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Nintendo DS Dominates March Sales

by Steven Rodriguez - April 19, 2007, 5:29 pm EDT
Total comments: 13 Source: NeoGAF Official NPD

Half a million units sold and two games in the top ten means the portable is continuing to kick ass and take names. Updated with the official Nintendo statement.

The NPD Group has released the March 2007 game sales data, and the number one slot in hardware sales shouldn't come as a surprise. The Nintendo DS is far and away driving the industry forward, racking up 508,000 units sold in the 31-day month. The Wii topped all next-gen consoles with 259,000 units reported as sold, though it wasn't the top-selling home platform. That honor went to the PS2, which moved another 280,000 consoles. Rounding out the top half of the hardware list, Microsoft sold another 199,000 Xbox 360s, and Sony sold 180,000 more PSPs.

The Game Boy Advance is also still making a strong showing, with 148,000 more handhelds sold in March. This is about 18,000 more than the PlayStation 3, which only sold 130,000 units. At least it sold more than the 22,000 unit performance of the GameCube.

Moving on to the software numbers, the game/remote combo that is Wii Play took the number four spot on the chart with 273,000 boxes sold. Spots six and seven went to two DS games, Diddy Kong Racing (189K) and Spectrobes (165K). The top selling game of the month might explain why the PS2 had such a strong showing: Sony's God of War II moved 833,000 copies, twice as many as the number two game for the month.


Here's Nintendo's press release indicating that it's the top dog of March.

NINTENDO NEWS: NINTENDO STAYS NUMBER ONE

April 19, 2007 - Nintendo once again claimed the top two spots among the best-selling new video game systems in America in March, according to independent sales data gathered by the NPD Group. Despite widespread shortages for both systems, more than half a million buyers snapped up the portable Nintendo DS™, and Wii™ was once again the top-selling new home video game console.

With the first quarter of 2007 now completed, Wii has already notched over a million systems sold in America this year, while the DS now stands just shy of 1.25 million for the same period. Wii remains the fastest-selling new console in more than a decade, based on NPD sell-through information over the first five months of availability.

So far this year, Nintendo has sold more video game systems than all other manufacturers combined.

"The message delivered by both Wii and Nintendo DS is the same one," says Reggie Fils-Aime, president, Nintendo of America. "Innovation is compelling both current gamers and new gamers to experience a new way to play. Nintendo is bringing gaming back to the masses."

While shipments of Wii hardware are expected to grow this month due to increased production, demand for the system remains at unprecedented levels. And it's destined only to intensify with the just released Super Paper Mario™ and the impending release of Mario Party® 8, which brings a new experience to the classic mini-game series using the Wii controllers. For Nintendo DS, the year's most anticipated software release so far this year comes with the arrival of Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon® Pearl arriving at retail on Sunday.

For more information about Nintendo, please visit Nintendo.com.

Talkback

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterApril 19, 2007

Nintendo would've completely dominated if they shipped more Wiis to stores...

But I find it funny how the PS2 is actually beating the PS3. Even more embarassing, the GBA outsold the PS3!

XD:::

TMWApril 19, 2007

The GBA has been outselling the PS3 for a while now, hasn't it? Or am I making that up?

And seriously, do you think Nintendo likes having a shortage. I expect forced shortages from Sony, but I genuinely believe they are putting them out there as fast as they can, and people are buying them just as fast.

TJ SpykeApril 19, 2007

It's actually 35 days, not 31. NPD tracked sales from March 4-April 7 for this data.

Wii continues to dominate, 3 straight months over Xbox 360 and 5 over PS3. The PS3 has never outsold Wii in North America or Japan, and Wii is ahead in Europe. The only region where PS3 is beating Wii is in New Zealand (where the Wii LTD is only 6,000). Not bad considering Wii had no major releases in March (although Tiger Woods did about 113K on Wii).

Argh. Now Nintendo fanbois everywhere will get noogies from XBox fanbois who want revenge for all the 'X360 is being outsold by PS2" comments and by Sony fanbois glad that Sony is outselling SOMETHING.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

that Baby guyApril 19, 2007

Yes, no matter how you look at this report, it's rather obvious that Nintendo is the loser.

BranDonk KongApril 19, 2007

If only Nintendo could have shipped 22,000 more consoles last month. Oh well, at least they sell every single console they ship to every single region, instantly in most cases.

This is probably why GameStop was complaining that Nintendo was shipping less than they could. There are some who believe that Nintendo specifically saved some consoles because they met their fiscal year goals for the period ending march 31 and want to start out april, the next fiscal year, and golden week in Japan with a bang.

Also, not to worry, manufacturing increases starting february right Nintendo? hope? Hope?

I just hope that third parties in the March rush of ports and semi-new stuff don't feel burned. Though Sonic seems to be healthy and Tiger Woods is up in top 20 console I think.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

TJ SpykeApril 19, 2007

Yep, Tiger Woods was #12 on the Top 20 Consoles chart: http://ps2.ign.com/articles/782/782103p1.html

1. God of War II (PS2) Sony
2. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (360) Ubisoft
3. Guitar Hero II W/ Guitar (360) Red Octane/Activision
4. Wii Play (Wii) Nintendo
5. MotorStorm (PS3) Sony
6. Major League Baseball 2k7 (360) 2K Games
7. MLB '07: The Show (PS2) Sony
8. Def Jam Icon (360) Electronic Arts
9. Guitar Hero II W/Guitar (PS2) Red Octane/Activision
10. God of War (PS2) Sony
11. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (PS2) Rockstar
12. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (Wii) Electronic Arts
13. Crackdown (360) Microsoft
14. Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii) Sega
15. TMNT (PS2) Ubisoft
16. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) Nintendo
17. Gears of War (360) Microsoft
18. Major League Baseball 2K7 (PS2) 2K Games
19. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii) Nintendo
20. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PS3) Bethesda

And that's the console chart based on revenues probably, ngc86.

I think #8 moved somewhere around 140k units, so that gives us a pretty high ceiling for the other games. Sad to be missing SSX and Godfather though. Bomba? I hope not! Ooooohhhh... it's all my fault for not buying those two games! /cry

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

TrueNerdApril 20, 2007

OH NOZ! WII PLAY SELLZ WELL! ARE HARDCORE GAMES GOING AWAY?

NinGurl69 *hugglesApril 20, 2007

Yes.

TJ SpykeApril 20, 2007

Actually, it is the top 20 based on sales. Here is the overall top 10 with sales (from GameSpot)

1. God of War II--PS2--833,000
2. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2--Xbox 360--394,000
3. Guitar Hero II--Xbox 360--291,000
4. Wii Play with Wii Remote--Wii--273,000
5. MotorStorm--PS3--199,000
6. Diddy Kong Racing DS--Nintendo DS--189,000
7. Spectrobes--Nintendo DS--165,000
8. MLB 2K7--Xbox 360--165,000
9. MLB '07: The Show--PS2--164,000
10. Def Jam Icon--Xbox 360--148,000

Quote

Originally posted by: Kairon
And that's the console chart based on revenues probably, ngc86.

I think #8 moved somewhere around 140k units, so that gives us a pretty high ceiling for the other games. Sad to be missing SSX and Godfather though. Bomba? I hope not! Ooooohhhh... it's all my fault for not buying those two games! /cry

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com


CericApril 20, 2007

I will say this, are top ten has a "healthier" mix of consoles.

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