Top 100 games for March

[Nintendarse]

From GAF (sonycowboy):

March Hardware Numbers (CSFB)

The March CSFB report states that:

US Hardware Sell Through

128-bit hardware sales were up 21% year over year. Sony's PS2 unit sales in March were down 16% sequentially, but up 13% year over year.
Microsoft's Xbox unit sales in March were down 17% sequentially, but up 20% year over year. Nintendo GCN unit sales in March were flat
sequentially, and up 48% year over year. Nintendo GBA unit sales in March were up 188% sequentially, and up 61% year over year.

So using the Febr totals and the sequential percentage changes:

PS2: 488,934 * .84 = 410,704
XBox: 198,531 * .83 = 164,780
GC: 165,417 (flat) = 165,417
GBA: 291,112 * 2.88 = 838,402

Or, using the Feb totals and the year over year percentage changes:

PS2: 362,408 * 1.13 = 409,521
Xbox: 136,388 * 1.20 = 163,665
GC: 111,236 * 1.48 = 164,629
GBA: 504,684 * 1.61 = 812,541

So, as you can see these percentages actually make sense.

GBA >> PS2 >> GC = Xbox

The reported values confirm each other mathematically, which is good news. So the Best Buy estimate was incorrect after all! It was quite accurate for the holiday season, so I don't know what made it underestimate GC sales for March. My only guess is that Best Buy doesn't sell to the traditional "Nintendo" market, so Toys R Us and similar stores had disproportionate increases in GC sales around the release of a traditional Nintendo game. In comprison, Metroid Prime was selling more to a new audience, so the Best Buy numbers were in proportion. I'm pleasantly surprised once again!