Microsoft Purchase Diary

The lazy summer is here once again. It’s best to be lazy when the sun is ‘blaze-y’. The higher the heat index fingers on the thermometer the lower the figures we press on the AC thermostat. Ironically the summer heat brings as much of the hasty as it does the lazy. Whether from the frost of the open freezer, the chlorinated waters of the swimming pool, the sweat pouring from head to toe as you brave the sunny swelter, you find the motivation to un-shoulder the burden of the beams. Once we regain our cool we regain our calm and the lazy haze returns in spades. Would you have it any other way?

A malaise still somewhat exists over the videogame industry according to the latest figures from The NPD Group, Inc. So far the year is shaping up to be a repeat of 2009 which really isn’t a bad thing being the 2nd best-selling year in videogame history. But did 2008 really leave such a shadow to be seen as the Thriller that overshadows all the albums that follow? I hope not. But something’s shaking up the monotony this month. Microsoft is making Nintendo SWEAT as it heads the hardware list! So much for Sony’s comeback. The new redesign’s doing wonders for the XBox 360’s sales and definitely makes the familiar console contest much more interesting. Ring-a-ling-a-ling, ring-a-ling-a-ling! The ice cream man’s here to help you cool off with tasty snowcones and testy estimates! Now you got it made in the shade.

Microsoft’s XBox 360 delivered the Summer SLAM with 443,500 ‘S’ sizzlers sold in July, the month the first man walked on the moon. In June, the month of the first U.S. spacewalk, the 360 sent 451,700 Valhalla motherboards into circular orbit showing a minor decrease due to the June to July tracking period differential (5 weeks to 4). Well would you take a look at the 360? Talk about coming on strong! Not only did they top the hardware charts this month but they beat out the Wii…for the second month in a row! That’s 3 times this year! Never before done in the 360’s history to beat the Wii 3 times within a year. And not only did the 360 beat Wii this month, it DOMINATED them selling close to double Wii’s amount! Adding insult to Nintendo’s injury, they beat out the ominous DS to boot. Impressive. Very impressive. *golf clap*

The XBox 360 S is doing wonders for Microsoft’s American console fortunes. And while cynics may attribute the 360’s revitalized sales only to the clearance prices of the old 360 models, there’s no doubt that Microsoft’s E3 surprise put the jumper cables on the 360’s battery. If Microsoft can sustain this momentum into the fall, then Kinect will have a proper lead-in to prove itself worthy. A number of anticipated multiplatform releases and the exclusive Halo: Reach mark the landscape until then. Not to mention the August introduction of 4GB version of the XBox 360 S to replace the Arcade line. Let’s see how long the 360 can keep this thing going. Four months within a year will shock the house!

Nintendo’s DS BBQ’d over the charcoal grill as fireworks exploded above the hill with 398,400 XL-irating handhelds sold in the month of Independence Days worldwide. In the month of Hawaii’s Kamehameha Day, Project Nitro sold 510,700 portable Pokémonsters showing a noticeable decrease. Blame the NPD tracking week differential, blame the upcoming 3DS. But either way you cut it, the existing DS line is cooling off a little bit. That’s not to say you don’t have to put on your oven mitts when handling this still-hot platform. It’s just to say that it won’t burn you quite as fast as before. OOCH OUCH! Hot hot hot!

While the hardware charts have cooled the software charts are becoming downright fiery. The double-screened dynamo has 6 spots out of the Top 20 including the breakthrough of Dragon Quest IX. Always bigger in Japan than in America, the latest in the role-playing game series has a good shot of at least matching the American sales of its predecessor, Dragon Quest VIII for the PlayStation 2 (released November 15, 2005 in the U.S.). Seth Green commercials to the rescue! But even more impressive is the kid from Hogwarts. Mix LEGO and Harry Potter and you got chart-topping gold. Hits like these alongside the Pokémon presence will sustain this system until its eventual deemphasis.

Nintendo’s Wii enjoyed its summer vacation selling 253,900 Mario marquees in the month Disneyland opened. In the month summer began, Gamecube’s avenger sold 422,500 Hollywoods on Broadway showing an alarming near-halving decrease. This ain’t the tracking week differential on this one. In yearly comparison, so far Wii is selling less in 2010 than it was in 2009. Nintendo has already cut the price and effectively ‘cut it’ again when they permanently packaged Wii Sports Resort with the console in May. And now with the XBox 360 resurging under the new design, Nintendo is dependent on its monster fall lineup to keep interest in Wii propped up. Especially in the face of counter motion-control assaults from both Microsoft and Sony. The story begins on the last day of August when Metroid: Other M enters the marketplace. Until then, prepare for more summer doldrums on the Wii front.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 slurped up the melting vanilla as best it could with 214,500 even-breakers sold in National Ice Cream Month. In National Iced Tea Month, the 7th gen underdog sold 304,800 PlayStation positives showing a decrease. So much for the match-up with the 360. The PS3 has improved its overall performance since last September’s price cut and initially it matched up with its rival 360. Matched to the point that digits within its sales numbers inspired puns about the PS3 having the 360’s number. But that was before the reality of the 360’s new look set in. While it may feast on 360’s dinner in Japan and pilfer 360’s lunch money in Europe, PS3 still ends up serving the 360 breakfast in bed in America, the biggest market in the world.

