There was a time when E3 was a really, really big deal. Now, it’s simply a really big deal. One of the biggest factors of its whole big dealness comes from the console manufacturers’ press conferences. They typically range from the epic (introduction of the Wii) to the horribly, horribly wrong (introduction of the PS3 and real-time weapon changing). So how did this year go for Nintendo?
Ah, the monthly NPD report for the video game industry in America. If you’ve never noticed before, it’s always apparently good news for everyone involved. Even if their competitors outsell them considerably during the month, a company will find a way to give out a good press release. Every company gives out a press release stating how there sales were better than last month or last year. It’s a standard business practice, but it’s still good for a laugh every now and then.
Here are the big numbers in a nutshell. Overall industry sales, which includes hardware, software, and accessories, was at $1.25 billion dollars. Nintendo’s Wii was the best selling system of the month as usual, with 274k units sold during the month. Sony’s PS3 sold 269k, outselling Microsoft’s Xbox 360 for the first time, a major victory for Sony. The Xbox 360 sold 230k units during the month, perhaps knowing they would be behind the competition when Microsoft announced they had supply issues right before the NPD report came out. On the handheld side, the DS sold 251k units while the PSP sold 230k. (more…)
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