Exciting stuff if you can't get enough of statistical figures.

If you've been curious how Sony's market share with its console and handheld division, the latest figures below reveal a rather interesting portrait of success as reported by the November 2007 NPD sales data. A few of the highlights which stood out and was generously bolded by Sony's PR division indicate the PS3 had the biggest increase of any hardware platform in between the months of October to November. Reportedly, 466K PS3 units were sold in November… a 285% increase over previous month's sales. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare stood out as one of huge hits this holiday season with 444K units sold, followed by Assassin's Creed with 377K units. All of this sounds great on paper and hopefully means that third-party developers will focus on bringing A-class gaming to the PS3 instead of exclusively hooking up the Xbox 360.

I'd go over the PSP and classic PlayStation info, but that would defeat the purpose of this article. Read on for the full NPD report:

Hardware Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP)

**For the month of November, PlayStation hardware unit sales reached more than 1.5 million units, an increase of 160% when compared to last month's unit sales (October 2007).

**PlayStation total hardware revenue was $373 million in November, sales dollars increased by 170% compared to last month's sales.

**For the month of November, PlayStation console sales reached 962K units.

**466K PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) hardware units were sold in November, a 285% increase over the previous month's sales. PS3 had the biggest October to November sales increase of any hardware platform.

**PlayStation 2 (PS2) also experienced great momentum in November, hardware unit sales reached 496K, a 170% increase over last month's sales.  Since its release in North America on Oct. 26, 2000, more than 120 million hardware units and more than a billion units of PlayStation 2 software have sold worldwide, making it the best-selling gaming platform ever released.

**According to the latest Nielsen data (April – November 2007), PS2 is the most played videogame console averaging 42.2% usage minutes compared to 11.8% for Xbox 360 and 5.5% for Wii.

**PSP (PlayStation Portable) continues to experience strong sales momentum with new pricing and the availability of new entertainment packs.  In November, 567K PSP hardware units were sold, nearly a 100% increase over last month sales.

Software Momentum (PS3, PS2 and PSP)

**PlayStation total software revenue in November was $414 million, sales dollars increased by 128% compared to last month's sales.

**In November, retail dollars from PS3 sales totaled $138 million, a 192% increase over last month's sales.

**PlayStation had three software titles in the top ten list across all consoles: Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for PS2 sold 966K units, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for PS3 sold 444K units and Assassin’s Creed for PS3 sold 377K units.

PLAYSTATION Network Momentum

**Just one year after launch, there are more than 3 million registered PLAYSTATION Network users worldwide who have downloaded more than 60 million pieces of content.

**In North America alone there are more than 1.8 million registered users who have downloaded more than 34.5 million pieces of content.

**A recent PLAYSTATION Network price promotion for Calling all Cars™, Everyday Shooter™, flOw™ and Pixel Junk Racers™ resulted in a combined 920% increase in total downloads

The Neo-Geo is reborn on every console on the market. 

If the impending releases of Neo Geo Coliseum and King of Fighters XI wasn't enough to get your SNK fill, the home of fighting excellence has announced a flood of titles coming to the US shores in the near future.

"We're pleased to once again be bringing fans more of the quality fighting and great arcade games they've come to expect from us," said Ben Herman, president of SNK PLAYMORE USA CORPORATION, "and with the addition of a number of downloadable console titles, SNK aficionados will have even more options available to them."

No kidding.  Here's the big list:

THE KING OF FIGHTERS COLLECTION: THE OROCHI SAGA (Wii, PlayStation 2, PSP)
METAL SLUG 7 (Nintendo DS)
SNK ARCADE CLASSICS Volume 1 (PlayStation 2, PSP)
SAMURAI SHODOWN ANTHOLOGY (Wii, PlayStation 2)
METAL SLUG 3 (Xbox LIVE Arcade)
SAMURAI SHODOWN 2(Xbox LIVE Arcade)
FATAL FURY (Wii Virtual Console)
WORLD HEROES (Wii Virtual Console)
MAGICIAN LORD (Wii Virtual Console)

In addition to these console titles, they've reaffirmed a selection of arcade newcomers:

THE KING OF FIGHTERS XII
KING OF FIGHTERS: MAXIMUM IMPACT REGULATION "A" 2
SAMURAI SHOWDOWN SEN (JAPANESE TITLE)

Heading to PSP, DS, and Cell Phones next year.

SquareEnix's biggest announcement at TGS so far is the further expansion of the Kingdom Hearts series in the form of three new portable titles: Birth By Sleep for PSP, 358/2 Days for DS, and Coded for mobile phones. 

Birth By Sleep seems to be the most straightforward of the three, playing much like it's PS2 predecessors, while telling a prequel story.

358/2 Days (is that supposed to be pronounced "179 Days"?) will apparently focus on 4 player simultaneous play involving members of Organization XIII and will be fully 3D, not sprite based like the GBA's Chain of Memories. Word is the title will make sense when you play the game. Hey, any title that doubles as a math problem has piqued my interest.

Coded is the obligatory cell phone game that, like Before Crisis, Parasite Eve 3, and FF Agito XIII, no one outside of Japan will ever get to play. Do you really need to know any more than that?

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Think fast:  What was the highlight of E3 2007?

Time's up.

The correct answer is that the entire event sucked dirty balls.  I've been looking for something (anything!) E3-related to write about, but I keep drawing a blank.  Every announcement was either something we all saw coming ten miles away (PSP redesign, yet another 360 SKU), or something so fucking asinine that words fail me (PSP redesign, Scene It?).

Here's a quick re-hash for those who just absolutely need it:

Nintendo

You still can't buy a Wii unless you're willing to turn tricks behind your local Circle K.  The DS is still a phenomenon.  And I think Reggie said there was a slim possibility that they might be making some sequels and spin-off games for a few of their popular franchises.  Sounds like a lovely change of direction.

Microsoft

Yep, there's another version of Xbox 360 to consider.  Halo 3 is in development.  The rumors were true, it seems.  They're looking to strengthen online gaming or something.  I didn't catch it all.  At this point I was looking for free Scandinavian foot fetish clips in another window.

Sony

In an effort to breathe new life into the PSP and gobble up some handheld market share, Sony unveils a redesign that… looks exactly like the original.  Brilliant.  There was also something about Metal Gear Solid 4, which knocked me right the hell out of my chair.  Don't read this if you hate spoilers:  Snake is a lot older this time.  

Big Finish

And now, I humbly submit to you my personal favorite moment from E3 2007:  Tecmo's refusal to so much as appear.  Apparently, their VP had some unambiguous words about the new format and the people running the joint.  That made me smile more than any game I saw covered.  (Okay, with the exception of Super Mario Galaxy.  The immature bastard child in me really, really wants to be Bumblebee Mario…)

That's my take on E3 2007.  Drink it up.

PS - I know this is juvenile, but did anyone else giggle when they read "Wii Zapper?"  It made me think of an old girlfriend… and why I'm no longer allowed within 500 feet of her.

Microsoft

What can be said about Microsoft’s briefing? Easily the most boring of the three because Microsoft chose to focus primarily on games that will be available this year and only briefly mentioning big 2008 titles like Too Human, Alan Wake, Fable 2, and Banjo Kazooie 3. The entire thing just felt like a giant rehash of things everyone already knows. Don’t get me wrong, MS is in an enviable position being the only system on which you can play both Halo 3 and GTAIV and they made sure no one forgot it. That’s going to be a hard combo for Sony to counter, especially when the 360 is cheaper, to boot.

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