Hardware Firms Make Monthly NPD Superiority Claims

As usual, with the release of the latest monthly hardware and software sales figures for the United States video game industry by tracking firm NPD, the first-party console manufacturers have chimed in to explain how each of them is clearly leading the pack. Nintendo Nintendo again had the easiest spin pitch, with its Wii and Nintendo DS taking the top two sales slots by a considerable margin. Possibly because that occurrence is hardly surprising after many such months, Nintendo sales & marketing executive VP Cammie Dunaway chose to focus on the four Wii games that appeared in the September top ten list -- three of which were first-party usual suspects. “The four Wii games in the top 10 all feature controls just not possible on other video game systems. The Wii Balance Board and Wii Wheel give players new ways to interact with their games, while the Wii Remote controller transforms into a pool cue, table tennis paddle or lightsaber," Dunaway claimed, referring respectively to Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Play, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. "Consumers have truly responded to this variety of entertainment options." Microsoft Continuing one of its ongoing themes, Microsoft painted Xbox 360 -- which handily beat out its primary rival PlayStation 3 -- as the de facto system for multiplatform games, in particular focusing on music-based titles. "Xbox 360 is the preferred stage for this holiday's hottest music games," reads the press release, which also points out that Xbox Live delivers 3.8 downloadable music tracks a month, which comprises 80% of all music game DLC. "New music tracks for popular games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero extend every music experience so every party feels like a new party," the statement goes on to declare. Microsoft also pointed out that, following its recent price cuts, its system "is now the most affordable next generation console on the market -- $50 less than the Wii and half the price of the PlayStation 3." Sony Computer Entertainment America Though Sony's three current platforms made up the bottom three slots on the hardware sales list, the house of PlayStation prided itself on maintaining "consistent momentum" during the month of September, and boasted that its PS2 has reached a lifetime sales total of 42.9 million in the United States. The company is looking to its holiday software lineup to boost its fortunes. “We remain confident that our footing is solid as we enter the holiday season this year," said SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton. "If the impressive pre-sale numbers and ratings for LittleBigPlanet, SOCOM: Confrontation, and Resistance 2 are any indication, we anticipate hardware and software sales to continue to lift in October as we officially kick off the broadest and deepest software line-up this holiday, including LittleBigPlanet, SOCOM: Confrontation, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift and NBA ’09: The Inside." The company also provided a PlayStation Network update, noting that the service has 12 million registered accounts worldwide and has served up 240 million pieces of content.