Big 3 respond to NPD data

Following the release of the latest NPD sales information for the US market's 2007 performance, all three console manufacturers have released statements highlighting their own achievements.

Unsurprisingly they've each adapted the data to emphasise their own particular achievements, with Nintendo focusing on units shifted, Microsoft looking at total money spent, and Sony noting that its own sales were up significantly.

More specifically, Nintendo's headline statistics lead with the fact that it can boast the best-selling two platforms in the US last year - the DS sold 8.5 million units, while the Wii sold 6.3 million.

The company also noted that it was responsible for 52 per cent of all videogame hardware sold across the year, which was of course more than the other manufacturers combined, and that half of the top 30 best-selling software titles were made for Nintendo platforms.

Microsoft on the other hand was able to boast another top statistic - that the Xbox 360 garnered more consumer spend than any other console, a result of higher price points and arguably a greater number of key software events.

The Xbox 360 prompted USD 4.8 billion in total consumer spending, compared to USD 3.5 billion on the Wii and USD 2.2 billion on the PlayStation 3.

Additionally Microsoft was keen to ram home the point that it was widening the gap between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and noted that its console has outsold Sony's by an average of 2-to-1 since the PS3's launch in 2006.

And its software sales were also strong, with Halo 3 the top-selling title shifting 4.8 million units since launch in September, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare the most popular game in December, selling 1.5 million units in that month.

Sony meanwhile was gearing up for 2008, and therefore keen to ignore the performance of its rivals - in fact its release was the only one of the three not to mention the other two.

The leading paragraph of the statement was dedicated to underlining the improvement in sales performance for the PlayStation 3, which - with the help of a price cut - meant that December 2007 was the best-performing month for the console to date, with 798,000 units sold.

That, combined with some key upcoming titles - including Metal Gear Solid 4 and Devil May Cry 4 - as well as the recent trend towards Blu-ray as the Hollywood studio next-gen DVD format of choice, makes for a promising outlook.

That said, Sony also noted that the PlayStation 2 is my no means dead, and it sold the most software units of any console in the US in December, as well as outselling its big brother and shifting 1.1 million hardware units.