Console sales down 76 per cent in US

By Ellie Gibson Published 13 February, 2009

Nintendo winning, 360 third, PS3 in fourth.

NPD has released US sales figures for January, shockingly revealing that people bought a lot less consoles than they did at Christmas.

Even sales of the Wii and DS were down, falling from 1.47 million and 2.5 million to 679,000 and 511,000 respectively. Xbox 360 sales stood at 309,00, compared to 1.1 million in December.

The PS3 proved more popular than the PSP for once, racking up sales of 203,000 (down from 523,000). The figure for PSP was 172,000 and for PS2 it was 101,000.

On average console sales fell by 76 per cent , with PS3 suffering the lowest fall (72 per cent) and PSP the highest (83 per cent).

Nintendo took over the top of the software charts too, shifting 777,000 copies of Wii Fit to grab the number one spot, while Wii Play and Mario Kart were in at two and three. Here's that January top ten in full:

  1. Wii Fit
  2. Wii Play
  3. Mario Kart Wii
  4. Left 4 Dead
  5. Call of Duty: World at War
  6. Skate 2
  7. Guitar Hero World Tour
  8. New Super Mario Bros.
  9. Mario Kart DS
  10. Lord of the Rings: Conquest
Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (38) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • oxymoron #1 3 years ago

    Flame On!

  • SeesThroughAll #2 3 years ago

    Wow... In hard times, people buy less consoles... Who would have known... :p

  • woodnotes #3 3 years ago

    This article is FULL OF FAIL.

    Comparing December figures with January!? WTF!?

    Of course they're going to be lower!! How about comparing it to the same month last year. Ellie obvious doesn't have ANY business sense.
    Edited by 2 at 13/02/09 @ 08:45

  • Bealsy #4 3 years ago

    Nintendo in "more popular than breathing" shocker.

  • richardiox #5 3 years ago

    If it (PS3) hasn't started closing the gap on 360 by now you have to start thinking it never will. The fact that even after the software lineup has strengthened, after MGS4, LBP, GTA4 etc it's still selling less than it was this time last year is pretty bad for Sony.
    @ Seesthroughall - Wii and 360 sales are up on this time last year....
    Edited by 1 at 13/02/09 @ 08:54

  • alimokrane #6 3 years ago

    Wii, DS, 360 Saw year-on-Year increases. All other consoles/Handhelds (PS3, PSP, PS2) saw decreases year-on-year. Sony needs to drop their PS3 price ASAP if they are to compete in 2009.
    Edited by 1 at 13/02/09 @ 08:54

  • BadDevotions #7 3 years ago

    "NPD has released US sales figures for January, shockingly revealing that people bought a lot less consoles than they did at Christmas."

    No shit.

  • Dizzy #8 3 years ago

    So top 10 is 4 Wii, 2 DS and 4 360?

  • GamerG #9 3 years ago

    Sony is set for its worse year ever


    Good work lads, way'd to f'up a brand

  • hiddenranbir #10 3 years ago

    @woodnotes

    I agree!

  • HermitArcader #11 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • CallousB #12 3 years ago

    20 of the top 30 selling games were for Wii or DS (according to Nintendo's PR anyway).
    Edited by 1 at 13/02/09 @ 09:31

  • Beek4257 #13 3 years ago

    To some of the above:
    The comparisons are from NPD, not EG + Ellie is being ironic.
    Then again, maybe so are you.

  • Eighthours #14 3 years ago

    On average console sales fell by 76 per cent , with PS3 suffering the lowest fall (72 per cent)

    Ellie, are you pitching for a job writing the Sony press release? ;)

    The PS3 was the only home console to lose sales compared with this time last year. The rest were up on their Jan 2008 numbers. Comparing January sales with Christmas ones is a bit silly, really.

  • metalangel #15 3 years ago

    The biggest fail is the top ten games. Clearly, the world has no taste ;)

  • Garulon #16 3 years ago

    "The gap in sales between the 360 and PS3 went from half a million peak holiday season to 100,000 off peak Jan sales"

    Which is still people buying three 360s to every two PS3s. That's not good. PS3's over in the US, it's a GameCube. This will affect US game releases, knock on effects for Europe and JP.

  • kinky_mong #17 3 years ago

    The biggest fail is the top ten games. Clearly, the world has no taste ;)

    Clearly not all of the world considering Left 4 Dead is finally getting the respect it deserves.

    @Woodnotes: I think you missed the huge amount of sarcasm in the article.

  • Weezer #18 3 years ago

    Most expensive console still sells appealing than cheaper models, eh? Perhaps it is time that Sony re-examined its overall strategy before it loses mind-share as well as market share.

    BTW: Killlzone 2 rocks. The PS3 is actually ON in our house. Which is nice.

    (The Wii isn't even in standby mode any more. Anyone fancy buying it?)

  • Weezer #19 3 years ago

    Oh, and while technically correct that headline is horribly misleading... shame on you.

