On last Thursday, the NPD Group divulged its report chronicling retail U.S. videogame hardware and software sales during the month of November 2008. Considering the nation's overwhelmingly bleak financial landscape of late, the fact that total game sales managed a 10 percent year-over-year gain during this crucial holiday shopping month seems encouraging, but closer inspection of the figures reveals that not every publisher has reason to celebrate. In this second of three parts we look at how Microsoft fared. [Part 1: Nintendo | Part 2: Microsoft]

Sony's PlayStation family struggles
Although the pricey PlayStation 3 appeared to be gaining steam against the Xbox 360 earlier in the year, Microsoft's September 2008 price cuts have quickly reversed the tide. Sony only managed to move a comparatively meager 378,000 consoles during November, which represents a stunning year-over-year drop of roughly 80,000 units. This decline does appear to be something of a hiccup, however, as the overall U.S. PS3 sales stand at nearly 60% above 2007's figures. But the PS3 wasn't the only member of the PlayStation family having a rough time--both the PlayStation 2 (with 206,000 sold) and PSP (421,000) showed diminishing year-over-year returns.

So what's going on here, exactly? The fading PS2 sales aren't particularly shocking considering the console's age and Sony's lack of first-party software support. Plus, Sony's inexplicable resistance to lowering the PS2 to a $99.99 price point continues to confound critics--as it stands, the perceived price of Xbox 360 ($199) is closer to that of Sony's 8-year-old relic than its current-gen upstart. Slashing the PS2's price could quickly reinvigorate that sector and give value-conscious casual gamers an even cheaper alternative to the Wii. Despite the PS2's elder-statesman status, it still managed to vault two games onto the top 20 list: Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour charted at #17 and THQ's latest WWE Smackdown! followed it at #18.

The PSP situation seems less worrisome, as it's still unquestionably a hardware success story, even if the DS continues to trounce it. The relative dearth of PSP software clearly factors into the equation: PSP games almost never sneak onto the NPD top 20, and this fall's PSP release slate seems even bleaker than usual. It doesn't have to be this way: In Japan, where Capcom's Monster Hunter has become a massive, multi-million selling phenomenon, the PSP has given the DS some serious competition. Here in the U.S., not so much?.

It's clear that Sony isn't really giving the PS2 and PSP the support they need to succeed. The PlayStation 3 situation gives more cause for concern because it's struggling despite a solid software lineup. Sony's biggest November release, Insomniac's Resistance 2, squeaked into the top 10 with 385,000 copies sold. While this isn't a completely disappointing figure, it's not the game-changing smash Sony may have hoped for. Another well-reviewed PS3 exclusive, Sega's tactical RPG Valkryia Chronicles, only managed to sell a paltry 33,000 during this, its first month of release. And in its second month of sales, the critical-darling do-it-yourself platformer LittleBIGPlanet slid out of the top 20 entirely, allegedly moving an additional 141,000 units during the month of November. Sony's other top-quality fall release, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift also dropped off the charts during this, its second month on shelves.

In the face of the apparent gloom and doom, Sony spun the results as best it could in its post-NPD PR statement by focusing on the PS3's big-picture year-over-year success, the vague "momentum" behind the console, and the "Power of the PlayStation Portfolio." Perhaps it's wise that no Sony executives were willing to attach any pithy quotes belittling the competition, though--it's clear that it was a rough month for the PlayStation brand.

Conclusion
The fallout from these NPD numbers sent many journalists into a sky-is-falling panic, with mainstream outlets such as TIME and CNN Money penning ridiculously reactionary pieces with an eagerly eulogistic tone. Senseless claims such as "the PS3 just doesn't have any must-have titles exclusive to the console" and "no one seems to care about high-def DVDs" fly in the face of logic, critical consensus, and solid sales figures. While the crumbling economy is definitely slowing HDTV and Blu-Ray adoption (which in turn hurt PS3 sales), the recent success of The Dark Knight on Blu-Ray (claiming a higher-than-expected 30% of overall sales) seems promising. But these alarming reports do get one thing right--Sony will likely have to reduce the PS3's asking price in 2009. Even with a solid slate of impressive first-party titles on the horizon, the console remains prohibitively priced for many gamers.

 

(Not my conclusion) There's no need for my comment with news like this.