The March sales data for video game consoles and software was released yesterday and it was a mixed bag for console makes. The DS is still selling like crazy for some ungodly reason. The PS2 passed up the Wii as we saw another month Wii sales drop yet they are nowhere to be found. Parrin Kaplan of Nintendo said on the Game Theory podcast that the Wii shortage would continue for another six months. She states they are manufacturing at full capacity but the demand is too great. Well if Nintendo can't ship more than 250K units to the US a month Nintendo must have seriously miscalculated the appeal of the Wii.

For Sony the March NPD data must give them mixed feelings. The PS2 sold 280K units besting the Wii in the home console sales but the PS3 only sold 130K units finishing dead last in the next gen console sales. Sony believes that the people buying the PS2 now will convert to the PS3 eventually. This seems like a poor argument considering these people are buying a seven year old console that costs $130. By the time these people make the move to the PS3 the console war will be over. Many thought that this would be a banner month for the PS3 since they announced Home and Little Big Planet and Sony's premier games Motor Storm came out. Obviously these announcements didn't drive sales of the PS3 since the sales numbers seem to be stagnant. I guess it's a good think Sony makes a profit on the PS2 or else people might wonder how long the PS3 will last. Sony has already announced they are discontinuing the 20gig PS3 in the US and they never released the unit in PAL.

Another month and Microsoft is losing ground to the Wii. The 360 sold 199K units in March and and is now looking to be passed by the Wii in world wide sales by the end of the year. The interest in the Xbox 360 Elite may have helped drop the 360's sales since new consumers might be waiting a month to buy the new system. Microsoft is hoping the Elite will boost sales but if anything the PS3 has told us people don't want to pay $500 for a console. There are very few games coming out in April but May is a banner month for the 360 and could be the beginning of a 360 rebound. The Halo 3 demo opens in May and will also start their summer of blockbuster games.