Xbox 360 tops April console sales, Kinect library to triple in 2011
Q&A: Microsoft product manager says system added 297,000 units last month, rules out price cut; Kinect Sports sells 3 million, Dance Central moves 2.5 million.
Today, the NPD Group issued its US retail sales report for April, revealing total consumer spending rose a sizable 20 percent. And though the firm did not release specific software or hardware sales figures, Microsoft followed up that announcement with one of its own, proclaiming the Xbox 360 as the top-selling console in April with an additional 297,000 units. That performance marks 11 of the past 12 months in which the Xbox 360 topped the PlayStation 3 and Wii.
Following the announcement, GameSpot spoke with Xbox Group product manager David Dennis, who said that Xbox 360 sales climbed a massive 60 percent sales in April. Total retail spend on the Xbox platform reached $310 million during the month, a figure which the company says beats out Nintendo and Sony.
"I think it's continued momentum coming out of the holiday for us," Dennis said. "We had a great run with Xbox and Kinect. It won 11 out of 12 months; we lost December by a small margin because we ran out of consoles because Kinect was on fire, and we picked that run up again in January. We've been the best-selling console so far this year in 2011."
Dennis also trumpeted software sales, saying that Mortal Kombat, Portal 2, Crysis 2, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, and Michael Jackson: The Experience sold best on the Xbox 360.
With these strong sales figures in mind, Dennis said that gamers should not expect the Xbox 360 to follow the Wii's price cut. "You really only drop price when you need to, and with the continued momentum that we've got, we don't have any plans in the works," he said. "As long as we continue to bring great games and have good momentum, that isn't something you'll see us consider."
Saying Kinect sales are "as expected," Dennis also noted that Kinect isn't likely to see a price cut any time soon. "Not right now," he said. "The momentum around it is great. The games pipeline is a rich one, and I think we'll keep things where they're at until we see otherwise." As for that pipeline, Microsoft said that it expects to triple the Kinect games portfolio by the end of the year.
Dennis declined to say how many Kinect units were sold during the month. However, he did call out the performance of Kinect Sports and Dance Central, which have now sold 3 million units and 2.5 million units worldwide, respectively. "For Kinect games to be posting the numbers that they are, we feel great about that momentum," he said.
GameSpot also asked Dennis about the current turmoil at Sony surrounding the PlayStation Network. He said that while he didn't have information concerning Xbox Live usage, he could say that the outage hasn't resulted in any noticeable impact on Xbox 360 sales. Dennis also confirmed that Microsoft hasn't received any attack of its own and that the publisher did not take any extra security measures that weren't already standard practice in the wake of the attack.
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