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U.S. Video Game Sales Up 15.5% in April

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the lots-of-people-in-tamriel dept.

kukyfrope writes "According to The NPD Group, game sales are up 15.5% for April 2006 thanks to strong PS2 sales, Xbox 360 availability and the release of popular titles such as Kingdom Hearts II, Oblivion and Tomb Raider: Legend. GameDaily BIZ talks in-depth with analysts Michael Pachter (WMS) and Anita Frazier (NPD) on the current trends of the industry and whether this last month was just a fluke or an upswing for the industry. 'We are completely baffled by the sales trend reversal for current generation software,' said Pachter."

18 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Xbox 360 by Erwos · · Score: 3, Informative

    The answer seems clear to me: the huge jump in Xbox 360 sales is starting to drive software sales again. The 360 is finally the best-selling console, and consumers are buying new games for it. If there's continued demand for the 360 (and I doubt they've hit anything near saturation yet), game sales should keep on going up.

    We'll see.

    -Erwos

    --
    Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
    1. Re:Xbox 360 by ByteGuerrilla · · Score: 2, Interesting

      This is true. I an my friends watched the E3 coverage over the 'Net. Beforehand, we were pretty keen on the 360, quite psyched for the Wii, and, as usual, fairly ambivalent towards the PS3. Afterwards, we're all getting 360s and definitely getting Wiis.

      I think the trend identified here is set to continue well into the year. The 360 has some really top notch games coming out, with Gears of War and Chrome Hounds just two of them. Huxley is also shaping up quite well, even though it has recieved mixed reviews.

      Turns out console gaming in 2006 is going to be just as awesome as PC gaming in 2006."

      --

      A block of code, sufficiently well-written, is indistinguishable from magick.

    2. Re:Xbox 360 by badasscat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The answer seems clear to me: the huge jump in Xbox 360 sales is starting to drive software sales again.

      The "huge jump" in Xbox 360 sales was only to 295,000 units. 295,000 units in a whole month, after MS said they were shipping more than a million to retailers. And this after there was supposedly so much pent-up demand caused by the shortage. I think a lot of people had assumed there were literally millions of people out there who just couldn't get an Xbox 360; well, now they can, and only 295,000 of them showed up.

      It is true that the 100,000 or so extra Xbox 360's sold probably do mean another 150,000 or so games added to the tally for the month too. But from MS's point of view, that's really got to be a pretty disappointing number. They're still barely even outselling the PlayStation 2, for god's sake, a last-generation system, and by MS's own numbers, there's now a whole bunch of unsold inventory out there.

      In other words, whether or not this is sustainable is still up in the air.

    3. Re:Xbox 360 by Erwos · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They're outselling the PS2 by 50% - surely, that shouldn't be described as "barely outselling".

      As for the low number compared to what we expected, I suspect it's because the supply channel problems were only resolved near the middle of April. There's no serious evidence that there are piles of 360s in shops everywhere - indeed, someone recently mentioned that it was only last week that Newegg was even able to get any.

      There's no hard proof that this is sustainable, but after Sony's poor E3 showing, I suspect 360 sales will be even stronger in May. But that's only my opinion...

      -Erwos

      --
      Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
    4. Re:Xbox 360 by Erwos · · Score: 2, Informative

      I guess you don't understand that you linked to the March sales stats, do you? April's are much different.

      -Erwos

      --
      Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
    5. Re:Xbox 360 by joshsisk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Uhhhh.... this story is about APRIL. The link you posted is about March.

      The April Charts look a bit different.

    6. Re:Xbox 360 by CaymanIslandCarpedie · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I've never understood comparing how many PS2s are selling now compared to how many 360s are selling now. The markets for them at this time are completely different, the prices are completely different, and the library of games are completely different. Just seems a VERY strange comparison.

      The PS2 was the fastest selling console ever upon release reaching 10 million in just under 13 months. Despite people waiting to see the other consoles before committing, supply issues, and all that the 360 is on pace to at least come very close to that. Not to say either is better but that seems a much more usable statisic. Compare them when they were both new, both the upper end machines available, both in the higher price ranges, and both with at least similar game libraries.

