NPD: July sees PS3 overtake 360 in Canada
Game-industry sales surge 62 percent north of the border, thanks to post-price-cut surge of Sony console; Wii, DS still dominate.
When game-industry research firm NPD releases US retail figures for the month of July, some analysts expect that they will show the PlayStation 3 outsold the Xbox 360 for the first time, thanks to a pre-E3 Media & Business Summit price drop. Regardless of how the numbers shake out in the US, NPD confirmed to GameSpot today that the PS3 outsold Microsoft's console north of the border.
The PS3 managed to move more than 15,000 systems in Canada for the month, overtaking the 13,000 Xbox 360s sold. However, both consoles were bested handily by Nintendo's Wii, which racked up more than 36,000 sales for the month. On the portable side of the market, the DS topped all non-PC platforms in July with almost 46,000 units sold, well ahead of the PlayStation Portable's 6,000 tally.
The industry as a whole was up more than 62 percent for the month, to C$84 million ($78.9 million) from the C$51.8 million ($48.7 million) it managed in July 2006. Portable hardware sales were up slightly, but console hardware revenues for the month more than tripled, leading to an overall 11 percent increase for systems, up to C$35.8 million ($33.6 million).
On the software side of the business, growth was significant, but not as explosive. Overall software sales were up more than 30 percent, to C$38.2 million ($35.9 million), led by a 43 percent increase in console software. Portable games only managed 8 percent growth for the month. Rounding out the industry picture, accessory sales were up more than 78 percent, to C$10 million ($9.4 million).
The best-selling games chart yielded a few surprises. Activision's Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s was the best-selling new release, but only managed to make it to the fourth spot. Nintendo's Wii Play (which comes packed with a spare Wii Remote) was the best-seller of the month, and the original PlayStation 2 Guitar Hero II topped its Encore by coming in second. A value pack of randomly assorted Xbox games came in third. The rest of the best-selling software titles are listed below.
Canada's top 10 best-selling games for July 2007:
1. Wii Play with Wii Remote--Wii
2. Guitar Hero II with guitar--PS2
3. Value Pack (included games vary)--Xbox
4. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s--PS2
5. Pokémon Diamond--DS
6. Mario Party 8--Wii
7. Guitar Hero II with guitar--Xbox 360
8. Transformers: The Game--PS2
9. Pokémon Pearl--DS
10. New Super Mario Bros.--DS
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