Linebacker-sized sales of Madden NFL 08 and Nintendo hardware led the US videogame industry to a total of nearly $1 billion in August revenues, the NPD Group reports.
ImageIn August overall, the US videogame market (hardware, software, accessories) generated $993 million, a 46 percent increase over August 2006s $679 million. Year-to-date sales are just over $8 billion, significantly ahead of the same period last year, which raked in $5.6 billion.
Sales of the perennially best-selling Madden franchise handily topped the software charts, as the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 08 was the best-selling title of the monththe first time an Xbox platform has hosted a top-selling game on release in unit sales with 896,600 sold, according to NPD analyst Anita Frazier.
Madden NFL 08 for the aging PS2 captured the second slot for August with 643,600 in unit sales.
An impressive performance from the unique shooter BioShock for Xbox 360 came in third with 490,900 sold, sandwiched between another Madden 08 coming in at number four, this time the PS3.
Total software sales for the month were $488 million, up 23 percent over last year.
Top 10 August 2007 SKUs:
1. 360 Madden NFL 08, EA (August 07), 896.6K
2. PS2 Madden NFL 08, EA (August 07), 643.6K
3. 360 BioShock, Take-Two (August 07) 490.9K
4. PS3 Madden NFL 08, EA (August 07), 336.2K
5. WII Wii Play w/ Remote, Nintendo (July 07), 256.8K
6. WII Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Nintendo (August 07), 218.1K
7. WII Mario Strikers: Charged, Nintendo (July 07), 147.4K
8. PS2 Guitar Hero II w/ Guitar, Activision (November 06), 145.4K
9. WII Mario Party 8, Nintendo (May 07), 138.3K
10. PS2 Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, Activision (July), 127.1K
Frazier added that unit sales of console software were virtually flat at 1 percent growth year-to-date (71.2 million in 06 vs. 72.1 million in 07), but a higher average retail price for games is driving revenues skyward.
Hardware
Nintendo once again clenched the top-selling hardware slots for the month with the Nintendo Wii, which sold 403,600 (4 million life-to-date in the US), followed by the handheld DS, which sold 383,000 (12.7 million LTD).
The hardware segment saw growth of 94 percent to $384 million.
US Hardware unit sales (August (life-to-date))
1. Wii: 403.6K (4M)
2. DS: 383.3K (12.7M)
3. Xbox 360: 276.7K (6.3M)
4. PS2: 202K (39.1M)
5. PSP: 151.2K (8.3M)
6. PS3: 130.6K (1.75M)
Accessories generated $121 million for the month, up 47 percent.