So April was a month everybody was watching to see how GTA IV would affect the sales landscape. Could the PS3 version move new hardware? Could GTA, a traditionally strong Sony fan title, sell more on the PS3 than the 360? Could the game propel either platform ahead of the Wii for the month? Well, here are the numbers, they clear things up quite easily.
Hardware
Nintendo Wii - 714,200
Nintendo DS - 414,800
Sony PSP - 192,000
Xbox 360 - 188,000
PlayStation 3 - 187,100
PlayStation 2 - 124,400
Software Top Ten
360 - Grand Theft Auto IV 1,850,000
Wii - Mario Kart w/ wheel 1,120,000
PS3 - Grand Theft Auto IV 1,000,000
Wii - Wii Play 360,000
Wii - Super Smash Bros. Brawl 326,000
PS3 - Gran Turismo 5: Prologue 224,000
NDS - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness 202,000
NDS - Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time 202,000
Wii - Guitar Hero III 152,000
360 - Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 141,000
Breakdown: Wii (4), DS (2), 360 (2), PS3 (2)
I’m still confused by a few things here. I don’t understand how the PSP can be consistently beating out the 360 and PS3, yet its games aren’t charting. It seems that there are a lot of people still picking up PSPs, but that they’re either very stingy with their software money or they’re just flat out using the machine for other purposes. It’s no surprise that GTA IV came in first this month, but has to be a bit shocking that Mario Kart managed to beat out the PS3 version of GTA. It’s pretty crazy how Guitar Hero III for the Wii and Call of Duty 4 for the 360 just refuse to let go of a spot in the top ten.
So, what effect did GTA IV have? Basically none. It didn’t move new units, and it didn’t slow down the Wii or DS. Yes, it sold a lot of copies, but it seems that rather than move new hardware, it just became the bright spot in the software charts. I think both Sony and Microsoft were expecting much more of a bump.
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May 16th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Actually what these really tell us is that the people at Forbes are really freaking, amazingly, stupid. Not only did the Wii not be hurt by lack of GTA as they claimed it would be (Selling only 7k less than last month), but the 360 (74k), and the PS3 (almost 110k) didn’t seem to get the boost Forbes thought they would.
May 16th, 2008 at 8:56 am
P.S. Numbers in parentheses are how much less the 360 and PS3 Sold than march.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
PSP selling but no software? UMD movies are back!