RSSGTA IV leads surge in US video game sales for May
By Ed Oswald | Published June 13, 2008, 1:52 PM
NPD reports that US video game sales were up 37 percent over last year, with Take-Two's blockbuster title leading the charge.
While Grand Theft Auto IV sold a combined 1.31 million units for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it appears at least for the time being not to be translating into higher hardware sales as Sony and Microsoft had initially hoped.
Some 871,000 of those copies were for the Xbox 360, outselling the PS3 version by nearly two to one. However, that success did not translate into strong sales for Microsoft -- it trailed Sony in console sales during the month by about 22,000, and the only console to report increasing sales month-to-month.
There's growing concern that the momentum behind the Xbox 360 may be fading quickly -- and Microsoft seems to be cognizant of that fact. Although it may not be directly related, the division that oversees the Xbox franchise saw a reshuffling Thursday.
Marketing chief Jeff Bell will leave the company this summer, with a replacement yet to be announced. Shane Kim, currently the head of Microsoft Game Studios, would assume the newly created position of vice president of strategy of business development.
Kim will be tasked with finding new growth opportunities for the Xbox franchise globally, something it obviously needs in light of weaker console sales. Phil Spencer, head of the European wing of its Game Studios business, will assume Kim's former position.
Nintendo's Wii continued its impressive sales dominance, churning out 675,000 units. The PS3 came in second with 209,000 units, and the Xbox 360 last with 187,000 sold.
With these most recent numbers, the Wii and Xbox 360 are now basically on par here in the US. Both have sold about 10.2 million consoles overall here.
Nintendo's dominance is also producing results among the best selling games. Five of the top ten titles were for the Wii, with two DS titles taking the ninth and tenth place spots.
The top five were: GTA IV for Xbox with 871,300 units; Mario Kart Wii with 787,400 units; Wii Fit with 687,000 units; GTA IV for the PS3 with 442,900 units; and Wii Play with 294,600 units sold.
MS must still be having supply shortages.
Score: 0
|stop putting your 360 on the carpeted floor and give it some breathing room. You will not have any RROD if you properly take care of your 360.
Since MS changed their manufacturing process in the winter '08, we have had NO RROD on ANY 360's at all. (and thats over 200 360's just in 5 months)
Score: 0
|I'm starting to see what a POS the XBOX360 really is. Three friends (plus mine) all with RROD in two weeks time and two of them are Elites.
Mine will be replaced in three days or so, I can live with out it. When Guitar Hero 4 comes out, I'm going with the PS3 version as opposed to the 360. I'm also getting any new multi-platform games for the PS3 as well.
One of my games (Burnout Paradise) has gigantic scratches in two different rings on it but it still plays. It makes me wish I would have bought all of my games for the PS3 as they are all available except Halo 3 which I hate anyways.
****ing Microsoft. s***dingo is right about the MS consoles sucking a fat ass.
Score: 0
|probably the better choice for you Hollywood. What deters me from doing this is the constant bug issues they have with all the releases of the pos3 version of games.
Score: 0
|Maybe they could also get their Xbox Media extender to play M-Peg 4 Quicktime videos, that way people could actually use their Xboxes to replace their cable TV setups and view the hugely abundant online channels that are available.
The way it's rigged now it's only PC friendly, and for those investing in a console that does more than just gaming it would make sense to use the Xbox as the centerpiece for home entertainment.
I have it set up right now through my Windows Media Center XP laptop but the Xbox is proving to be a very limited extender cuz it fails to support a vastly popular video format...
Score: 0
|Not mentioned is Microsoft's online venture for the xbox360, which earns it significant revenue and likely will continue to do so.
Score: 0
|Wii rocks.. it's not about super huge graphix..
Score: 0
|The Wii has it's charms but is not a gamers console.
Score: 0
|correct. The Wii is not a real gamers console.
Score: 0
|"Real Gamers" = virgins/Lack of social skills/living in parent's basement
Score: 0
|Funny. The Xbox 360 red ring of death issue cost Microsoft one billion dollars and probably deterred a huge database of potential new/late buyers of the console from investing in it. It'll take more than a cool game to build a bigger install base for the 360...
Shows what happens when you skimp out on quality.
Go Nintendo!!
Score: 0
|ok i got the red ring of death and im still gonna buy another Xbox 360... how about that? oh yeah and im also buying a Wii
Score: 0
|It seems a lot of people (including me) got RROD lately. Luckily I have another year and a half of warranty on this MS POS.
Score: 0
|