Nintendo outsells competition nearly 2 to 1 in May

Video game sales were down by 23 percent in May, according to the latest data from NPD Group. The bright spot of the report is the ongoing domination by Nintendo, whose hardware and associated games outsold the competition by nearly 2 to 1.

As CNET's Lance Whitney reported, "NPD blamed most of the decline on the lack of blockbuster games rather than the weak economy. The report noted that last year's sales were boosted by the launch of popular software titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV. Nintendo's Wii Fit also was a hot commodity in 2008."

While there are a wealth of new games coming in 2009, including what appear to be some winners for PS3 and Xbox, Nintendo platform games made up just shy of 50 percent of the top 10 sales in May:

1. UFC 2009 Undisputed(THQ) Xbox 360 - 679,600
2. Wii Fit(Nintendo) Wii - 352,800
3. EA Sports Active(EA) Wii - 345,800
4. UFC 2009 Undisputed(THQ) PS3 - 334,400
5. Infamous(Sony) PS3 - 175,900
6. Pokemon Platinum(Nintendo) DS - 168,900
7. Mario Kart(Nintendo) Wii - 158,300
8. Punch Out!!(Nintendo) Wii - 156,900
9. X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged(Activision) Xbox 360 - 120,700
10. Wii Play(Nintendo) Wii - 109,800

Total Nintendo software: 1,292,500
Total other vendor software: 1,310,600

Nintendo also remains strong in the console business, with sales of the Nintendo DS and Wii nearly doubling the competition.

• Nintendo DS: 633,500
• Wii: 289,500
• Xbox 360: 175,000
• PlayStation 3: 131,000
• PlayStation 2: 117,000
• PSP: 100,400

New games, including a few blockbusters, would certainly alter the scenery a bit.

Follow me on Twitter @daveofdoom

[Sporlo]

Wii Fit in 2nd and Wii Play in 10th??? How much more casual could it possibly get? The only thing selling those games is likely the extra hardware you get.

[Kwasiowusu]

Well the good news is, UFC Undisputed easily outsold both EA Sports Active(by nearly 3 times), and also outsold Nintendo's own boxing game by nearly 7 times.

[petitbrilliance]

This article is foolish. 60% of the market is in Nintendo's hands, and 30% in Sony's. This is not bad at all considering the PSP doesnt have the fan base that nintendo has had for 30 years.
And COME ON!!! Nintendo JUST released a brand new DSi, what the hell do you expect? An already tremendously popular DS with a new remake vs a device that is already 3/4 year old that isnt as popular anyway. I mean really, what did you expect?

[Brian]

The Nintendo DS has slaughtered the Sony PSP !!

Awesome statistics.

Makes me proud to be a DS owner.

[Alex Alexzander]

I bought a PSP when it first released. I think Ridge Racer on that machines is very nice. They have a very nice animation sequence at the beginning too. Anyway, I later bought a DS. I'm not entirely sure why I don't ever use the PSP. I tend to gravitate to the DS myself.

One thing I do like a lot are those older platform games. Mario Bros, Mario 64. I think SuperMario DS is the one that is just like Mario Bros. 64. It's pretty amazing that the little DS can replicate that console game so well. Also the battery on the DS seems to last forever. Nintendo made a pretty darn nice hand held with that device.

Another thing you see Nintendo do is refresh the DS from time to time. They continue to make the platform interesting. I am a little surprised we don't see more competitors for the hand held space. Only the PSP decided to take on Nintendo. Hardware for hardware the PSP is good.Perhaps if Sony just kept up with refreshing it with more features to keep it in motion. Is it just me or does the PSP seem to be a product that was almost forgotten?

Alex

[Brian]

@Alex Alexzander:

I like the PSP design, the graphics are amazing and it really does allot.

But like you said, it's about the games.

I agree that Super Mario 64 DS is amazing.

I recall back with the original Gameboy (I had one of those). It was awful. It had a tiny green display, but it had good games and while others came along with better systems that had color displays, none of them could match the good old Nintendo lineup of games.

The same thing is happening right now with the DS.
People are playing Super Mario, Zelda, Wario, Pokemon, etc.

The big benefit of the DS is the 2nd display.
I will admit that it is more useful than a console.

[ibeetle]

The gaming industry is one of the few industry that splits numbers by models. Not the television manufactures, not the washing machine makers, nobody. The automobile industry kind of does both. X maker might claim to have the best selling model, however Y maker might have overall sales that exceed X makers entire product line.

