April NPD: Despite GTA, Wii Outsells PS3, 360 Combined

esmufc07

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Not even Grand Theft Auto IV's release can stop the Wii steamroller, it seems.

The NPD Group's game industry sales results for the month of April are in, and the best-selling games, as expected, are Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart Wii.

But GTA IV's release didn't actually translate into big sales numbers for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. In fact, sales of both consoles were actually down versus March, at around 188,000 units each. Wii sales were a whopping 714,200 units, an increase over March's already high per-week totals. (March NPD numbers represented five weeks of sales, April's are four.)

"It was surprising not to see bigger hardware sales for the Xbox 360 and the PS3 given the release of GTA IV. However, since the game was only in the market for 5 days during this reporting period, that sales lift could very well be evident in May data," NPD's Anita Frazier said in a statement.

In software sales, Mario Kart Wii moved over a million units, barely edging out the PlayStation 3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV for the #2 spot. Frazier called the game's release "a classic example of counter-programming."

Pokemon, Guitar Hero, and Smash Bros. helped Nintendo dominate the rest of the top ten list, with only Gran Turismo and Call of Duty 4 managing to sneak in on competing platforms.

All in all, the game industry had $1.23 billion in sales this month, compared to only $839 million in April 2007.

Hardware

1. Wii 714.2K
2. Nintendo DS 414.8K
3. PSP 192.7K
4. Xbox 360 188.0K
5. PlayStation 3 187.1K
6. PlayStation 2 124.4K

Software

1. 360 GTA IV 1.85mm
2. Wii Mario Kart w/ wheel 1.12mm
3. PS3 GTA IV 1.00mm
4. Wii Play 360K
5. Wii Super Smash Bros. Brawl 326K
6. PS3 Gran Turismo 5: Prologue 224K
7. DS Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness 202K
8. DS Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time 202K
9. Wii Guitar Hero III 152K
10. 360 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 141K

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/05/april-npd-despi.html

Still mightily close for the 360/PS3 in America it would seem.
 
No idea. But I do think blokes shouldn't have them coming down to their lips. That'd be wrong. Gay people care more about their arse hairs.
 
The Wii really must be the biggest overrated gimmick in gadget history.

I cant believe i qued up in the early hours of tuesday morning to get this console on release day - I enjoyed playing Wii sports for a few days then the thing just became boring.

Just dont understand the current fetish with it.
 
RedKaos said:
The Wii really must be the biggest overrated gimmick in gadget history.

I cant believe i qued up in the early hours of tuesday morning to get this console on release day - I enjoyed playing Wii sports for a few days then the thing just became boring.

Just dont understand the current fetish with it.
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There's a lot of games on it that are far better than versions on other consoles. But then again, if you are only going to be playing Wii sports on it, I'm not surprised you've got bored.

I also wouldn't call any effort to fundamentally change the way videogames are played gimmicky.
 
Nintendo have balls and are a proper games company, unlike Sony or Microsoft. The others have basically improved the specs but not done anything that'll change gaming. No matter what Weaste says about the PS3, it's more of the same with slightly better graphics. Been there done it all before. Yawn.
 
Nintendo were forced to do something different, after the shit that was the Gamecube they knew the wouldn't be able to challenge Sony or Microsoft in the HD Gaming market, so they went elsewhere.
 
esmufc07 said:
It's not like the Wii is cheap either, £200 for a Wii and 2 games which I think is daylight robbery.
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Now you sound like Uncle Weastie.

Considering the machine is better made than both the 360 and Ps3, the games are considerably cheaper AND you are guaranteed to look like a fool whilst playing it, I wouldn't call it daylight robbery. Overpriced? Yes.

£400+ with games that are £50+ is daylight robbery.
 
Redlambs said:
Now you sound like Uncle Weastie.

Considering the machine is better made than both the 360 and Ps3, the games are considerably cheaper AND you are guaranteed to look like a fool whilst playing it, I wouldn't call it daylight robbery. Overpriced? Yes.

