NPD figures: "This is the year for PS3", says Tretton

Sony's response to yesterday's NPD figures focused squarely on kicking Microsoft in the face as hard as possible, with a press release titled, "PS3 Sales Eclipse Xbox 360 for Second Straight Month".

"PlayStation 3 outsold Xbox 360 for the second straight month with 280,841 hardware units sold in February, 10% higher than Microsoft (according to NPD February 2008 sales data)," said the statement. "Year-over-year this represents 120% sales growth."

See the rest of the hardware figures here. You can find software figures here.

Apparently blind to the fact Wii and DS had basically destroyed PS3 at US retail last month, SCEA boss Jack Tretton said, "Consumers are recognizing the tremendous value of PS3 and we believe that Blu-ray becoming the high-def format of choice was the tipping point for many consumers. With monster titles like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Grand Theft Auto IV launching in April and Metal Gear Solid 4 in June, we're demonstrating this is the year for PS3."

Read the full thing after the link.

PS3 Sales Eclipse Xbox 360 for Second Straight Month; Year-Over-Year Sales More Than Doubled

Total PlayStation Hardware Unit Sales Top 875,969

PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) outsold Xbox 360 for the second straight month with 280,841 hardware units sold in February, 10% higher than Microsoft (according to NPD February 2008 sales data). Year-over-year this represents 120% sales growth.

* Wait, There's More... Next month will see the introductions of heavyweights Grand Theft Auto IV and PS3-exclusive Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, and June will usher in the monster 2008 title Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. And let's not forget DUALSHOCK®3 rumbles to North American retailers in April. The arsenal of 2008 blockbusters including LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, MotorStorm 2, and SingStar, combined with current momentum for Blu-ray, will further PS3 enthusiasm throughout the year.

* PLAYSTATION®Network Is Burgeoning: Currently in North America there are more than 3.3 million registered PLAYSTATION Network accounts and more than 56 million total downloads life-to-date from PLAYSTATION®Store. PLAYSTATION Network total downloads exceeded 6.3 million in February 2008, compared to 6.6 million at the peak of the holiday season in December 2007. Only on PLAYSTATION Network can you find innovative games like Calling All Cars, Everyday Shooter, fl0w, PAIN, Tekken 5, Warhawk and Super Stardust.

PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) continued its trend of strong sales with 243,115 PSP hardware units sold in February, representing a year-over-year increase of 38%.

* If You Think February Sales Were Good... Rave reviews of God of War: Chains of Olympus, wipEout® PULSE and Patapon are already pouring in, not to mention the highly anticipated debut of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on March 25, which are expected to further PSP sales growth.

PlayStation®2 (PS2) continues to surprise and delight mainstream audiences with hardware unit sales reaching 351,787 units. Additionally, for the third consecutive month PS2 sold more software units than any other console on the market, not only a testament to the staying power of PlayStation products, but also the incredible PlayStation software library.

Power of the PlayStation Portfolio

The PlayStation brand generated the most U.S. retail dollars in the industry for the second consecutive month with $511 million in sales, 52% and 6% higher than Microsoft and Nintendo, respectively.

* Year to date (Jan-Feb), the PlayStation brand generated nearly $1 billion in the U.S. market, 56% and 15% higher than Microsoft and Nintendo, respectively.
* PlayStation total hardware revenue was $204 million in February, 125% and 11% higher than Microsoft and Nintendo, respectively.
* PlayStation total software revenue in February was $247 million, 32% and 5% higher than Microsoft and Nintendo respectively.

CEO Perspective

"Consumers are recognizing the tremendous value of PS3 and we believe that Blu-ray becoming the high-def format of choice was the tipping point for many consumers. With monster titles like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Grand Theft Auto IV launching in April and Metal Gear Solid 4 in June, we're demonstrating this is the year for PS3."

- Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America