508k - Nintendo DS
280k - PlayStation 2
259k - Nintendo Wii
199k - Xbox 360
180k - PlayStation Portable
148k - Game Boy Advance
130k - PlayStation 3
22k -  GameCube

To start with, the No.1 seller in March wasn’t a traditional ‘under-the-TV’ games console at all – it is the handheld Nintendo DS!

Second is the years old PS2, still giving gamers great fun today, and ensuring healthy sales and profits for Sony, even though their PS3 is in the 9th spot overall, just above the Nintendo GameCube in last place.

The first of the ‘next-gen’ systems to appear on the list is the Nintendo Wii in 3rd place, and given the strong sales we saw in January and February, this is no surprise. When you look at ‘next-gen’ games consoles only, Nintendo is still the sales leader at 259,000 units – almost as many as the PS2 managed with 280,000 units.

Microsoft’s relatively strong showing with 199,000 units sold and a fourth placing shows that the Xbox 360 is still a very strong contender and is facing the threat of the Nintendo Wii and PS3 very well. Microsoft are also reportedly now making a profit on each Xbox 360 sold, instead of losing money as they had done in the past, and as the PS3 continues to do to this very day.

Of course, as we know, the Nintendo Wii was making a profit from day one, making lots and lots of money for Nintendo, who must be breathing a sigh of relief that the Wii and DS have been incredible global hits at a time when some were ready to write Nintendo off the map.

That said, I’m sure that some think Nintendo pretty much knew (or hoped) all along that with their legendary focus on actual gameplay – rather than the fanciest and shmanciest of graphics – coupled with the ‘touch’ system on the DS and the ‘motion sensing’ on the Wii - their chances of actually doing well this time were very high.

So, Nintendo are the clear winners here, with massive sales of the DS and the Wii, and not too bad sales of the now-ancient Gameboy Advance and even a few Gamecubes still selling.

Sony are still doing incredibly well with the PS2, the games console with the world’s biggest software library, incredibly affordable pricing and still a steady stream of new software releases. The PSP is still selling relatively well, although nowhere near the numbers of the DS, and the PS3 is out there, with its full potential yet to be truly unleashed, both in games, online experiences and Blu-ray movies.

And Microsoft’s Xbox 360 gamble is still paying off, with hits like Halo 3 to come, new interaction between PC and Xbox 360 games and more – the Xbox 360 is a true hit for Microsoft, and one they can be very proud of.

Despite the dominance of the DS, the PS2 and the Wii, the games console market is still wide open, with several years to go before we’ll see replacements for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. No matter which games console you buy, you’ll get a great gaming experience.

Your biggest challenge will be to limit yourself to only one or two games consoles – the trend today is to have more than one, and a games-capable PC as well, so you can experience and enjoy the best the world of gaming entertainment has to offer.

That’s the modern world that people in developed countries enjoy, and is the reason why, despite the strong sales of the Wii, it’s simply impossible to count the PS3 or the Xbox 360 out. As has been noted before, we’ll all have a much better idea of how it might all pan out come mid-January, 2008, when 2007’s full data stream of sales and more can be properly analyzed.

Until then, games console and games manufacturers: the gamers of the world are expecting better and more enjoyable gaming experiences than ever before, no matter which console they own. All we want you to do is to deliver!
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