NPD: PS3, Xbox 360 sales still lag behind PS2

Market research group NPD released video game console sales figures for the month of February, and the units with the fastest processors look to be selling the slowest.

Video game console sales in February 2008, according to research group NPD, showed a 19% increase in units sold year-over-year, with Microsoft's Xbox 360 selling the fewest among what is still, more than two years after its introduction, called the "next gen" console market.

This distinction is necessary because the sixth-generation PlayStation 2 console is not only still selling, but is actually selling better than its successors. The eight-year old system was reported by NPD to have sold 351,800 units last month. The PS3 sold 280,800 units, and the 360 sold 254,600.

The only next-gen console which beat the PS2 in sales was Nintendo's Wii, which moved a reported 432,000 units. Some argue that the Wii is barely a "next gen" console itself. The recently released Super Smash Brothers Brawl, a fighting game featuring Nintendo's licensed characters, illustrates this perspective. The highly anticipated game has none of the Wii's trademark gestural control features, and relies heavily on the last-generation Gamecube controller.

Sony's PlayStation 2 retails for around $130, and Nintendo's Wii sells for around $250. A 40 GB PS3 typically retails for around $400, and the xbox 360 console usually goes for $350.

NPD's report that video game sales were up for the month, paired with the distant leads held by lower-priced consoles, raise the question of whether price, more so than any of a console's other qualities, dictates its ultimate stature in the market.