NPD: 1.5 Million PlayStations sold in November

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Hello everyone, the new NPD sales numbers are out, and I wanted to share some new sales stats that have us excited here at PlayStation central.

For the month of November, PlayStation hardware unit sales exceeded 1.5 million units, including close to half-a-million PLAYSTATION 3 consoles. That’s means nearly 4 times as many PS3s ended up in North American homes in November than the month before.

A slew of incredible titles this holiday season has definitely been a factor in that growth: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Rock Band, Assassin’s Creed, Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction, Heavenly Sword, and Pain (did I miss any?) should keep everyone busy well into the new year. And our new ad campaign has helped get the word out that PLAYSTATION 3 is THE gamers’ console.

As far as the PlayStation Portable is concerned, a lot of dudes decided to “Get Your Own” in November. NPD reports over 567,000 PSPs were sold in November, thanks in large part to the popularity of the slimmer, lighter PSP, the debut of the PLAYSTATION Store for PC, and critically acclaimed titles like Beats, Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, and Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow.

While the PS3 has just passed its first birthday, the PlayStation 2 is still kicking hard seven years after launch. The PS2 remains the best-selling gaming platform ever released, with nearly half-a-million more adding to the system’s greatness in the month of November. The release of games such as BUZZ! The Mega Quiz, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and the limited-edition white PS2 bundled with SingStar Pop means that the PS2 will continue to be a favorite for millions of gamers.

We know that PlayStation.Blog readers are all about the games – and these numbers are relevant to existing PlayStation owners as well. With the rise of online multiplayer games like Warhawk, Syphon Filter: Combat Ops. and this week’s big-buzz release Unreal Tournament 3, thousands more players can mean a longer, better gaming experience.

So if you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of new members to the PlayStation family, welcome – and thank you! And for those who have been around for awhile, enjoy the influx of new gamers to play with and against!

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139 Comments

  • Glad to see some more people picking up psp’s and ps3’s :)

  • Uncharted, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet & Clank should not be missed.

    Those are high quality right there.

  • It’s no suprise to see those numbers, use have created quality product for many years now. Your fan base is there sales just rely on 2 things right now 1 product for the product i.e. games, peripherals, online content and 2 pricing. Just remember one thing if any, the world is suffering an economical struggle right now whether people realise it or not so the best move use made was the pricing change.

  • WOOOT!!! SONY IS THE $#!+!!!!!

  • alright numbers, i just bought uncharted, UT3 and the orange box today so December NDP might look a lil better. JK.

  • Sony Pre-Paid CARDS are coming!!, THis is big news.. We need an offical statement.

  • It was a nice boost, but it’s only a first step with a long and hard way to go. You ought to push on your software much much more creating much more hype on your best titles in the future. Uncharted sales are ridiculously far from what its quality deserves. Hype should be created with good commercials to be aired starting from weeks before a launch

  • Congrats Sony on selling 1.5 million PS3 units.

    I really hope that before the year is out you guys help the developers put more ads out there especially for Uncharted, and Unreal 3. I remember back when the PS2 ads were all over, you knew right away what was out there and how the game looked. M$ seems to be doing that same thing. I hope your new ad agency does a remarkable job next year. Metal Gear solid should be hyped as big or bigger than Falo3. PS3 is now prime and needs to start shining like the PS2. Studying computing has allowed me to know more about the computer world and i am really excited about the future capabilities of the PS3. From the little i know it is definitley worth the investment. The PC industry will feel a thump in their gaming market. UT3 is proof of that.

    Sony

  • Please people read… isn’t 1.5 of ps3 units sold… thats for all the playstation brand, the psp and ps2, read the article no the headline, the ps3 only sold 500k . We still at third place in the console war falling behind with the 360 with 770 and comparing the 360 last year was 50k less and it’s a shame. What is surprising is that the DS sold the 1.5 and I never realize why the DS sell more than the PSP because the psp is the best that sony have without a doubt.

    But like I always said, the 2008 is the year of the PS3 and if the Ps3 doesn’t catch up the 360 in that year or almost near… I will sell soon as possible my PS3 really

  • Don’t celebrate too soon. Xbox 360 still almost doubled the amount of PS3’s sold.

  • not-buying-incognito

    We want to hear about ps3 only plz. :)
    In game voice chat to any XMB Friend too.
    If you could hurry up that would be sweet..
    We don’t need home. We need everything the
    Other (box) offers. Just make it work the same or better.

  • PS3 got outsold by the 360 and got killed by the Wii.

