The latest NPD sales data is in for US game hardware and software sales throughout the month of April 2009, with the recently launched Nintendo DSi ruling the retail roost.
Over a million DS's and DSi's were sold in the US through April, while Nintendo was responsible for a phenomenal 56 per cent of all US hardware and software sales through the month.
"Nintendo systems and software represented 56 per cent of the industry total shares in April, indicating continued strong consumer preference for quality and value," said NoA marketing boss Cammie Dunaway.
"Looking ahead, we are excited to introduce active-play games like Punch-Out!! and Wii Sports Resort into the market," Dunaway added.
Pre E3 booster
The results could not have come at a better time for Nintendo, with many industry pundits and hardcore gamers alike wondering what the company has in store to reveal at E3 2009 in a matter of weeks.
It will certainly be a disappointing E3 if Nintendo merely rehashes its recent successes with Wii Fit and reiterates its support to developers looking to implement Wii MotionPlus control into their new games. We can only hope that Mr Iwata and Mr Miyamoto have something clever up their sleeves to appease the hardcore…
Elsewhere in NPD land, every other console's sales were down on the same month in 2008. The Wii, for example, sold only 340,000 units in April 2009 compared to 714,200 in April 2008, though it is still at the top of the hardware chart by a considerable margin.
"It is important to remember that last April, Wii hardware sales were fueled by two huge new titles: Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart. Taking that into account, Wii unit sales are still very strong," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a statement.
"April would have been a great month to release a big new game because there weren't a lot of high profile new releases. In fact, you can see that the top 10 list for the month includes many games we've seen on the list for months, if not years," said Frazier.
Aaah, the benefit of hindsight! Those games publishers must be kicking themselves…