Worldwide, the PS3 is on track to eventually beat 360’s worldwide numbers but until it resolves the America scene a little better, development priority will remain a tug-of-war between the HD twins. And Europe (with its associated markets) is not settled ground yet. PS3 has a slight edge there now but the new 360 may tip the scales its way once again. That will give the 360 platform 2/3 of the major markets and hamper the PS3 even more. To stay in the game, all signs point to Move. That or just hope this XBox 360 surge is temporary.

Sony’s PlayStation Portable dived off the board and landed belly flat in the pool with 84,000 piddling simpering platforms sold in the month of International Joke Day. In the month of Power of a Smile Day, PSP sold 121,000 poorly selling products showing the all-too-predictable decrease. It’s almost here. This month marks 23 consecutive months of yearly comparative decline for the PSP. Next month is the month I’ve been waiting for since beginning this depressing countdown. It’s almost here…

Through the sun and rain, the U.S. videogame industry soaked in just $846.5 million in total sales for July, a 1% pool dip from last July. Of this less-than-billion dollar figure, total hardware sales high nooned up 12% to $313.8 million while total software sales sunset down 8% to $403.3 million. In the heat of all this, total accessory sales dripped down 2% to $129.3 million. Not very much different from last July in the overall picture.

For the year-to-date, the industry dived down 8% to $7.51 billion making telltale that 2010 is slipping behind 2009 which itself looms in 2008’s world record shadow. Perhaps 2010 can have an end year comeback like 2009 did but how many New Super Mario Bros. Wiis can you make? Be mindful, all percentages refer to year-to-year comparisons between July 2010 and July 2009.

As for the games this month you may think I’m going to start in on EA’s yearly college football offering but there’s something a little more important to talk about this month. On July 27, 2010, 12 years after the real-time strategy original, Blizzard Entertainment released StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty to the PC and Mac. And in doing so they did the impossible: they made a hit out of a physical retail PC product. A market that has paled in comparison to the console market since the late 1980s, physical retail for PC games is mostly bolstered by World of WarCraft expansions (another Blizzard series). Factoring this increasingly rare feat into the charts, StarCraft II is really the #1 game of the month. But of course these are the console charts so it will have to be asterisked and separated from the pack. Yeah, I know, I know…it sucks.

Outside of this, NCAA Football delivers as the warm-up for the usual Madden fest as NFL season returns. Crackdown 2 makes the 360 proud to have it as an exclusive. Red Dead Redemption and Modern Warfare 2 continue to show the 360 as the preferred system of choice for these titles. A double dose of Mario and Harry keep the Nintendo twins happy while RPG fans can rejoice at seeing Dragon Quest IX actually make the Top 10.

If you can’t take the heat, get into the kitchen. And open to the fridge to pour yourself a cool glass of ice lemonade. While you’re sipping on that, let these charts regulate your temperature.

NPD’s Top Hardware Sales in July

Microsoft XBox 360 – 443,500
Nintendo DS – 398,400
Nintendo Wii – 253,900
Sony PlayStation 3 – 214,500
Sony PlayStation Portable – 84,000

NPD’s Top Ten Software Sales in July

01. NCAA Football 11 (X360) – 368,000
02. NCAA Football 11 (PS3) – 298,000
03. Crackdown 2 (X360) – 208,800
04. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) – 193,000
05. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (DS) – 141,700
06. Red Dead Redemption (X360)
07. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 (Wii) – 133,000
08. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinel of the Starry Skies (DS) – 132,000
09. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) – 128,000
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (X360)

* StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC, Mac) – 721,000

See any familiar faces in those shades of yours? Oh, don’t think you’re coming down with heatstroke. Number 15 ain’t what you think. It’s based off of a TV game show not that futuristic racing series.

NPD’s Top Twenty Software Sales in July

11. Just Dance (Wii)
12. New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
13. Toy Story 3 (DS)
14. Red Dead Redemption (PS3) – over 100,000
15. Wipeout: The Game (Wii)
16. Wii Fit Plus (Wii)
17. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3)
18. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
19. Pokémon SoulSilver Version (DS)
20. Mario Kart DS (DS)