Jun 12, 2008 6:13 PM

May NPD: <cite>GTA IV</cite>, Wii Top Charts Again

No big surprises for the videogame industry’s U.S. sales for the month of May. Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit, as it turns out, are big hits. Who knew. Wii Fit, as I’ve said before, is quite supply-constrained in the U.S. In fact, I’m actually quite shocked at the number: Nintendo got less than […]

No big surprises for the videogame industry's U.S. sales for the month of May. Grand Theft Auto IV and Wii Fit, as it turns out, are big hits. Who knew.

Wii Fit, as I've said before, is quite supply-constrained in the U.S. In fact, I'm actually quite shocked at the number: Nintendo got less than 700,000 units of the game into stores in the month of May, a tiny amount considering the massive marketing efforts all wrapped up around it. A commenter yesterday pointed out a Los Angeles Times article in which analyst Michael Pachter says that he believes Nintendo is profiting off the strong euro and sending four times as many Wii Fit units to Europe as to the U.S.

The hardware, the software, and Nintendo's and Sony's spin on the numbers, all below.

Wii 675.1K
Nintendo DS 452.6K
PlayStation 3 208.7K
Xbox 360 186.6K
PlayStation Portable 182.3K

Software

360 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE (CORP) 871.3K
WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL NINTENDO OF AMERICA 787.4K
WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD NINTENDO OF AMERICA 687.7K
PS3 GRAND THEFT AUTO IV TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE (CORP) 442.9K
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA 294.6K
WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL NINTENDO OF AMERICA 171.1K
PS2 IRON MAN SEGA OF AMERICA 130.6K
WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK ACTIVISION 116.8K
NDS POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: EXPLORERS OF DARKNESS NOA 107K
NDS POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON: EXPLORERS OF TIME NOA 102K

Nothing too surprising. Mario Kart Wii had an excellent second month, continuing to move copies even after an explosive April. I think the only shocker here is the fact that Iron Man actually managed to wedge its way into the GTA-and-Nintendo-dominated list.

Now for everyone's favorite part: the spin. Nintendo takes the opportunity to flesh out some of the details we don't see and point out some more games that made the Top 30 this month.

NPD Figures Show Strong Consumer Response to Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit
Two Nintendo video games designed to appeal to both novice and expert gamers posted healthy numbers in the May sales charts, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks sales of video game products in the United States. Mario Kart® Wii and Wii Fit™ finished No. 2 and No. 3 for the month, demonstrating continued consumer response to new controls and experiences.
"The Wii Wheel and Wii Balance Board accessories make game play fun for new gamers while presenting new challenges for those who have been playing a long time," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "The diversity of the seven Nintendo games represented in NPD's top 10 for May demonstrates how Nintendo has something for everyone."
Other highlights from NPD's May U.S. sales report include:
Wii™ (675,089 sold) and Nintendo DS™ (452,608 sold) again emerged as the two top-selling video game systems.
Wii represented 63 percent of all current-generation consoles sold in May, while Nintendo DS had a 71 percent share of the portable market.
Lifetime sales of Wii now stand at nearly 10.2 million.
Lifetime sales of Nintendo DS are now at more than 20 million.
Wii Play™ sold more than 295,000 in May, bringing its lifetime sales to more than 5.8 million.
Of the top 30 best-selling games of May, 19 are made for Nintendo systems, including third-party hits like Guitar Hero™ III: Legends of Rock from Activision, We Ski™ from Namco Bandai, Game Party™ from Midway and Boom Blox™ from Electronic Arts.
Pokémon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokémon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness combined to sell more than 208,000 in May, with lifetime sales of more than 613,000.

I will have some of what* Sony *president Jack Tretton is having.

PS3 Eclipses Xbox 360 Hardware Sales; PS3 Hardware Sales Growth Exceeds 155 Percent Year-Over-Year
PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) continued its break-out year, selling 208,709 hardware units in May. 22,106 more units than Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (according to NPD May 2008 sales data).
Spurred by enthusiasm for Grand Theft Auto IV and the exclusive releases of SingStar for PS3 and Haze, 1.26 million software units were sold for PS3 in May, representing an increase of 234 percent from this time last year.
442,910 of copies of Grand Theft Auto IV were sold for PS3 in May, with more than 1.4 million of copies of the game sold for PS3 in the U.S. to date. More than 32 percent of U.S. PS3 owners have purchased a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV, a 6 percent higher attach rate than Xbox 360.
PS3 hardware sales momentum is expected to continue in June, spurred by the highly anticipated launch of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, exclusively for PS3, as well as the introduction of the special edition Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots PS3 bundle.
Popularity of the PLAYSTATION®Network continues to rise, with more than 20 million pieces of content downloaded from the PlayStation®Store in May (11.6 million for North America), including the monster hit echochrome. There are currently more than 9 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts worldwide (nearly 4.2 million in North America) with more than 160 million pieces of content downloaded from the PlayStation®Store to date.
PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) continued to boast solid sales in May with 182,310 PSP hardware units sold. In June, SCEA launched an exclusive God of War: Chains of Olympus PSP bundle including the Superbad UMD and a PSN voucher to download Syphon Filter: Combat Ops, which will further increase sales of the handheld.
PlayStation®2 (PS2) also had another strong month in May with hardware unit sales reaching 132,708 units, up 6.7 percent over the previous month. More than 42.2 million PS2s have been sold to date.
Power of the PlayStation Portfolio
The PlayStation brand continued to generate impressive sales, earning $331.6 million in May.
Year-to-date (Jan-May), the PlayStation brand generated close to $2.27 billion in revenue, 46 percent higher than Microsoft, and representing an increase of more than 17 percent year-over-year.
PlayStation total hardware revenue was $133 million in May, 98 percent higher than Microsoft, and representing a year-over-year growth of over 20.4 percent.
PlayStation total software revenue in May was $159 million, representing a year-over-year growth of 19.2 percent.
"Leading into a pivotal season packed with blockbuster titles and unique online service offerings, consumers have chosen the PS3 as their home entertainment console of choice - showcased by its year-over-year sales growth of 155 percent. With its commanding line up of software titles and enhanced movie playback capabilities, the PS3 has seen phenomenal momentum with a software sales increase of more than 234 percent and additional studio support of delivering content in the Blu-ray format. The dual platform release of the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV title reaffirmed its legacy on the PlayStation platform with a 6 percent higher attach rate than Xbox 360, reinforcing consumer choice of PS3. Poised for continued momentum, PS3 is delivering on its breadth and depth of exclusive titles to its gaming fans with today's prized exclusive title launch of Metal Gear Solid 4. The media have hailed 2008 as the year of the PS3, and with solid sales and growth opportunities ahead, we feel consumers are saying the same."
- Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America