December 2014 NPD

[compl3x]

In case you forgot what one looks like
 
 
Microsoft has announced that it led console sales for the final month of 2014, according to NPD. The company has decided to temporarily renew the $349 price point beginning on January 16.
 
Microsoft also led the sales race in November, and the company says that weekly average sales for its latest hardware outpace the Xbox 360 by 50 percent when compared to the same point in that console's life cycle. At the same time, the Xbox 360 became the best selling console of last generation in the United States.
 
Next week, head of Xbox Phil Spencer will be speaking at Microsoft's Windows 10 event. There, we expect to learn more about how the company will approach PC gaming with the new operating system. For more on that, including viewing instructions, check out our coverage from earlier today.
 
[source: Xbox Wire]
 
Our Take
Microsoft has been extremely aggressive recently, with a number of bundles and the temporary price drop(s). We have yet to hear (and may not) how close the race was in December, but Microsoft isn't letting up. The new price drop continues the company's push to hold the top spot here in the United States. 
 
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2015/01/15/xbox-one-leads-december-console-sales-in-united-states-price-drops-to-349-again.aspx
 
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[Prosidius]

Why not just scratch the word promotion, and keep it at $349?

[George P Global Moderator]

They probably will after they see how the rest of this month goes. I also wonder how close they are to shipping a new smaller model, or at least a current design but with a bigger hard drive inside.  Easiest thing to do is take what you have now and just plop in a 1TB drive, then charge $399 for it till you run through any original 500GB models. Then rinse and repeat with something bigger till you are able to shrink the box itself.

[vcfan]

Decem

[Vandalsquad]

Wow Microsoft crushed them in software sales. We all knew the price drop was becoming permanent. They won't give up the edge.

[vcfan]

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u.s gap before November was ~1.1m. nov+dec has narrowed it down to around ~500k

[macrosslover]

PS4 did really good considering the price difference and the fact that it didn't basically have any new first party software other than Little Big Planet.  The overall software sales are surprising to me.  Did PS4 users just stop buying software?  They were dominating software sales in the early months of the year but not it seems Xbox software has longer legs.

 

Particularly for Destiny, I wonder how much actual unit sales are for Xbox One and PS4.  It's interesting that it was nearly promoted as a PS4 exclusive, but seems to have sold more on the Xbox still.

[compl3x]

Keep the pressure on Sony, better for consumers.

[BajiRav]

PS4 did really good considering the price difference and the fact that it didn't basically have any new first party software other than Little Big Planet. The overall software sales are surprising to me. Did PS4 users just stop buying software? They were dominating software sales in the early months of the year but not it seems Xbox software has longer legs.

Particularly for Destiny, I wonder how much actual unit sales are for Xbox One and PS4. It's interesting that it was nearly promoted as a PS4 exclusive, but seems to have sold more on the Xbox still.

Destiny sold more on PS4 in the form of bundles.

The lack of good PS4 exclusive for the holidays was apparent to everyone who didn't drank Sony's indie cool aid. They went into holidays with just one exclusive AAA I think.

[George P Global Moderator]

I think they need to cut the price outside the US to. I know some markets have it like the UK but for me here it's still

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

u.s gap before November was ~1.1m. nov+dec has narrowed it down to around ~500k

 

Good numbers. It's understandable why MS have gotten aggressive this Christmas in the US, it's their home turf and they're not going to come out on top in the EU/Japan any time soon.

 

Destiny sold more on PS4 in the form of bundles.

The lack of good PS4 exclusive for the holidays was apparent to everyone who didn't drank Sony's indie cool aid. They went into holidays with just one exclusive AAA I think.

 

Don't worry March is almost here 

[BajiRav]

Good numbers. It's understandable why MS have gotten aggressive this Christmas in the US, it's their home turf and they're not going to come out on top in the EU/Japan any time soon.

 

 

Don't worry March is almost here 

Bloodbourne? We'll see but I have my doubts about it giving any significant boost to PS4 sales.

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

Why not just scratch the word promotion, and keep it at $349?

 

They probably want to raise the price, but don't want to lose the momentum they started.

They will keep it at $349 if they have to / possible make it permanent, but don't want to close the window at putting it back up to it's higher price.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Bloodbourne? We'll see but I have my doubts about it giving any significant boost to PS4 sales.

Bloodborne

If marketed well it should, lots of hype around the game. It'll help in Japan anyway, a market obsessed with portables these days.

[MikeChipshop Member]

Good stuff. 

In my ideal world this will keep chopping and changing. Keep both companies on their toes and not letting them rest on their laurels.

[+Asmodai MVC]

Decem

 

Could we move this post to the main gamers forum I almost didn't see it and reposted it.  This is great info and unlike the OPs post (which DOES belong in the MS subforum) isn't really MS Specific.

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Could we move this post to the main gamers forum I almost didn't see it and reposted it.  This is great info and unlike the OPs post (which DOES belong in the MS subforum) isn't really MS Specific.

 

Moved & amended the title a little.

 

We usually just have one topic for NPD results, to avoid split discussions.

[+Asmodai MVC]

Moved & amended the title a little.

 

We usually just have one topic for NPD results, to avoid split discussions.

Thanks,

yeah I was about to make the generic NPD post when I noticed in the Mini Spy that there was one in the Xbox subforum already.  The OP of that one didn't post the actual results though and it was more of an xbox oriented opinion post. vcfan DID post the bulk of what I was going to later in the thread.  I thought it would be better to just ask you to move it then to have me repost the same thing over again.  Thanks again for doing so.

[+Asmodai MVC]

My thoughts/observations:

 

It's still strange to me that even in December, over a year after launch of the new consoles 5 of the 9 cross platform titles (excluding the Nintendo only Super Smash Bros.) sold best on the prior gen 360.

 

Grand Theft Auto 5 and Destiny sold best on Xbox One but for Destiny that's largely because a lot of PS4 Destiny sales were from the bundle what NPD doesn't count in software sales (they count toward hardware).  Last I heard I believe Bungie said Destiny sold more on PS4 if you count the digital and bundles that NPD doesn't track.

 

Just Dance 2015 sold best on the Wii!?!... People are still buying Wii games?!?

 

Far Cry 4 is the only thing that sold best on PS4.

 

Despite all the hype of MS having better exclusives during the holiday season I don't see a single Xbox exclusive on the list for December.

 

Looking at the Annual top 10 I have very different taste from the masses:

I don't own any of the top 3 games.

The fourth (GTA V) I own but got in 2013 (PS3) so for me wouldn't make a 2014 list.

The fifth (Minecraft) I own on PC and did buy DIGITALLY for both PS3 (to get the Vita version) and PS4 this year but seem odd to me for a list of "Physical Retail only" sales.  I know Minecraft is popular (I love it myself) but I'm shocked at how many people buy the retail version... I would have thought it would be primarily digital.

The only other game on the list I even own is #8 Watch_Dogs.

None of the console games I play the most (Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition, Shadow of Mordor, Dragon Age: Inquisition, etc.) even make the list. (though that's probably because they came out later in the year and didn't get as many months of sales)

[vcfan]

oh yeah, Wii U did 580K. not too shabby.

Good numbers. It's understandable why MS have gotten aggressive this Christmas in the US, it's their home turf and they're not going to come out on top in the EU/Japan any time soon.

 

yep, that's a lot of consoles. I believe ps4 also had some great deals in December. $329 Walmart and $350 at bestbuy.

[Hedon]

Another awesome month for Xbox. Nice to see the gap narrow even more.