    I’m not even impressed by the spin, it’s lame and just an excuse.

    Sony need to work on dropping the price before the arrival of MGSIV and GTAIV next year. 2008 has to be good for the PS3.

  • It is good to see that the PS3’s are selling better. But it also seems that Sony wants to provide content and applications for Japan and NA only. The PS3 is doing well in Europe but they don’t seem bothered with us over here.

  • @the-very-best

    nobody is impressed with the spin, but these numbers aren’t bad for them regardless, they are higher numbers than average, and if the momentum continues they profit they wield will rightly keep them in competition. That’s all they are celebrating. It’s an excuse? For what? That’s trying to say that they did something wrong the last month, like I don’t know, releasing a high profile game like Uncharted or got their sales up with new commercials and did what a business does. There really is no guilt trip to go on there. They are simply happy that this month went better than the last few, because it shows consumer interest more than anything. Which last time I checked, was a pretty good sign. If consumer interest is up, then good word goes around, and they get more support, and can actually stop to take a sigh of relief instead of worrying about the system not breaking the 200k unit marks every month.

    And yes, it was outsold, but their competitions numbers will always be a worry in their minds, they just don’t need to express doubt upon their customers. They KNOW they got beat, but they also don’t wanna come on here and cry like little girls about it, that’s what the user comments are for! Would you like it better if they came on and went, “Oh god, you bunch of unresponsive little rejects! Why aren’t you talking our system up to your friends? Are you just plain stupid?? If we don’t sell more consoles soon, we mine as well just go sell out to Microsoft! Is that what you want us to do??”

    See? Now with that in mind, would you rather have the fluffy PR spin?

  • @CitizenInsane27

    Right…because that’s the only other alternative they have, yes? They can say a million things but the article is not impressive. It just sounds like a victory speech, and Sony has no right to use it (yet).

    All the comments here are too positive. People need to be more honest. There is no use in sugarcoating our words. Sony is a business and will do what the gamers want.

    They need to save the victory speech for when they can actually use it, if they work hard enough to allow themselves to use it.

  • WOW! You guys at Sony are very funny! so you’re excited to see your Next-Gen console still can’t even outsold your Last-Gen console after 1 full year and with two price cut? and your heavily advertised titles cant even get past 200k… Congratulations then! lol

  • Atleast it was a jump from October but still got beat by 300k and 500k when it comes to the current console sales..

    Not trying to be a jerk but actual games might help sell a gaming console.

    Burnout Paradise seems to be the only game in the near future that even interests me, since you (Sony) seem to hate everything SOCOM, something I never understood.. you promote KZ to death (which I am excited about) but SOCOM is actually proven and gets no love, starting to think Zipper was bought just to keep the IP away from another system.. and all other major titles are probably gonna get pushed until the fall/holiday season (KZ, GTA). And no, I am not interested in MGS 4 to me the game is completely pointless.

  • Just restating since some people missed it in all the corprorate PR spin….

    PS3 came is last place again in the next gen consoles. 360 and Wii and still kicking it’s butt sales wise. And there were few PS3 games in the top software sales category.

    PS3 is gaining some (temporary) holiday momentum, but then again so is everything. I expect sales to plummet back down to the sub 100K numbers again starting January.

    Hopefully 2008 things will start to come together. The PS3 has had such a bad reputation since launch that it’s difficult to overcome all that negative publicity in one year.

  • ..playstations… Im not happy that youre trying to avert the PS3 crisis. Got to admire the optimisim.

    jesus christ… *face palms*

    …well either way, I think Uncharted will sell more next month.

  • Nice job…

    Now focus on answer what WE want.

    My god…this Blog is turning into a big pile of PR cr@p

  • Becouse of the Price drop on Nov4th that’s why I just hope you can keep it up! $400 PS3 SMART MOVE!!!!

  • Congrats! Now me wants more games! :)

  • Uncharted is cool but after you beat the game theres nothing else to do, I beat it on Normal, then did it again on Hard.
    I refuse to buy games without online

  • I honestly think Sony would do better if they could get their CEOs to stop making foot in mouth statements

    http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=31545

  • Yeah, but your company still came in last place and Microsoft sold 304,000 more consoles than you. Though, don’t give up cause Sony has a few trump cards up there sleeves with MGS4, GTAIV, Killzone 2 and GT5. MGS4 has potential to be a triple A title while GTAIV will finally bring in gamers into the next-gen era who are gonna be choosing between Xbox 360 or PS3 and then theres Killzone 2 which has alot of hype to live up to and obviously GT5: Prologue is a system seller.

