Sunday, April 20, 2008

Wii Outsells Xbox360, PS3 in March

Super Smash Bros. Brawl boosted Wii sales last month, according to the NPD Group.


Wii Outsells Combined Xbox 360, PS3 Sales in March

Super Smash Bros. Brawl boosted Wii sales to abnormal heights last month, according to official console ware bean counter, the NPD Group.

"Across hardware, software, and accessories, the Wii contributed the most to total industry sales, representing 31% of total industry dollars for the month," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

"Super Smash Brothers Brawl along with a greater supply of inventory helped the Wii to capture the highest single month unit sales of any platform outside the holiday timeframe," she added.

As far as hardware numbers go, Nintendo sold 720,000 Wiis last month; more than double that of combined Xbox 360 and PS3 sales, and almost enough to match the combined sales of all other consoles when including PS2.

The Nintendo DS was the second best-selling system in March with 698,000 units sold, followed by the PSP at 297,000 units, the Xbox 360 with 262,000, PS3 at 257,000, and the PS2 bringing up the rear with 216,000 units sold.

"Nintendo systems represented 58 percent of all video game hardware sold in March in the United States," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo's VP of sales and marketing. "We expect our momentum to continue with big upcoming game launches like Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit."

On the software side, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was the top-selling game in the U.S. last month at 2.7 million copies sold. Other top-sellers included Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (360), Army of Two (360), Wii Play, God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP), Guitar Hero III (Wii), MLB 2K8 (360), Call of Duty 4 (360), and Army of Two (PS3) in that order.

"All platforms, aside from the PS2, showed significant increases when compared with March 2007," concluded Frazier. "The industry realized great growth last year and so far this year, that momentum is carrying through."

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