February 2011 NPD Results • Gaming • General Gaming • Eurogamer.net

Psychotext 10 Mar 2011 23:43:24 62,855 posts
Seen 18 hours ago
Registered 12 years ago

NPD US 02/2011 - Hardware Sales (Year on year change)
360 - 535k (+26.8%)
NDS - ???
Wii - 454k (+14.1%)
PS3 - 403k (+11.9%)
PSP - ???

Very good results for the 360, Wii and PS3. Looks like people spent a good chunk of their tax rebates on gaming hardware.

NPD US 02/2011 - Software Sales - Combined SKU
01 - Call of Duty: Black Ops -- 360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC
02 - Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds -- 360, PS3 -- 790k
03 - Just Dance 2 -- WII -- 555k
04 - NBA 2K11 -- 360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC
05 - Dead Space 2 -- 360, PS3, PC
06 - Zumba Fitness: Join the Party -- WII, 360, PS3
07 - Bulletstorm -- 360, PS3, PC -- 286k
08 - Killzone 3 -- PS3 -- 280k
09 - Michael Jackson The Experience -- WII, DS, PSP
10 - Mario Sports Mix -- WII

Marvel v Capcom does ok but is no match for the unstoppable (and 4 month old) BLOPS (now apparently the best selling game ever in the US). Bulletstorm & Killzone 3 bomba. LBP2 a no show for the month after a respectable start in January.

The 5 month old Just Dance 2 shimmies its way to the top of the single format charts. At 555k it looks like it could be another slow month for software sales though.

Some Move / Kinect Info:

"Under one-fifth of PS3 sales included bundles with Sony’s Move controller, suggesting another modest month (we have chosen not to subscribe to peripheral data). Over 2/3 of Xbox 360 sales included bundles with Microsoft’s Kinect peripheral, as Xbox 360 Kinect console bundles again outsold PS3 Move console bundles by over 5:1," commented Pachter. "We note that the top selling Kinect software titles easily outsold their Move counterparts."

General Info:

Sales of video game hardware in February propelled industry sales to a surprising improvement over last year, according to The NPD Group's monthly sales data.

Most analysts expected a decline in sales of games and console systems. Software sales did fall 5% below sales in February 2010 -- still a slightly better performance than expected. But all the three console systems saw increased sales.

"Within the video games industry, the console segment of the market was up 12% in dollar sales across hardware, software, accessories, and game cards while the portable segment of the market declined versus February 2010 by 27%," says NPD's Anita Frazier. "We are looking for the portable segment of the market to rebound beginning later this month when the highly anticipated 3DS launches in the U.S. on March 27th. Seven days of sales will be included when we release our March sales results on April 14th."

And Call of Duty: Black Ops became the best-selling game in history, topping Wii Play, Frazier says.

"The best-selling hardware system of the month was the Xbox 360 which had its biggest non-holiday (November/December) sales month ever, surpassing September 2007 when Halo 3 launched.," Frazier says. "The 250 GB system bundled with the Kinect sensor was one of the drivers of the increase in average selling price among console hardware."

All three console systems realized a unit sales increase over last February and a unit sales increase over January 2011, NPD says.

Breaking down the console growth, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 up about 25% in sales (dollar value) and the Wii up 15%, compared to last year, says Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

Total industry sales rose 3% to $1.36 billion, compared to $1.33 billion in February 2010. Sales of video game hardware rose 10% ($467 million vs. $426 million), while software dropped ($601 million vs. $634 million). Video game accessories continued to rise, thanks to Microsoft's Kinect and Sony's PlayStation Move products ($257 million vs. $210 million).

Deleted user 10 March 2011 23:45:54

Epic fail for at KZ 3 and Bulletstorm, this goes back to what i said eariler as to why Sony keep on making Killzone games hardly anyone buys it, you just cant compete in the shooter market no more what with Cod and BF dominating. Same goes to the likes of THQ with Homefront or Crytek with Crysis 2.

200k 10 Mar 2011 23:47:22 183 posts
Seen 6 years ago
Registered 10 years ago

KZ3, ouch! Good to see Dead Space 2 repping in the top 5.

Rauha 10 Mar 2011 23:48:37 4,271 posts
Seen 5 years ago
Registered 8 years ago

Well deserved bomb for KZ3. Nice to see MvC up there!

Deleted user 10 March 2011 23:50:45

Just Dance 2 ftw!

Whizzo 10 Mar 2011 23:50:47 44,765 posts
Seen 9 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

The 360 hardware numbers are rather incredible, I wonder what the split on Kinect/non-Kinect bundles were? I'm sure we'll have some analyst letting that info out before long.

Collymilad 10 Mar 2011 23:54:36 1,266 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 10 years ago

Wait a second I thought the 360 was dead?

Psychotext 11 Mar 2011 00:08:45 62,855 posts
Seen 18 hours ago
Registered 12 years ago

Sleeping.

King_Edward 11 Mar 2011 00:58:25 11,470 posts
Seen 10 months ago
Registered 8 years ago

Hindle wrote:

Epic fail for at KZ 3 and Bulletstorm

Good.