      --
      "reality has a well-known liberal bias" - Steven Colbert
    7. Re:Xbox 360 by Serapth · · Score: 2, Informative

      It is true that the 100,000 or so extra Xbox 360's sold probably do mean another 150,000 or so games added to the tally for the month too. But from MS's point of view, that's really got to be a pretty disappointing number.

      Not really sure where you learned math, but wasntit 295,000 units sold. On top of that, even if it was only 100,000 units, the attach rate with the 360 is close to 4 games per unit. That adds up closer to 400,000 extra games sold using the 100,000 number and 1.18 million games sold using the 295K number. Neither should cause Microsoft to lose sleep. Plus, these numbers were from April, before Sony shot themselves multiple times in the foot. I imagine Microsoft staff are sleeping pretty soundly these days.

      Kinda kills earlier analyst comments that "The 360 is bad for the industry" as an 15.5% rise in sales sounds like a pretty damned good thing for the industry. Although Kingdom Hearts2 really does need to get the credit it deserves.

  2. As for me... by MudButt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "'We are completely baffled by the sales trend reversal for current generation software,' said Pachter."

    Well, I can tell you that I just bought 6 new gamecube games for myself & the kids for summer break. I can't be the only one getting ready for that, right?

  3. So they're proven wrong yet again by Pluvius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I wonder when people are going to get tired of predicting another video-game crash every time there's a dip in sales.

    Rob

  4. Idiot analysts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Strong PS2 sales caused by Kingdom Hearts 2? 360 sales caused by Oblivion? Go figure. No games no sales, isn't that obvious?

  5. Why "baffled?" by BTWR · · Score: 2, Funny
    It's very simple: release great games, people will buy them. This looks like a great game, and I'll buy it. See? Very simple strategy.

    Guy 1: Hmmm, so weird. We released Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, and it tanked!

    Guy 2: Yeah, then we released a new Tomb Raider that was actually pretty decent, and not bug-ridden, and it sold well. Weird!

    Guy 1: I know! SO weird!

  6. It's so weird by cdogbert · · Score: 4, Funny

    Every time a string of quality games are released that a lot of people like, sales go up! It's baffling!

  7. I dunno by UES · · Score: 4, Funny

    "'We are completely baffled by the sales trend reversal for current generation software,' said Pachter."

    Yeah, it's a real question for the ages

    LOWER PRICE POINT FOR CURRENT GEN

    why are so many people in such a rush to buy games lately?

    LOWER PRICE POINT FOR CURRENT GEN

    Surely the greatest minds in the country should attach this vast problem.

    LOWER PRICE POINT FOR CURRENT GEN

    If only there was some kind of economic analysis possible, perhaps some kind of law of supply and/or demand that says what happens when demand is high and prices come down.

  8. Right... by Brothernone · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, lets hope they actually take this as a clue that GOOD QUALITY and FUN are what drive game sales. This is not the movie industry, we are not going to spend money on shit we don't want. The sooner the publishers and producers figure this out, the happier we'll all be. Then we'll also have games WORTH spending the money on again.

    --
    He whom you called four-eyes yesterday, you call Sir tomorrow.
    1. Re:Right... by glenrm · · Score: 2

      Preach on brother! Oblivion is a great game and I bought after not buying a game for almost a year straight!

      --
      Onward to the Aether Sphere!
  9. Tax refunds? by caesar-auf-nihil · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder how much the upswing in sales is due to serious gamers spending their tax refunds on more games? While taxes weren't due until mid-April, those who got their taxes done early in Febuary would be getting their refunds in early April, and, those who went to H&R block got their refunds instantly.

    --
    -When going for broke, go for Ithaca!
  10. Good games sell... duh! by binaryspiral · · Score: 2, Informative

    So if you make some good games - people buy them. Lots of people buy them and sales go up?

    Hrm.. interesting. Why hasn't anyone thought of that before?