November NPD: PlayStation 4 tops hardware, with a caveat

The November NPDs mark the first head-to-head between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and which sold more depends on how you look at the numbers.

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The November US sales figures kick off the first salvos of PlayStation 4 versus Xbox One, and like many stats, you could argue for either side. Sony's PlayStation 4 officially led the pack for the month's sales, and also set an NPD record for the highest first month sales of a hardware platform. But, NPD notes, PS4 had an extra week that Xbox One didn't, so if the sales are averaged on a per-week basis, Xbox One beat it out. In other words, PlayStation 4 sold more, but Xbox One sold faster. And both were likely constrained by supply, as NPD points out.

Hardware sales on the whole rose by 58% over last year, driven by new console launches. A few sources have filled in some more detail on the hardware sales as well. Geoff Keighley tweeted that the Xbox One sold 909,132 units (the largest Microsoft launch on record), and Larry Hryb (aka Major Nelson) said the Xbox 360 moved approximately 647,000. Nintendo noted that 3DS sold 770,000 units in November, driving the lifetime sales above 10 million. It didn't give specific numbers for Wii U, however, only stating that it was up 340% over October.

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 was dethroned as the top-seller in November, falling down to the fifth-place slot behind newer blockbuster multiplatform games. Not surprisingly, Call of Duty: Ghosts took over the top spot, trailed closely by various recent games that just hit the new platforms.

    Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; new releases bolded)

  • Call Of Duty: Ghosts (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC, NWU)

  • Battlefield 4 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PC)

  • Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (360, PS4, PS3, XBO, PC, NWU)

  • Madden NFL 25 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO)

  • Grand Theft Auto V (360, PS3)

  • NBA 2K14 (360, PS4, PS3, XBO, PC)

  • Skylanders SWAP Force (WII, 360, PS3, NWU, 3DS, XBO, PS4)

  • Just Dance 2014 (WII, 360, NWU, XBO, PS3, PS4)

  • Disney Infinity (WII, 360, PS3, NWU, 3DS)

  • FIFA 14 (360, PS3, PS4, XBO, PSV)

Nintendo's flagship Wii U game, Super Mario 3D World, didn't place--no doubt partly because it's not multiplatform. But Nintendo noted that it sold 215,000 across physical and digital platforms.

NPD is careful to point out as always that these figures only represent new physical retail sales. The data suggests that retail sales stood at just over $1 billion, which was a 24% drop from the same period last year. However, NPD estimates that used and rental games accounted for an additional $198 million, and digital sales (including subscriptions, apps, social games, and microtransactions) adds another $586 million. That brings the grand total for the industry just under $1.9 billion for the period.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    December 13, 2013 8:15 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, November NPD: PlayStation 4 tops hardware, with a caveat.

    The November NPDs mark the first head-to-head between PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and which sold more depends on how you look at the numbers.

    • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      December 13, 2013 8:23 AM

      Seen 4 Xbox Ones at Walmart yesterday 0 PS4s.

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        December 13, 2013 8:30 AM

        ^^console war over, we have definitive proof..wait. i have zero of either in my home. that means neither are selling i guess?

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          December 13, 2013 10:11 AM

          man console gaming is DEAD. wrap it up folks. hope you enjoyed the ride.

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        December 13, 2013 8:34 AM

        They both seem to be sold out everywhere I look. Not that I'm searching, but when I'm at stores I tend to check out of curiosity.

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        December 13, 2013 8:43 AM

        Don't you know where you are? This is Shacknews. Without pics, and without divx, it didn't happen.

        • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
          reply
          December 13, 2013 10:06 AM

          Well it's hard to see that their is actually four from a pic.They got two in front then two more behind that.

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        December 13, 2013 10:45 AM

        been the same at stores I've been to, no PS4s but plenty of XB1, doesn't really mean anything though.

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        December 13, 2013 10:49 AM

        [deleted]

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        December 13, 2013 11:10 AM

        I was at walmart last weekend. 0 ps4s, 0 xb1s. What now?

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      December 13, 2013 8:35 AM

      So... I guess it's reasonable to say that Microsoft's approach to product design and marketing wasn't a complete and utter disaster, at least as far as the US market is concerned? Good to see. Of course it's early, but if they ship numbers like that at launch, it's not looking like some mass evacuation from the Xbox brand like some feared.

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        December 13, 2013 8:36 AM

        anyone who thought the launch would be a disaster was probably letting their bias take over.

