Platform holders discuss March sales

By Ellie Gibson Published 17 April, 2009

Sony don't mention the hardware war.

The platform holders have been blowing their own trumpets, buttering their own crumpets and using the word "momentum" a lot following the release of US sales figures for March.

Nintendo was quick to point out their machines accounted for nearly 60 per cent of all hardware sold - "More than all the other systems combined," said bigwig Cammie Dunaway. Without Nintendo products games industry revenues would be down 14 per cent for the year, don't you know.

Four of the best-selling games were Nintendo titles (Pokémon Platinum, Wii Fit, Mario Kart, Wii Play). In the first week on sale 435,000 Nintendo DSi units were shifted; as a comparison, the DS Lite only managed 226,000 when it first launched.

Microsoft was similarly cheerful, pointing out Xbox 360 sales were up by 25 per cent year-on-year - "making it the only console experiencing growth in March... In contrast to double-digit declines posted by Wii and PS3". March was the sixth month in a row that 360 sales have been up compared to last year.

Four of the top ten games were for 360 (Resi 5, Halo Wars, MLB 2K09, Guitar Hero: Metallica). Sales of game add-ons were also up, rising by 128 per cent over last year's figure.

Sony was quiet when it came to discussing hardware figures, probably because it hasn't sold much hardware. In a press release containing many uses of phrases like "premium entertainment content and experiences", the platform holder pointed out that a million copies of Killzone 2 have been shifted.

That's not the only PS3 game proving popular - "Approximately 1 in every 3 PS3 titles achieve Metacritic scores of 80 or higher," according to Sony. Meanwhile the PSP "continues to gain tremendous momentum across the industry" and everybody loves a bit of hot PSN action.

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.

You may also like...

Comments (21) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Dizzy #1 3 years ago

    Wait until next month!!!!!

  • makeamazing #2 3 years ago

    Whats happening next month?

    It wasnt all bad for Sony, if you add on sales of PS3 and PS2, they achieved quite a good number of sales. So there is something to be said for having some older hardware that you can shift. A price cut is needed if they want to increase their sales figures though.

  • NotSoSlim #3 3 years ago

    Cannot believe they still push 100k PS2's...

  • TopKatt #4 3 years ago

    All the talk of a price cut for the PS3 is inevitably going to make anyone thinking of buying one wait and see if it happens. Whether or not Sony intended to cut the price, I think its going to become a self fulfilling prophecy and force their hand sooner rather than later.

  • NotSoSlim #5 3 years ago

    As with all companies you sel as much as you can at one price point and when that stops you do something to boost sales i.e price cut. You cannot just announce it so you wait for the most impact...E3!!

    Price cut with release dates for certain games equal win win!!

  • muscleblade #6 3 years ago

    "Approximately 1 in every 3 PS3 titles achieve Metacritic scores of 80 or higher," according to Sony. "

    That would have been very good if it wasnt for the fact most of those titles are availaible on the 360 with a better version.
    The PS3 has a few very good exclusives that are scoring well over 80 but so has the 360.

  • b00n #7 3 years ago

    tremendous momentum across the industry for the PSP? With what? The announcement of spin-offs of existing IP's? I think not. They are doing a better job with PSN and PS3 games though.
    Edited by b00n at 17/04/09 @ 10:08

  • spudsbuckley #8 3 years ago

    You know, most professional journalists would either post the sales figures in question or at least a link to them with an article like this.

  • oreillymj #9 3 years ago

    Sony are in a much tougher position regarding price cuts then they were in previous gen's.
    They've now sold off almost all their Fab's and the PS3 chips are outsourced.
    So they have far more fixed costs or costs that are less within their own control like the nVidia RSX and the HDD.
    Also the silicon shrinks that reduce the effective cost per chip are now much closer to the limitations of what's possible at an atomic level. These newer processes will always have lower yields for a time while the manufacturing kinks are ironed out. This creates a dilemma. Would you like 100 working chips out of a possible 300 from a 45nm wafer or 200 out of 250 at 65nm?

    Anyway, it's a lot tougher for Sony to cut prices this gen then perhaps it was in the past. But I'm sure they realise they need a cut sooner rather then later. However they can't afford to bankrupt the company to do so and the weak Yen ain't helping them.
    Edited by oreillymj at 17/04/09 @ 10:20

  • schnide #10 3 years ago

    Sony, just remember - this is your own fault. You did this to yourselves. When so many of us were saying what you should have done, you squandered the huge, huge, huge market lead you had, and now you've got an overpriced piece of kit that barely does anything that at least one of your competitors' can't.

  • robg #11 3 years ago

    They're damn lucky they've got the PS2.

  • the_dudefather #12 3 years ago

    Sales only matter when it's not Japan, amirite?

  • Dan234 #13 3 years ago

    Another month, and everyone wins again.

  • El-Dev #14 3 years ago

    These sales figures are from the US, why do we never get European sales figures? I mean EUROgamer.net, you'd expect a bit of feedback about the EU market and such. Or would that mean these journalists might have to investigate something instead of copying a bunch of quotes and adding sarky comments?

  • Halo.Jones #15 3 years ago

    I'm not too keen on it being called a hardware war! No one is actually losing their lives over console sales.

  • Penguinzoot #16 3 years ago

    These sales figures are from the US, why do we never get European sales figures?

    European sales figures are shrouded in secrecy and lost in the mists of the marketplace. Well actually, AFAIK they are owned and copyrighted by the organisations that collect them - they are not publicly available. Your best bet would be to try reading tea leaves or chicken bones or something.

  • Gavio #17 3 years ago

    "Approximately 1 in every 3 PS3 titles achieve Metacritic scores of 80 or higher," according to Sony.

    WTF??? Just had a look on Metacritic and out of the 47 recent releases 35 have scored below 80!!!!

    Pretty misleading if they all mean exclusives, as there aren't that many in comparison on any system and they all tend to score quite high.

  • Marshall2008 #18 3 years ago

    There is now a good inch of dust on my PS3. Sony's lack of exclusives and the fact that all my friends play the 360 versions of all multi-format titles means it only gets used for the occasional blu-ray.

    The only title of interest at the moment is god of war 3 and I dont even think thats due till march 2010.

    If it wasn't for the high PS2 and PSP sales I think Sony would have shit canned its games division.

    Expect an announcement from Sony soon.... 2010, the year of the PS3.

    Microsoft are extending their lead over the PS3 in the USA by approx 100k per month now, so by the end of the year they will be 1.2 million units further in front of Sony.
    Edited by Marshall2008 at 17/04/09 @ 13:42

  • GreyBeard #19 3 years ago

    @marshall2008

    Buy a duster man!

  • smelly #20 3 years ago

    >No one is actually losing their lives over console sales.

    if you read most comments threads - you'd think otherwise...

  • EmiliasHorse #21 3 years ago

    Unless Sony find a way to slash the price of the PS3 I don't see what is going to prompt a PS2/Wii style flood of sales. It looks like the two next gen consoles will exist in much the same way SNES and Mega Drive did, plenty of multi format stuff with exclusives to make each a desirable purchase.

    Edited by EmiliasHorse at 18/04/09 @ 09:25