Sony, Microsoft Reveal PSN Momentum, Xbox 360 Attach Rate

Following the release of November 2007 NPD data for U.S. video game hardware/software sales, which showed a formidable surge in hardware sales and the market overall up 52 percent for the year previous, both Sony and Microsoft commented on the results, and revealed some additional stats. Sony saw impressive leaps in its hardware sales, with the PlayStation 3 selling 466,000 units, up from 121k in the prior month; PlayStation 2 jumped to 496k from 184k over the month previous, and PSP sales rose to 567k from 286k. NPD's Anita Frazier pointed out that the PlayStation 3 made the biggest month-to-month leap of any console. Sony added that since its release in North America on October 26, 2000, more than 120 million hardware units and more than a billion units of PlayStation 2 software have been sold. Some interesting statistics were revealed about the PlayStation Network, with Sony stating that 3 million users have registered over the life of the network, and among them have downloaded over 60 million pieces of content. 1.8 million of these users are in North America alone, and those users have downloaded more than 34.5 million pieces of content. In particular, Sony highlighted that a recent PSN price promotion for Calling all Cars, Everyday Shooter, flOw and Pixel Junk Racers resulted in a combined 920 percent increase in total downloads. As for Xbox 360, whose sales jumped to 700,000 units in November from 366K in the prior month, according to NPD, of all third-party U.S. revenue in November, Xbox 360 generated more than the PS3 and Wii combined. Xbox 360 weighs in at $367 million, compared to $203 for Wii and PS3 at $129 million. Microsoft also pointed out that, at 6.9 games sold per console, Xbox 360 breaks the games attach record. The company also claimed 84 Xbox 360 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher, compared to 39 for PS3 and 12 for Wii.