Microsoft, Nintendo Boast Of July NPD Performance

Following Sony's earlier comments, representatives from Microsoft and Nintendo have released their own statements boasting of their July NPD performance: Microsoft claiming to drive industry growth, and Nintendo relying on its statistics of the top two best selling hardware units. Microsoft's release notes that it has outsold the the PS3 for the 9th month in a row, "despite the PS3 'price drop'", and that consumer spending for the Xbox 360 is 2:1 of that for either the PS3 or the Wii. "Xbox 360 continues to drive the growth and success of the video game industry," said Microsoft, "with Xbox 360 customers again spending more this month on the Xbox experience than on any other next-generation console. Largely in part to this next–generation success, the video game industry has seen 37 percent growth year over year." Meanwhile, Nintendo notes that its Wii and DS, apart from being the two best selling systems for the month of July, have outsold all other systems combined. Finally, its software publishing, too, the company said, is showing good 'momentum', as Nintendo says it has "remained the top U.S. game publisher for the sixth consecutive month," claimed "six of the industry’s top 10 best sellers," and "added new titles (averaging nine per month since launch) at a faster rate than any other new home system."