PS3 sales up by over 80 per cent in US

By Ellie Gibson Published 20 October, 2009

Sony's console beating Wii and Xbox 360.

Data trackers The NPD Group have published US sales figures for September, revealing a healthy boost in sales for PS3.

Sony shifted around 491,800 consoles last month - more than double the number sold the previous month, and during the same period last year. Might just be something to do with the price cut and the release of PS3 Slim, but hey, we're no analaysts.

It's the first time PS3 has taken the top spot in the home console charts, but Sony didn't win the hardware battle overall - DS is still number one with 524,500 units sold. The Wii was in third place (462,800), followed by Xbox 360 (352,600) and PSP (190,400). The good old PS2 is hanging on in there with 146,000 machines sold, mainly by antique shops.

Due to some complicated maths regarding the September tracking period having more weeks than August, or something, month-by-month sales aren't comparable. But on a per-week sales basis, PS3 sales were up by 87 per cent, the number of Wii units sold rose by 33 per cent and Xbox 360 enjoyed a 33 per cent increase.

Overall Americans bought less hardware than they did in September 2008. Revenues were down from $499.96 million to $472.28 million, a fall of 6 per cent.

They bought more games though - in fact, software sales were up for the first time this year, rising by 5 per cent to reach $649.32 million.

Around 1.52 million copies of Halo 3: ODST were sold during launch month, making it the sixth best-selling SKU launch ever. It beat Wii Sports Resort into second place with 442,900 units sold.

So who won the battle of the band games? Well, looks like Paul and Ringo will be able to pay those final demand electricity bills after all - their fans snapped up 254,000 copies of The Beatles: Rock Band for Xbox 360.

That put the game in fifth place, ahead of Guitar Hero 5. Around 210,800 copies of the 360 version were sold, leaving it languishing at nine. There's no word yet on how the PS3 and Wii versions of each game compared.

Here's that September software top ten in full:

  1. Halo 3: ODST (Microsoft, 360) - 1,520,000
  2. Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Wii) - 442,900
  3. Madden NFL 10 (EA, 360) - 289,600
  4. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Nintendo, DS) - 258,100
  5. The Beatles: Rock Band (EA, 360) - 254,000
  6. Madden NFL 10 (EA, PS3) - 246,500
  7. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (Activision, 360) - 236,000
  8. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Eidos, PS3) - 212,500
  9. Guitar Hero 5 (Activision, 360) - 210,800
  10. The Beatles: Rock Band (EA, Wii) - 208,600

For a more grown-up discussion of all this, visit GamesIndustry.biz.

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 (63) Latest comment 2 years ago

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

  • flapps #1 2 years ago

    Go PS3! (About time though : ))

  • Xerx3s #2 2 years ago

    Seems to me that MS might want to speed up the relaunch of their hardware, December 2010 is a long time away...

  • HardCoreGamer999 #3 2 years ago

    expected..

  • Retroid #4 2 years ago

    Who would've thought that a decent price point would do that, eh?

  • Malek86 #5 2 years ago

    @Retroid: yeah, now that the price is actually good, the PS3 has become very convenient. Quite a bit moreso than the 360. It wouldn't surprise me to see the trend continue for a while.

  • Widge #6 2 years ago

    PS2 still sells bloody well doesn't it?

  • davisorle #7 2 years ago

    "Might just be something to do with the price cut and the release of PS3 Slim,"
    No shit Sherlock :p

    Yeah this was more than expected to be a good month for Sony. If it wasn't it would be a huge dissaster for them and that would be just the odd case. We all know way too many ppl that wanted a Slim release other than just a pricedrop so it worked good for Sony globally. Will be interesting to see in a couple of months how the figures are and if Sony manages to stay on top in the US charts. As for MS i hadn't noticed they were getting closer ad closer in the figures with Wii, which is expected with an HD version so.. Guess Wii will have another sales boost whenever that happens.
    Anyhow, Im more interested for games than figures right now. Feels like an RPG or MMO lately. Sujestions? :)

  • M_of_the_sys #8 2 years ago

    PS2 still sells bloody well doesn't it?

    I hope so cos I want to sell mine.

