Nintendo continues

The Money Times ^ | 5/19/2007

[HamiltonJay]

Wii on winning spree, scores fourth consecutive win over rivals by Shubha Krishnappa - May 19, 2007 - 2 comments

Among the trio of next generation gaming consoles, Nintendo has emerged as the numero uno in April for the fourth consecutive month after selling 360,000 of the popular video game devices in the United States, repeatedly outshining both its rivals Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the US video game consoles market.

After attaining the top position in the first three months of the year, Nintendo has once again performed exceptionally well by selling nearly four times as many Wiis as Sony sold PlayStation 3s and more than twice as many as Microsoft did Xbox 360s, a market research firm, NPD Group Inc. said.

According to fresh sales results provided by NPD, US gamers bought 360,000 units of the wii console last month, making it the best-selling video game console in the country.

The more-powerful systems, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 lagged behind in the fierce battle for dominance in the booming gaming consoles market by moving 82,000 and 174,000 units, respectively.

Nintendo sold 436,000 Wii video game consoles in January, while Xbox 360 sold 294,000 and Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 244,000 units.

In February, US gamers bought 335,000 Wii consoles and 228,000 of Microsoft's Xbox 360, while Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles managed 127,000 units.

In March, Nintendo shipped 259,000 Wii video game consoles, while Microsoft and Sony managed 199,000 and 130,000 units, respectively.

In the hand-held category, Nintendo DS remained the most popular game system of any kind in April, with impressive sales of 471,000 units, ahead of PlayStation Portable, or PSP, with 183,000 units. Nintendo DS is a portable game player that is still selling briskly more than two years after its introduction.

Although, Sony's last-generation PlayStation 2 has outshined Xbox 360 in April by selling 194,000 units, but compared to its last three months’ sales data PS2 did not do well this month.

Sony's 7-year-old gaming console moved 299,000 machines in January 295,000 in February and 280,000 units in March.

After reigning as the champ of hardware sales in United States, Nintendo ruled the software game charts too, with the top four best-selling games belonging to the company.

Games for Nintendo DS, took the top two spots, followed by two games for the Wii.

The four Nintendo titles are: ‘Pokemon Diamond’ and ‘Pokemon Pearl’ for the DS that sold 1.04 million and 712,000 units respectively. ‘Super Paper Mario’ for the Wii came in third with 352,000 games sold in April, while ‘Wii Play With Remote’ recorded 249,000 sales during the month.

"Nothing is more valuable in the entertainment world than an evergreen franchise," says Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO, Nintendo of America. "These new Pokémon titles have cemented their place alongside the most enduring intellectual properties of the book, music and movie industries. And that appeal will expand even further with the introduction of Pokémon Battle Revolution to our Wii home console next month."

The overall market of video game hardware and software came up with booming results.

Total U.S. sales of video games and hardware reached $838.6 million, a 20% increase from April 2006 ($699 million), according to figures sent Friday from the NPD Group.

However, the sales were down from $1.1 billion in March.

After observing the fresh NPD sales data, it seems that consumers still reacting well to lower cost consoles. Launched in November last year, Nintendo’s Wii console retails for $US250, while PS2 costs only $129.

Xbox 360 and the PS3 start at $299 and $599, respectively, while their high-end versions are priced at $US400 and $US600, respectively.

Besides Nintendo console's U.S. price, which is just half the cost of the least-expensive version of PS3, its motion-sensitive controller that has been popular with mainstream gamers as well as new audiences like senior citizens and very young children has helped build buzz for the machine, and made it more appealing to some consumers.

The three companies are locked in a fierce battle for dominance in the $13 billion U.S. video game market.

[HamiltonJay]

Over 7 Million total Wii's sold, 360s 9.75 million even with a year longer on the market.

Analysts predict Wii overtakes 360 by end of 08, I say if Nintendo gets its production numbers up, they will take #1 spot by end of 07. Wii still sells out within hours of shipments arriving.

Big N definately will own this generation of consoles in terms of units sold.

MS is praying Halo 3 will boost sales for them.. but Wii still hasn't had some of Nintendos strongest franchises released yet. Metroid doesn't come out until OCT, Pokemon I think is JUNE or JULY, and Super Mario Galaxy isn't out yet either.

