Look at Nintendo!
That company is a money-factory.

All 3 consoles did great! Good to know that people are buying these systems and supporting the industry.

@Tinted Eyes- Only a fool would say 360 OR the PS3 was going to win December. The Wii clearly dominated here.

@Disagrees- You people obviously don't know how to count

PlayStation 2 333.2K
PlayStation 3 1.36M
PSP 654.7K
Xbox 360 1.31M
Wii 3.81M
Nintendo DS 3.31M

It still prints money!

Hell yeah, awesome job. I bet all 3 manufacturers are VERY pleased with this; Sony especially.

EDIT: Well, disregarding Ninty - I'm sure they weren't surprised by the fact they flattened everyone in hardware and software.

Great to see Playstation and Xbox doing well; as for the Wii, You SUCK!

I'm sick of Nintendo being successful with this casual FAD bullcrap.

They've totally disrespected their former hardcore fanbase.

I hope they end up in the hall of failures after the Wii fad is over.

PS3 WON in HD sector. You can spin that wherever you like, You won`t change Fact!
Also, PS3 is going to outsell x360 in it`s mainland untill MS does a pricecut or some exclusive deals/bundles. Mark my words.)

But overall, good job for every company. It`s not anymore economical recession, atleast in the gaming market. And this is GREAT! =)

That was really tight, congrats to Sony and MS. I wonder how did they even manage to take into account such a small gap.

Didn't some people say that the 360 would beat the PS3? Oh well guess not :)

Sheesh, that price drop is doing wonders for the PS3. And when will the Wii stop selling gangbusters? Hope some of you new PS3 owners pick up some of the good but somewhat older games like Infamous, Killzone 2, and Heavenly Sword.

PS3: 1.36 mil
360: 1.31 mil

Great job sony.

oh wait....

Wii: 3.81 mil ...yes virginia there is a wii under the tree.

Didnt some people say when the PS3 cuts its price the 360 would be dead ? :)

Oh well guess not at all. Better luck with the next price cut ? :)

People might be disagreeing with you because of your comment history, they might just not like you.

On topic: This was indeed a great month for all three companies. Nintendo KILLED it as always and Sony was able to just pass the 360. Shoot even the PSP and PS2 did relatively well. Well done U.S. game market.

holy hell thats a lot of consoles on all fronts. GJ video game industry!

Nintendo wins, everyone else loses

Its simply amazing how close the PS3 and 360 were. I wonder what the margin of error + or - is. They could statistically be a dead heat. I for one being an owner of both consoles, think this is absolutely great for the industry, the developers, and more importantly (We the gamer.) With so many stunning games and tech coming out this year for the 360 and PS3, there really is no reason not to have both. It seem like your selling yourself short by rejecting one of the systems for an asinine reason. Just my 2 cents. Out of my 30 years on this earth as a gamer, this is without a doubt the most exciting time.

In the last NPD I read some nutcases claiming how the PS3 was "teh doooomz". MS surprised everyone (in NA) pulling some amazing numbers, obviously inflated with the banned xboxes plus the MW2 factor. It cant long forever tough.

On december the difference is almost neglectable, but the PS3 still came on top so this could mark the beginning of a trend in NA.

WorldWide 2009 was an incredible year for the PS3. 2010 looks brilliant as well.

I case anyones interested, and I'm sure you all are,

2009

PS3
4,334,500

X360
4,770,700

Very close. USA is not the stranglehold for M$ it used to be. Cant help but think how the numbers might have changed if the Slim had come earlier.

Good job all round.

I was wrong and I'm surprised although it was very close that this is the first December in the US where the ps3 beat 360. Price cut+slim paid off for sony. Some were also wrong about ps3 slim dominating console sales from Sept with the new price point, actually since October its been neck and neck with micro and wii came back strong for its #1 position. Still Good job sony.

Micro did very well and held their own in a year that was clearly not their best in terms of exclusives.

As usual 360 displays strong software sales.

Wii= nintendo domination of both micro and sony.

