In-Depth: North American PlayStation Network Sales Analysis, August 2009

[Following yesterday's look at Xbox Live Arcade sales for August 2009, we now look to PlayStation Network, examining the month's top 10 debuts, from Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and Crystal Defenders to Smash Cars and more, using ranked charts supplied to us through Sony's press representatives, plus extra Leaderboard data for context.] For August, the PlayStation Network got five new downloadable titles, including Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, Crystal Defenders and Smash Cars, and also received seven new PSOne Classics, including the first two Tomb Raider games. (In July's PSN analysis, DICE's Battlefield 1943 topped charts in its first month, and Fat Princess also made a debut high on the North American PSN Top 10.) In this analysis, we'll see how each of the August-debuting games performed based on the Top 10 and any Leaderboard data available. We'll also see how the PlayStation Network fared against Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotion, which included titles like Shadow Complex and Trials HD and only recently ended. Here's the North American Top 10 for PlayStation Network games published on the PS3 for July 2009: New Releases Two new releases made it into the Top 10 for PSN in North America in August – Capcom's Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and Square Enix's Crystal Defenders. Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 was released two weeks after the Xbox Live Arcade version, and looking at its position on Major Nelson's Top 10, it did just as well on the PlayStation Network. The game also had the extra perk of not having to challenge the rest of the Summer of Arcade after its release. Crystal Defenders was released some six months after the Xbox Live Arcade version, but has done well on the PlayStation Network – even though the system has a decent collection of Tower Defense titles available, including PixelJunk Monsters and Savage Moon. In terms of Top 10 placing, it did just as well as Savage Moon did back in February. However, every other new title did not make it to the Top 10. Watchmen Part 2 and Han Tao were released on both XBLA and PSN, and did not reach the list on either system. Gameloft’s TV Show King was also unable to make the list – perhaps a little surprising, considering how well other game show games like Wheel Of Fortune seemed to do on the service. The last new release, Smash Cars, also did not make the list, and as its Leaderboards only show the top 100 players, we’re unable to see how well the game did. A Look At July's Releases Fat Princess continues to hold strong after a late last month release, beating Battlefield 1943 in America – quite the feat. Battlefield 1943 has recently hit over a million sales across both XBLA and PSN, so Fat Princess managing to best it in this chart shows its continued success. Last month’s Shatter has also managed to stay in the Top 10, and now has roughly 47,000 people on the Leaderboards from across the world – 17,000 more than last month. This is a very good return for a game in its second month of release – most would have fallen off by now. By next month it should pass Gripshift's PSN version in terms of Leaderboard data. Finally, previous PSN-topping titles that dropped out of the charts this month include Namco Museum Essentials, Bomberman Ultra and Trash Panic. Koming Back After being a no-show last month, the amazingly steady selling Mortal Kombat II shows its mug again, beating Shatter to get 6th place on the Top 10. It’s spectacular how well this game continues to do on the Network, two years since its release. Worms has also returned to the Top 10 from being missing last month, but Wolfenstein 3D continues to reach the chart, 3 months since its release. It should be noted that Wolfenstein 3D is only $4.99 in America, which would help its sales, while Worms is $12.99 – so the latter is selling, despite its higher cost. PSOne Classics Unfortunately, no new PSOne Classics made it to the Top 10 this month. Only Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid kept in there, at 4th and 10th place respectively -- with Resident Evil dropping out of the charts. It's notable that even the more popular PSOne Classic titles like Tomb Raider 1 & 2 weren’t able to make it. Looking Forward September is actually looking like quite a quiet month for the PlayStation Network -- as there haven’t been any major announcements for release dates thus far. There is the possibility of the release of Trine in the month, but it's far from certain. Nonetheless, there's likely to be some titles popping up, and we'll cover their reception in next month's sales analysis.