Big N, is definately back.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Last time I was in Target, they STILL didn’t have an available Wii sitting on their shelves.

If you had told me in January that it would still be hard to find a Wii in May, I’d have thought you were trying to scare me.

I’m glad I picked mine up in January, even though it was difficult.

[ShadowAce]

[HamiltonJay]

Still sell out within hours everytime a shipment comes in... if Nintendo could make them faster they would already be #1 installed console.

I have yet to see one “on the shelves” anywhere.

[Paradox]

This is a great story. N has been down for years (except handlheld markets), but still, the N was nuttin. On the other hand, MS and Sony got into Power Wars with their consoles, designing these electricity eating beasts, that had great graphics no doubt, but yet, on the other hand, the games themselves played just like the games from the previous generation, if not the one prior to that.

Enter Nintendo, with its "wimpy" game, but with GAME PLAY the primary consideration, lesser hardware, sold at 1/2 the price of the other two. Bang! Big winner!

[antiRepublicrat]

Nintendo sold 436,000 Wii video game consoles in January, while Xbox 360 sold 294,000 and Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 244,000 units.

You almost want to look at this and think "PS3 costs over twice as much, so people are actually spending more money on PS3s." The problem with that is that Sony takes an estimated loss of about $300 per PS3 sold, while Nintendo makes a profit off of every Wii.

Microsoft just announced that their XBox division will become overall profitable next year. But Sony is hurting with the PS3 and PSP. Sony just announced one third of the profits from the last year ($1.9 billion down to $600 million) mainly attributable to their games division, which over the last year ran up an almost $2 billion deficit.

I wish I'd bought Nintendo stock when everyone was saying they'll go the way of Sega at about the time the Cube was in third place and the DS (which is currently printing money) hadn't taken off yet.

[HamiltonJay]

Nintendo focused on FUN and on ease of adoption/learning curve.

My mother was over one weekend, this is a woman who I have tried to play video games with since the days of the Atari 2600...

To her, every attempt ended in frustration and giving up.... I handed her a Wii controller, and she and my 10 year old son, played Wii Sports for hours with each other, laughing it up the entire time!

Nintendo got it right, Nintendo has always focused more on group type of gaming, more than the geek in a dark room playing FPS all night long. They realised FUN is what playing games is supposed to be about, and making game play more intuitive would make this activity appeal to far far more people, and that’s exactly what they have done.

They are being rewared for it... let Sony and MS battle the hardware war, they are in a battle for 2nd place this gen.

[antiRepublicrat]

Have you tried Wii Wario yet? Absolute twisted insanity that you can’t seem to stop playing.

[JamesP81]

I personally like the 360 better, but the concept behind the 360 is flawed. It costs too much money. Console gamers generally aren't as 'hardcore' about their gaming as PC gamers are. Anyone who is hardcore enough to spend 500-700 bucks on an XBox is probably a hardcore enough gamer to spend $1200-$1800 and get a PC that's faster than the 360, not to mention more games lend themselves to keyboard, mouse, and joystick control than gamepad control. This is the very reason why I don't own a 360 even though I like them best of all the consoles; I have a high end gaming machine. The difference in money isn't that much when you consider the money spent on a 360 plus the money spent on a lower end PC for common tasks such as email and internet browsing. A gaming PC fulfills both functions nicely. I started playing Oblivion on my best friend's XBox 360. When I got the game for myself, I didn't buy a 360; I simply got the PC version which is identical to the XBox version (plus, I prefer the keyboard and mouse to to the gamepad).

Nintendo is the console king for one simple reason: they understand their market better than Sony or Microsoft.

[mjp]

After crunching the numbers for Jan-Apr the winner in total dollars is:

PS3 = $349800000

WII = $347500000

XBOX(at$300) = $268500000

XBOX(at$400) = $358000000

[ShadowAce]

I have not actually played any console ever. I've always owned a computer (since 1978), and the concept of purchasing a separate machine just for games seems silly to me.

While several of my friends disagree with me, I've never played their consoles, either. I don't know if it's the games that don't appeal to me or the seeming awkwardness of the controllers.

