Nearly Perfect Daddy

Here we are once again on the shortest month of the year. Why is this month so short, I’m sure you may have wondered? Well at one time the Romans didn’t consider wintertime calendar worthy. Sometime around 700 B.C., the 2nd King of Rome, Numa Pompilius, corrected that oversight by quickly making up January and February to fill that weird gap. February got the leftover days January didn’t get becoming the last month of the Roman calendar year with its shorter time span. Well this lasted about 250 years before Ten Men (the Decemviri) from the Roman Republic just up and made January and February the #1 and #2 months. Some odd leap month named Mercedonius or Intercalaris was used to even out the rocky calendar shrinking February down to 23 or 24 days! Julius Caesar ended this monthly madness in 47 B.C. killing that bogus leap month, standardizing each month’s days and creating the leap day to match the calendars to the seasons.

Later on, groundhogs, valentines, the Super Bowl, American presidents, and Black people were spliced in to give the month some flavor. Good things, small packages, and all that.

Well, the videogame biz had its own shortages to deal with according to the figures from The NPD Group, Inc. Both Nintendo’s and Sony’s home consoles were mostly M.I.A. in stores since the holiday rush. This benefited well-stocked Microsoft well as they got a small measure of victory over Nintendo’s housebound fun machine. While the Wii backstock was tapped out from their record December, the PS3’s invisibility in the stores was more due to rising demand matched with controlled distribution (no overloading the retailers with PS3). However, none of this prevented the overall shortfall in industry sales from last February (Wii! How dare you have shortages when the industry needs propping up? *wink*). Don’t blink! You’ll miss these estimates if you don’t pay attention. They go by so quick!

Nintendo’s DS lit the Winter Olympic flames in Vancouver with 613,200 downhill skiers in 1st for the 2nd month of the year. For the 1st month of the year, the litmus test for the Revolution sold 422,200 flipnote wilsons showing a strong increase. While its home console sibling struggled to resupply, DS packed enough DS Lites and DSi’s into stores to make up for the other’s absence. These are the highest February sales the DS has ever had in the U.S. territory. Five years three months into the game and three editions later, the DS gets even stronger. How will the DSi XL sub-edition affect sales when it releases in late March? Stuffing my petty worries, the DSi did not fragment the DS audience but actually made it stronger last April. Will these 3 styles of the DS be able to co-exist comfortably? Third pillar was certainly no one-time strategy, that’s for sure.

Microsoft’s XBox 360 showered beads on Mardi Gras selling 422,000 shocking bios in the month of Carnival. In the month of New Year’s Day, the snazzy bundle master sold 332,800 elicades showing a good increase. It pays to have good stock after Christmas. For the first time since September 2007 (see Halo 3), the 360 overcomes the Wii on the hierarchy! But the culprit couldn’t have been just good stock. It must be that BioShock 2 Big Daddying up the scene. These factors made this the best February the XBox 360 has ever had (and the 2nd best non-holiday month as well). This round may go to the 360 but can they fend off their closest foe, the PS3, when their strong March lineup marches forward? That all depends on which version of Final Fantasy XIII sells the most, the PS3’s or the 360’s. Stay tuned.

Nintendo’s Wii sang “When the Saints come marching in” as they sold 397,900 Wii Dats in the month of the NFL Super Bowl. In the month of the NFL Playoffs, Hardcore’s Bane sold 465,800 oui oui mon cheries showing a moderate decrease. Wii is still recovering from their super-selling holiday season but March promises to shock as the new stock gets prepped for springtime. Nintendo is unleashing some big guns soon with Monster Hunter Tri (3) in April, Super Mario Galaxy 2 in May and Metroid: Other M in June. Nintendo is preparing to power out the first half of 2010 as they head into the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo this June for the big faceoff. The competition wants what Wii got but do they got what it takes? We shall soon see.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 thought it was Day 29 as it sold 360,100 instant updaters in the month known to leap. In the month known for new, the PS3 sold 276,900 of its new brand kind showing a good increase. Calendar glitches aside, the PS3 continues the rising trend it has been on since last August. Like many others on this chart, this is the best February ever for the PS3 and that’s good news heading into a decisive March. There, the multiplatform argument gets the chance for new discussion with Final Fantasy XIII, the one-time PS3 exclusive lured away by the XBox 360. If the PS3 version outsells the 360 one, Sony may have a chance to begin edging out their usurper on the way to the motion-sensing oasis. If not, the PS3 will most likely be forever in the 360’s shadow.

