NPD: PS3 Boasts 88% Growth, Still Edged Out By 360

The November NPD results are in, and in terms of year-over-year numbers, the PlayStation 3 is king of the hill.

However, the PS3 still needs to play catch-up in the overall hardware sales category, as the Wii managed to sell a whopping 1,260,000 units in the month of November, and the Xbox 360 enjoyed a much stronger showing than analysts expected, coming in at 819,500. In comparison, there were 710,400 PS3s sold last month, which is certainly competitive but we propose the idea that the majority of the Modern Warfare 2 insanity fell in the 360's camp. Furthermore, the year-over-year numbers are most telling in this particular situation:

Wii: 2,040,000 sold in November 2008, 1,260,000 sold in November 2009, which equals a 38.24% decline.

Xbox 360: 836,000 sold in November 2008, 819,500 sold in November 2009, which equals a 1.97% decline.

PlayStation 3: 378,000 sold in November 2008, 710,400 sold in November 2009, which equals a 87.94% increase .

Obviously, this is something that's going to catch the eye of Sony, and without any further ado, we give you the official statement on the PS3's performance in November by SCEA President and CEO, Jack Tretton:

"In November, PS3 was the only hardware console to see any growth when compared to last November, experiencing an 88% lift and a 122% increase from the previous month. Metacritic also unveiled this week its 2009 Game Platform Power Rankings, in which PS3 titles topped the charts on overall game quality, tallying up five of the top ten best reviewed games in 2009 and with UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves taking best reviewed game of the year. The sheer appetite and interest in the PS3 this holiday has been overwhelming and is exceeding our expectations. So much so, some retailers are expected to experience tight supply this December. There's no question the holidays are looking very bright for PlayStation and we’re confident that the new year is on pace for the same with hugely anticipated titles hitting the platform, such as MAG, God of War III, BioShock 2, and Final Fantasy XIII."

Overall, sales for the industry were down only 7.6% from November 2008 (coming in at $2.69 billion), with software down only 3.1%. Modern Warfare 2 enjoyed the staggering success we all expected; over 6 million copies were sold last month, which is downright insane.  As one final note from EEDAR's analysis, the PS3 "posted the highest weekly sales rate in the console's history for any month," which is – of course – another good sign. As for the handhelds, the PSP floundered, falling over 30% in the year-over-year comparison, while the DS once again destroyed the competition with 1,700,000 units sold (an 8.28% YoY increase). But as far as the PS3 is concerned, and we've said this many times before this year…things have definitely changed.