The NPD figures for US hardware and software sales in August are here, and painting a very mixed picture for the Stateside games industry. How mixed? Get your head ‘round this – hardware and software sales showing a marked monthly increase but still suffering a 16% decline year-on-year. Worse, it’s now the sixth consecutive month that this has been the case. Needless to say August’s figures, while encompassing such blockbusters as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Wii Sports Resort and Madden’s latest, do not include the newly cheap Xbox 360 Elite, the PS3 Slim or, of course, The Beatles: Rock Band. In other words this time next month things will be much better. If not, well, we are all truly lost... But moving on, and the combined sales of hardware, software and accessories for August totalled $908.72 million, which shows a sizeable improvement on the previous month’s figure of $849.9 million. In terms of the numbers of actual hardware boxes shifted it all breaks down thus (July figures in brackets): DS – 552.9K (538.9K) So, Sony consoles bringing up the rear once again. Then again, check the sales of the PS3 – they’re up 72% and, crucially, without the help of the PS3 Slim. Meanwhile NPD analysts point to the Wii’s performance as matching that of the PlayStation 2 at the same point in its lifespan. Read into that what you will. Software sales-wise, US gamers have been snapping up pretty much the same games as us, although in much larger quantities and with a massive skew towards the Madden franchise. A quick note on the latter too – in spite of selling nearly a million on a single gaming platform and having three separate entries in the US top ten EA CEO, John Ricctiello, says he’s “disappointed” with sales. Blimey, some people, eh! Anyway here’s what America has been buying this August, and how many: 1. Madden NFL 10 (Xbox 360) – 928,000
Wii – 277.4K (252.5K)
Xbox 360 – 215.4K (202.9K)
PS3 – 210K (121.8K)
PSP – 140.3K (122.8K)
PS2 – 105.9K (108K)
2. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) – 754,000
3. Madden NFL 10 (PS3) – 665,000
4. Batman: Arkham Asylum (Xbox 360) – 303,000
5. Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3) – 290,000
6. Madden NFL 10 (PS2) – 160,000
7. Dissidia: Final Fantasy (PSP) – 130,000
8. Wii Fit (Wii) – 128,000
9. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) – 120,000
10. Fossil Fighters (DS) – 92,000