  • BartonFink #9 2 years ago

    And considering their software sales I am sure they are not all that worried

  • Avatargr #10 2 years ago

    @davisorle

    If you have a PS3 you should try Demon's Souls. It's challenging, addictive and just plain awesome. If you can find the deluxe edition I highly recommend it too.

  • 52pickup #11 2 years ago

    The momentum of Sony's new piece of hardware, Uncharted 2/Uncharted 2 250gb bundle, Demon Souls and Ratchet & Clank: ACI, not to mention FFXII in japan, will definitely keep up sales until the new year.

  • TopKatt #12 2 years ago

    Great to see all three consoles this gen so close. This level of competition is going to mean that, as this battle goes on, games, support, peripherals, etc for all three consoles should get better and better.

  • JahB #13 2 years ago

    @davisorle

    another recommendation for demon's souls from me. probably one of the best games i've played in years, especially if you like RPG's

  • Les #14 2 years ago

    Good numbers for Sony but I’d be interested to know what kind of people picked up a PS3 slim in general. I suspect it to be the non-fanboy hardcore that already owns a 360 and waited for this moment to get a PS3 as well for the exclusives.

  • Teamallstar #15 2 years ago

    So the original ps3 was too expensive and too fat?

  • Moonprince #16 2 years ago

    Christmas sales for the 360 should be pretty good with Forza, ODST and MW2 pushing hardware.

    lol ok buddy, sure haha

  • miiiguel #17 2 years ago

    ODST sales almost as much as the other 9 combined. Impressive.


    lol, haha? wtf?
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 10:04

  • davisorle #18 2 years ago

    @Avatargr & JahB
    I do not own a PS3 but if I end up getting one I'll make sure I pick it up along with Uncharted. They indeed have been the only PS3 exclusives that seem more than worth my time :) So im back into looking around. Thnx a lot though ^^ To think that Ive finished mostly everything else on PC and 360 from RPGs that Im playing all over Last Remnant. Diablo 3 would be perfect right about now to kill the free minutes at home. Damn Blizz

    @Les
    I believe the same thing more or less. I was from those finding PS3 not the money along with not as many titles as on the 360. Now the PS3 is indeed more than an interesting option. If i had time to play the games I have on my 360 I'd probably have picked up a PS3 as well now with the Slim release and price drop. Might be doing so pretty soon if it feels like it :)

    @ Teamallstar
    lol more or less.

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #19 2 years ago

    It's actually gonna be a really interesting Christmas (from a fucking nerdy stats point of view). I had assumed that Sony had it sewn up with the Slim, but the "Super Elite" bundles, Forza, Halo, MW2, etc, will give MS a good leg-up too. Not sure how Wii will pan out - has interest peaked? Wii Fit Plus, the "price cut" and NSMB might get them (even more) sales.

  • Bill Gates is Evil #20 2 years ago

    With the release of the Slim and a major price cut, only selling 110,000 more units isn't really all that impressive.

  • Goodfella #21 2 years ago

    Give it a fucking break donnie you boring c**t.

  • No1_Dave #22 2 years ago

    anybody notice how EVERY thread reporting even the slightest bit of good new for Sony/PS3, donnie is always in here bashing away?

    the consistency, and ignorance/fanboyism is beyond scary...

  • Les #23 2 years ago

    Nice to see donnie referencing the irrelevant Japan salesnumbers... ;) Clown.

  • MeBrains #24 2 years ago

    donnie: "1 mth of decent sales doesnt make up for a year of decline. halo odst performance shows the massive advantage the 360 has in big name excluives , with arguably the stronger line up this xmas with gt4 halo,l4d2, etc while sony only have the mighty uncharted2 outside of japan."

    all three consoles have seen decline since the beginning of this year. It is nothing more than normal.

    Halo ODST numbers show that:
    1) 360 users like Halo

    There has not been a huge surge in 360 HW sales with the advent of Halo - not even with 360's price reduction (!), which to me shows that persons liking Halo already have a 360.