    Also, Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III are killer apps but, those don’t come out till 2009. So…… good luck Sony.

  • @11: Go fetch official quotes of any Sony rep ever using the word ‘promise’ in any form other than denying that they promised something.

    Sony NEVER PROMISES US ANYTHING. EVAR. They say that things are targeted at certain dates, but never go beyond that. Targeting is a lot different from promising.

    I’m so sick of all these cry babies claiming Sony made them promises. I’ll call the wambulance for you guys.

    ON TOPIC: My question is whether or not this meets the estimate that Sony gave us not long ago about PS3 numbers. I remember them also countering M$’s claim about 360 vs PS3 numbers too, so I want to see an official story on those two incidents.

    In either case PS3 is getting taken seriously now and that’s all that matters to me. UT3.

  • I can understand trying to put a positive spin on the absolutely horrendous sales so far. I mean, if my dog died, I may say “God wanted him” but it still sucks all around.

    It seems the public opinion this time around is that Sony is “too big for it’s britches “. No exclusives (no 1st and 2nd party don’t count). It’s obvious where developers want to go, and it ain’t to Sony.

    It doesn’t matter if Playstation 3 Sales are up by 7 gazzillion percent when they are dead last in sales, when every other console, even Sony ones, kick it’s bleedin’ behind.

    No one wants a PS3, not in full because they’re expensive, but because they’re a waste of money. Why you would ask ? Because it doesn’t have half the features the other systems do. DivX was officially announced before the other system, yet where is it ? Oh yeah, soon….heard that before…where was it again ?….oh yeah, right, the In-Game XMB thing, oh right, “We hear you…soon…..we hear you so shut up”. Yeah, and as stupid as “Achievements” are (to me anyway), people still want them. This is to name but a few reasons. Who wants a “johnny-come-lately” console ?

    I don’t know about everywhere else, but I can say that retailers around where I’m at REFUSE to push the PS3 so it’s no surprise the sales are so low. In fact, I know more than a handful of people who were trying to decide which to get, a PS3 or a 360. In the end, they went with the 360. Why ? A) Because they’re cheaper B) Because the cheaper system still has Backwards compat. C) the “Marketplace” D) Achievements E) Exclusive games F) DivX G) In game messaging H)….do you really want me to keep going……?

    I have a PS3, and though it’s still a long way off until the next iteration of consoles, I think this will be my last Sony console.

    Oh yeah, and PAIN is a waste of money, no one buy it !

  • When is Australia getting the White PS3? I am going to have to import it, which is cool because I save $150 at retail on the PS3 which will get me 2 games or 1 game and a white dual shock. Import and save $$$ people!

    White PS3(mmm sexy)
    http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-6vmj-71-bo-49-en-84-j-70-2bot.html

    White Dual Shock
    http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-6vmj-71-zl-49-en-84-j-70-2boq.html

  • Doesn’t NPD just cover North America? The PS3 outsells the Xbox 360 week after week in both Europe and Japan.

  • People need to take basic marketing classes to really understand what these numbers mean.

    Sony has a diverse portfolio (3 machines), a bit more diverse than Nintendo (realistically 2 machines), and way more diverse than the 360 (1 machine). There are 100+ millions PS2 customers WW. In marketing/sales, it is easier to keep existing customers than to make new ones….this is a proven fact in marketing/sales. I’m sure Sony will keep the majority of their customers since they delivered the goods the last 2 gens. Not sure how this can be argued against, but fanboys/skeptics will ignore this anyway.

    Do I wish that the PS3 outsold the 360 and Wii this November in the US…..sure do. But when the PS3 is going to be sold for 10 years, what does the 1st year of sales really tell us? 10% of the story. There’s a lot left to tell isn’t there? The PSP was supposedly a failure, yet it’s sales have been very solid (almost 30 million WW, more than Xbox 1). Was Xbox 1 a failure? Many Halo fans would say heck no.

    There is no way to make an apples to apples comparison with any of the machines out in the market right now. The DS console blew the doors off the 360, wow the 360 sux. Does this make sense? I can spin it that way can’t I? The Wii whooped on the 360, and the 360 has an offering nearly the same price as the Wii. Wow the 360 sux. See how this works?

    Sony has set itself up great once again by offering such a diverse lineup. PS2 for the casual crowd, PS3 for the hardcores/highend crowd, PSP for the handhelp market. I’d say they are going very strong in all 3 areas. The 360 is great, the Wii is great…..but to say Sony isn’t doing great too is just fanboy FUD.