£400+ with games that are £50+ is daylight robbery.
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Fine then, overpriced!
 
I still, a year after release, have no reason to but a ps3 over a nerdbox.
 
Redlambs said:
There's a lot of games on it that are far better than versions on other consoles. But then again, if you are only going to be playing Wii sports on it, I'm not surprised you've got bored.

I also wouldn't call any effort to fundamentally change the way videogames are played gimmicky.
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Here we go again though, that has nothing to do with the console itself; any of the three companies could have done it, and still could. The trick Nintendo have somehow pulled here, is that it's the strange control mechanisms that are associated with the machine. Wii doesn't stand for a games console with a waggle in the public mind, it stands for a waggle remote to control things on the screen and a board you can jump up and down on - a lot of people see it as just that and only that. It wouldn't surprise me that a lot of folk think that it's the TV doing the rest. The thing is just, well, baffling.
 
Spoonez el Grande said:
Nintendo have balls and are a proper games company, unlike Sony or Microsoft. The others have basically improved the specs but not done anything that'll change gaming. No matter what Weaste says about the PS3, it's more of the same with slightly better graphics. Been there done it all before. Yawn.
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Yes, but you could stick a waggle controller onto an Amiga. There have been many attempts to try new controllers by many different companies. Which, talking about Amiga, they had something in the labs something akin to the WiiFit board back in 1984.
 
It's so obvious, this. Xbox and Playstation play to a niche market. The Wii is marketed to everyone. Of course it will sell more.
 
What's being ignored in all of this is the fact that Nintendo, moreso than any other gaming company, has an immensely loyal following.

couple that with the fact that you can download almost every Nintendo game made onto your Wii (as I understand it, I may be mistaken) and you will have droves of gamers, new and old, lining up to buy one as is clearly shown by the sales figures.

the fact that I could possibly get uniracers for it had tempted me to pick one up.
 
Redlambs said:
Now you sound like Uncle Weastie.

Considering the machine is better made than both the 360 and Ps3, the games are considerably cheaper AND you are guaranteed to look like a fool whilst playing it, I wouldn't call it daylight robbery. Overpriced? Yes.

£400+ with games that are £50+ is daylight robbery.
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Have you got figures for this? In any case, I expect that it would have a lower failure rate due to the complexity and maturity of the base product.

I'd call it daylight robbery, when considering the ratio of cost to produce to sale price. I don't think that PS3 yet breaks even on that.
 
WeasteDevil said:
Yes, but you could stick a waggle controller onto an Amiga. There have been many attempts to try new controllers by many different companies. Which, talking about Amiga, they had something in the labs something akin to the WiiFit board back in 1984.
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or a PS3, wait they have sixaxis already and it's shite.
 
WeasteDevil said:
Here we go again though, that has nothing to do with the console itself;
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Of course it does. He's bored because of one game, I've pointed out there are plenty of decent games on the machine.


any of the three companies could have done it, and still could.
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That's not true. Anyone could have done it, but none had the same vision. To do it now would be pointless, because it's an extra peripheral for consumers to buy, and not all would.


The trick Nintendo have somehow pulled here, is that it's the strange control mechanisms that are associated with the machine. Wii doesn't stand for a games console with a waggle in the public mind, it stands for a waggle remote to control things on the screen and a board you can jump up and down on - a lot of people see it as just that and only that. It wouldn't surprise me that a lot of folk think that it's the TV doing the rest.
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Is that a bad thing? Since when has it ever been about the box that runs the games over the games themselves?


The thing is just, well, baffling.
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Not really. Nintendo have a reputation (and rightly so) for being innovative in the videogame market, which is why they have a huge hardcore following. By coming out with something unique, they have now enticed parents into buying it for their kids and themselves, and women now are taking a look at videogames.

It's been quite a success that no other company has ever managed to do with a videogame console.
 
