Monthly Chart Analysis – September

ALL FORMATS TOP 20

1.

Halo 3

(360) Microsoft

2.

FIFA 08

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

3.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08

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

4.

Norton 360 All-In-One Security

(PC) Symantec

5.

Bioshock

(360, PC) 2K Games

6.

Medal of Honor: Airbourne

(360, PC) Electronic Arts

7.

MS Office Home and Student 2007

(PC) Microsoft

8.

More Brain Training

(DS) Nintendo

9.

Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training

(DS) Nintendo

10.

Transformers: The Game

(PS2, 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PC) Activision

11.

Wii Play

(Wii) Nintendo

12.

Norton Internet Security 2007

(PC) Symantec

13.

Stuntman: Ignition

(PS2, 360, PS3) THQ

14.

Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree

(Wii) Nintendo

15.

MySims

(Wii, DS) Electronic Arts

16.

Stranglehold

(360, PC) Midway

17.

Super Paper Mario

(Wii) Nintendo

18.

The Sims 2: Bon Voyage

(PC) EA

19.

Cooking Mama

(DS, Wii) 505 Games

20.

Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix

(PS2, Wii, DS, 360, PSP, PS3, PC, GBA) Electronic Arts

Halo 3’s appearance at the top of the monthly All Formats top 20 is quite an achievement for a title that had not even been on release at retail for a week. Similarly EA Sports can claim a pretty impressive feat as the latest FIFA title manages to outsell all but one of September’s titles having been released two days after Microsoft’s much-hyped shooter. Alongside FIFA ‘08, EA can hail new Tiger Woods and Medal of Honor titles in the top ten.

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (units)

29.5% – Xbox 360

21.6% – PC

13.0% – Nintendo Wii

11.4% – PS2

11.3% – Nintendo DS

9.4% – PS3

3.4% – PSP

0.2% – Game Boy Advance

0.2% – Mac

FULL PRICE FORMAT SHARE (value)

34.0% – Xbox 360

22.4% – PC

12.5% – Nintendo Wii

10.3% – Nintendo DS

8.5% – PS3

9.2% – PS2

2.6% – PSP

0.4% – Mac

0.0% – Game Boy Advance

Xbox 360 software – or more accurately Halo 3 – puts in another sterling performance here as Microsoft’s console tops the full price software listings in both unit and value terms, outstripping the ever-faithful PC. Wii’s third place in each chart also goes some way to suggest how quickly it has become a leading console.

BUDGET FORMAT SHARE (units)

29.4% – PC

22.9% – Nintendo DS

22.6% – PS2

10.9% – PSP

5.9% – Nintendo Wii

4.7% – Xbox 360

2.4% – Game Boy Advance

1.1% – Xbox

0.1% – GameCube

BUDGET FORMAT SHARE (value)

31.1% – Nintendo DS

22.9% – PS2

17.1% – PC

12.4% – PSP

7.8% – Xbox 360

6.7% – Nintendo Wii

1.4% – Game Boy Advance

0.5% – Xbox

0.1% – GameCube

Nintendo’s two Brain Training titles continue to perform admirably at retail, claiming eighth and ninth place in the all formats top 20. Their 20 price point helps DS to top the budget charts in terms of value, but it can’t beat PC budget gaming in terms of sheer numbers sold.

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (units)

1. Electronic Arts (20.8%)

2. Nintendo (11.3%)

3. Microsoft (10.3%)

4. Ubisoft (6.4%)

5. THQ (6.3%)

6. Take 2 (4.7%)

7. Sony (4.4%)

8. Activision (3.7%)

9. Sega (3.7%)

10. Symantec (3.5%)

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY COMPANY (value)

1. Electronic Arts (23.5%)

2. Microsoft (19.5%)

3. Nintendo (10.6%)

4. THQ (5.1%)

5. Ubisoft (5.1%)

6. Take 2 (4.4%

7. Symantec (4.2%)

8. Sony (4.0%)

9. Activision (3.4%)

10. Sega (2.7%)

EA’s continuous market-leading performance cannot be better exemplified by its three star performers during September. FIFA ‘08, Tiger Woods and Medal of Honor: Airborne are three classic franchises that are guaranteed to deliver the goods at retail, all the while helping EA to claim top spot in units and value.

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (units)

1. Nintendo (11.3%)

2. EA Sports (10.4%)

3. Microsoft (10.3%)

4. EA Games (9.2%)

5. THQ (5.6%)

6. Ubisoft (4.1%)

7. Sony (3.9%)

8. Norton (3.5%)

9. Activision (3.3%)

10. Sega (3.2%)

TOTAL SOFTWARE BY LABEL (value)

1. Microsoft (19.6%)

2. EA Sports (14.1%)

3. Nintendo (10.6%)

4. EA Games (9.0%)

5. THQ (4.9%)

6. Norton (4.2%)

7. Sony (3.7%)

8. 2K Games (3.5%)

9. Ubisoft (3.1%)

10. Activision (3.0%)

The division of EA into its ‘Games’ and ‘Sports’ labels here at least gives other publishers chance to claim the monthly chart glory here – while Nintendo shifted more units during September, a certain Master Chief-led new release means that Microsoft can claim to be the most valuable games label of last month.