Latest U.S. Console Sales Charts, August

In a month dominated by football titles, Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL series has once again dominated its rivals in the August U.S. console charts. When combined with the more expensive collector’s edition, the PlayStation 2 version of the game sold over 1.5 million units in the month of August, with the Xbox raking in over 500,000, and the GameCube version still selling a little under 100,000 units. The PlayStation 2 version of Sega’s ESPN NFL 2K5 also sold around half a million units, and the Xbox version just over 300,000. This is the first year that Take-Two have taken over the publishing duties on the franchise, and marks a considerable improvement in the title's fortunes. However the increased sales did come at a revenue cost, since the game launched with a budget retail price of just $19.99. UbiSoft’s similarly priced Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow also performed well, suggesting that there is much to be gained from publishers launching premium titles at a lower price.

The NPD Group/NPD Funworld