JOY

edit: Bathyj, Actually NO, I mean you have to be crazy to think some who got banned didn't buy another 360, but generally I don't think it was nearly what folks made it out to be. Micro has been banning modded consoles this entire gen, not just before MW2, people know what risks they are taking, also 360 has outsold ps3 every holiday in the US by a large margin, 360 sales were more on par with past year sales for the same timeframe, sure it had alot to do with MW2, but every year theres at least 1 bigtime system seller exclusive= Gears, COD4, Halo3, Gears2,+holiday buying habits that lead to a huge increase in 360 sales, in other words MW2 the game had more to do with 360 sales than the bannings did, like I said same as every year, the only difference this year is that ps3 sales were ALSO dramatically higher which made ps3 sales more on par with 360 sales.

JOY

Just interest in your opinion.

Do you think the console bans had any bearring on sales.

Youre right M$ did very well, alot better than alot of people thought they would. I have to think a percentage of people, even if only a quarter at a low guess, went out and bought a new machine after the bans.

What do you think?

This prooves that last month the only reason why 360 outsold PS3 was because the console bans. The idiots who got there console banned bought the system again. PS3 continues closing the gap by beating 360 in all three territorries.

I am still befuddled at how the wii continues to sell. It's like watching prefontaine. It just keeps going and going.

oly ell Nintendo almost 7.5 million systems sold in 1 month!! They must be the richest company on Earth.

Using Bathyj's figures the wii almost outsold the 360 or ps3's year totals in 1 month!

Also looks like the price cut has brought sony level in the only region where MS had dominance.

EDIT: Just realised the wii and DS both set all time records for monthly NPD beating last years totals. The ps2's biggest december was 2.7 million - the wii beat that by over 1 million. ****! Well done!

the general assumption was that the 360 gamers that were banned were to no longer support M$ and buy a ps3.

When did this change?

Or did this excuse pop up when 360 beat the PS3 last month?

CrazzyMan wow youre such an f'ing loser. Ps3 had 0.05 lead over the 360 but hey your right its like the man said "it doesnt matter if its by an inch or a mile winning is winning.

Of course heres a lil fact just for you cause you know how much I like you. Your ps3 is in last place in worldwide sells. Hope you enjoy that one lol.

Anyways Its great to see that the video game market is doin so well even in these hard times.

Saaking you just as big of a loser as crazyboy and you might want to look to those worldwide numbers again 360 40 mill and ps3 32 mill. You dont know how to count right or are you still learning that ?

Awesome PS3 numbers. Worldwide it destroyed the 360. And of course, the Wii massacred both consoles combined.

Great job for all three but geesh, who keeps buying all those Wii's? ._o

didn't you use to have like 8 bubbles or something???

Back on topic: The 1st quarter of 2010 should be pretty interesting for NPDs; especially with all to big hitters coming early for both the 360 and Ps3 (ME2, GOW3, Heavy, etc.)

Is not surprising to see Nintendo numbers, cuz there are more Casuals than Gamers, so is kind of logical and Awesome Numbers for ALL

Sony pulled the ultimate chess move with Slim and it payed off with it's best holiday..

But, amazingly Microsoft withstood it all and still posted a million+ December.

The 360 community still posted great numbers in software sales..even with the mass hate that Left 4 Dead 2 got ALL year.

Just as I predicted early..PS3 owners proved that the FPS is the number one genre for it's platform too.

And even with the great numbers..the haters are still clinging on the 'banned Xbox users' being the only people that bought 360s this holiday..LMAO

People hate on the Wii..but we ALL own one..it sits in more living rooms than HDTVs..it's hater proof..

Then they try to comprehend why Natal is going to be unleashed to this massive audience of family gamers.

What a year it was..but 2010 is going to smoke it alive

Evil

Edit:

LOL @ Spartan..If you actually believe that the 360 only sold 360s because of banned Xboxes in November..then let's all just say that the only reason the PS3 sells is because it has a Blu-ray player. Everybody had bundles during the holiday..but your mad at the 360 bundles..because they may have helped people buy the system? Classic

"M$ withstood the storm"
What!?
Sony pulled the ultImate chess move!?!
LMAO , what the hell is wrong with u?
Good numbers both side that's that!
If honesly think Sony lower the price and m$ did nothing!?
Cause that how u making it sound.
m$ won November because of the 600,000 banned 360's!!
360's for 99
get 5 games when u buy a 36oamazon.,
And that's how they won november!!
if u think m$ just stood thier with thier arms cross, andwon November and where this close in December cause the 360 is so great, and awsome!!
Then my friend your blind, a retard or smoke crack!

