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box 360 continues to hold the number one spot in the U.S., selling more units in April than any other console; marking the 28th consecutive month as the best-selling console in the U.S.

April 2013 NPD highlights:
· Holding 42 percent share of current-generation console sales, Xbox 360 sold 130,000 units in April, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. (Source: NPD Group, April 2013)

· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in April (hardware, software and accessories) reached $208 million, the most for any console in the U.S. (Source: NPD Group, April 2013)

· During the month of April, Xbox 360 held six of the top 10 console game titles including: “NBA 2K13,” “Dead Island: Riptide,” “BioShock Infinite,” Defiance,” Injustice: Gods Among Us” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.” Source: NPD Group, April 2013)


Looking forward to next week, Tuesday, May 21 will mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. On that day, Microsoft will hold a special press event on the Xbox Campus at 10 a.m. PST and we invite you to join us via the live global stream that will be available on Xbox LIVE, Xbox.com and live on Spike TV in the U.S. and Canada.

Then, on June 10 at 9:30 a.m. PST, Microsoft will continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games at the Xbox E3 media briefing at The Galen Center in Los Angeles. The briefing will air live on Spike TV in the U.S. and Canada and on Xbox.com and Xbox LIVE globally.

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“Despite overall declines, April title launches in 2013 fared better than games that launched in April 2012, up 118 percent in unit sales and 130 percent in dollar sales. This increase was driven by games like Injustice: Gods Among Us, Dead Island: Riptide, and Lego City Undercover: The Chase Begins,” said Callahan.

He added, "Overall declines are stemming from the performance of games launched prior to April; for example, the decrease in sales performance of March launches. Specifically, when looking at video games launching in March 2012, month 2 sales represented 25 percent of the total first two months of sales, which contracted to 17 percent for March 2013 launches. One reason for this might be the decrease in the number of new titles, which can cause sales of a title to be 'front loaded' with a greater amount of sales happening in the first month of its release.”

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Leaked reports from the NPD Group (a market research company covering, among other industries, the video games market) indicate that the Vita has sold about 33’000 units last month in the US, as reported by ArsTechnica.

By comparison, the 3DS reportedly sold about 7 times this amount.

More importantly, ArsTechnica mentions that the Vita has sold about 1 million units in the US since its launch a bit more than 1 year ago. And to give you a sense of perspective, its older sister the original PSP sold 1.12 million units in the US in the month of December 2005 alone. Yup, back then, the PSP sold more in one good month than the Vita did in one year. Ouch?

Similarly, the sales of the Wii U in the US are disappointing for Nintendo, the Wii U selling only half as much as the N64 and the Wii did in their respective 5 first months. Arstechnica notes however that the Wii U is selling roughly a well as the XBox360 and the PS3 did back in their first five months on the market.

Sony hasn’t officially announced any price cut for the Vita in the US yet, but it might be one of the only remaining strategies moving forward… unless their plan is to rely on PS4 sales at the end of the year to boost PS Vita sales.

Will the Vita be Sony’s last portable console? In 2018, when troll gamers tell you piracy killed the Vita, kindly point them to this article, written at a time when the Vita has not been cracked yet.

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