Just as the November 2005 sales figures brought the gaming industry down, with a 16 per cent, or thereabout, drop in sales compared to last year, XBox 360 figures released suggest that the first next-gen console has done well for itself.
NPD suggests that in November, over 1.7 million units of software have shipped alongside the 325,902 consoles sold this far. While the actual number of consoles sold is well under the original XBox's 556,000 units sold in the same time period, the shortages experienced by Microsoft suggest that sales will improve as soon as more units become available. The figures also show that gamers buying the new console are hungry for next-generation titles since the X360 has a tie ratio of 3.9 compares to the original XBox's 2.4. There have been some complaints that retailers used the pre-order system to strong-arm consumers into buying more software units per console in order to secure their console but XBox 360 owners are now just happy to have their machine.
Of the titles sold for X360 during November, Call of Duty 2 was by far the most popular and sold over a quarter of a million units, meaning that 77 per cent of all XBox 360 owners also have a copy of that game. EA came next with Madden NFL 2006 selling about 178,000 units and Need for Speed Most Wanted selling 108,000. Microsoft's Perfect Dark Zero disappointed by selling 86,000 units but seems to be doing rather well in Europe and was the U.K.s most popular launch title.
Microsoft is assuring gamers that consoles are being shipped regularly to retailers and that demand will be met over the holiday period.