WOW! Wii outsold 360 and PS3 combined

the general assumption was that the 360 gamers that were banned were to no longer support M$ and buy a ps3.

When did this change?
-----

Not sure what 'general assumption' you're talking about but common sense says a pirate will replace an easily pirated - and mostly cheaply replaceable - machine with 'the same' easily pirated machine.

Add in the costs of replacing any legit games and peripherals, and the incentive to do so asap with big games just out (eg. MW2) and it's hard to see the logic in folks dumping everything they have to start up a new collection on another platform.

---
Or did this excuse pop up when 360 beat the PS3 last month?
---

The 'excuse' popped up about the same time the million banned machines 'popped up'.

Not quite sure how it could have done so any earlier?

And the 'excuse', as you call it, was more grounded on the fact of there being 'one' aberrant month in the last four (re:PS3 v 360 sales), the timing of the ban (re:MW2), and that 1 million is a hell of a lot of consoles to suddenly need replacing. I think a better word than excuse in this situation would be 'conjecture'. (And further, most people said it was a possibility rather than an absolute and that they'd wait to see if MS's 'pulling away' (re-establishing position in home country) continued to occur in December or if replacement consoles sales - if they were a factor - started to taper off).

But back on the topic, i wonder if VGChartz will correct for this months nonsense (had MS beating Sony in the US handsomely) or let it go through the keeper as they nearly always seem to.

And pissing contests aside, there'll all great numbers.

It is nice to see the industry so healthy. Nobody is doing poorly.

The Wii continues to be a massive success. Kudos. I know some people like to hate on it, but to the people that buy it it is a great console.

The PS3 and the 360 were neck and neck. Good job to Sony for all of the moves they made to get themselves there. Good job to Microsoft for selling just as many consoles in North America during the holiday period as the PS3, despite the huge moves Sony had made with a full console redesign, large price drop, and their best game lineup ever.

Handhelds are also doing amazingly well.

I'm happy, because regardless of my personal preferences I am ultimately a gamer first and foremost, and it is wonderful to see the hobby I love so much flourishing so well.

how the hell can u call someone a retard with english like this?

if u think m$ just stood thier with thier arms cross,

i mean really,WTF??
whats your first language?

to all companies.
Here's some spin for you
Nintendo Nov-Dec NPD total:4.07m
Microsoft Nov-Dec NPD total: 2.13m
Sony Nov-Dec NPD total: 2.07m
so that means there has been at least 8.27m new opportunities to have fun in the vast world of gaming created in just two months. Pretty cool!

*fanboy alert*
I thought the 360 was supposed to be destroyed by the venerable and powerful PS3 slim over the holiday---

What happened to MS being 200% sure they were gonna sell more than Sony over christmas? Obviously MS are losing the battle..

Nice spin there, vhero. But the truth is actually more a question of how Sony can expect to ever catch up if that is the best they can do when everything is going perfectly for them. In 2010 I promise you it is not going to get easier to go up against the 360, it is only going to get harder.

is the 360 doomed? /s

Microsoft bans are for the sake of software companies. Hardware sales would only skyrocket if software piracy was not dealt with, like with the PS2. No one would buy software just hardware. It's bs by the usual fanboys.

on topic/
Good numbers all around. 360 stood it's ground with relatively few exclusives on the plate. PS3 did well, congrats Sony. These numbers were expected at launch though. Nintendo dominates as always, with both console and handheld.

because all year long ps3 fans have been saying that the 360 has no games, faulty hardware, hidden fees (xbox live, etc..), high accessory prices....and despite all that, it is still right there with the ps3 in sales. Then as far as those saying it was because of all the banned 360s....could it be possible that they replaced their consoles with refurbished units, instead of brand new ones?

Anyhow, I hope these great sales by all the companies translates into a serious delay of next generation. I would like the prime of a console's life to be seriously extended..

when PS3 posts a lead over 360, they did it fair and square.
But when 360 post a lead over PS3, theres always some sort of gimmickry involved.

