This just in from www.Gamebizdaily.com:
<table style="MARGIN: 0px 13px 13px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="499"> <tbody> <tr> <td class="gy12"><strong class="gy18">NPD: August Video Game Sales Up Nearly 18%[/b]
<strong class="biz_b12">It was another fantastic month for the U.S. video game industry in August. Console software sales climbed almost 18 percent, with Xbox 360 software performing well and relatively strong contributions from current-
gen at this point in the cycle. More within...[/b]
</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="gy12">Following a
stellar July, The NPD Group today revealed that for the month of August U.S. console software sales increased 17.5 percent compared to August 2005.
[Note: The NPD also revised its July data due to a reporting error. Consequently, July 2006 software sales were reduced by 2.2 percent to $378 million (from $386 million) and unit sales were reduced 1.5 percent.]
Total console software sales for August amounted to $397 million, representing a five percent sequential increase from July. Current generation software sales were $249 million, which represents a decline of $56 million—not bad considering that the Xbox 360 has been out for quite some time and consumers are now anticipating the PS3 and Wii. The current-gen results were largely driven by strong PS2 software sales, which were up from August 2005.
Next-generation software and portable software (PSP and DS) also fared well, totaling $140 million. Xbox 360 did particularly well, with software sales of $89 million for the month. "We had expected Xbox 360 software sales to contribute $50 - 70 million per month, and the strength over the past three months suggests to us that contribution may continue above the high end of that range through October, with significantly higher sales in November and December," said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter in a note. 360 hardware sales in the U.S. were at 2.4 million units through August.
Despite the 360's momentum lately, Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel is concerned by the console's "sluggish" sell-through in August. "According to NPD, Xbox 360 sell-through came in at 205K in August-06, its third lowest monthly sell-through since launch. We are concerned that the Xbox 360 continues to significantly underperform the PS2 which was consistently selling in excess of 300K units per month in 2001. With gamers apparently waiting for a PS3 or Wii, potential launch disappointments will only prolong the industry transition," explained Patel.
August game sales were driven by EA's Madden NFL 07, which was the best selling title on PS2, Xbox 360, Xbox and GCN, as well as contributions from Square Enix's Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (PS2) and Capcom's Dead Rising (360). Nine games sold over 100K units during the month, compared to just three titles that managed to do so last August. New releases were key in August, as the top 10 games captured 37 percent of dollar sales and 23 percent in unit sales.
With consecutive positive months, the ill effects of the console transition may be coming to an end, although Pachter noted that it's a bit early to declare the transition to be over.
"We think that this month's sales figures mark an end to the downward trend that started in front of the Xbox 360 launch last November. While it is too early to call an 'end' to the console transition, the sales strength over the last few months suggests to us that consumers are far less concerned about the transition than they have been in prior console cycles," he said. "We think that in part, this is attributable to greater publisher support for the PS2, and expect to see a continuation of robust sales growth over the next several months (especially as the monthly comparisons become much easier). We continue to expect monthly year-over-year declines of 25% for current generation software sales, but we have consistently seen positive signs that next generation software sales growth can more than offset these declines."
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