| GameAddict 2006-09-10, 11:50 pm |
| NPD: August game-software revenue up 17.5 percent
Madden-mania helps console games ring up $397 million; hardware spikes
22 percent, thanks to an ascendant DS, but current-gen consoles
plummet.
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Sep 8, 2006 6:36 am PT
Wasn't 2006 supposed to be a year of doom and gloom for the game
industry? As revelers were popping their champagne corks in the early
hours of January 1, many analysts were predicting the following 12
months would be a long slog through a gloomy console-transition year.
However, after a few skittish months, things began to look up in April,
which saw overall game sales--software, hardware, and accessories--rise
16 percent, according to the industry-research firm NPD Group. That
number fell in May by 10 percent but rebounded in June by 25 percent.
The upward trend accelerated in July, which saw combined sales climb 29
percent when compared to the same month in 2005.
Today, preliminary percentages from NPD's August report began to
trickle out--and they also brought good news. NPD reported that non-PC
game software sales rang up $397 million in August, a rise of 17.5
percent versus the year before. What analysts term "current-generation"
software--games for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Game Boy
Advance--accounted for $249 million. So-called "next-generation"
software--DS, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360 games--earned $148
million.
August's main moneymaker in console games was Madden NFL 07, which
helped Electronic Arts' sales rise five percent during the month. The
game sold nearly two million units during its first week, enjoying the
benefits of having no competition from rival football franchises. That
translated to a $100 million one-week tally, a record for the
franchise. Analysts also singled out Square Enix's Dirge of Cerberus:
Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation 2), and Capcom's Dead Rising (Xbox 360)
as best-sellers for the month. NPD's estimate did not include sales of
THQ's Saints Row (Xbox 360), which has topped charts since its August
29 release.
By platform, the biggest software driver was a little thing called the
Nintendo DS. Sales of games for Nintendo's dual-screen handheld rose
116 percent during the month, propelled by the continuing Brain
Training and Mario Kart DS crazes. Sales of titles for the DS's
archrival, Sony's PlayStation Portable, also saw an increase of 57
percent, while Nintendo's previous handheld saw its software dollars
drop 27 percent.
But while things were rosy down handheld way, over in consoletown,
year-on-year software sales fell almost all around. The sole winner was
the PlayStation 2, which saw game sales climb a meager one percent.
Meanwhile, GameCube game sales dropped 23 percent and Xbox game sales
fell 53 percent.
So why did software sales spike then? Keep in mind there are no
year-on-year comparisons for the Xbox 360, which went on sale in
November 2005. However, the early NPD report did offer some insight
into the console's fortunes. Some $89 million of 360 games were sold in
August, beating analyst expectations (again).
During the month, around 205,000 Xbox 360s were sold, a slip of one
percent compared to July. So far in 2006, the console has sold some 2.4
million units, according to NPD. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter
expects the console to sell between 950,000 to 1.5 million more units
through the end of the year, putting its 2006 total between 3.35 and
3.9 million units.
As for the other hardware platforms, once again it was a DS success
story. Units of Nintendo's handheld enjoyed a whopping 168 percent
year-on-year growth spurt during the month, outpacing the only other
gainer, the PlayStation 2, which saw a rise of just three percent.
Everywhere else, it was a veritable bloodbath. Sales of PSPs dropped 12
percent, GBAs slid 23 percent, GameCubes fell 23 percent, and Xboxes
plummeted 93 percent, the last platform's sales no doubt cannibalized
by its next-gen sibling.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6157314.html
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