  • mkreku #20 3 years ago

    This article if full of HUMOUR. Look it up, it's in the dictionary.

  • des #21 3 years ago

    No playstation family games in top 10...amazing

  • alpha-0ne #22 3 years ago

    Comparing january numbers with christmas sales is stupid, the writer was looking for any postive slant at all for the ps3, obviously it dropped less in january concidering the small sales in december

    Whats more relevant is comparing to january 08 but i dont expect that to be done as sony is way down on all platforms compared to last year. everyone else is up
    Edited by 3 at 13/02/09 @ 11:51

  • NotSoSlim #23 3 years ago

    Who cares for christ sake. Microsoft up when cheaper in America no shit...lol

    The price is hurting Sony but they cant just drop the price and the may as well wait until it has the biggest impact probably afther the costs on the console somes down.

    Crap article and the just fanboy bait. All consoles sold okay despite the recession

  • merkdot #24 3 years ago

    this joke backfired

  • makeamazing #25 3 years ago

    Actually the PS3 games are great, and its a really good machine, of course you wont know that cause all you do fart is come on here and slate it. ;)

    Wow the Xbox sells more even though it is considerably cheaper, but it still didnt sell a truck load more, but you seem to ignore that fact.

    I have no issue with PS3 or Xbox, but seriously stop being such a muppet all the time.

  • Ryze #26 3 years ago

    @Weezer

    I'll give you £90 for it.

  • DrDamn #27 3 years ago

    @Farticus
    The PS3 had the lowest RELATIVE fall (72 per cent).

    It's fairly clear from recent interviews that the PS division were ordered to show a profit by those higher up at Sony and that's what they've tried to do and probably succeeded - now they have shown that I think a price drop is what they really need.

  • HolyJebus #28 3 years ago

    I agree this is a completely pointless story without comparing them to Jan 08 figures.

  • DanDickhead #29 3 years ago

    Serious lack of proper analysis in this article, and far too little attempt to put things in proper context.

  • DrDamn #30 3 years ago

    @Farticus
    "...but still ended up with the worst actual hardware sales figures of the current gen, and the worst software sales too. "

    Good back track ...

    "I've no idea if the hardware is making a profit"

    Last Reeves interview indicated that that as a division (at least in Europe) they would - whether this was on hardware or software wasn't clear, but as a division they would. So one or both would be. They don't have to shift to smaller cell chips to make a profit. The internals are changing all the time with consoles as they refine manufacturing processes and component prices come down.

  • DrDamn #31 3 years ago

    Well that I agree on - but it's not exactly what you said originally ;)

    I'm happy with what I get from my PS3 as for me the PS brand is not for the mainstream stuff it's about the more diverse stuff they tend to try - whether it works or not. It compliments my 360 well in that regard - that's me though.

    I'm not sure how well understood the multi-platform release differences are known in general though. If you read a lot of multiformat stuff then you know the 360 has a decent edge in this area - but does the general public at large know?

  • Dizzy #32 3 years ago

    "Wow the Xbox sells more even though it is considerably cheaper, but it still didnt sell a truck load more, but you seem to ignore that fact. "


    No no no.... remember the 360 is actually the most EXPENSIVE machine. The PS3 is dirt cheap with lot's of extra stuff! Quite shocking that the cheapest machine is actually selling so badly.

  • DrDamn #33 3 years ago

    @Farticus
    I think they will do well enough this round to continue producing the stuff I want and survive to fight another day. A strong Sony last time played a big part in MS doing such a good job this gen so it's in most people's interests for them to survive and do well. The kick in the teeth they have had this time from MS & Nintendo should hopefully see them come back stronger too.

  • DrDamn #34 3 years ago

    @Farticus
    The guy who replaced Phil Harrison, Yamada(?), and now heads up Sony Worldwide studios has acknowledged software issues and mistakes made in the past. He has talked lots of sense in interviews. It just depends on how much power he is given to change things.

  • ronuds #35 3 years ago

    I doubt devs are going to cease making PS3 games, especially as the porting gets cheaper by the day. Sony's problems are mostly in its money issues. They're losing it and therefore can't afford to take one in the ass to try and make their product more popular.

    Meanwhile, MS keeps making money hand over fist and can afford giving its customers the best there is to offer.

  • SAH1977 #36 3 years ago

    You do wonder why some put so much emphasis on January sales, everyone realises Sony are steadying the ship before implementing price cut(s) later in the year to capitalise on titles such as Killzone 2 and GT5.

  • electrolite #37 3 years ago

    Always makes me ;augh when people put "everyone realises" something is true to try and pressure others into agreeing

  • FooAtari #38 3 years ago

    2008 v 2009 sales</a>

    360:
    2008 - 230,000
    2009 - 309,000

    PS3:
    2008 - 269,000
    2009 - 203,000

    Wii
    2008 - 274,000
    2009 - 679,000