Aug 2024 USA Sales: Console Sales Take a Sharp Decline, But PS5 Is Still King

Handball no1 in USA, no surprises there.

I can understand GoT climbing back up given the announcement of the "sequel". I'm surprised Spider2 is still hanging in there after a year.

Nothing lasts forever. PS5 (and even XSX) sales were highly inflated over the Covid and post-Covid period due to hardware shortages. Now the market is saturated and you can get a used PS5 for as little as $300 in Poland. I doubt PS5 Pro will improve the situation much. While both PS5 and XSX are great consoles hardware-wise there just haven’t been so many essential games that would make you dream of having one. Quite a few people moved over to PC due to the slow death of exclusives. I wonder how the Switch 2 will fare next year but I expect it to explode as Nintendo still values its first party output enough to keep it close to their chest.

August? That's two months ago.. Shouldn't it be September?

@gollumb82 I'm 50/50 on how Switch 2 will do. Switch 1 was a phenomenon with the whole handheld thing, and was sufficiently cheap compared to any other console it did great, and the dockable handheld was novel. Then it exploded in the extreme with AC:NH+lockdowns + every other console was unavailable.

If they go more expensive as is expected, I'm not sure they can do nearly as well. People were down for a $300 console. Not as much $400 or more. Not the casuals who consumed it for MK and AC:NH. The more consoles, even Nintendo price themselves upward, the more "core market only" they become, and that just devastates the install base and software sales numbers. Nintendo numbers are driven by households having multiple for kids, too, cut that, and their numbers plummet.

Nintendo's saving grace is that their target market is parents though. Approaching the business as a toy maker making must have toys targeted at parents is a goldmine. Personally, people keep raving about Switch's games and I've felt at after launch year, a lot of their games have become cookie cutter hollow templates. I opted to buy the Alarmo clock for $100 instead of a $100 voucher for the new Zelda 20fps game and M&L that I've loved the series since forever but don't trust a new dev that's not Alpha Dream yet. I figure the clock will give me more value and Nintendo magic. It's the true last remnant of Iwata left (his infamous "QoL device" he talked about for years and they only just announced it now. It reminds me what's missing at Nintendo after losing him. The clock is Switch 2.

Weren't we still in Sony's post shortage very high sales year this time last year? If so a drop of a third doesnt sound too unusual at all to me.

Though I would agree with @gollumb82 that lack of true AAA exclusives (except Astro) may be starting to have an effect.

Maybe Pro will stem the flow of customers over to PC a bit but they need to start properly advertising it! The general consensus of people who have actually played the thing / seen it running in person is them coming away highly impressed.

(NB despite what Sony thinks I do believe people are moving over to PC in some numbers now due to poor optimisation on games from 3rd party and the exclusives situation).

Nice to see that Visions of Mana is doing well.

@Maubari This report is for August 4-31. For September 1-October 5, the report will be release in October 23

@Jrs1 This really made me laugh!

@NEStalgia I agree with you about Nintendo on certain points. I think the next system will either bomb or smash all records. As much as I adored Iwata San, I think that the "new" Nintendo is much more cautious when it comes to their core business. They won't be trying to change the world with their next system and it will be very much a continuation of an amazing formula.

@NEStalgia
You made some great points as usual NES. I have had a Switch v2 for a few years now but it’s mainly used by my daughter. That said, I have noticed her (she’s 7) losing interest in it and instead playing games on my PS5 (Astro, Spyro, Little Big Planet). Last game I bought for her was Princess Peach Showtime and that was half a year ago). I wonder if Switch 2 will indeed have an nVidia gpu as some rumours suggested. If true, it could be much more expensive than S1 and spell doom for Ninty. As for Sony and Playstation, I figure the next couple of years will show the direction in which the whole industry is headed in. I’m good with my PS5 for now but I’ll definitely be thinking hard on what to get next and it’s going to be either a PS6 or PC.

Elder Scrolls Online showing up! U Luv 2 C it!

seems switch game sales is out of favor for most us gamers with the exception of the occasional big nintendo game..quite a difference compared to japan..

@NEStalgia switch 2 price will be a negative factor for parents..

@gollumb82 @NEStalgia Switch is essentially a kids toy (as NES stated). And as parents, we all know kids toys usually hold 6-8 months of interest after purchase. The fact that its geared toward kids as a toy does help its sales. Especially for those parents who buy 2 because the kids wanna play together.

With all honesty though, I don't know a single family that either still uses their Switch, or uses it as their main console. I can vouch for my family and say that the thing has been in a box for about 3 years now. My son is 17 and now plays PC and PS5 games. My daughter is 11 and has little interest in video games anymore. The novelty has worn off.

As far as Switch 2 though, I think it'll do great because a new batch of kids will want 1, or maybe 2, depending on the household. The price likely won't be a factor since there's nothing more parents like to do than post a video of their kids' faces opening up the gift they actually asked for on Christmas day.

@gollumb82 Switch 2 will have Nvidia. Switch 1 has Nvidia But it's not like comparing it to an Ada or Blackwell cores on the PC cards, it's certainly still going to be from the Tegra line of mobile/automotive chips. Even Nvidia can't get an Ada running on a battery lol. Some rumors have said $400 which is $50 more than SWOLED which, IMO is still too much for Nintendo, but "the current market" seems like it would go that way. Other rumors said $500 which IMO kills Nintendo.

@__jamiie Yeah, 50/50. On one hand "keep doing the same thing" is safe. No WiiU. On the other hand, that'll just get them into the rut Sony is in, and the Wii, DS, and Switch itself were all Iwata's crazy ideas hitting big. Doing the same thing over and over is what Yamauchi was doing, and it wasn't working. We'll see. Does it have the same kind of brand recognition that just makes it sell no matter what? Maybe.

@johnedwin Yeah we keep hearing people talk about "inflation" and "well everything is more expensive", but it doesn't work that way. It's "stagflation" Wages are the same they were 10-15 years ago with minimal increases and costs are 50% up. To a business $500 is the new $300. To a consumer $200 is the new $300. That's a problem for toys and entertainment businesses. Nintendo's in arrogance mode, I think. They'll lose sight of costs. A $100 alarm clock. Yes I ordered one, but this isn't about me....

@PuppetMaster Same, I'm glad to see Visions of Mana in the top 10! It's the game that surprised me the most this year, such a joy to play!

I think the issue of ps5 console sales slowdown is more to do with the fact that the market is saturated, not the lack of exclusive first party titles.

Generation alpha are now gaming more on their phones and with f2p titles, if they play traditional titles it tends to be on pc where most streamers are also playing. Mobile gaming is essentially “free” as the majority have relatively capable handsets on contracts, it’s also more convenient and accessible than traditional consoles.

Development costs are increasing alongside hardware costs and consoles are no longer as profitable as they once were. Triple a game development is also far more of a risk - games are far more likely to underperform in the current market than they are to produce a return of significant value to investors.

I don’t envy Sony trying to navigate the current economic climate and markets whilst maintaining profits capable of placating their shareholders. They don’t have the fallback capital available to Microsoft and to a lesser extent Nintendo.

@NEStalgia I really miss Iwata.

PS5 hype is over,not special or “new” anymore.