  • Awesome news! Thats why Sony is #1 :)

  • ISEMAN

    couldnt agree more, people are so early to judge and so blind to obvious. it is so easy to be pessimistic, yet all it takes is open eyes to see the truth!!!

  • Thank you Iseman, finally an ‘adult’ voice (logic is finally used) in the comments block. Now you little tweenagers and mental tweenagers shut your mouth please, you can barely manage your own lives and your telling a international tech powerhouse that your advice will save their company… seriously? seriously? With an ego like that I’m surprised you don’t need a wheelbarrow to carry your fattened head around.

  • congrats, building momentum

    all the other people…being so negative about the ps3…shut up please. seriously none of you are even original anymore, just whiney

  • Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet and GTA are all coming out after SEPTEMBER 2008! I really don’t think I can wait that long!

    http://threespeech.com/blog/?p=776#more-776

  • Why is Sony leaving money on the table by sacrificing potential sales? Games that only display in 720 and do not upscale to 1080 will not play in HD on HDTVs that only accpet 1080. Every other HD device upscales to user prefered resolutions. Any game that does not play in HD on these HDTVs are lost sales for a large number of people. Why has Sony not addressed this topic? on this very site, in the discussion forums there is a massive thread with tons of affect users.

    Please show the intregity to comment on whether the PS3 will ever be capable of this.

  • Great job Sony – Just one tip – start advertising the heck on big hit software titles Unreal 3, Drake’s, Ratchet & Clank, etc.

  • I’d love to see you guys pass the Xbox sometime. I guess they get inflated numbers from all the failed systems though! I can’t count the times that I’ve heard people say they bought a new Xbox because they had one break! Ridiculous!

  • YEAH, UT3 RULES!!!!

  • How many of the sales include the 80 GB one (The version that does NOT have the EMOTION ENGINE.) I was very lucky to of gotten the 60GB one. It is the best version, the most space, card reader, wireless networking and the EMOTION ENGINE. Those who bought the 80 gb over the 60 gb one because it was the same price are unknowing to the fact that the PS2/PS1 emulation is ALL SOFTWARE which even limits it more. If you go to the compatiability list about 40%-50% of the compatiable games are not as compatiable. They have a few problems like sounds and movies etc. If you want to see the comparitive list just go thru all your Ps1/Ps2 games on the compatiabilty list. You would be shocked that FINAL FANTASY XII has many issues on the 80 gb one over the 60gb.

    I waited a whole year. One year to the day that the PS3 came out. I bought the PS3 so that they can workout all the kinks which they did and I got it much cheaper than if I went and bought it last year. $599.00 for the 40gb a year later $499 for a 60 GB with a card reader and very compatiable with all the games I have, However it is NOT compatiable with the GS2 at all. This is why I kept my PS2 I even have a PS1 JIC i come across a game that dont work at all period. like the GS2 for the PS1 dont work for the SLIM Ps2. Sony remmoved sometehing or added something or did something diffrent on the slim PS2. only ONE disk is not compatiable. That fine theer is always way around that isnt there -_^. Sony has done a great job so far. SHORT of a IGXMB and the Divx/Xvid play back. It would be nice to be able to do that. Many of us ANIME FANS have fansubs. But ya know i really dont care to have the Divx/Xvid playback BECAUSE I installed Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbson (with kernal upgrade) Which I can play all my movies in there. I know YDL was updated but I like Ubuntu better. It is alot more user/n00b13 friendly. If you plan to use Ubuntu linux you must have a USB keyboard and mouse and a COMPONET/HDMI connection S-Video/COMPSITE won’t work. ALSO when you get it installed depending on your HDTV you want to use this command at he kboot: linux video=ps3fb:MODE:1-4 (480i/p/720p/1080i/1080p if you dont it uses mode 12 wich if not done on a computer monitor it will not work right) (If you just bought your PS3 and plan to try Linux do the partititioning and formatting) 10GB is plenty of space to install you will have about 6gb left after you install evreything and add everything that’s useful.

    I hope that you guys try linux. Ubuntu is the best one to try first it is the closest you can get to XP/VISTA (auto detecting upgrades) If it crashes severly like when you have a program crashes it closes the session. (Aka kernal crash) to protect the install.

    I have used Linux and am leaning it. Only drawback is I CANT install FLASH or JAVA which is fine I have a PC for that.I will eventually install it on my computer.

