December 2010 NPD

[CeeKay]

The numbers aren't out but predictions are being made:

2X 360's sold over PS3's

Over 2 million Wii's sold.

the real numbers are due out Thursday but it looks like it was a good holiday season for Nintendo at least.

[Sarkus]

That first link says Pachter expects 360 sales at 2.5m, Wii sales just ahead at 2.6m, and PS3 sales at 1.2m.  Compare that to last December: Wii at 3.8m, 360 at 1.3m, and PS3 at 1.4m.  In other words, the Wii was significantly down and barely edged the 360, which doubled its sales while the PS3 actually dropped.

I'm not sure why, but the 360 continues to build momentum while the others are dropping off, at least in the US.

[CeeKay]

even though it was down it was enough to push the Wii over 7 million sold in the US in 2010, breaking the 7m mark for the third year in a row.  I wonder if they'll be able to pull that off for a 4th yer.

[Turtle]

I'd believe it.

The PS3 sold like crap in November, so they've authorized a bunch of deals for the holidays, but that's not going to get over the kind of hype generated by kinect, which I think is responsible for these system sales.

[Space Herpes]

I'm glad the Kinnect is selling well (as I own one).  However, I never would have expected that it would sell this well or push the sales of 360's.  I really thought the Move was going to dominate as it was a more familiar piece of equipment with refined controls.  Despite MS's major mess-up with the 360 in the beginning, they certainly have turned things around for their console.

Next generation isn't that far away at this point and it will be interesting to see who is able to come out on top.  It's pretty much all up in the air at this point.  Sony has lost their absolute domination of the field, but are still doing well.  Nintendo went from last to first and the 360 seems to be in a very comfortable position.  This gen was a major shake-up.  I expect the various companies to be pulling anything and everything they can out of their asses to take lead next gen.  It will be a fascinating fight to watch.

[kronovan]

I don't think the Kinect is responsible for many of the increased 360 sales - that trend started months before the Kinect was released. IMO 360 is the beneficiary of the other-console-to-own phenomena. Many people interested in owning game consoles in the US already have a Wii now, so there looking for something else. last gen it was the PS2 that the majority bought 1st, with the Xbox and Gamecube more or less equally battling it out for the 2nd console to buy spot. This gen the 360 seems to be that console. An interesting statistic would be how many new 360 sales are to 1st time buyers vs those that already own a console. I'm betting 1st time buyers are in the minority.

[leo8877]

I think that the Kinect and the redesign have a lot to do with the sales.  It's assured that many of those sales are "re-sales" for the new slim model and/or bundles that were with the Kinect.

[kronovan]

I think that the Kinect and the redesign have a lot to do with the sales.  It's assured that many of those sales are "re-sales" for the new slim model and/or bundles that were with the Kinect.

Yeah sure, but are those really Kinect sales or just existing 360 fans contending with the RRoD.

[msteelers]

I think that the Kinect and the redesign have a lot to do with the sales.  It's assured that many of those sales are "re-sales" for the new slim model and/or bundles that were with the Kinect.

This is probably correct. The 360 has been redesigned, and the Kinect just adds more value and makes it easier to justify. I know for me I don't really want Kinect, but I do want a larger hard drive and wifi. The price of those items individually is so obscene that it makes it easier to justify going out and buying one of the 250GB Xbox's with everything built in.

[CeeKay]

according to Major Nelson's Twitter, they ran out of 360's.

[kronovan]

I'm not surprised. I remember in the 1st 18 months of Wii sales that Ninty always ran out. That occurred until they doubled their production capacity. My guess is that Microsoft, only having achieved US sales to that degree in 2010, has been surprised by not being able to supply the demand. It'll be interesting to see if MS retools to increase their production capacity. I'm also curious to see stats on the Euro market, to see if the 360 sales parallel the increase in US sales. I've read it has, but I haven't seen anything concrete.

[kronovan]

Here's the actual sales as listed on Neogaf:

Hardware sales

Wii - 2.36 Million
Xbox 360 - 1.86 Million
PS3 - 1.21 Million
NDS - 2.5 Million
PSP -

December 2010 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)

01. Call of Duty: Black Ops** (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
02. Just Dance 2 (Wii) UBISOFT
03. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm** (PC) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD - 1.5 Million
04. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood** (360, PS3) UBISOFT
05. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) NINTENDO
06. Disney Epic Mickey** (Wii) DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS - 1.32 Million
07. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP) ELECTRONIC ARTS
08. Michael Jackson The Experience** (Wii, NDS, PSP) UBISOFT
09. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
10. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (360, PS3, Wii, PC) ELECTRONIC ARTS - 906.4K
XX. Gran Turismo 5 - 560.5K
**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

They seem to be throwing in the odd PC game now too. So afterall the 360 didn't beat the PS3 by a 2x factor - still very good numbers. Yet again, Sony declines releasing any PSP numbers. I think everyone figured Epic Mickey and WoW Cataclysm would sell well - and they did. Wow, just wow though, to Just Dance 2 doing better than 1.5 million! I admittedly no little about the franchise, but I certainly wouldn't have predicted sales like that considering it released in October.   Please tell me it's not just shovelware, and actually deserves those numbers.

[Larraque]

Months like december makes me wish they posted top 20-30 titles.

[Ridah]

I wonder why the Wii outsold the 360 considering the 360 has been outselling the Wii in the months prior.

[CeeKay]

I wonder why the Wii outsold the 360 considering the 360 has been outselling the Wii in the months prior.

If I understand the tweet from  Major Nelson right they ran out of systems to sell.  Take that for what you will.

[kronovan]

I wonder why the Wii outsold the 360 considering the 360 has been outselling the Wii in the months prior.

If I understand the tweet from  Major Nelson right they ran out of systems to sell.  Take that for what you will.

I did a bit of surfing on that topic earlier this month, and did get some confirmation that Larry's claim was legit - wish I'd saved a link. 

[CeeKay]

Gamasutra's analysis.