    A lot of customers have not upgraded to "current gen" - witness the, frankly, amazing sales PS2 still rakes up. When customers do, they have not only Uncharted 2, in the US they also have GOW Collection + an excellent back-catalogue - a lot at reduced price and a strong year 2010 to look forward to.

    edited the spellingue
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 10:31

  • BartonFink #25 2 years ago

    @MeBrains

    Errr there was an increase of 137K on last month o_O

  • M_of_the_sys #26 2 years ago

    @No1_Dave

    Perhaps he will one day become a better person like Farticus did.

  • StooMonster #27 2 years ago

    One of the key points is who is buying these PS3? Is it (a) people who do not own a Wii or 360, so they are new to "next gen" consoles, in which case they are choosing PS3 over the other options; or is it (b) people who own either or both Wii and 360 who are buying PS3 in addition to existing "next gen" console?

  • kinky_mong #28 2 years ago

    Bowser's Inside Story being in the top 10 and Beatles Rock Band higher than Guitar Hero 5?! Taste prevails in the US! I salute my cousins across the Atlantic.

  • M_of_the_sys #29 2 years ago

    @StooMonster

    Why is that a key point? Why does it matter who's buying them? Does it bother you that much? are you going to find these people and put a stop to it? Are you trying to find an excuse as to why the PS3 sales are above the other consoles for one month?
    Sony have a new model out, a price cut and have kicked up there advertising. This is what's bringing them sales for the time being.

  • MeBrains #30 2 years ago

    yes Fink, last month had a 137k increase - I was talking about the other 8 months preceding it... :rolleyes:

    edit: spelling again.
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 10:51

  • Les #31 2 years ago

    "Why is that a key point? Why does it matter who's buying them?"

    It's a key point in that it's an indicator of future PS3 software sales. If the main category of people getting a PS3 turn out to be 360 owners, expected additional software sales are low. If they turn out to be mainly Wii converts it's a completely different story.

    Furthermore, it's important as an indicator of people moving over to HD gaming, and in that sense important for the future of both PS3 and 360.

    But let's be clear, regardless of who actually bought the PS3 slim, Sony will rather have these numbers than the sales numbers of the previous month.
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 11:00

  • BartonFink #32 2 years ago

    @MeBrains if anything it's following the same trend as last year with sales up compared to last year.

  • MeBrains #33 2 years ago

    fink: indeed. sounds much like "all three consoles have seen decline since the beginning of this year. It is nothing more than normal."

    anyhows...

  • M_of_the_sys #34 2 years ago

    @Les

    This is something that you can't record. It could be a mixture of both. I'm sure a lot of people who don't peruse gaming websites and only go by word of mouth heard their friends were getting a PS3 slim and wanted one themselves. At the same time, I'm sure a lot of the same people just saw the advertisements in shop windows and thought "Wow, a slim PS3 at a lower price. I'll have that."

    There will be a mix from people embracing 'next-gen' to people who wanted the third console to complete their collection. I still think it's irrelevant as it's something you'll never have an answer to.

    If the percentage of people were even, what would that tell you?

    I see the question people are asking as "Are the majority of buyers your average Joe or actual gamers?"
    Edited by 1 at 20/10/09 @ 11:15

  • Bigglesworth #35 2 years ago

    @donnie
    Yeah, 87% increase is pretty shit really, when you think about it.

  • Les #36 2 years ago

    "This is something that you can't record."

    True, but that doesn't make it less interesting... ;)

    My point was that right now, with the information available, there's not much to be concluded about the long term effect of the PS3 pricedrop on the outcome of the console wars. These numbers appear to be good for Sony but if the majority of PS3 slim buyers turn out to be people buying their first HD console, they'd be great: Sony would have convinced people so far holding off to jump the HD bandwagon.

  • M_of_the_sys #37 2 years ago

    "My point was that right now, with the information available, there's not much to be concluded about the long term effect of the PS3 pricedrop on the outcome of the console wars."

    My sentiments exactly.

  • Collymilad #38 2 years ago

    Spike

  • MeBrains #39 2 years ago

    @Les: "These numbers appear to be good for Sony but if the majority of PS3 slim buyers turn out to be people buying their first HD console, they'd be great: Sony would have convinced people so far holding off to jump the HD bandwagon."

    my (mostly gut) feeling is, most are indeed people buying their first HD console.