    I know this is a bit off topic but I wanted to share with you al

  • l my experiance with the Playstation 3 I love it i hate it which is normal for me and sony products. Now if Sony was smart, they would put the EMOTION ENGINE back in the PS3 on 80gb. If you can find and buy the 60Gb one DO SO just because the 80Gb one is “cheaper” (Well same as the 60gb one in price) dont if you can get the 60gb one because you wont regret it. After all you can put bigger HDD in it (SATA LAPTOP 150MBs up to 200 or so GB but remember you can either do 10gb either for the PS3 or linux (You better off doing 10gb for the ps3 if you plan NOT to download any content because 10 gb is plenty for game saves and such. Otherwise do 10 gb of r linux. Good thing abut linux is you can throw a 500gb EXTERNAL HDD USB on the system too. So it is up to you how to install linux. The reason I went to UBUNTU over the “offiical ps3 linux” Yellow Dog is because FW 2.0 killed the wifi. and it took Yellow Dog a month or so to fix it where UBU had a fix out in 2 weeks.

    Any question feel free to message me on PSN UID:AD7BK (add me please i like talking to other gamers about RPGs and The Darkeness(Great game)

  • After reading almost all these comments it’s clear that the whole world has bought into and knows that the PS3 offers more. In NA however most people (casual) are still stuck on the thought that the 360 is the one. There are many reasons for this and I see it also. Advertising/price and people who have the 360 who will never get a second system just love to bash.

    What this ariticle shows is that the tide is finally turning. PS3 is behind and will behind for a while but it’s slowing catching up and slowly changing it’s imagine (great games etc..) People are starting to talk more about it and come next year with BIG games out for it and not for the 360, 2008 is a big year.

    I have seen many PS3 commercials which is great but where were these at launch?

    I also agree with some posters SONY ” Please create hype like MS does”. Uncharted should have been all over the news.

    Sony,keep up the good work and spread the message that the PS3 has the most to offer then both systems.

    BTW – Uncharted is an Amazing looking game and gameplay is FUN!! Thank you Sony.

    Got my nephews a PS3 this XMAS…. :) Spread the love lol

  • Im really troubled by the lack of a PSP…..PSP store. You know we would use it no matter what.

    So please For all of us with only PSP and PS3,and random/ computor access can we PLEASE get PROMPT info/action regarding this issue. Thank you.

  • All signs say that the video game market is as healthy as ever. With the flood of casual gamers to the market picking up a competing console these days, my hope is that they get transformed to more hard core players and pick up PS3’s. I think Sony’s doing a GREAT JOB on keeping their library of games DIVERSE and not just of one genre like another competitor. This should do well in the long run. Already as a PS3 owner, I am very, very glad that we have a diverse mix of games to brag about vs. only 1 type of game- that can easily dissuade casual and non-FPS gamer types. Another point I’d like to make about the current PS3 games library is that: most of the great AAA games are new IP’s. So- to the majority of folks out there, they aren’t willing to invest in anything but sequels. Though the numbers for PS3 sales dissappoint me a bit for November, I believe it’s indicative of the need for more continued marketing of the $399 pricepoint well into the 2nd half of 2008, that the PS3 has AAA quality games here and now, and lastly, that it can also be used for other media functions like HD and Blu-ray.

  • Great news.Right now I am saving to get one.I hope that they lower the price next year.

  • They should add more games into the PSN store.

  • I have no idea what keeps people form getting even more PS3’s, i have never been so satisfied with a console than my PS3. it may be true tha the games were once as scarce as hen’s teeth, but who can say that now? we stuck through the “hard” times and are now reaping the benefits. 08 will only bring us more great games, and bring more envious looks from people who dont have a PS3…..bring on GT5:P and see how many converters will show:):):)

  • They are in negotiations to expand to PS Store, they will make the cards soon (2008) in North America, the best line up ever is in 2008, they will release home, more and better firmware updates…

    SONY will catch up the other box or almost in the 2008 you will see or I hope so lol… they just need to improve the communication thing really and SONY! when I heard for the first time about the message board I was happy with it, but you never keep up informed there, why you just link the news of the blog there too? and when we click the head line shows the info but will said click here to read more and then opens the web browser to your blog. That will be cool. And when you said something new in the store we click it and opens the store to the product. You really have to improve it, the other box shows that is useful if you make it right. You make it first, just make it better.

  • @MNC75

    ” I think Sony’s doing a GREAT JOB on keeping their library of games DIVERSE and not just of one genre like another competitor.”

    Great point, I totally agree and that’s one of the reasons I love my PS3.

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