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NPD: Microsoft Responds, Claims Xbox 360 'Only Console Growing' In 2009
by Chris Remo [PC, Console/PC]
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June 11, 2009
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Responding to a slow sales month as reported by NPD, in which industry revenues dropped 23 percent, Microsoft positioned its Xbox 360 as being the most robust console in 2009.
The company pointed out that Xbox 360 saw a 22 percent year-to-date increase over 2008, the only home console to do so.
Of course, it was still outsold by Wii and Nintendo DS, and on a monthly basis it dropped in May from 2008 -- but Microsoft is correct when it says its system exhibits "the most year-over-year resilience of any console" for the month. With 175,000 sales, it dropped only 6.2 percent from last May, a significantly smaller drop than any of the other systems for which NPD reported data.
Microsoft credits the success on its current $199 price point for its least expensive model, as well as on its game library and Xbox Live, which was recently announced as having exceeded 20 million active users worldwide.
As usual, the library's Metacritic scores were also trumpeted, with Microsoft counting a current-generation-leading total of 142 Xbox 360 games garnering a score of 80 or above.
This month's somewhat surprising sales blockbuster, Yuke's' UFC 2009 Undisputed, also saw its greatest success on Xbox 360, accruing 679,600 sales in only two weeks on sale.
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