Monthly Chart Analysis October

ALL FORMATS TOP 20

1.

FIFA ’08

(PS2, 360, PS3, PSP, WII, PC, DS) Electronic Arts

2.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008

(PS2, 360, PS3, PC) Konami

3.

Halo 3

(360) Microsoft

4.

Football Manager 2008

(PC) Sega

5.

Norton 360 All-In-One Security

(PC) Norton

6.

Project Gotham Racing 4

(360) Microsoft

7.

Ratatouille

(DS, PS2, Wii, PSP, PS3, 360, PC) THQ

8.

The Orange Box

(360, PC) EA

9.

The Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

(DS) Nintendo

10.

Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights

(PS2, 360, PS3, DS, PSP, PS2) THQ

11.

MySims

(DS,Wii) EA

12.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08

(Wii, PS3, PS2, PSP, 360, PC, DS) EA

13.

Microsoft Office Home & Student

(PC) Microsoft

14.

More Brain Training

(DS) Nintendo

15.

Cooking Mama

(DS) 505 Games

16.

Brain Training

(DS) Nintendo

17.

Resistance: Fall Of Man

(PS3) Sony

18.

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree

(Wii) Nintendo

19.

Motorstorm

(PS3) Sony

20.

Heavenly Sword

(PS3) Sony

Despite the England team’s limp loss to Russia, football fever still gripped the UK’s gaming community in October, with FIFA 08, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 and Football Manager 2008 all hitting the top five. It was a particularly good month for FIFA (promoted by Ronaldinho, below), which managed to sell over a million copies across Europe in its first week.

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (units)

22.0% – Xbox 360

19.4% – PC

16.3% – PS2

13.4% – PS3

13.4% – DS

11.2% – Wii

4.3% – PSP

0.1% – Mac

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (value)

25.6% – Xbox 360

20.4% – PC

14.9% – PS3

13.5% – PS2

11.0% – Wii

10.7% – DS

3.6% – PSP

0.3% – Mac

With FIFA and Pro Evo performing well on 360 and Halo 3 ploughing on with impressive sales, it’s little wonder that 360 has maintained its lead. However, its share has been depleted in both categories compared to last month, as has that of PC. The main benefactor is PS3, which has seen its share grow by four per cent in terms of units and 4.6 per cent in terms of value in the month that the cut-price 40GB model was introduced.

BUDGET FORMAT SHARE (units)

29.9% – PC

24.2% – DS

21.1% – PS2

10.5% – PSP

7.9% – Wii

3.9% – Xbox 360

1.6% – GBA

0.8% – Xbox

BUDGET FORMAT SHARE (value)

31.5% – DS

21.2% – PS2

17.7% – PC

11.7% – PSP

10.3% – Wii

6.1% – Xbox 360

1.1% – GBA

0.4% – Xbox

The format share of budget software on DS continues to rise; up on last month by 1.3 per cent in unit terms and 0.4 per cent on value. Elsewhere, PC’s market share grows by both units and value from September, whilst Xbox’s continues to drop. Interestingly, Wii’s share by value jumps 3.6 per cent, suggesting that more of its software is dipping under the 19.99 threshold.

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (units)

1. EA Sports (11.9%)

2. Nintendo (10%)

3. EA Games (7.8%)

4. THQ (7.4%)

5. Microsoft (7.3%)

6. Sega (6.7%)

7. Konami (5.8%)

8. Sony (5.1%)

9. Ubisoft (3.5%)

10. Activision (2.7%)

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (value)

1. EA Sports (16%)

2. Microsoft (13.1%)

3. Nintendo (9.6%)

4. EA Games (7.9%)

5. Konami (7.5%)

6. THQ (6.8%)

7. Sega (6.2%)

8. Sony (4.9%)

9. Norton (3.1%)

10. Ubisoft (2.6%)

The all-conquering performance of FIFA means that EA Sports comprehensively becomes top dog in terms of value and units – a result no doubt bolstered by the continued success of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08. Microsoft’s share by value tumbles by over six per cent in Halo 3’s second month on the market.

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (units)

1. EA (20.6%)

2. Nintendo (10%)

3. THQ (8%)

4. Microsoft (7.3%)

5. Sega (7.1%)

6. Konami (5.9%)

7. Ubisoft (5.7%)

8. Sony (5.7%)

9. Take 2 (3.2%)

10. Activision (3%)

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (value)

1. EA (24.2%)

2. Microsoft (13.1%)

3. Nintendo (9.6%)

4. Konami (7.6%)

5. THQ (7%)

6. Sega (6.3%)

7. Sony (5.4%)

8. Ubisoft (4.2%)

9. Symantec (3.1%)

10. Activision (2.7%)

Electronic Arts’ domination of software sales continues, with the publisher slightly down on last month in terms of units, and slightly up when it comes to value. Elsewhere, Microsoft’s share by value is shaved down by over six per cent, despite Halo 3’s third place in the month’s All Formats Top 20 chart and the introduction of Project Gotham Racing 4 to the market.