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          December 13, 2013 8:43 AM

          I'll admit to have thought a bad launch possible. From my very own POV they just didn't come up with a very enticing product, nor did they present it well. Then again I knew full well I had no idea how the masses would react, especially the US market since the TV things and Kinect (due to language concerns) are of more value there. And then there's the fact that I think MS has done a fabulous job building a really strong Xbox brand during just 2 generations.

          In any case, I was hoping for a ~50/50 out the gates. Good for everyone, at least on the consumer side of things.

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        December 13, 2013 11:00 AM

        Except they basically did a complete reversal on their product 5 months before release. I'd be more interested to see what would happen if they kept everything the way the announced it at E3.

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      December 13, 2013 8:48 AM

      Why are so many people buying BF4 when its epically broken on all platforms?

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        December 13, 2013 9:03 AM

        Because it isn't.

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          December 13, 2013 10:00 AM

          Yes it is. I bought it (pre-order with the PS4), but if I had known then what I know now I would never have bought it. Now it's the only PS4 game I have until Xmas and it's barely playable. I like the PS4, but thanks to BF4 being crap it sits idle while I continue playing on the PS3.

          • reply
            December 13, 2013 10:04 AM

            I have the PS4 version as well. What experiences have you been encountering? My situation has improved since the most recent patch, though the game still does crash for me, usually after a few hours now (instead of a few matches, like before).

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              December 13, 2013 10:15 AM

              I played only the SP and it crashed to the XMB with an error code like 3-4 times during the campaign.

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                December 13, 2013 10:15 AM

                oh, and this was after the latest patch (I got it last sat).

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          December 13, 2013 10:15 AM

          It's a fucking disaster. Crashiest game I've ever played.

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          December 13, 2013 10:05 PM

          #rejectingrealitygamer

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        December 13, 2013 10:02 AM

        The same could be said for GTA V. The reason is, the experience, when it works, is just good enough to be worth the trouble. And the issues are being fixed...not as quickly as any of us would like, but they're being addressed. Oh, yeah, and some of us bought digital, so we're kind of stuck! ;-)

      • Ziz legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        December 13, 2013 10:02 AM

        It's broken in new next gen ways!

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        December 13, 2013 10:36 AM

        I'm thinking companies making games this complex should just charge for a beta initially, and after a few months, when they're sure they've ironed out all the kinks, they can have an official release with a retail disc and what not.

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        December 13, 2013 10:05 PM

        I suppose people just assume they'll fix it eventually. If not that reason, who knows?

    • reply
      December 13, 2013 10:51 AM

      Guy reports what he observed in reality. Group of people assume the worst and attack the guy because they don't like what he saw.

      XBOX DEFENSE FORCE ASSEMBLE

      • reply
        December 13, 2013 11:19 AM

        Is it possible to have some kind of filter that automatically filters out post that uses "xbox defense force" in them?

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      December 13, 2013 11:18 AM

      Xbox one does seem more available. Given the hoopla of a new console release I figured both would be impossible to get but one of my CoD team mates decided to just go get a xb1 on a whim last night. He got it from best buy but said there were lots of sources from amazon to the large wholesale chains. I was also watching a CoD stream on twitch and that streamer had both next gen systems. He was asked to look up the online populations for cod ghosts. The 360 had 197000, xb1 had about 21000 people playing and the ps4 26000. That isn't much of a difference but the ps4 number surprised me. Given the lock that xbox live had on multiplayer gaming I figured most would stay in the xbox live ecosystem but with the ps4 already having a slight lead maybe a lot more people are considering leaving live. It should have been easy for Microsoft to carry over most of their xbox live gold customer base so maybe Redmond should be worried.

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      December 13, 2013 10:07 PM

      What's odd is that I can get Xbox One's at most Targets, Wal-marts, and Gamestops around here but PS4s are nowhere to be found. Spoke to a sales rep at Target in their Electronics department who said that, for them at least, PS4s are red-hot.

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        December 13, 2013 10:11 PM

        have you been to most of those stores, or just one or two and extrapolated?

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      December 18, 2013 12:02 PM

      YA! a bunch of people fought to buy 2 consoles with almost ZERO games worth playing.. excellent! I will wait 6-8 months when there will be maybe 5-6 game worth playing, they will be in every store, the Ins and outs of each system will be known, pick one up then.

      side note.. same here, see X-ones in store (was close to buying , wont lie) but no PS4's.

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