Nintendo says Pokemon Go is why the 3DS was the best-selling system of July, plus Xbox One beats PS4 – NPD
Pokemon Go may not be available to buy in shops, but it sure increased brand awareness around things that are.
NPD July 2016
3DS was the top-selling system.
3DS software sale spiked with three single-platform SKU top ten chart placements.
Pokemon sales spike thanks to Pokemon Go.
Xbox One outsold PS4 in July thanks to price cuts.
Compare month-on-month: June 2016.
Compare year-on-year: July 2015.
Pokemon Go is clearly a cultural phenomenon, and as well as attracting many new fans to the franchise it seems to have reminded a lot of lapsed gamers that Pokemon didn't end in the 90's.
That may be why 3DS sales spiked sharply in July, according to the NPD Group's monthly report on North American sales. Responding to the report, which had not been given general release at time of writing, Nintendo said Pokemon Go helped drive 3DS hardware sales up 80% year-on-year to make it the best-selling system of the month.
Not convinced? Well how about this: 2011 releases Pokemon X and Y enjoyed a 200% year-on-year sales increase over July 2015. 2014 release Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire saw increases of 80% year-on-year.
It wasn't all Pokemon, though; by single platform SKUs, Monster Hunter Generations was the best-selling game of the month, apparently. Pokemon Omega Ruby came in at eight, and Kirby: Planet Robobot just missed the top ten in eleventh place. A pretty damn good month for the 3DS, then.
Xbox One outsells PS4
As mentioned above, the full NPD report is mysteriously absent, but Microsoft did release a response to the firm's figures. It's a real shame the 3DS stole the limelight this month, because, Microsoft was able to pull ahead of Sony in the hardware race, something it's only done a couple of times since the two platforms were launched in 2013.
We don't have hard numbers, but Microsoft said global Xbox One sales grew 18% year-on-year to take the lead over PS4 in July.
The spike was no doubt due to the price cuts Microsoft issued ahead of the release of the Xbox One S in early August, and it's unlikely to make a dent in Sony's whopping lead on Microsoft this generation. It's still a nice positive note for Microsoft and we're excited to see how the Xbox One S does in next month's report.
We'll hopefully have more details from the NPD for you soon.
