This Week in Sales History (August 22 to 28) Wii vs X360 vs PS3
by William D'Angelo, posted on 25 August 2010 / 3,327 Views
Note: This weekly feature is becoming a monthly article and will look at sales of a whole month rather than just one week. This will make room for a different comparison feature that will be more focused. For example comparing the launch of the PS3 Slim and X360S or taking a look at the change in sales in the music genre (Guitar Hero, Rock Band, etc.).
To understand what will be discussed I will like to first take a minute to explain how the article is set up. For each week a look will be taken of past sales and trends during the same week in a past year. It will start with an overview of what was available at the time and how far away major releases are to help put the date into perspective. Followed by what was selling during that time and by how much. Graphs will be used to help aid in comparisons between now and then will be the last part. Since sales for the week won’t be in until the next week and sales for the previous week are still coming in, we will have to compare it to sales from 2 weeks ago, 14 August 2010.
Overview - This week we are taking a look at sales from 2 years ago, 23 August 2008. The Xbox 360 was 2 years and 9 month old and the PlayStation 3 and Wii was released 1 year and 9 months ago. The Wii was outselling the ‘HD Twins’ combined and the PlayStation 2 was selling on par with the ‘HD Twins.’ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriots (PS3) was released 3 months prior and Too Human (X360) was the top debut of the week.
Sales on 23 August 2008
Hardware – When it comes to home consoles the Wii which recently passed 30 million in sales outsold its competitors combined, selling 316,000 on the week. The PlayStation 3 had a $100 price drop during the week receiving a modest boost of 37% to reach 145,000 in sales, pushing it ahead of its older brother the PlayStation 2 with 124,000 in sales. The PS2 is the last console from last generation to still be on the market. The PS3 would pass 14 million in sales the following week. The Xbox 360 in last place during the week passes 20 million in sales; however it would receive a price cut the following month to the magic spot of $200 for the Arcade model (No hard drive), $300 for the Pro model (60GB) and $400 from the Elite model (120 GB).
When it comes to the handheld market the DS was selling twice as much as its competitor. During the slow month of August it managed to sell over 400,000 in a single week, while the PSP sold 200,000. For most of the current generation the DS has outsold the PSP 2:1. The total sales to this date 78 million for the DS is exactly double that of the PSP which has sold 39 million.
Software – Home consoles game sales saw the Wii in the lead selling as much as its main 2 rivals combined, 1.9 million. 4 of the 5 top selling games are on the Wii. The Wii to date had managed to sell 157 million games for an attach rate of 5. The Xbox 360 selling a little over 1 million games after the release of Madden NFL 09 the previous week. To date it had managed to sell 136 million games for an attach rate of 6.8 the highest for any current generation system. The PlayStation 3 sold 843,000 games with Madden NFL 09 as the top game. It had managed to sell 67 million games to date for an attach rate of 4.8. The PlayStation 2 selling 611,000 games on the week as Madden NFL 09 was the top PS2 game.
Handhelds at the time had the DS in the lead with 2 million games sold, outselling its competitor, the PSP, by 4 to 1. The DS outsold the Wii by 100,000 making it the top choice for games sold. The best selling DS game for the week was Guitar Hero: On Tour. It had an attach rate of 3.7 to date. The PSP selling 460,000 on the week had an attach rate of 2.2.
When it comes to individual games 4 of the 5 best selling games on the week were on the Wii. The top 25 all sold at least 50,000 copies, while the top 7 sold over 100,000 copies. The top selling game was Wii Sports with 280,000 copies sold and 27.3 million to date. A quick note is that Wii Sports has been bundled with most Wii systems since launch in November 2006. Wii Fit is the only other game to sell over 200,000 with 201,000 copies sold for a total of 6.8 million to date. Mario Kart Wii in its 20th week on sale is at third position with sales of 180,000 and a total of 7.2 million to date.
Rounding out at the top 10 at positions four, five, and six are Madden NFL 09 for the Xbox 360 with 174,000 copies sold, Wii Play with 154,000 copies sold, and Too Human (X360) with 135,000 copies sold. At positions seven through ten are Madden NFL 09 for the PlayStation 3, Madden NFL 09 for the PlayStation 2, Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS), and J-League Winning Eleven 2008: Club Championship (PS2).
