Market research firm NPD Group reports that during February, consumers bought 335,000 Wii consoles, while Xbox 360 sold 228,000 units, followed by PlayStation 3 with 127,000. The Wii is simply the cheapest console and it appeals to the "traditional gamers", including those who have never purchased a console before and would never have purchased a PS3 or a 360. Essentially, the Wii is stealing sales from its competitors, as well as creating its own niche in the market share. Sales of the three newest consoles dipped compared to January, when consumers bought 436,000 Wii, 294,000 Xbox 360, and 244,000 PS3.
The Nintendo DS is the only video game system to experience a sales boost over last month's figures, selling 485,000 units (up from 239,000 during January) propelling it to be the top system for February. The PlayStation 2 continues to be a strong seller, likely because of its price point and unbeatable library, with 295,000 units – nearly the same as its previous month's sales but down from the amazing 1.4 million during the holiday month. PSP also fell to 176,000 from 211,000. While Microsoft's console was not at the top for hardware, it lead the software list with five of the top 10 games best sellers. Crackdown was the number one seller for February with 427,000 units. Gears of War, MLB 2K7, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and NBA Street Homecourt occupied the latter half of the top 10. With an apparent shortage of Wii controllers, Wii Remote-bundled Wii Play was the second best seller with 371,000 sold.
News source: DailyTech
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