I'm shocked to see the 360 numbers so close to the PS3 because the only console I saw available around the holidays was the 360...

the Wii and PS3 were impossible to find here in Philly....but there were 360's in almost every store...even if there was just 1 or 2, this was commonplace..

did Sony put the PS3 on limited availability?

Yeah, my bad. A million bans - completely normal. Happens every day. A thousand precedents for it. Nothing to see or analyse there. Hell, thinking there's something worth looking into - that's 'fanboyism'. Strike him down! etc. etc.

Banning 1 million consoles in one hit. Again, completely normal. Timing it so as to coincide with the holiday season and the biggest game release of the reason? Nothing at all to question there. Only a ridiculous troll or 'fanboy' (in twelve year old speak) would suggest such a thing could have any effect on sales.

And don't even try to question the odd up and down nature of MS's sales before/during/after this 'ban that couldn't possibly have an effect on sales'. Doing so would be utterly ridiculous.

Jesus. This place is useless. I lean to the PS3, but crikey i can still call a spade a spade. If Sony and MS's names/situations were reverse i'd call Sony out every bit as much - to not think this ban is 'unusual' and at least 'consider' it's impact on sales for the direct 4-6 week period following it.. that's just weird.

There's loyalty and then there's just really switching half your brain off.

Where's your "PS2 outsells 360 2:1" articles?!

I guess when the shoe's on the other foot, you don't wanna walk the walk.

AT THE END OF THE DAY

THE PS3 SOLD MORE CONSOLES. END OF STORY.

^^ I think you mean Wii, right?

People said the 360 beat the PS3 in November because of MS banning some consoles, and people bought a new console.
----

Well, they said there's possibility. No-one can know either way.

But you'd agree the significant aberration of November numbers versus September/October numbers, and the incidence of a very significantly large ban in tandem with a huge game release would warrant a little conjecture, no?

People also said that no the ban had nothing to do with anything and that it was simply Microsoft reasserting itself in it's home territory, and would further extend the gap in December..

And yet unlike November - where MS's numbers were ~12% higher - (and a huge reversal versus October) December showed Sony's system winning out.

-------
Now people are saying that the 360 managed to hold their own in December against the PS3 once again due to banned consoles.
-------

I wouldn't say it's entirely due to banned consoles, and this month it may have little to nothing to do with them, but they can hardly be factored out. If they could and November represented nothing more than MS's dominance in it's home country coming back, December would have had MS a couple of hundred thousand units plus ahead (instead of 50k behind).

----
My question is, why is it that whenever the PS3 does well it 2 thumbs up, but when the 360 does well, there is alway some type of BS excuse attached to it.
-----

Not really. I give them credit all the time - especially on the software front. But you can't expect 1 million bans, and a month of aberrant vs numbers (which then do a uturn the following month) to simply go through to the keeper unfiltered. 'nothing to see here' etc.

---
But, less get ride of the excuses, it doesn't matter how a person wins. (as long as they don't cheat)
---

I wouldn't say banning consoles is a 'cheat' exactly, but if it is a factor then it's hardly expanding the user base - which is where it becomes murky and worth discussing imo.

Hell, i'll say right now i think the PS3's attach rate is sometimes lower on account of a percentage of units being predominately for Bluray (esp in the US where Bluray is somewhat more entrenched). Which is plus for Sony on one front, but a minus on the games side - making MS often more attractive, particularly in the US, to publishers.

I'm not sure why questioning a sudden ban of a million units (and it's possible/probable effect) is so out of order - or gets so many disagrees, as with my last post (and yet not a single verbalised rebuttal).

"doesn't matter how a person wins. (as long as they don't cheat) "

You see THIS is EXACTLY the problem. MS gave away x360s at Amazon (or bundled 5 games with it's SKUs) and banned an extremely large number of consoles from live at the exact moment the biggest online-shooter (MW2) launched.

This is why people consider the x360s numbers are inflated. It might prove something if we knew how many arcades were sold in all that amount since the banned people don't need a HDD since they already got one (unless it gets banned too).

