NPD Mar. 08 System Sales: PS3 & X360 neck/neck, Nintendo Wins

Another month, another fantastic NPD that's bound to keep gamers all across the wonderful world of internet forums buzzing. Analysts, such as Michael Pachter, are wrong...again. The PlayStation 3 was just barely unable to outsell the Xbox 360 in March, shy of a mere 5k consoles. Some would consider it statistical noise in the broad spectrum of the hundreds of thousands, but a win is a win. Still, the console that was once hated, despised, and bashed on without remorse has managed to stick neck-and-neck to its competitor. The PlayStation 3 moved 257k consoles, to Microsoft's 262k units. We're still awaiting hardware numbers from Canada, so the final North American victory celebration is still up in the air.

It's worth mentioning that the past three months have had Sony outselling their direct competition (Microsoft) not just in here, but practically worldwide. In Europe and most other PAL territories, the PlayStation 3 has been outselling the Xbox 360,and of course, in Japan. But, no one can touch the reigning King of sales, and that is Nintendo. The Nintendo Wii's superb price and first party offering of Smash Bros. Brawl sent it skyrocketing - 721k Wiis found their way into a home in March. That's just unreal. What's equally impressive is the sales of the Nintendo DS; 698k more of the dual screen wonders are in the hands of gamers today.

Believe it or not, the PlayStation Portable (PSP) is actually the third best selling platform of the Month, thanks to God of War and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Retailers shifted 297k units into gamers all across the United States. The PlayStation 2, still showing much life, moved 216k consoles.

• Nintendo Wii 721K
• Nintendo DS 698K
• Sony PSP 297k
• Xbox 360 262K
• Sony PS3 257K
• Sony PS2 216K

4/17/2008 Arnold Katayev

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