There’s one game this month showing the PS3 version just ahead of the 360 one with Dante’s Inferno. If this pattern continues in the face of the XBox 360 Final Fantasy XIII special bundle package, it will certainly be a sight to see. From there, the PS3 would certainly be on the move. Oops. Better save that for next month.

Sony’s PlayStation Portable suffered from a broken heart with 133,400 go-go dancers sold in the month of Valentine’s Day. In the month of Martin Luther King’s Day, the pure solid playthang sold 100,100 get-up-n-gos showing a mild increase. Wow. I can officially say it. It has been an entire year and a half that the PSP has been on its yearly decline! 18 months! A baby transitions from newborn to toddler in 18 months! What can be done?! Is the not-yet-scheduled Resident Evil Portable the only thing to look forward to on this platform? Looks like more bootlegs in this handheld’s future. Month 19 coming up!

Sony’s PlayStation 2 fell into a Punxsutawney pit selling 101,900 legacies of Ken in the month of Groundhog Day. In the month of ordinary winter days, the console ancient sold 41,600 of its ever-enduring kind showing over a double in output. Well, it’s back in the 6-digit territory again. But you know it’s not much longer for the PS2. The time has finally come. March marks the 10th year since the PS2 made its introduction (starting in Japan). In what is sure to be the last year for PS2’s retail glory, the best-selling home console in the world will finalize its record. How much over 140 million can it sell before joining the great console heavens?

In briefing, the U.S. videogame industry packed up $1.26 billion in total sales for February, a 15% shortfall from last February. Of this billion-dollar figure, total hardware sales dropped down 20% to $426.4 million while total software sales lowered down 15% to $624.4 million. Simultaneously, total accessory sales tipped down a tiny 1% to $204.7 million. What’s a little decline between friends?

In the year-to-date (just 2 months! ha!), the industry lessened about 13% to $2.43 billion (hardware portion: down over 20% to $780.1 million; software portion: down over 13% to $1.22 billion; accessories portion: up almost 1% to 421.7 million). By the way, NPD analyst Anita Frazier attributes the minor upswing in year-to-date accessory sales merely to pricier accessories. Spoilsport - all percentages refer to year-to-year comparisons between February 2010 and February 2009.

As for the games of February we see (shock) BioShock 2 electrifying all the Big and Little Sisters out in gameland. Of course, it goes without saying that the XBox 360 version was the one leading the Top 10. The Mushroom Kingdom would not be denied though and it was only a platform or two below. Reservations were still being made at the resort like always but what’s this? Dancing with your Wii is a legitimate phenomenon? More crow for the haters. People were still getting their war on both on XBox Live and the PlayStation Network. The works of Dante Aligheri were used to massive effect while drama rained down in a heavy fashion.

Don’t shortchange yourself. Get the lowdown from the listings down below.

NPD’s Top Hardware Sales in February

Nintendo DS – 613,200
Microsoft XBox 360 – 422,000
Nintendo Wii – 397,900
Sony PlayStation 3 – 360,100
Sony PlayStation Portable – 133,400
Sony PlayStation 2 – 101,900

NPD’s Top Ten Software Sales in February

01. BioShock 2 (X360) – 562,900
02. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) – 555,600
03. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (X360) – 314,300
04. Just Dance (Wii) – 275,400
05. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) – 272,500
06. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) – 252,800
07. Mass Effect 2 (X360) – 246,500
08. Dante’s Inferno (PS3) – 242,500
09. Dante’s Inferno (X360) – 224,700
10. Heavy Rain (PS3) – 219,300

Interesting results in the Top 20. There are even a few sales numbers included. A little bonus if you will.

11. Aliens vs. Predator (X360)
12. BioShock 2 (PS3) – 190,500
13. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
14. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
15. MAG (PS3)
16. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
17. Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics (Wii)
18. God of War Collection (PS3)
19. Mario Kart DS (DS)
20. NBA 2K10 (X360) – under 100,000