Every time a regional videogame market performance update emerges from Japan, which invariably shows Nintendo mauling any and all challengers with its Wii and DS consoles, opposing fanboys aplenty pour forth to decry significance outside of North America, where Nintendo is apparently much more closely pressed by its rivals.
Nintendo once again crowned the monthly sales wiinner be NPD. Credit: Tico24/Flickr.
Those same fanboys may be scurrying for cover today following the release of new NPD Group research figures that show that Nintendo’s mauling of Sony and Microsoft is in no way restricted to Japan.
Specifically, NPD reveals that Nintendo sold an impressive 721,000 units of the hugely popular motion-sensing Wii console during the month of March, which totals more than twice the amount amassed by competing consoles the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
According to NPD analyst Anita Frazier, improved retail supply and the hotly anticipated release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl helped the Wii register the “highest single month unit sales of any platform outside the holiday timeframe.”
A ‘smash’ indeed with North American gamers, Super Smash Bros. Brawl racked up a staggering 2.7 million units sales during March, a figure that certainly contributed to a marked 57 percent increase in total industry sales (software, hardware, accessories) for the region, which ended the month at $1.7 billion USD.
Further to the ongoing success of the Nintendo Wii, research firm EEDAR offers in a Next-Gen.biz report that monthly sales of the innovative little console will remain around the 600,000 to 700,000 mark during April and May as the platform benefits from the introduction of high-profile titles such as Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii.
Compounding the spread of Nintendo’s international dominance, the handheld DS console came a close second in March’s sales list, accounting for 698,000 units, while the PlayStation Portable continued its popularity surge with 297,000 sales.
Microsoft’s well-established Xbox 360 sold 262,000 units while Sony’s powerhouse PlayStation 3 sold slightly less with 257,000. March exists as the first month of 2008 that Microsoft has managed to outperform (albeit marginally) main platform rival Sony.
In terms of pertinent percentages, total year-on-year hardware sales were up 46 percent in March, through to $551.3 million USD, while total software sales for the month, driven by the likes of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Army of Two, Wii Play and God of War: Chains of Olympus, increased by a margin of 63 percent to $945.6 million USD.
Accessory sales also witnessed a sizeable 58 percent jump, shifting a total of $220 million for the month.
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