August NPD: 185k PS3s sold, high attach rates for Madden 09 and SCIV

by Alan Tsang { Sep 12th 2008 at 10:15AM }

Despite coming in last place amongst the current-gen systems, the PS3 still managed to sell a commendable 185,353 units during the month of August, according to NPD numbers. Sony (Microsoft too, for that matter) stuck to the numbers in its press release -- so far this year the PS3 sold more than 2 million units and software sales totaled more than 1.6 million units. Coincidentally, year-over-year sales for Sony's console and its software both grew by 92%. However, unlike the previous three months, the Xbox 360 managed to outsell the PS3, though only by about 10,000 units.

Popular titles Madden NFL 09 and Soulcalibur IV on the PS3 both had significantly higher attach rates than their 360 counterparts; Madden 09 sold 634k units on the PS3 representing a 33% higher attach rate while PS3 owners picked up 263k units of SCIV resulting in a 38% higher attach rate.

Jack Tretton's statement categorizes sales for the PlayStation brand as "strong" for August, reiterating the PS3 as a "long-term value ... as both a gaming and home entertainment device." The CEO also notes that the 80GB model began to ship in late August, which will "address any short term inventory transitions." Finally, Tretton is confident the PS3 will have "a solid holiday season" with exclusives like LittleBigPlanet, SOCOM: Confrontation, Resistance 2 and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

It will be interesting to see how the PS3 fares in September. Even though Sony's new 80GB SKU should boost sales in the next month, the recent Xbox 360 price drop has made their Arcade configuration the cheapest current-gen console at $199. The official NPD numbers, right after the break:

- DS: 518.3K

89.7K (-14.75%)
- Wii: 453K

102K (-18.37%)
- PSP: 253K

31.3K (12.49%)
- Xbox 360: 195.2K

9.6K (-4.68%)
- PS3: 185.4K

39.5K (-17.56%)
- PS2: 144.1K

11.4K (-7.33%)

Tags: npd, ps3, sales

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ithilis @ Sep 12th 2008 10:24AM

This is good news. The PS3 doesn't need to beat the 360 in sales each month, it just needs to maintain solid growth and not lag too far behind. Since catching up in the short term is a near-impossible task, they need to just keep their eye on the prize of long-term success.

MakaiOokami @ Sep 12th 2008 11:08AM

By the way WTF are people buying the PSPs for? I mean... um... A new improved model will be out in like a month... XD What's the point in buying something about to become outdated...

Oh wait... Americans + Money = no actual research on the product being bought... I got it...

Or maybe it's the people that want to make sure that they get the current ones as they can still be hacked since Sony is probably fighting tooth and nail to prevent this new incarnate from being hacked. Time will tell.

Kodros @ Sep 12th 2008 1:06PM

"Oh wait... Americans + Money = no actual research on the product being bought... I got it..."

I'm pretty sure that most pre-teen and teenagers don't give a shit about researching no matter what country they are from.

tdh @ Sep 12th 2008 10:40AM

I think October's NPD numbers are going to be a real tell of how the holiday season is going to end up. New PS3 SKU in full swing and having 3 highly anticipated games coming out mid month. (SOCOM 10/14 // Bioshock 10/21 // LittleBigPlanet 10/21) Bioshock may not move systems but SOCOM and LBP should. I believe PS3 has out sold X360 5 of the 8 months of the year, and September will likely show a spike in 360 sales. But October through the end of the year is where the battle ground is going to be.

Arnon @ Sep 12th 2008 4:08PM

Pretty sure the PS3 will own October.. while 360 dominates November..

Maybe around the same sales in December.

tdh @ Sep 12th 2008 4:39PM

November is going to be pretty big for the 360 with Gears of War 2 and Fable 2. The fact that Gears 2 is now going to be a complete 360 exclusive I think it's going to sell well. Fable 2 on the hand seems to be showing some tarnish in a few articles I've read on it. It will likely sell well, but I think some reviews are going to turn out not so favorable and could effect it. OF course November is technically part of the holiday season, and Resistance 2 is the only big name I know of for PS3 in November. Here's hoping Bioshock (Year old game), LBP (Game we all pray can keep it's momentum.), SOCOM (Hordes of crazy hardcore fans.), and Resistance can ride into December and put a nice crown on "The Year of the PS3."

leiwei @ Sep 12th 2008 6:22PM

The PS3 'has' to do well in October going into the holiday season.....

Ironman + The Dark Knight blu-ray man!!!