Comparison – The market in the last 2 years from 23 August 2008 to today, 14 August 2010 has seen some changes. The handheld market which was at a peak in 2008 has seen sales decline as the next generation is about to start with the release of the 3DS later this year. The home console market has seen a major change in sales the last 2 years. As the Xbox 360 has seen an increase in sales, the PlayStation 3 is at the same level and the Wii has seen a major drop in sales. Read on to see an in-depth report of the changes. To see the hardware totals click here.
Hardware – Microsoft is focusing only on one system, the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 back in August 2008 costs $280 for the Arcade model (No hard drive), $350 for the Pro model (60 GB), and $450 for the Elite model (120 GB). While today there is a new redesigned console about 20% smaller and it now costs $200 (4GB Flash Memory) and $300 (250GB Built-in Wifi).
Nintendo has had the 2 best selling systems this generation, the DS and the Wii. The Wii which cost $200 in 2008 came bundled with Wii Sports; now in 2010 it costs $200 and comes bundled with Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort and Motion Plus an improved motion tracking controller. The Wii has become the best selling home console this generation, although sales have dipped of late as the Xbox 360 has outsold it for 2 months and the PlayStation 3 sales are right behind it.
Sony has 3 systems on the market in both 2008 and 2010, the PlayStation 2, the PlayStation 3 and PSP. The PlayStation 3 in August 2008 cost $400 with an 80 GB HDD. Today there is a new slim model that costs $300 and comes with a 160 GB HDD. The PSP which cost $170 for the stand alone 3000 model is priced today at $130. There is also the PSP-Go model for $250 which is selling poorly compared to the 3000 model.
A total of 565,000 home consoles were sold on 23 August 2008 compared to 504,000 on 14 August 2010, a moderate decline of 61,000 or 11%. This decline is due to the drop in Wii sales which are no offset by the increase in Xbox 360 sales. The Wii fell 161,000 or 51% in the last 2 years, while the Xbox 360 jumped 98,000 or 94% with the release of the 360S model 2 months ago. The PlayStation 3 is statistically flat, only increasing 2,000 or 1%.
A total of 612,000 handhelds were sold on 23 August 2008 compared to 365,000 on 14 August 2010, a drop of 247,000 or 40%. The huge drop off is due to the fast the DS and PSP are hitting a saturation point where the majority of people who are interested in buy one already have one. The DS fell 129,000 or 31%, while the PSP dropped 118,000 or 58%. The release of the 3DS later this year and the beginning of next year should help offset the drops in the DS and PSP.
Software – Comparing games of 2008 to 2010 shows trends as to which franchises have become more popular or have faltered and seen sales decrease. The first series will be Madden, in 2008 it was Madden NFL 09 and in 2010 Madden NFL 11. Madden NFL 09 sold 1.66 million copies in its first week while Madden NFL 11 sold 1.21 million copies, a decline of .45 million or 27%. Taking a look at individual consoles the PS3 version is the only one to see an increase, which was 22,000, in sales in the past 2 years, while the PS2 version saw the biggest drop of 200,000.
Super Mario Galaxy is the first Mario game in the main franchise to have two on one console since the SNES. The Nintendo 64 only had Super Mario 64 and the GameCube with Super Mario Sunshine. Super Mario Galaxy was released back in November 2007 with first week sales of 1.06 million while its predecessor Super Mario Galaxy 2 released in May 2010 opened with 1.39 million an increase of .33 million. However even with a better opening week, Super Mario Galaxy 2, has dropped of faster managing to sell 3.54 million in 12 weeks. The original game sold 5 million copies in its first 12 weeks on sales.
Conclusion – In the past 2 years there have been some changes. Total hardware sales are higher for all three home consoles but none have switched places. When it comes to weekly sales the PS3 has remained constant while the Wii has dropped and the X360 has seen an increase due to the release of the 360S. The current generation of handhelds is in decline compared to where they were 2 years ago, but should be offset by the release of the 3DS.
