Ever since it was released the Xbox has been dominant in the hardware market. It has always had the edge over its rivals due to its high quality specification, high-quality games and affordable price. In 2012 the Xbox 360 has again topped the list of consoles outselling the Wii U despite the fact that it has sold out across the country and only made its debut last month.

In fairness to Nintendo Wii U was only launched halfway through the last month meaning the Xbox had a significant lead on it before numbers were started to be counted.

According to Microsoft’s numbers it sold 1.2 6 million Xbox units last month meaning it topped the console rankings for the 23rd consecutive time. It beats out not only the conventional consoles but beat portable consoles as well for the 16th time in a row. Nintendo claims that in the same month their total sales including the Wii, the Wii U with the 3DS and DS amounted to 1.7 5 million purchases. In total 910,000 Nintendo units were sold. 425,000 of these were the newly launched Wii U console. Unlike its competitors Sony didn’t reveal how many products it managed to sell but analysts say the numbers would not be likely to be fairly average.

Hardware sales in total are actually declining down 13% on what they were last year. The software is in a similar position sliding 11% in the last 12 months. Accessories for consoles were also majorly down with sales sliding by 8%. All in all the gaming industry lost 11% on last year. One explanation for the downturn may be that the consoles are actually in a time of change. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are dying and the next generation is about to take their place. This means people are less likely to buy those consoles and are less likely to buy games and accessories for them because they are waiting for the new generation. This happened last time in 2005 when consoles were going through a time of transition as well.

Speculation is still rampant about when and how Xbox and PlayStation will release the next-generation consoles. Rumors are circulating the Internet with people trying to guess what the next-generation consoles will likely include. Everything from virtual reality to 3-D gaming has been suggested. The next generation consoles will likely have an improved emphasis on multiplayer functionality as well as better graphics and specifications. They will also likely improve on the motion controlling aspect of the systems which were released last year to mixed reviews.

The Wii U has already hit the market and is selling well. It seems that Nintendo’s strategy to be the first to release a next-generation console is working as people are rushing to buy the new system. Nintendo it seems are also benefiting from an uptick in casual gamers driven by the gaming industry explodes the tablets growing. More people than ever before have become exposed to gaming by these mediums and purchasing a Nintendo is the next logical step for those who enjoy casual gaming.

About Author

Kurt Mathias, is working as a programmer in a Software company. For 5 years, he has focused on programming and analyzing systems software. One of the project he has work on was on Mysearchresults – which is a new developed Search Engine.