NPD March 2012 Sales Results

[BDSooner72]

NPD Group's U.S. Games Industry Sales (New Physical Sales Channel*) - March 2012
5-week month; March Reporting Period 2/26/12 through 3/31/12

Overall Retail Industry:

Down 25% year over year.


Software:

01. Mass Effect 3 (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts - Over 1.14 Million, possibly by a lot ("More than twice ME2 debut")
02. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (360, PS3)** Capcom USA - 582K
03. MLB 12: The Show (PS3, PSV) Sony (Corp)
04. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC, PS2) Take 2 Interactive
05. SSX 2012 (360, PS3) Electronic Arts
06. Street Fighter X Tekken (PS3, 360)** Capcom USA
07. Mario Party 9 (Wii) Nintendo
08. Call of Duty: Modern Warfar 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)** Activision Blizzard
09. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja (360, PS3) Namco Bandai Games
10. Major League Baseball 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PSP, PC, PS2) Take 2 Interactive

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)


Hardware:

Xbox 360 - 371K (-14.3%)


Other Information:

Originally Posted by Anita Frazier:
Overall

“While it was a disappointing month, and first quarter, for new physical retail sales of video games hardware, software and accessories, it wasn’t entirely unexpected given guidance we’ve seen from several sources.”

“Outside of new physical retail sales, we find that the consumer spend on content on used games, rentals, subscriptions, mobile games, social network games, digital full game downloads and add-on content accounted for an additional $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion across the U.S., U.K., France & Germany in Q1 2012.”

Hardware

“Hardware really slowed down this month and all systems saw a unit sales decline versus last March, and on an average sales per week basis, versus February 2012. That said, the high definition console systems fared better than many other hardware platforms.”

“The Xbox 360 is the best-selling console system for the last 15, and the best-selling hardware platform overall for the past 8 months.”

Software

“High definition platform unit sales of software were flat to last year which is a bright spot in this month’s reporting. “

“Mass Effect 3 sold more than twice as much as did Mass Effect 2 during its introductory month in January 2010.”

“In a list of the top 10 SKU’s for the month (as opposed to top titles as listed here), 3DS Kids Icarus: Uprising would have been among the top selling individual SKU’s for the month of March.”

“Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure was the 15th best-selling title for the month. The accessory items are selling phenomenally well. The three character pack SKU’s were all among the top 10 accessory items for the month of March.”

Accessories

“Accessories were up slightly in unit sales for the month, but down in dollars due to a decline in average retail selling price. Interestingly, among the top ten accessory SKU’s for the month, only three were “traditional” accessories while the remainder were either point or subscription cards, or Skylanders character packs.”
Originally Posted by Microsoft PR:
NPD highlights in March include:

Holding 42 percent share of current-generation console sales, Xbox 360 sold 371,000 units in March, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. This marks the thirteenth consecutive month Xbox 360 has held more than 40 percent of the current-generation console market share.

· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in March (hardware, software and accessories) reached $430 million, the most for any console in the U.S. and more than the spend on PS3 and Wii combined.

· During the month of March, Xbox 360 held five of the top 10 U.S. console game titles including: “Mass Effect 3,” “Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City,” “NBA 2K12,” “SSX” and “Major League Baseball 2K12.”

Last month, Xbox 360 delivered new voice-controlled TV apps from Comcast and HBO GO in the U.S., and MLB TV throughout North America, making it easier to enjoy your favorite TV shows, sports and music with voice control and Kinect voice search. Xbox has grown rapidly to become the best-selling Internet-connected entertainment device for TV. Since the entertainment apps on Xbox 360 started rolling out last December, total hours spent on Xbox LIVE globally has grown 30 percent year over year.

Later this year, Xbox 360 will deliver a strong portfolio of blockbuster titles, experiences and add-on content, including additions to the famed “Halo” and “Fable” franchises and groundbreaking experiences like “Kinect Sesame Street TV” and “Nat Geo TV.”
Originally Posted by Sony PR:
“Nearly two months after hitting the North American market, the PS Vita ecosystem continues to grow with impressive hardware, software, and peripherals sales among big-box retailers, smaller retail shops and digital. We are seeing strong digital downloads across the board, including full digital-only purchases and extremely high conversion rates for digital demos to full game purchases with titles such as Unit 13, which showcases PS Vita's unique 3G and shooter capabilities. We look forward to furthering the PS Vita momentum with upcoming blockbuster titles like Mortal Kombat and Resistance: Burning Skies, and apps including Skype.”
-- Dan Race, Sr. Director of Corporate Communications at SCEA
Originally Posted by GamesIndustry.biz:
Mass Effect 3 and Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City top the charts

NPD has revealed its March US retail sales data, and as several analysts predicted, despite BioWare's Mass Effect 3 topping the charts, overall it's not pretty. Total game industry sales dropped 25 percent to $1.1 billion, as total software across consoles, portable and PC fell 26 percent to $585.1 million, while hardware sales plunged 35 percent to $323.5 million.

"While it was a disappointing month, and first quarter, for new physical retail sales of video games hardware, software and accessories, it wasn't entirely unexpected given guidance we've seen from several sources," said NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier. "Outside of new physical retail sales, we find that the consumer spend on content on used games, rentals, subscriptions, mobile games, social network games, digital full game downloads and add-on content accounted for an additional $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion across the U.S., U.K., France & Germany in Q1 2012."

As you can see in the top 10 games chart below, besides Mass Effect 3 game sales were also driven by Capcom's latest Resident Evil title, and with the Major League Baseball season getting started Sony's newest MLB: The Show also fared well on PS3 and Vita.

Frazier also pointed out that Nintendo's new Kid Icarus actually did pretty well: "In a list of the top 10 SKUs for the month (as opposed to top titles as listed here), 3DS Kids Icarus: Uprising would have been among the top selling individual SKUs for the month of March."

[Jason]

Can we officially declare the Xbox 360 the winner of this console generation war now?

[Brad Company]

The Wii made more money for Nintendo, but Sonys' ass was thoroughly kicked.

[BDSooner72]

Wii still way ahead but software sales definitely go to the 360.  PS3 still keeping up worldwide but not in the US. Japan still avoiding the 360 and that will probably never change for MS.

[Jason]

Good stuff. I didn't realize the Wii was that far ahead. I knew it lead in console sales for a few years, but it seems like it's been dead for over a year now, so those numbers surprised me a bit.