NPD just released their year-end figures for 2007 video game sales:
1. Halo 3 (Xbox 360) – 4,820,000
2. Wii Play with Remote (Wii) – 4,120,000
3. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) – 3,040,000
4. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) – 2,720,000
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – 2,520,000
6. Pokemon Diamond (DS) – 2,480,000
7. Madden NFL 08 (PS2) – 1,900,000
8. Guitar Hero II (PS2) – 1,890,000
9. Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360) – 1,870,000
10. Mario Party 8 (Wii) – 1,820,000
Now, let’s compare these figures to Soundscan’s 2007 year-end figures for music cd sales:
1. “Noel”/Josh Groban: 3,699,000
2. “Soundtrack”/ High School Musical 2: 2,957,000
3. “Long Road Out of Eden”/Eagles: 2,608,000
4. “As I Am”/Alicia Keys: 2,543,000
5. “Daughtry”/Daughtry: 2,497,000
6. “Soundtrack”/Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley: 2,489,000
7. “Minutes To Midnight”/Linkin Park: 2,099,000
8. “Dutchess”/Fergie: 2,064,000
9. “Taylor Swift”/Taylor Swift: 1,951,000
10.”Graduation”/Kanye West: 1,892,000
I wonder which industry is doing better.
I’m going to point out a couple of obvious things. The average price of one of those video games is about $50. The average price of one of those CDs is about $10.
A scant few years ago this sort of thing would be UNHEARD of. Music is universal. You can play music CDs on pretty much any modern device anywhere (car, stereo, computer, alarm clock, etc.). To play any one of those video games you need to make an initial investment anywhere from $130-$400. AND you need to be at home or near a TV you can hook it up to.
The music CD is dead, people. We need a better way to buy our music and we need it now.
Oh, and video game industry? Don’t make the same mistake the record labels did. You’ll be facing the same problem very soon when it’s technically feasible for big budget games to be as easily consumed as music is currently.
