ODST's won the day, but was September a turning point for Sony in the war?
The NPD Group’s US Video Game Report for September just hit my inbox last night, and it may be an early indicator of the exciting fourth quarter predicted by some pretty smart cats. We saw increases across most categories from September ’08′s numbers, but not enough to pull the year-on-year numbers out of their recession doldrums. However, Sony’s got several reasons to smile, in spite of Halo 3: ODST nabbing the top spot on this month’s Software Top 10:
| Rank | Title | Platform | Units |
| 1 | HALO 3:ODST | 360 | 1.52M |
| 2 | WII SPORTS RESORT | WII | 442.9K |
| 3 | MADDEN NFL 10 | 360 | 289.6K |
| 4 | MARIO & LUIGI:BOWSER’S INSIDE STORY | DS | 258.1K |
| 5 | THE BEATLES:ROCK BAND | 360 | 254.0K |
| 6 | MADDEN NFL 10 | PS3 | 246.5K |
| 7 | MARVEL:ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 2 | 360 | 236.0K |
| 8 | BATMAN:ARKHAM ASYLUM | PS3 | 212.5K |
| 9 | GUITAR HERO 5 | 360 | 210.8K |
| 10 | THE BEATLES:ROCK BAND | WII | 208.6K |
Yes, there are only two PS3 titles in the top 10 this month, but looking at this list, you can practically see the purchase behavior! Madden and Arkham Asylum both shipped to decent numbers on the PS3 in August, but not enough to overtake their respective Xbox 360 counterparts. These particular games’ second month in the Top 10, despite the PS3′s much smaller installed base, is a clear indicator of a positive trend in hardware sales for Sony. More casual gamers that only buy one or two pieces of software a year religiously get Madden, and strong word of mouth among hardcore gamers (not to mention a pretty good ad campaign) for Arkham Asylum has made that a must-have title for anyone just purchasing a current gen system. So gamers that were holding out for a price drop seem to be gravitating towards the PS3, and they’ve essentially created their own hardware bundle in the process.
The price drop and slim hardware proved to be exactly the 1-2 punch Sony needed. Take it away, NPD analyst Anita Frazier!
“Compared to last September, the PS3 was the big winner, more than doubling last year’s sales. This portrays a very strong consumer reaction to the price decrease as August and September both realized a lift of more than 70% over the prior month. This is the first month that the PS3 has captured the top spot in console hardware sales.”
It’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft rolls out a new hardware bundle or retailer discount for the holiday. This very well could be the PS3′s year.
In other news, this month’s NPD report saw Wii Fit fall out of the Top 10 for the first time since its introduction 15 months ago. Of course, it was immediately replaced in the Top 10 by Wii sports Resort. But for a $90 game to spend 15 months in the Top 10, where even a soft month has the floor somewhere around 200K units, is impressive. Just like the home crowd standing up for their starter during his 7th inning exit, I’ve got to salute Nintendo on this one. Well done.
