swiftly allows you to organise really clever runs and passes that just aren't possible on earlier versions.
@ Levente
You can disregard the difference between the HD and Sd gaming markets if you like. However that's rather like saying that the PC gaming market and console gaming market are the same - they aren't. It's pretty basic marketing to understand that there are different market segments in virtually every sector of consumer purchase. In console gaming (which is different from PC gaming) there are at least three segments. Handhelds, High definition and Strandard definition.
Wii competes with PS3 and 360 in the sense that it is competing for entertainment dollars (or pounds, francs, marks, yen, etc...). Fine. However it is not a direct competitor for either of them. It can't. It cannot do HD games at all. The absolute majority of 360/PS3 games are HD. Sony has two video game consoles for sale right now, an HD one and an SD one. The PS2 is not in direct competition with the Wii either because it's a little less powerful and doesn't have the innovative motion control that Wii has. That said it has a monster install base and monster library and more than a few innovative controllers of it's own.
NPD are simply looking at the gaming sector as a whole. If you delve into the demographics of who's buying what, and look at the demographics of HD TV and HD video you can immediately see that there is a definite difference in markets between PS3/360 and the Wii. None of that means that the Wii is poor, bad, or some how not a success. Of course it is, a huge one, but there are definitely two console gaming markets there. There is a degree of overlap, but still two distinct market segments.
That's why I don't believe that you can directly compare Wii sales against 360 or PS3. You can, however, directly compare 360 and PS3.
@ jacob
"Just to add on to this every growing conversation. the whole argument of " my wii is gatering dust, it's just a novelty etc." is another very poor argument."
erm.... nope..
lots of people i know are playing their xboxes/ps3 regularly, wheras they all dont use their wii due to the novelty wearing off and the games being dissapointing. i have played pro evo soccer on the ps3 way more than i played anything on the wii. also the ps3 is used for playing music, dvds and b.ray - whereas the wii is just a novelty games console
nintendo did something very clever. they created a novelty item that seemed cheap so lots of us bought it. since the initial 'how novel' couple of weeks everyone i know has a white odd shaped dust collector. in terms of bang for bucks the ps3 has been LOADS better value than this little gimmicky toy.
