Via their individual E3 press conferences, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have this week engaged in unbridled corporate posturing and thinly-veiled rival bashing while attempting to convince attendees and prospective consumers alike that theirs was the only console hardware and software combination worthy of investment. However, the latest U.S. sales figures from the NPD Group show that, while perhaps not all the rampant chest beating was warranted, each player is registering progress.
Konami\'s Metal Gear Solid 4 leads to considerable monthly increase in PlayStation 3 sales. Image: Ronin_Kengo/Flickr.
More pointedly, NPD’s numbers for June reveal that Sony Computer Entertainment has recently enjoyed a massive hardware sales injection of around 94 percent thanks to the attraction of its eagerly-awaited exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Compounding that software and hardware popularity, Konami’s Metal Gear Solid 4 has garnered near-universal acclaim since its retail arrival and ranks as June’s best-selling videogame -- stealing top-spot from Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto IV, which has been top of the software chart since its April release.
Powered by its high-profile exclusive, Sony managed to sell 405,000 PlayStation 3 consoles throughout June, reports NPD, which is a marked increase from the 208,700 console sales attributed to it during May.
“Exclusive content usually fuels hardware system purchases and PS3 sales certainly reflect the impact of Metal Gear Solid 4,” commented NPD analyst Anita Frazer before also confirming that the PlayStation 3’s most recent performance is a sales record for the console in a non-holiday month.
While Sony Computer Entertainment of America (SCEA) is doubtless revelling in the upsurge of its powerhouse hardware, main industry rival Microsoft Corporation did not fair quite so well during the month of June. Although the American software company posted a 17.8 percent increase in sales compared to May, it only saw 219,800 units of the Xbox 360 leave store shelves.
SCEA’s current rush of well-deserved sales jubilation is put in check somewhat when considering that motion-sensing ‘industry fad’ the Nintendo Wii is still the clear hardware leader despite seeing a slight drop off in its monthly figures.
Posting unit sales of 660,000 for June, Nintendo’s innovative and hugely popular console wasn’t quite able to match the 675,100 it sold during May. NPD notes that the Wii has sold 10.9 million units in the U.S. since it launched in November of 2006.
In terms of total industry effect, NPD outlines that June 2008’s hardware and software sales figures return a massive 53 percent increase when compared to June of 2007. The collective gaming industry has taken a massive $8.3 billion USD in sales across the first half of the year, which is a year-on-year increase of some 36 percent and goes against the grain of opinion regarding current economic uncertainty in the United States.
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