*big grin*

tdh @ Sep 12th 2008 7:49PM

Yes, as much as those Blu-Rays have to help PS3 sales, they're not going to be what tips the scale in any noticeable direction. Just because we love our Blu-Ray movies and love watching them on our PS3s, Blu-Ray/HD saturation isn't very high yet.

There are 5 guys I work with all with PS3s and only 1 of those 5 has an HD set up, so the other 4 don't even bother with Blu-Ray movies. Blu-Ray on standard definition is just DVD to them. Yet for me and the other guy who have an HD set up, we fell in love with out PS3 all over again. I really think if PS3 was released when HD was already very affordable and everywhere the PS3 would own the world right now. Perhaps 2 years from now HD will have a huge saturation level and PS3 will out sell the Big Mac! haha

Gruvito @ Sep 12th 2008 11:21AM

I think tha PS3 is selling well... there's no problem about selling less than X360...

Metal_Gear @ Sep 12th 2008 11:44AM

Exactly, it sales are doing well, they have always done. The PS3 sold more than the 360 in 2007 and it will do it again in 2008, not by much, but it doesn't matter as the sales are doing well.
There is a reason Sony aren't dropping the PS3 price yet.

Mattchewie @ Sep 12th 2008 12:09PM

I agree with tdh. I also think that if HOME will pay a factor into the holiday if it gets its public beta out in time.

(I know its not a game but I have many friends that haven't picked up a PS3 that know about home and keep asking me about it.)

Mana Knight @ Sep 12th 2008 12:31PM

I think if there wasn't so bad of a PS3 console shortage, we'd be seeing PS3 consoles at more stores. I mean, all but Sony Style at the Woodfield Mall was sold out of 40GB consoles, and every time I see an 80GB core come in, it sells out. Only PS3 SKU I ever see at some retailers is the MGS4 one. I do feel if there was higher PS3 production, it would have outsold 360 no doubt.

Devin @ Sep 12th 2008 1:11PM

The MGS4 bundles are sold out everywhere in my area. I live in Kansas City. I bought the 2nd to last one at my local "unknown" Gamestop at a crappy mall down the street, and if you check the internet they are sold out. I would be amazed if they still have them in stock. I'd figure they'd sell like hotcakes.

MGS4, BC, 2 more USB's & the extra memory card readers really were worth the extra $100 to me vs. the new 80GB.

sifer2400 @ Sep 12th 2008 10:58PM

wow fan boy "bla bla bla ps3 is better get a life you loser"

SharpShooter @ Sep 14th 2008 1:03AM

@ sifer2400

Your fanboyism is showing They didn't even compare the 360 to the PS3 in their comments, let alone even mention it.

Jack Tretton @ Sep 12th 2008 12:34PM

My alter ego is keen to point out it's the attach rate *percentages* for SC 4 and Madden '09 that are higher than the 360's. Had either of the PS3 versions of those games actually outsold the 360 versions, then that's what Tretton would have instead crowed about.

And when the PS3 sells less than the 360 in a given month it's all about the "strength of the PlayStation brand." And if the PS3 sold more than the 360? Then all signs point at 2008 as "the year of the PS3." Yawn.

sifer2400 @ Sep 12th 2008 10:58PM

i agree thats all you see its just how they twist there words to always make it seem as if there the best

dicknjane @ Sep 12th 2008 3:46PM

higher attach rates??? of course they're gonna be higher! why? cuz there's LESS PS3's out there!! does Tretton have any brains whatsoever?!?

Arnon @ Sep 12th 2008 4:10PM

Um... it's not exactly like everyone who owns a 360 bought Madden

zenon @ Sep 12th 2008 6:54PM

Stop being sarcastic. We know damn well that the Xbox 360 has a lead of 6M consoles. Therefore its obvious that any multi platform game that comes out will sell more copies on 360 than it will on PS3 so to level the playing field in order to make a comparison they compare attach rates so that it's based on percentages/statistics if you will. For example, if I weigh in at 100 lbs and can bench press 200 and a 200 lbs guy can bench 300 lbs .. who benches more ? Obviously the bigger guy... but when comparing who is stronger .. it is fair to say that benching double your weight is alot more impressive than benching your weight 1/2 .. Don’t you think genius...?

And if these games were selling more on the ps3 that would mean MS is in some deep shit... Before you make a comment you should understand why people take these approaches as opposed to criticizing Jack for something you don’t understand.

