Recession? Nobody Told the Gamers

NPD Group has released software and hardware sales for March 2008. The game industry reached $1.7 billion in combined hardware and software sales, up 57% from March 2007. The industry is up 27% year to date compared to the first quarter of 2007.

As expected, Nintendo (NTDOY.PK) dominated the month's sales. Its Wii console sold 721,000 units while the Nintendo DS handheld sold 698,000 units. Sony (SNE) had a strong month, as well, with the PSP selling 297,000 units ahead of Microsoft's (MSFT) 262,000 Xbox 360s sold. The PlayStation 3 wasn't far behind with 257,000 units. Overall, March's hardware sales surpassed $550 million and are up 46% compared to March 2007.

Similarly, Nintendo also dominated the unusually strong software sales. Nintendo's Super Smash Bros.: Brawl led the lineup with 2.7 million units sold. Nearly one in three Wii owners picked up Brawl during the game's first month in stores. Electronic Arts' (ERTS) Army of Two made a solid debut, too, with combined sales of 831,000 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Activision's (ATVI) Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero III are still appearing on the top 10 months after release. Overall, March's software sales reached nearly $1 billion and are up 63% compared to March 2007.

Software demand is expected to remain strong over the next few months. Nintendo will be launching Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon over the next few months. All games are projected to sell in the millions. PlayStation 3 software demand will also be strong as Sony will be launching Resistance 2 and SOCOM: Confrontation, while Konami (KNM) is gearing up to release Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriots. Microsoft, meanwhile, is spending a lot of energy promoting Grand Theft Auto IV's exclusive downloadable content for its console.

March 2008 Hardware Sales

1. Nintendo Wii - 721,000
2. Nintendo DS - 698,000
3. Sony PSP - 297,000
4. Xbox 360 - 262,300
5. Sony PlayStation 3 - 257,000
6. Sony PlayStation 2 - 216,000


March 2008 Software Sales

1. Super Smash Bros.: Brawl - Nintendo - Wii - 2,700,000
2. Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 - Ubisoft - Xbox 360 - 752,300
3. Army of Two - Electronic Arts - Xbox 360 - 606,100
4. Wii Play - Nintendo - Wii - 409,800
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus - Sony CEA - PSP - 340,500
7. Guitar Hero III - Activision - Wii - 264,100
8. Major League Baseball 2K8 - 2K Sports - Xbox 360 - 237,100
9. Call of Duty 4 - Activision - Xbox 360 - 237,000
10. Army of Two - Electronic Arts - PS3 - 224,900

Disclosure: no positions