  • freakzilla #40 2 years ago

    Hardware stuff was expected but the PS3 software sales are damn scary, how can the sales be that low? EVERYONE who has both PS3 and 360 must be buying ALL their games on 360 (minus the PS3 exclusives obviously).

  • Beano #41 2 years ago

    "Give it a fucking break donnie you boring c**t. "

    +1

    (sorry I can't give you more points!)

  • pinochet_cz #42 2 years ago

    Someone from MS said something like: Our customers don't want new hardware, we have natal coming...
    Wonder is if they are able to learn from mistakes or not.

  • StooMonster #43 2 years ago

    @M_of_the_sys. Why is this a key point? Opportunity cost for one thing.

    But also, if it's (a) Nintendo and Microsoft lose a sale but in (b) they already have sale and have lost nothing. In (a) multi-platform games will be purchased for PS3, and thus Sony will get a royalty, but if (b) then multi-format game might be bought on other console and thus Sony royalty is not guaranteed. In option (a) all of "next gen" console gaming budget likely to go on PS3 whereas in (b) a share of gaming budget to go on PS3, as people might buy exclusives for other platforms.

    Ergo, (a) is a higher quality sale for Sony.

  • StooMonster #44 2 years ago

    @M_of_the_sys: Does it bother you that much?

    No, just trying to do the world a favour and teach those that don't know a bit about business.

    are you going to find these people and put a stop to it?

    I have no idea what you are rambling on about. Why are you having a go at me? Can't decide if you think I'm a rampant fanboi for one side or the other. When I am not of either.

    Are you trying to find an excuse as to why the PS3 sales are above the other consoles for one month?

    No in the least, I couldn't care which console manufacturer sells more, I am a capitalist and like competition as it drives innovation and is good for customers. :)

    Sony have a new model out, a price cut and have kicked up there advertising. This is what's bringing them sales for the time being.

    Fair point, but completely irrelevant to the point I was making.

  • collateral89 #45 2 years ago

    the ps3 is eventually going to over rule all competitors as it is starting to do so !BELIEVE!

  • M_of_the_sys #46 2 years ago

    @StooMonster

    Sorry. I guess I was having a go a bit but I didn't mean to. I just see comments from people saying "But who's buying these PS3s?!" as if it's completely unbelievable and I jumped the gun a bit.

    My posts after the original one explain how I feel. I too like competition and look forward to seeing better games on all consoles. Still don't agree with motion controllers though. Hmph.

  • funkateer #47 2 years ago

    "Hardware stuff was expected but the PS3 software sales are damn scary, how can the sales be that low?"

    The sw sales top-10 mentioned in the article was from a moment in time when there was a sharp peak of incredible ODST sales.
    If you look at recent numbers at vgchartz, you'll see that weekly software sales on PS3 and X360 are about equal. (http://ww w.vgchartz.com/weekly.php?date=...

  • Les #48 2 years ago

    "this line of the article says it all about how bad this gen has been for sony compared to the last"

    True, but that fact alone doesn't tell you much. E.g. this gen has been better for MS compared to last gen, but it's still terrible. Sony's problem isn't that the PS3 underperforms compared to PS2, it's that in itself it doesn't generate a positive return (cash in < cash out). 360 faces the same problem.

  • JahB #49 2 years ago

    a part of me wants sony to win big, just so that donnie will STFU already.

  • MeBrains #50 2 years ago

    donnie: we will never know why Sony decided to launch the Slim now. it might have been part of their business model from the moment they launched, or it might indeed have been a reaction to their sales. As to me: I see Sony's sales have been according to expectations. Sony knew from the start that they would be having a more uphill struggle against MS, yet they were still keeping up with the latter's sales, even at a premium price. I think the only unscheduled action they took was decreasing the PS3's price from $599 to $499 right at the start.

    I also think their "10y life cycle" is precisely going as planned. They are a quarter (or a bit above) on and have 25million sales. Good going, when not even the mass market has kicked in.

  • El-Dev #51 2 years ago

    donnie is god awful at researching. Pachter, the generally idiotic games market analyst predicted the PS3 would outsell the 360 in the USA by 60k units. The fact it is closer to 150k is quite significant no matter how you look at it.

