Wii, GTA IV Top May 2008 Videogame Industry Sales

NPD Group has released hardware and software sales for May 2008. As expected, the videogame industry is defying the current economic slowdown in the United States - combined hardware and software sales increasing 37% to $1.12 billion. Hardware sales are up 34% to $428.6 million, while software sales increased 41% to $536.9 million. The US videogame industry has generated revenues of $6.6 billion so far.

In terms of hardware sales, Nintendo's (NTDOY.PK) Wii and DS once again dominated the sales chart with sales far above the 200,000-300,000 units typically seen during the first half of the year. Life-to-date sales of the Nintendo Wii have reached 10.2 million, just shy below the 10.3 million units the Xbox 360 has sold despite the year head start; PlayStation 3 life-to-date sales stand at 4.5 million. However, in 2008, the PlayStation 3 has outsold the Xbox 360: 1.2 million to 1.1 million; Nintendo's Wii has sold more than both combined at 2.8 million units.

Looking at software sales, GTA IV, Mario Kart Wii, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl continue to post strong sales numbers. Wii Fit had a great debut given the title's non-traditional appeal and higher price tag ($90 compared to $50 for the average Wii game). Activision (ATVI) continues to get mileage from Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, which was released in October. Interestingly, despite GTA IV's high sales data, the game appears to be selling mostly to people that already own current-generation consoles.

Top Videogame Hardware – May 2008

1. Wii - 675,100
2. Nintendo DS - 452, 600
3. PlayStation 3 - 208,700
4. Xbox 360 - 186,600
5. PSP - 183,400

Top Videogame Software – May 2008

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360, Take-Two (TTWO) - 871,300
2. Mario Kart (Wii, Nintendo) - 787,400
3. Wii Fit w/balance board (Wii, Nintendo) - 687,700
4. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, Take-Two) - 442,900
5. Wii Play w/remote (Wii, Nintendo) - 294,600
6. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii, Nintendo) - 171,100
7. Iron Man (PS2, Sega) - 130,600
8. Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock w/guitar (Wii, Activision) - 116,800
9. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness (DS, Nintendo) - 107,000
10. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time (DS, Nintendo) - 102,000

For comparison, here are last month's numbers:

Top Videogame Hardware – April 2008

1. Wii - 714,200
2. Nintendo DS - 414,800
3. PSP - 192,000
4. Xbox 360 - 188,000
5. PlayStation 3 - 187,100
6. PlayStation 2 - 124,400

Top Videogame Software – April 2008

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 1,850,000
2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 1,120,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 1,000,000
4. Wii Play (Wii) - 360,000
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 326,000
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PS3) - 224,000
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness [DS] - 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time [DS] - 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 141,000

Disclosure: None

Comments

[HW]

Thanks for the statistics. Great to see how video games are contributing to US Economy.