simExchange: DS, Madden 360 To Top August Sales

Ahead of the release of NPD's August hardware and game sales report due September 13th, fantasy video game prediction market simExchange has released its user analysis, calling for Nintendo DS to outsell all other hardware, and Madden to top the software charts, outpacing Bioshock on Xbox 360 by roughly 2:1.

Across all platforms, simExchange users have predicted Nintendo DS will top the hardware charts at 441,000 units, followed closely by the Wii at 436,000 units. The Xbox 360 comes behind the two Nintendo platforms at 255,000 units, followed by the PSP at 209,000 and the PS3 at 172,000.

Says simExchange on the numbers, "The most significant change that the market is expecting is a 57% increase in Xbox 360 hardware units in September over August from 255,000 units to 405,000 units. This would be on top of the 50% increase the Xbox 360 is expected for August. This is likely due to the upcoming release of the new Halo 3 title on September 25, along with the fact that September is a five week retail month compared to the four weeks in August."

SimExchange's software numbers for key titles over the month see EA's Madden dominating across its various platforms, followed by Bioshock and Metroid Prime 3, with the full break down as follows:

Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) - 1,120,000 units
BioShock (Xbox 360)- 520,000 units
Metroid Prime 3 (Wii) - 338,000 units
Madden NFL 08 (PS3) - 306,000 units
Brain Age 2 (DS) - 136,000 units
Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) - 112,000 units
Madden NFL 08 (Wii) - 106,000 units
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Xbox 360) - 104,000 units
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (Wii) - 81,000 units

Looking ahead at the forthcoming release of Halo 3 and its projected lifetime sales of 10,500,000, simExchange concludes, "Currently, the prediction market is forecasting Halo 3 to have the second highest penetration rate for any Xbox 360 title (GTA: IV is forecast to be the highest). It is interesting to point out that a major release title like Halo 3 is likely to help sell more hardware units for its system (Xbox 360) then the price cut did for the PS3."