How to get that data? There is no way. MS WILL NOT give that information even if they could.

Considering the facts here I think the numbers have to be atleast 500k inflated. No fanboy BS even if I am a fanboy. Just facts.

Although you make good points, the problem I have with you guys is that you are only willing Microsoft in this light. You can't bring your minds to judge Sony in this way if your lives depended on it.

snp - " MS gave away x360s at Amazon (or bundled 5 games with it's SKUs)" I'm not going to call you a lie or anything like that, but I can't recall Microsoft bundling 5 games with the 360 unless you're talking about the arcade games that came with the arcade bundle?

Also, you never mention that fact that Sony bundles brand new 1st party exclusives with their consoles all the time. Not to mention when I bought my PS3 (original 60 gb) I go 5 free BD movies with it. So I really see things like this a the cost of doing business NOT GIVING CONSOLES away.

Inso...Speculation is excepted NO WHERE, except in the gossip column. I could speculate that you don't own a PS3 and that you play your best friends PS3 because you're too cheap to buy one. But, that is mere speculation. Just like saying that people that got their 360s banned went out a bought another. As a matter of fact, a friend of mine got pissed off because his 360 got banned so he went a bought a PS3 (Sorry Dan, needed to make a point). So perhaps I should speculate that MS banning those consoles Actually helped PS3 sells instead of 360 sells so the PS3 numbers are skewed. See what I mean? It's all Bullsh!t.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that this site would be better if we could give credit where due, debate like adults instead of bashing, name calling, and other childish bullsh!t, and simply enjoys the games and the gaming community as a whole.

I should be saying, "Wow" uncharted 2 sounds great, I need to cop that." Instead of "Uncharted 2 is over rated, I mean look it's didn't even make the top 10 for december and has bearly sold over 1 million copies."

Sony, MS, Nintendo are paying none of us a dime. Hell, the fanboys are on N4G ready to kill each other while Sony and MS execs, and sitting down over a beer laughing at their dumb arses...lol

Either way, I just wish we could bury the stupid "Console War" hatched and debate good issues, and squash the BS. But I know there are people out there that would rather this site be a place of hate.

no sir. you should have said: most Ps3 exclusives dont pass 1mil.
i know you prolly dont like the sound of that, but if a 360 exclusive doesnt pass 2mil in its first week, its a shocker. hell that goes for 360 versions of really popular multiplat games as well.

Why can't you look at it that all three platforms perform well? Grow up and and think before you post immature comments. Great job for all 3 consoles.

"so much for the 360 losing momentum?"

Wasn't it Greenburg and 360 fancrew that said 360 will rule the holiday andPS3 would go back to the bottom? well guess who's in last now?

it's also interesting that MW2 PS3 is going toe to toe with MW2 360 in NA of all places!

Damn, look at those PS2 numbers. yeah its the holiday I know, but look at it go!

worldwide is an untold story, we only really know japan and npd numbers, anything else is just guessing

Lololololol, so much for 360's home land. Ps3 beats it in hardware sales. The 360 only has 2 games compared to 1 Ps3 game in the top 10. Wii dominated. There's no spin here, Omega. It's okay though, I'm here for you. :)

Walk tall, there were 6 Nintendo games on that list as well, but I guess they don't count, do they? And the 360 had 2 shooters on the list; both multiplat and neither of which were ODST. Walk tall, Omega. Walk fvcking tall.

It's sad really when you see the PS3 beating the 360 on the 360's home turf. This is obvious proof that the 360 is losing steam because everyone knows PS3 outsells 360 in the rest of the world minus the UK.

jmare > omega4chan

sorry, still not worth the hassle

well i believe the 360 had 3 games in the top 10.. but what do i know? i only have basic reading comprehension skills...

I guess it's hard for you to say all three did well huh?

All hail Microsoft. /s

M$ came in dead last in their own territory,that is losing momentum. PS3 cost $100 more,had shortage problems ,no games bundled in and it still outsold 360.

"too bad about UC2 not even making it in the top 10 spot."

Do you know what the differences in install bases are in US?

How many times do you see PS3-fans laughing at the x360 while looking at Japan top 10 lists? What do you think the reason is?