  • Machiavellian #52 2 years ago

    Those are very good numbers for the PS3 but lets be honest it's only one month and it was expected. The real deal will be black Friday in November which is the biggest Christmas sell time in the US. If the PS3 can trounce the 360 and Wii during that time then you can take a lot from that. Right now, you have a price drop and a lot of fence sitters purchased it but it could be like Halo ODST where you get a lot of sells from people who were going to get the PS3 in the first place then a steep drop after that.

  • Bazfrag #53 2 years ago

    "Hardware stuff was expected but the PS3 software sales are damn scary, how can the sales be that low?"

    Halo aside, its pretty even. Looking at the top 20, there are 7 xbox titles and 5 ps3. with reasonable sales parity apart from maybe Rockband and Batman.

  • Goodfella #54 2 years ago

    "just goes to show what an immature idiot you are,its a free country after all "

    No donnie, it doesn't show that at all, verbal abuse is not exclusive to the mindless chav community, not by a long shot.

    Now fuck off you boring c**t.

  • MeBrains #55 2 years ago

    knobgob: it is beyond a lot of us. he apparently finds himself hooked to something called the farticus 360 maximus camp and he can't explain why... despite his tries and tries and tries...

    now don't start comparing "donnie-blah-blah-with-an-eight" to "donnie-blah-blah-with-a-three". they are miles apart. certainly if you ask donnie-8. there is frightenly little known about donnie-3 you see.

    now what were we discussing... oh yeah... PS3 sales up by over 80% in the US News | Eurogamer - Mozilla Firefox

  • clockworkzombie #56 2 years ago

    I sold my Wii and purchased a 250Gb PS3, it sits right beside my 360. If the multiplayer experience does not improve on the PS3 then most of my games will be 360 games.

  • Loghorn #57 2 years ago

    Freakzilla wrote:

    Hardware stuff was expected but the PS3 software sales are damn scary, how can the sales be that low? EVERYONE who has both PS3 and 360 must be buying ALL their games on 360 (minus the PS3 exclusives obviously).

    I'll bet that they only bought the PS3 for the fancy Blu-Ray player. I don't hear too many PS3 versions of games selling well compared to X-Box 360 versions. As a matter of fact, there's only one PS3 game that's in the top 10, & that was Batman: Arkham Asylum. There were at least five others for the 360 (& mind you, I'm talking about sales from September).

    Sept. US game sales nearly flat, PS3 beats Wii, 360 - NPD.

    While it's true that some people have bought PS3's for just games, & some of them bought it for both games & Blu-Ray from where I'm from in the U.S., there's a majority of others that only bought it for Blu-Ray. Plus it's obvious that many people buy their games on 360 & that less people buy them on PS3 either because of the larger fanbase that the 360 has there, &/or they already realized that tons of multiplats happens to run, look, and play better on that system. I know I buy most of them on 360 as well.

    We shouldn't get too excited about the PS3 winning, though, because it has only been one month.

  • Les #58 2 years ago

    "the reason 360 game sales are much higher in usa is because the 360 ase is much higher"

    +1

    Love it how some of the usual 360 fanboys try to present a reasonable perspective (and almost get there). Should be encouraged IMO, much easier on the eyes than the usual fanboy crap. ;)

  • gelf #59 2 years ago

    As a mainly PC gamer now I'm most drawn the PS3 now since it seems to me to there is less cross over with a PC/PS3 combination then there is with a PC/360. I'm probably not a typical demographic though.

  • Avatargr #60 2 years ago

    @gelf

    Maybe you are because I bought a PS3 for the same reason

  • des #61 2 years ago

    Nice month for PS3,hardware at least,software its like nothing has happened...PSPGo totally flopped...totally,totallylol

    But no matter what happens,DS is always on top...always

  • clockworkzombie #62 2 years ago

    @djronz
    I mentioned in another post the reason I think the multiplayer is not as good is because there are not as many Australians playing PS3 as there are 360 and so for me the experience is poorer, and so far the only game I have gone online to play is CoD WaW.

  • des #63 2 years ago

    Yeah PS3 can catch up with 360 by 2015 if it continues at current rate...lol...how exciting
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/09 @ 07:50