Typically NPD November ends the Saturday of Black Friday weekend. This year November NPD ends a full week later. This is because Thanksgiving is at it's earliest possible date this year. Last time Thanksgiving was on November 22nd was 2001.

This will change December as well. Since nearly one additional Holiday shopping week will fall in November NPD the difference between November and December wont be as drastic as usual.  December is 5 weeks but 11 days are post December 25th.

Good point. It's gonna be interesting watching the numbers the next couple of months.

I'm just awaiting the dumbfounded gaping jaws at what we see. I wanna see the posters just lose it when the numbers come out. It's gonna be fun!

John Lucas

hmm, well the week after 25th is usually higher than any November week... but the week after that will be low.

what what December NPD last year, was it 4 or 5 weeks?

Last month of quarter is always 5 weeks. So December is always 5 weeks. I find it hard to believe that the week after Christmas would be higher than Black Friday week.

which week is black friday? (remember it only increases sales in the USA)

It all depends when each week falls of course..last year the week after christmas started on the 26th so it was very low (lower than the last two weeks of November...though not by that much...going by PS2 sales btw because they span the most christmasses)

This year the week after includes the 24th and the 25th for all regions.....and for the Americas the 23rd as well....so i imagine it will be higher than any November week, probably on par or a little higher than the first week in December (by which i mean the first week with at least 4 days in December...which i think ends on the 8th/9th)

On the comparison charts, if we go back to a vaguely comparible year like 2003....where the final full week before christmas ended on the 23rd.... the week after (ending the 30th) was the third highest week after week ending 23rd and week ending 16th (though only just) :- http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=GC&reg1=All&cons2=PS2&reg2=All&cons3=XB&reg3=All&start=37556&end=37647

the best week of the year in Japan seems to be the first week of January, which is most of what holds up the sales after christmas because in the USA they drop almost to normal levels....So admitedly with the 360 we should see a different curve to the other two consoles, going higher earlier on but dropping faster after.

 Black Friday is tomorrow.  Looking at some of the sales flyers, it doesn't look as it normally is

Numbers should only affect US ,in Japan and Europe the masssive sales boost is in december nearly alone .November has a boost but of very minor magnitude compared to december and first week of january .

This chart in fact, indicates it much better:- http://vgchartz.com/hwcomps.php?cons1=PS2&reg1=Japan&cons2=PS2&reg2=America&cons3=PS2&reg3=Total+Other&start=37192&end=37283

In the USA week ending 26th is higher than the week after it...but even then the week after christmas (this is 2002 now btw) ending 31st is very almost as high just in the USA (+ Canada)

This is another reason i wonder why people still think the Wii is currently failing in Japan.....the PS2 went down to about 30k every year for October and November in Japan....the only reason PS3 has managed to jump out of the seasonal low is the white 40G at the same time as a price drop AND a high popularity game.

I agree with your assessment of 11/26, but from that graph, it looks like 12/24 is the highest for America and 12/31 has a major fall in America. Although that appears to be almost as high as Blackfriday despite the huge downturn, I suspect it's due to late sales coming in from Christmas EVe. 12-23-12/24 is often bigger than BlackFriday as store owners really want to move the stock out of inventory at that point and consumers want last minute deals...

1/7 looks like the best week for Japan.

That is what i meant....I was comparing the week after christmas (ending 31st Dec) to any week in November.
thx1138 was saying he thought the week with black Friday included would be higher than the week after Christmas....which can be true on some years due to where each week falls, but this year it will not. (it probably will be if we are only talking about America...but not WW)

btw jlauro i think it was you who ioi said fixed the speed problems of the site.....in which case you seriously deserve a thousand cookies a hundred tacos a pizza and a kitten.