ChartTrack & ELSPA Monthly Report
UK January Games Charts

February 18
The games industry staved off a dose of the January blues by continuing to shove impressive numbers of games into gamers’ hands. Neil Long reveals his vital statistics...

ALL FORMATS TOP 20: January 2008

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360/PS3/PC/DS) Activision
2. FIFA ‘08 (PS2/360/PS3/PSP/WII/PC/DS) EA
3. The Simpsons Game (360/PS2/DS/WII/PSP/PS3) EA
4. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Wii) Sega
5. Assassin’s Creed (PS3/360) Ubisoft
6. Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training (DS) Nintendo
7. More Brain Training (DS/Wii) Nintendo
8. Need For Speed: Prostreet (360/PS2/PS3/Wii/PC/DS) EA
9. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS2/360/PS3/PC) Konami
10. Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock (PS2/360/PS3/Wii/PC) Activision
11. Burnout Paradise (360/PS3) EA
12. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008 (360/PS2/PS3/WII/PSP/DS) THQ
13. Cooking Mama (DS) 505 Games
14. Wii Play (Wii) Nintendo
15. The Golden Compass (DS/PS2/Wii/PSP/PS3/360) Sega
16. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) Nintendo
17. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Wii/PS3/360/PS2/PSP/DS/PC) EA
18. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Wii/DS/360/PS3) LucasArts
19. New Super Mario Bros (DS) Nintendo
20. Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree (Wii) Nintendo

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (units)

11.9% - Nintendo
10.8% - EA Games
6.2% - Sega
6.1% - THQ
5.8% - Activision
4.8% - Ubisoft
4.2% - Microsoft
3.8% - EA Sports
3.6% - Sony
3.0% - Norton

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (value)

12.4% - EA Games
12.4% - Nintendo
8.2% - Microsoft
6.9% - Activision
6.7% - Sega
5.4% - THQ
5.2% - Ubisoft
4.8% - EA Sports
3.9% - Sony
3.9% - Norton

Much like December’s software label breakdown, it is Nintendo and EA Games leading the way with impressive market share in both units and value. While Nintendo’s unit share has dropped a little from the 16 per cent it recorded in December, its two Brain Training titles and Wii Play still performed impressively enough to outsell EA Games’ offerings – but the sub-£20 price point of Dr Kawashima’s titles mean that EA Games claims the ‘value by label’ crown.

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (units)

15.1% - EA
12.2% - Nintendo
9.4% - Ubisoft
7.2% - Activision
6.8% - THQ
6.7% - Sega
4.3% - Microsoft
3.9% - Sony
3.0% - Symantec
3.0% - Take 2

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (value)

17.4% - EA
12.7% - Nintendo
8.5% - Ubisoft
8.5% - Activision
8.5% - Microsoft
6.8% - Sega
5.6% - THQ
4.2% - Sony
Symantec 3.9%
Eidos 2.4%

Big hitters like FIFA, The Simpsons Game, Need for Speed and Burnout combine to push EA to the top in units and value here, with Nintendo snapping at its heels. And just as they did in December, Ubisoft and Activision lead the chasing pack thanks to the success of Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty 4. EA’s dominance was slightly less pronounced in January compared to December’s unit and value figures, dipping 1.8 per cent and two per cent respectively.

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (units)

1. Wii (21.2%)
2. PC (18.6%)
3. Xbox 360 (16.0%)
4. DS (15.9%)
5. PS3 (14.9%)
6. PS2 (8.0%)
7. PSP (5.2%)
8. Mac (0.3%)

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (value)

1. Wii (22.1%)
2. PC (20.9%)
3. Xbox 360 (17.3%)
4. PS3 (16.9%)
5. DS (12.4%)
6. PS2 (5.9%)
7. PSP (3.8%)
8. Mac (0.7%)

Nintendo’s current status as industry darling is confirmed here as Wii once again claims the software units and value top spot for the month. A fractional decline in unit and value market share doesn’t stop Wii from claiming the top spots in both categories, but the PC runs the Nintendo console close. It is the stalwart PC format that is the star here – in both unit and value terms, its share of the software market has doubled compared to its performance in December, and has consequently leapt up the format rankings.

BUDGET FORMAT SHARE (units)

1. DS (28.7%)
2. PC (24.2%)
3. PS2 (16.9%)
4. Wii (10.1%)
5. Xbox 360 (9.3%)
6. PSP (9.1%)
7. Xbox (0.4%)
8. GBA (0.3%)

BUDGET FORMAT SHARE (value)

1. DS (35.2%)
2. PS2 (16.6%)
3. PC (12.9%)
4. Wii (12.1%)
5. Xbox 360 (12.0%)
6. PSP (9.4%)
7. GBA (0.2%)
8. Xbox (0.1%)

Once again the storming sales of Nintendo’s Brain Training titles give the DS a huge lead in the budget market on value – claiming over a third of the market. PC runs the Nintendo handheld close on units though, while PS2’s huge user base makes it a significant player in the budget market as the console continues its shift into the casual space.

MCV

These are the figures I find most interesting in the Chart-Track monthly reports. Wii is clearly on top now with 21% software sales, but 360 at 16%, and PS3 at 15% are remarkably close in January, which is quite impressive for the PS3 considering the 360 has around double the install base. Chart-Track recently reported that the PS3 had outsold the 360 for the previous 4 weeks, which probably explains why PS3 is so close in January software sales. When it comes to the value chart PS3 is only 0.4% behind 360, which would seem to prove that PS3 software is sold at a slightly higher average than 360 software (note these charts do not include budget software).

Symantec? they make Norton Antivirus don't they?.. so this includes ALL software. (unless they make games too)

edit: hang on Norton is there too. 

Who the hell buys games for MAC? That's not normal. :/

Those value charts look odd, adds up to way over 100%. Why? And every system does better in value share than units share, that can't be right.

Systems with more budget priced titles than others, like PC and PS2, should have lower value share than units share.

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (units)

Consoles: 60.1%
Handhelds: 21.1%
Computers: 18.9%

Consoles:

Wii: 35.3%
360: 26.6%
PS3: 24.8%
PS2: 13.3%

Handhelds:

NDS: 75.4%
PSP: 24.6%

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (value)

Consoles: 62.2%
Handhelds: 16.2%
Computers: 21.6%

Consoles:

Wii: 35.5%
360: 27.8%
PS3: 27.2%
PS2: 09.5%

Handhelds:

NDS: 76.5%
PSP: 23.5%

I've just noticed that the value chart adds up to over 100%. It seems that the error is with the PSP, as it mistakenly has the PS3 % attributed to it. Taking the PSP out leaves 3.8%, which seems inline with it's units %. I'm almost certain that this is what it should be, so will edit the correction into the previous posts.

Wii nipping at the heels of the 360 for that software crown.

Who said massive userbases mean nothing?

"Those value charts look odd, adds up to way over 100%. Why? And every system does better in value share than units share, that can't be right.

Systems with more budget priced titles than others, like PC and PS2, should have lower value share than units share."

Yes, see above, I've corrected the 100% error.

This is all software, it includes non-games too which explains why anti-virus software makers also chart, and why PC value % is higher than it's unit %.

Every system does not go up, 360, PS3, and Wii go up at the expense of DS, PSP, and PS2, which is what you would expect.

Wow ,is surprising how close the PS3 is actually from the 360 in software sales ...both in units and specially in value .

PSP has a small market of 5% but the DS doesnt do much better considering it has more than 2 times the userbase and only manages 15%.

Nipping at the heels?

The Wii is higher than the 360 in all four tables (budget/full price and units/value)