Sony makes both consoles Playstation 2 and Playstation 3 why are those numbers not combined? Are Nintendo's DS numbers combined between the DS Lite and new DSi?

Why is it not made more clear in reporting that Sony and Nintendo release numbers of systems sold however Microsoft releases number of systems shipped?

[daverosenberg]

I think it's because of the way the companies report as well as how NPD tracks the numbers. Microsoft bases all of its reporting on units shipped and they deal with returns or unsold product afterward.

[Kwasiowusu]

@ ibeetle :"Why is it not made more clear in reporting that Sony and Nintendo release numbers of systems sold however Microsoft releases number of systems shipped?"

Nonsense!
This NPD report is neither from Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft. It's from NPD, which tracks consoles/games SOLD, (NOT shipped), for ALL 3 consoles.
Why do ignorant fanboys keep posting deliberately misleading crap on internet boards all the time?

[Kwasiowusu]

@ daverosenberg :" Microsoft bases all of its reporting on units shipped and they deal with returns or unsold product afterward. "

Again, NPD does NOT, repeat, NOT track unsoldoir returned products, and have never tracked unsold or returned prducts EVER. NPD only tracks new sold products. Get that into your thick head.

[SprSynJn]

Kwasiowusu, please take your immature name calling and arrogant attitude to a Microsoft or Nintendo forum. It is not wanted here. Thank you.

[Kwasiowusu]

@ SprSynJn, this article just happens to be about Nintendo and Microsoft NPD video game sales. All posts that set the record straight on that subject are very relevant. Equally, earlier attempts at disinformation about how NPD counts video game sales, needed to be quashed.
Meanwhile, I suggest you take your arbitrary, presumptous, peremptory attempts to order people about elsewhere. How about that eh?

[damascus-Z]

Good numbers for all!

Nintendo, continues their dominance and I expect more anecdotal 'i sold my wii' posts and nintendo hate articles/posts to go up again.

Sony and MS are doing great. Sure Sony can sell more, and they will! I can't wait for their line-up for the rest of the year.

MS, I hope have stabilized their 360 hardware. I'm ready to buy another 360 again and experience their gaming goodness once again!

[zizzybaloobah]

I find it interesting that Playstation 3 is only about 10% ahead of its predecessor. There is the real story that somebody should be telling.

[Kwasiowusu]

:"I find it interesting that Playstation 3 is only about 10% ahead of its predecessor"

True.
But then the PS3 is selling for $400, while the PS2 is selling for only $100.
$100 will usually outsell $400 most of the time.
In a reccession, the PS3 wil take that 10% advantage for now.

[Kwasiowusu]

From the article: "The bright spot of the report is the ongoing domination by Nintendo, whose hardware and associated games outsold the competition by nearly 2 to 1."

Not quite.
As a mattter of fact, Nintendo is the # 1 reason why games sales were down 23% from last year.
Let's just take a look at Wi sales from may 2008 and compare to wii sales in May 2009 shall we?
In May 2008, the Wii sold 675,100, whereas in May 2009, the Wii sold only 289,500, that is a drop in sales of a pretty high 57% for the Wii.
By contrast, the 360 only had a drop in sales from may 2008 to may 2009, of only 6%. So far from Nintendo being the "only bright spot" of May video game sales, Ninetndo is the main reason why video games sales fell by so much in the first place.

[Philips]

Wii was hot-hot-hot! last year. Very hot. Xbox360 - not so. That's why there is a considerable gap between relative sale volumes.

> Ninetndo is the main reason why video games sales fell by so much in the first place.

But it can be also argued that Nintendo is the reason why video games sales do overall exceptionally well - taking into account scale of financial crisis and meltdown of all other markets.

[Kwasiowusu]

@ Philips :"But it can be also argued that Nintendo is the reason why video games sales do overall exceptionally well - taking into account scale of financial crisis and meltdown of all other markets."

But the point is video game sales are NOT doing well overall right now at all, let alone doing "exceptionally well" overall. Video game sales in May were down 23%..and it's mostly because of that 57% fall in Wii sales. It's no use still insisting that video games sales are "doing exceptionally well overall" right now, when that is clearly not the case.
What are you, the "Ministry of Truth" in Goerge Orwell's "1984"?

[rgathright]

The Nintendo DSI is a definite improvement over the older Nintendo DS because it has bigger dual screens and two integrated 640x480 cameras.

You will also like the integrated web browser because the touch screen and dual screens allow you to surf faster than on the Sony PSP.

http://www.epinions.com/review/Nintendo_DSi_Black_Console/content_471199485572