The Nintendo Wii has successfully recaptured the top video game hardware spot. The Playstation 3 – which had been rated the best selling console for the month of September – slid to second place as the Xbox 360 remained a distant third.
“Hardware sales were down 17 percent in units for the month, with the Wii and the Xbox 360 decreasing the most compared to October 2008,” Anita Frazier confirmed in an industry note obtained by Gamasutra.
“Compared to last month, which was a five-week month as compared to four weeks this month, Wii, PSP and NDS sales increased on an average sales per week basis, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 declined. [Yet], this October is the third best October on record, behind October 2007 and October 2008.”
According to Frazier, Nintendo sold 507,000 Wii units in the US, followed by 321,000 for Sony’s PS3 and only 250,000 for Microsoft’s Xbox 360. ?
Meanwhile, US retail console games sales plummeted 18 percent year-on-year. Nevertheless, Naughty Dog managed to sell 537,000 copies of PS3 exclusive Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, while Nintendo offloaded 441,000 Wii Fit Plus units.
“The continued economic turmoil, and in particular the troubling unemployment rate, is undoubtedly impacting industry sales,” concluded Frazier.
But Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime remained upbeat.
“Our projections for November and December continue to be very strong,” Fils-Aime told Reuters. “We have seen some holiday seasonal pickup, which means consumers are out and buying.”
See Also
Nintendo poised to “regain control” of console market
Gamers ditch Xbox 360 for PS3 sequels
?Wii fails to deliver
?Video game industry halts downward spiral