Mr. Joe @ Sep 12th 2008 1:03PM

is there any way that we can get original xbox sales on this list? are they even making them anymore? the ps2 still selling strong and ps3 is doing well also. but why can't we compare with xbox360 and xbox?

Popfrogs @ Sep 12th 2008 1:10PM

Sure, why don't we just throw some Dreamcast sales numbers in there while we're at it?

*rolleyes*

Mr. Joe @ Sep 12th 2008 1:21PM

you missed my point or you just like being unhelpful. ps2 is selling well which means sony is still receiving revenue from previous gen. if fanboys want a month by month poll of ps vs ms, they should look at all the sources including the xbox. or the look should exclude portables and all previous gens. look at wii, 360, ps3 only.

nevermind, i don't even care how much effing money they're making off of all of us, let alone which is making the most...

crackp1pe @ Sep 12th 2008 4:04PM

We can't compare 360 to Xbox 1 sales because MSFT quite literally quit manufacturing them before the 360 even came out, and quit selling them as soon as the ones they had made ran out at retail. You haven't been able to buy a new Xbox 1 at retail since late summer 2005. They were still losing money on them at that point (because of bad contracts with Nvidia among other things) so they just quit entirely.

Mr. Joe @ Sep 13th 2008 12:51PM

thank you. that was the answer i was hoping to get. cuz i hadn't seen one in a while. never been an xbox fan so i never knew.

peter @ Sep 12th 2008 1:13PM

playstation sells more worldwide each month than the 360, but the 360 sold a little bit more in the US, so eh

Natan82 @ Sep 12th 2008 1:59PM

Very good for PS3, because in August there was xbox360 20GB price cut and PS3 was also shortage for 2 weeks.

If the next month PS3 and Xbox 360 numbers are still close, after xbox360 60GB price cut + people wait for PS3 October bundle (Little Big Planet bundle - Motorstorm 2 bundle - Resistance 2 bundle, all released in October for $399 with Game), I think that xbox360 is in bad water for these holidays.

iamkid @ Sep 12th 2008 4:12PM

"so far this year the PS3 sold more than 2 million units and software sales totaled more than 1.6 million units."
so.....that means for every 5 consoles sold, 4 games were sold? thats not exactly the way its supposed to work out...oh well. its gonna be an interesting winter so i guess ill just see what happens in turns of sales.

alex @ Sep 12th 2008 4:28PM

A 10K difference is silly to argue about, I am curious to see what GOW2/Fable does against Resistance2/LBP. I am still not convinced about LBP, after all it is a platformer game (lame by defenition) that even if it gets great reviews does not guarantee AAA sales (over 1 million units) just think Ratchet and Clank (great reviews, abysmal sales). I am very siked about Resistance 2 and GOW 2. If anything us non poor gamers that can afford both systems and don't have a stupid one sided allegiance, are going to have a ton of fun these holidays!

Sicnarf @ Sep 13th 2008 7:06AM

That's because you're probably one of those gamers that believe that only games with guns are real games. Don't get me wrong, I'm anticipating R2 just as much as the next guy, but just because a game doesn't have gore and bullets, doesn't mean it's not going to sell.If I use your logic, then the Wii should be dead last!, I mean come on. Fact is, is that the corny, goofy, "cutesy" game like LBP wil sell like a monster.How do I know this? you will see when October comes by, Sony is going to market this game to an insane level, especially since it's the month of Halloween, where dressing up and changing you looks is the idea, LBP will honestly be a monster.Also, I love Fable, but I feel that it's not even in the same level as GOW2 or R2, it's just not going to attract too many people, just the hardcore crowd. Hell, I still own my 360 simply for Fable 2 and GOW 2.Anyways, just thought that the comment of how "platformers" are lame, was abit idiotic. However; you are entitled to your opinion, same for me.

AzaMcWazza @ Sep 12th 2008 5:44PM

Hehe, unsurprisingly I see no mention of Wii in your little blurb. No point mentioning the console that's completely annihilating the other two.

Now all Wii needs is games.

I hope the PS3 picks up soon, I bet it's going to have a bit of a hard time with the new price cuts from MS. Sony don't sell the PS3's features properly and are relying too much on the PlayStation brand name to generate sales which is naive.

John @ Sep 12th 2008 7:28PM

Sure, maybe Madden and Soulcalibur had higher attach rates, but total sales for Madden was 1 million copies on the 360. PS has a right to claim supremacy on soulcalibur which only sold something like 175K on the xbox.