Feanor 11 Mar 2011 01:26:25 14,272 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

GAF has some more numbers:

2.) Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Capcom: 360, PS3) - 790.2K
7.) Bulletstorm (EA: 360, PS3, PC) - 285.6K
8.) Killzone 3 (Sony: PS3) - 279.9K

Psychotext 11 Mar 2011 01:30:32 62,855 posts
Seen 18 hours ago
Registered 12 years ago

Bulletstorm numbers are piss poor.

Killzone 3 numbers are worse than Killzone 2's numbers, despite being on sale for twice as long, and two more than double the install base.

Feanor 11 Mar 2011 01:36:23 14,272 posts
Seen 3 hours ago
Registered 16 years ago

Don't blame it on sunshine
Don't blame it on moonlight
Don't blame it on good times
Blame it on callofduty

Progguitarist 11 Mar 2011 01:38:31 10,780 posts
Seen 3 months ago
Registered 12 years ago

Psychotext wrote:
Bulletstorm numbers are piss poor.

Killzone 3 numbers are worse than Killzone 2's numbers, despite being on sale for twice as long, and two more than double the install base.

They burned alot of people with Killzone 2 I reckon. It was a very divisive game.

caligari 11 Mar 2011 01:43:32 17,920 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 16 years ago

/paging Zappa

Psychotext 11 Mar 2011 01:56:21 62,855 posts
Seen 18 hours ago
Registered 12 years ago

Sony PR guy has pretty much given up trying:

NPD’s February numbers illustrate continued growth of the entire PlayStation 3 ecosystem, including increases in hardware, software and peripheral sales. PlayStation’s exclusive titles, combined with stereoscopic 3D and precision motion controlled gaming, continue to resonate with consumers, and we look forward to furthering the momentum with MotorStorm Apocalypse and SOCOM 4 next month.

-- Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications at SCEA

Here's the Microsoft one. I've not seen the Nintendo one yet.

February was the biggest non-holiday* month of console sales in the U.S. in the history of the Xbox, according to NPD. For the second month in a row, Xbox 360 was the number one console, maintaining its lead in the U.S. as the top selling console in 2011.

February 2011 NPD highlights include:

· February Xbox 360 console sales were the strongest ever with 535,000 units sold, soundly beating most industry analyst forecasts. (Source: NPD Group, February 2011)
· Xbox 360 console sales were up 27 percent year over year in February, the fastest growth of any current generation console on the market. (Source: NPD Group, February 2011)
· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories) reached $475 million, the highest among current generation consoles. (Source: NPD Group, February 2011)

· During the month of February, four of the top ten console game titles were for Xbox 360 including: “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” “Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds,” “Bulletstorm,” and “NBA 2K11.” (Source: NPD Group, February 2011)

Globally, Kinect continues to be a leading factor in the overall Xbox 360 momentum with Microsoft announcing yesterday it has sold 10 million Kinect sensors and more than 10 million standalone Kinect games worldwide. Additionally, Kinect has been awarded by Guinness World Records as the fastest-selling consumer electronics device in a 60-day period.

Microsoft expects the momentum to continue throughout 2011 as Xbox 360 owners look forward to the arrival of Kinect-enabled Netflix and Hulu Plus, Avatar Kinect as well as a diverse catalog of new games.

andywilkie35 11 Mar 2011 02:10:05 5,337 posts
Seen 7 months ago
Registered 12 years ago

What the fuck is Killzone 3?

Nah seriously, I bought Killzone 2 years ago for £10, gave it to my brother and he didn't play it, I have borrowed it back (or taken it back I guess) so have every intention of playing Killzone 3. If I can be arsed.

Cool story bro!

andywilkie35 11 Mar 2011 02:10:46 5,337 posts
Seen 7 months ago
Registered 12 years ago

ecureuil wrote:
I don't get Killzone, never have done. Can't see the appeal in it at all.

Even the name is shitty.

Also, this is correct. "Deadarea" would have roughly the same effect, i.e. shit name

andywilkie35 11 Mar 2011 02:40:54 5,337 posts
Seen 7 months ago
Registered 12 years ago

Fuck this, I'm starting Killzone 2 tomorrow night. Have an exam to prepare for, but have a month for that. Killzone 2 I can dominate over a Friday night/Saturday morning yeah? Done

karooo 11 Mar 2011 03:31:51 52 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 8 years ago

PS3 numbers?

Oh well, atleast its safe from the hackers and LG for now.

Psychotext 11 Mar 2011 04:34:58 62,855 posts
Seen 18 hours ago
Registered 12 years ago

On a random note... MS sold $57m worth of points cards last month in the US.

Fucking insane number.

karooo 11 Mar 2011 04:39:47 52 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 8 years ago

ecureuil wrote:
I don't get Killzone, never have done. Can't see the appeal in it at all.

Even the name is shitty.

GG can't design games properly, Killzone has a rich backstory though.

JBlokeUK 11 Mar 2011 05:50:08 2,302 posts
Seen 5 years ago
Registered 8 years ago

Microsoft are taking over the world!

King_Edward 11 Mar 2011 07:32:41 11,470 posts
Seen 10 months ago
Registered 8 years ago

karooo wrote:

ecureuil wrote:
I don't get Killzone, never have done. Can't see the appeal in it at all.

Even the name is shitty.

GG can't design games properly, Killzone has a rich backstory though.

It has an interesting blurb. That's not the same thing.