November NPD Results

Well, they are in folks, and they are big. It is the second biggest shopping month and we have virtually three million sellers on the software front, and some really big numbers for hardware. A huge month for the industry overall.

Hardware Unit Sales

PlayStation 2 496K
PlayStation 3 466K
PSP 567K
Xbox 360 770K
Wii 981K
Nintendo DS 1.53 million

November 2007 Top 10 Video Games Rank # Units
360 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE ACTIVISION (CORP) NOV 2007 MATURE (M) 1 1.57 million
WII SUPER MARIO GALAXY NINTENDO OF AMERICA NOV 2007 EVERYONE (E) 2 1.12 million
360 ASSASSIN'S CREED UBISOFT NOV 2007 MATURE (M) 3 980K
PS2 GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK ACTIVISION (CORP) OCT 2007 TEEN (T) 4 967K
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA FEB 2007 EVERYONE (E) 5 564K
360 MASS EFFECT MICROSOFT (CORP) NOV 2007 MATURE (M) 6 473K
PS3 CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE ACTIVISION (CORP) NOV 2007 MATURE (M) 7 444K
WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK ACTIVISION (CORP) OCT 2007 TEEN (T) 8 426K
360 HALO 3 MICROSOFT (CORP) SEP 2007 MATURE (M) 9 387K
PS3 ASSASSIN'S CREED UBISOFT NOV 2007 MATURE (M) 10 377K


Other Software Sales of Note
Mario and Sonic at the Olympics (Wii) - 330k
Rock Band (360) - 312k
Lego Star Wars (Wii)- 180k
High School Musical (Wii) - 180k
Resident Evil UC (Wii) - 130k
Crysis (PC) - 86,6k
Rock Band (PS3) - 70k
Zack & Wiki (Wii) - 35k
Unreal Tournament 3 (PC) - 34k
Manhunt 2 (Wii) - 18,5k
Wii Zapper incl. Crossbow Training (Wii) - 232k
Zack & Wiki (Wii) - 35k
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3): 117k


Nintendo once again kicks ass, and takes names. They ended up shipping more Wiis than I expected, having believed that they "shot their load" earlier in the year. Nearly a million Wiis were sold last month, the highest November total in North America for a system since the PS2 broke 1 million in 2002. The DS sold an utterly OBSCENE 1.5 million. Ridiculous. There were more DSes sold than all Sony products COMBINED. Also, the big title of the month for Nintendo, Super Mario Galaxy, sold over a million. Clearly 2007 will be remembered as the year of Nintendo on the hardware front.

On the other hand, 2007 will be remembered as Microsoft's year on the software front, posting two seperate million sellers this month, Assasin's Creed and the number one game overall, Call of Duty 4. After soft sales for the mediocre Call of Duty 3, Activision has to be happy that they handed the series back to Infinity Ward who really knocked it out of the park. Mass Effect had a strong debut for an original IP, in stark contrast to a certain PS3 new IP that will be discussed later. 360 owners are really just voracious software buyers, Micrsoft could not ask for a better fanbase.

Hardware-wise, Microsoft was no slouch either, pushing nearly 800k units. A sales total that in and of itself is reminiscent of various PS2 Novembers back in the day. In North America, 360 continues to have the healthiest overall ecosystem, and this will likely be the case for the forseeable future. An interesting oddity software-wise is that Guitar Hero III Wii outsold 360 Guitar Hero for the first time ever. Is this a sign that the 360 audience is transitioning to Rock Band? Hmmmm....

Sony, as usual this year, had very mixed success. Though PS3 did claim some small-scale victories, with hardware numbers that were slighly above what was expected, but they are well below what 360 had last November in it's 2nd holiday season (360 had 511k, which was considered disappointing at the time and below expectations). Most ominously however, the PS2 beat the PS3 again, even with a holiday season in full swing and a full month of the $399 pricedrop. Software-wise Call of Duty 4 and Assasin's Creed sold better on the PS3 than anyone expected, myself included.

However, aside from these two titles, PS3 continued to be the system for people who hate to buy games. With Uncharted posting a paltry 117k and Rock Band PS3 only selling 70k. 360 fans showed that they were willing to embrace a daring new IP in Mass Effect, but PS3 fans were not willing to do the same unfortunately. Uncharted's poor sales may be a chilling harbinger for the future of innovative new titles on the system (It should be said though, mad props go out to Rob for being one of the few PS3 fams to actually buy the damn game). Some analysts attempting to explain the lack of PS3 software sales believe that a significant percentage of PS3 owners are actually buying 360 games even though they don't the system. At least, that is the best explanation they have come up with so far...

On a final note, it looks like it is bedtime for big budget PC games, with Crysis selling under 100k, and Unreal Tournament 3 selling 34k. The future of PC gaming is looking more and more like it is going be subscription-based MMOs and casual fare.

That about wraps it up for this month, stay tuned next month for the big daddy of them all, Decemeber. Can the 360 finally beat the Wii? Or will Nintendo be able to deliver enough units to win yet again? Will Sony still be stuck in the proverbial gaming ghetto? Check out monk blog for all of the latest info.