WeasteDevil said:
I'll stick my neck out here, and I'll predict that the Wii will not sell PS2 lifetime numbers by the end of its life.
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Possibly. Strong possibility that the Wii is more faddy and will be outdated more quickly. But they ought to be able to move on and bring out something new that also appeals to a wider market... though I suppose others might do this too... and of course gamers will be happy to buy another console, or a replacement console much earlier than other punters.
 
Redlambs said:
That's not true. Anyone could have done it, but none had the same vision. To do it now would be pointless, because it's an extra peripheral for consumers to buy, and not all would.
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Microsoft for example could place a new clause into their licence agreement for developers that all games must support a new controller. If as you say this type of control mechanism is so great, then if every new game supports it, then why would it be a problem? Surely, if it was such a revolution and attraction, people would by it in droves. Surely there must be Wii games that do not use the thing? How the hell do you play a racer with it? Oh, wait!
 
WeasteDevil said:
Microsoft for example could place a new clause into their licence agreement for developers that all games must support a new controller. If as you say this type of control mechanism is so great, then if every new game supports it, then why would it be a problem? Surely, if it was such a revolution and attraction, people would by it in droves. Surely there must be Wii games that do not use the thing? How the hell do you play a racer with it? Oh, wait!
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Neither MS or Sony would do that, because they've been beaten to the market. Plus it would be extremely stupid to suddenly now change any control mechanism and make the older one obsolete.

There are no Wii games that don't use the remote (to my knowledge, also exluding WiiWare titles), some (like fighting games) allow use of a Gamecube controller as an extra option (for example, 2d fighting games like streetfighter). As for the racer comment, what is that supposed to mean? Which one doesn't use the remote?
 
Spoonez el Grande said:
Nintendo have balls and are a proper games company, unlike Sony or Microsoft. The others have basically improved the specs but not done anything that'll change gaming. No matter what Weaste says about the PS3, it's more of the same with slightly better graphics. Been there done it all before. Yawn.
Click to expand...

Spoonez el Grande said:
The DS and all. Sony's PSP was more of the same. . .Nintendo went in a different direction.
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Agree 100%. As much as Weaste can argue that any of the others could have done what Nintendo did, the fact is they didn't and now Nintendo are raking in the money with technology that isn't that mcuh more advanced than the PS2's. And they did all that because the console is fun, easy to pick up for beginners and there are plenty of great first party games (Mario Kart, Mario Strikers Charged, Wario Ware e.t.c)
 
Ronaldo07 said:
Agree 100%. As much as Weaste can argue that any of the others could have done what Nintendo did, the fact is they didn't and now Nintendo are raking in the money with technology that isn't that mcuh more advanced than the PS2's. And they did all that because the console is fun, easy to pick up for beginners and there are plenty of great first party games (Mario Kart, Mario Strikers Charged, Wario Ware e.t.c)
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Agree.

It's a videogame market, and it's always ultimately about the games. The Wii offers something unique and new and may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I really can't see why people would have a problem with it?


On a purely technological level, Weaste is correct. It's overpriced for what it is inside the box. Then again, what isn't.
 
Redlambs said:
Agree.

It's a videogame market, and it's always ultimately about the games. The Wii offers something unique and new and may not be everybody's cup of tea, but I really can't see why people would have a problem with it?


On a purely technological level, Weaste is correct. It's overpriced for what it is inside the box. Then again, what isn't.
Click to expand...

The thing about the Wii though, it's family friendly. It's not going to pick up the gamer market, but it's going for those that would normally just sit in front of the tv. Weirdest thing was last xmas, all my family gathered about, playing Wii. All ages, everyone participating.

Whereas I'd sit in a dark room playing gta4 by myself all night.
 
hypercrawl said:
The thing about the Wii though, it's family friendly. It's not going to pick up the gamer market, but it's going for those that would normally just sit in front of the tv. Weirdest thing was last xmas, all my family gathered about, playing Wii. All ages, everyone participating.

Whereas I'd sit in a dark room playing gta4 by myself all night.
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What do you mean by that?
 
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