[RightFighter]

The real race here is between Microsoft and Sony. Nintendo’s console is being purchased by most people as an addition to their XBox 360 or PS3 or as a single system by people who don’t want to pony up $400 or more. I have the 360 and a Wii. The Wii is fun, but will NEVER be able to offer some of the stellar games that I can get for the 360, like Gears of War, because it simply lacks the graphics horsepower to do so. However, there is such a fine line between the 360 and the PS3 that it makes no sense for me to have both. I like the 360, and it came out a year earlier, so that’s what I have.

If Microsoft priced the 360 at $250, which they could do at this point, then it would be interesting to see what would happen vs. Wii, but that really doesn’t matter. What matters is sales figures vs. PS3. The Wii is really in a category all by itself because of the unique controller and low price point.

[Lancey Howard]

I still play Dr. Mario.

[HamiltonJay]

Well I understand SONY’s decisions on the PS3.

From the overall SONY corp perspective, winning the HD format war was/is FAR FAR more important than selling out game systems.

The PS3 is the cheapest Blu Ray player on the market, incorporating Blu Ray into the box helps SONY bolster Blu Ray adoption, and win the format war, and kill off HD-DVD and deservedly so as far as I’m concerned.

Doing so, put hte price point for the PS3 far too high for broad adoption, but it was a short term price SONY was more than willing to pay, they had far far more to lose if they lost the HD format war. I personally would have made the same decision if I were in the SONY execs place.

Now, PS3 will come down in price, and once it does, and better games are released for it, which will undoubtably happen..> Sony is not about to be abandoned by developers... PS3 sales will pick up. Sony decided for some short term pain for much greater long term gain. Even if the PS3 only moves 20 Million total units worldwide (which I highly doubt it would be that low no matter what), but it helps Sony win the HD format war, Sony as a company is a huge winner versus losing that war.

I think PS3 will wind up #2 installed base at end of the day, but it will require a price point drop, and a significant one to spur serious sales. As hardware and manufacturing costs drop I’m sure PS3 will see price drops as well.

[Publius Valerius]

I wish I'd bought Nintendo stock when everyone was saying they'll go the way of Sega at about the time the Cube was in third place and the DS (which is currently printing money) hadn't taken off yet.

There was a really interesting article in last month's Business 2.0 about the Wii, and how Nintendo's development alongside the vastly more powerful XBox and Playstation. Real "outside the box" thinking that has really paid off for Nintendo. Good for them.

[Xenalyte]

This thread so far is in the lead for Minimalist Headline of the Week.

[netmilsmom]

My daughter’s First Communion was last weekend. She wanted to buy a Wii with her gifts. We promised to match the money. She came up short by 100.00 but we got on ebay and picked one up anyway. It runs perfectly but did not come with the Wii sports disk. We can get a replacement for 20.00 from Nintendo itself.

We did pick up the Wii play with the extra controller. I have also not played a video game since the 80’s. I have NEVER had so much fun. We played Air Hockey for hours.

The guy at Blockbuster said that Nintendo is shooting for the “Party Games”. Where the whole family can play and have a blast. I think they got it. The only reason why I allowed this system in my home is because the kids exercise more than their thumbs. We will be playing this forever.

My girls are becoming quite the golfers!

[HamiltonJay]

Gross sales ys, but NET PROFITS, no way, and companies are in business for profits. Sony loses about $300 per PS3 sold whereas Nintendo is making about $100 per Wii sold.

Nintendo has not lost money on selling a console since the very first year of the Cube. They may not have gotten much respect last generation, but they were profiting nicely.... Nintendo is a game only company, they actually know how to MAKE MONEY... something MS has never done in its XBOX division, 20 Billion spent and still 5 Billion in the red..

Sony is making money on its PS2 console sales, but will be a long time before they make a $1 on a PS3 sale directly.

Big N is the clear winner this gen, and I don’t see anything changing that.

[JamesP81]

While several of my friends disagree with me, I've never played their consoles, either. I don't know if it's the games that don't appeal to me or the seeming awkwardness of the controllers.

I refuse to play an FPS on a gamepad. I'd rather have my hands sawed off with a rusted spoon.

I, too, am a PC gamer. The games that are on XBox 360 are mostly the same ones on PC, and PCs tend to have a bit better graphics (PCs tend to get the high end video cards before consoles do) not to mention the controller issue.

[JamesP81]

The Wii is really in a category all by itself because of the unique controller and low price point.

The Wii caters to a different market than the other consoles.