May 2008 NPD Video Game Sales Charts
Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart Wii Top-Selling Titles, Says NPD
Video Game Console Sales
According to NPD, Nintendo's ever-popular Wii console outsold Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 combined during May 2008. The Nintendo DS also sold very strongly, outselling Sony's PlayStation Portable by over 2-to-1. The official numbers are as follows:
- Nintendo Wii, 675,100 sales
- Nintendo DS, 452,600 sales
- PlayStation 3, 208,700 sales
- Xbox 360, 186,600 sales
- PlayStation Portable, 182,300 sales
Top-Selling Video Games
Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360, in its second month, was the top-selling title for May 2008, despite the PlayStation 3 edging out the Xbox 360 in console sales. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions combined have sold over 4.2 million copies since their release in April 2008, making Grand Theft Auto IV the best selling video game of 2008 thus far.
Mario Kart Wii, also released in late April, came in a very close second to Grand Theft Auto IV, while the newly released and hard-to-find Wii Fit came in third. Wii Fit, shipping with a Balance Board, also helped the newly released and Balance Board-compatible We Ski reach the 12th spot this month.
Overall, 7 of the top 10 games this month were on Nintendo systems, further demonstrating the newfound strength of Nintendo. The official numbers are as follows:
- Grand Theft Auto IV for Xbox 360, 871,300 sales
- Mario Kart Wii (with the Wii Wheel) for Wii, 787,400 sales
- Wii Fit (with the Balance Board) for Wii, 687,700 sales
- Grand Theft Auto IV for PlayStation 3, 442,900 sales
- Wii Play (with the Wii remote) for Wii, 294,600 sales
- Super Smash Bros.: Brawl for Wii, 171,100 sales
- Iron Man for PlayStation 2, 130,600 sales
- Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (with the Guitar controller) for Wii, 116,800 sales
- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness for DS, 107,000 sales
- Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time for DS, 102,000 sales
Total Video Game Console Sales to Date
The Xbox 360 released an entire year before the Nintendo Wii. Yet, this month, the Nintendo Wii came 100,000 units short of passing the Xbox 360 in total sales, and Suite101 fully expects the Wii to overtake the Xbox 360 in sales during the June 2008 tracking period. The official total sales to date for each console are as follows (with picture charts included at the bottom):
- Xbox 360, 10,272,600 sales
- Nintendo Wii, 10,186,300 sales
- PlayStation 3, 4,448,800 sales
Outlook for June Sales
So what should gamers expect from June's sales charts? As already noted, the Wii will most likely overtake the Xbox 360 in total sales.
However, June 2008 will be an interesting month for Nintendo, as it will be the first month since the Wii's launch in November 2006 that the company has not published any new titles on any of its systems. Still, the company's consoles should continue to do well in June, with games such as Rock Band Wii and Guitar Hero: On Tour shipping for the Wii and DS, respectively.
The release chart looks smaller for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in June, but titles such as Guitar Hero Aerosmith (also releasing on Wii) should sell well on the consoles.
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