GamesLaw analyzes NPD July 07-08 Numbers

Posted by Dan on August 18, 2008

NPD’s console sale charts for July ‘07-’08 are now in beautiful graph form, and the results are interesting. We draw a few conclusions after the jump:

First, note how the winner here is at first glance Nintendo. With the exception of September and January, they have the highest sales of every month. But that’s not the whole story.

Arguably, the real winner here is Microsoft. In the critical months of November, and December, the height of the sales season, the 360 clearly competed well with the Wii, and actually beat it in September as well. The 360 beat the PS3 ever single month in 2007. But keep in mind that the 360 has an incredible age advantage over the other two systems. It has been out for so much longer than the other two systems, that it should simply not be selling as well as it does. This makes it’s competition with the still-hard-to-find Wii significantly closer, and it’s trouncing of the PS3 even more astounding.

Were all the consoles to have been released at the same time, we might have declared Wii the winner. But the 360’s numbers, being as strong as they are at this point in time, earn extra weight. I think it is a close contest but must give the slight edge to Microsoft on that factor alone. The other reason that tips the balance in favor of Microsoft is that Wii sales are hinging upon the traditional NES system of a few high performing, high value titles driving the entire console — Wii Fit, Super Mario Galaxy, and Mario Kart. But the problem with this strategy is it is not sustainable and as time develops, it cannot continue to drive sales. When combined with the Wii’s lower perceived public value due to poor graphics and “family-oriented” gameplay, the steadiness of sales for the other two systems simply outweigh Nintendo Wii’s future earnings potential; especially when combined with the lower price point, eliminating the serious possibility of future price cuts to drive sales (a tactic where Sony clearly holds the greatest potential). When further added to the lack of HD disk media capacity in the Wii (which lacks even the support for such a thing), when compared to Sony (built into the PS3) and Microsoft (as an add-on), it’s clear that despite the graph’s initial presentation, Nintendo is actually the biggest LOSER of the year.

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