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All Articles: NPD
Madden NFL 12 blitzes the September NPD list
Boom! After taking the month of August off thanks to the NFL lockout, the debut of Madden NFL 12 has reclaimed its rightful spot at the top of The NPD Groups’s monthly rankings.
The football sim was joined at the top of the charts by other big new releases: Gears of War 3 chainsawed the second spot and Deep Silver’s Dead Island landed at #3 (behold the power of hype, folks). EA Sports claimed the rest of the top five with FIFA Soccer 12 at #4 and NHL 12 a spot below. Resistance 3 at #7 and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine at #10 round out the bevy of new releases on this NPD list.
Holdovers from previous months include Deus Ex: Human Revolution (#6), Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (#8) and Call of Duty: Black Ops (#9).
The complete top ten can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dead Island, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, FIFA Soccer 12, Gears of War 3, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Madden NFL 12, NHL 12, NPD, Resistance 3, Warhammer 40000: Space Marine
Deus Ex: Human Revolution grafts onto #1 spot in August NPDs
I know what you’re thinking… what about Madden? Well, for some strange reason, The NPD Group’s tracking team considers August 30 a part of the September report. Perhaps they’ve taken a few too many hits to the head (BOOM!). But whatever the reason, So Deus Ex: Human Revolution was the bestselling game in August.
Deus Ex may have won, but the industry as a whole lost. A 23 percent drop from August 2011 meant that sales were way down across the board. The lack of a new Madden game in August actually explains that drop pretty well though. Only Nintendo’s repriced 3DS system, which sold 185,000 consoles from August 12 to the end of the period, could be considered a success. Sony’s price cut for the PS3 also increased sales of the HD console.
You can check out the complete top ten for August 2011 right here:
1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
2. NCAA Football 12 (Xbox 360, PS3)
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Xbox 360, PS3, DS, Wii, PC)
4. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (DS, Wii, PS3)
5. Cars 2 (DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
6. Just Dance: Summer Party (Wii)
7. Just Dance 2 (Wii)
8. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (Wii, Xbox 360, DS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC)
9. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
10. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3)
NCAA Football 12 is the valedictorian of July’s NPD chart
The NPD Group has revealed the top ten bestselling games for the month of July and NCAA Football 12 jumped to the head of the class. None of the rest of the month’s new releases managed to crack the list (including the awesome Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon or the alluring Catherine). Even the heavily-hyped Duke Nukem Forever was unable to maintain its place in the top ten.
With few new releases, only 17 titles were released during the month, gamers spent their money on other things in July. According to The NPD Group’s Anita Frazier, July was the “lowest month [for game sales] since October 2006.”
Maybe that’ll show publishers that the gaming community is pretty desperate for new games in the Summer. So maybe they shouldn’t backload every worthwhile game into the September-November period. In the meantime, check out the full top ten after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops, Cars 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Just Dance 2, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Major League Baseball 2K11, Mortal Kombat, NCAA Football 12, New Super Mario Bros., NPD, Zumba Fitness
Duke Nukem Forever takes a number two on June bestseller list
Duke Nukem Forever gives players the option to fish a turd out of the toilet bowl and smear it all over the walls of the game world. So it seems rather fitting that Duke’s latest adventure has landed in the #2 spot in The NPD Group’s list of bestselling games for the month of June. The Mighty Duke was toppled by Rockstar’s L.A. Noire; the detective yarn is celebrating its second straight month at the top after it lead the May NPD report as well.
A trio of other June releases also earned their way into the top ten. Sony’s InFamous 2 took the #3 spot, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D hookshotted its way into #5 and Cars 2 stopped for gas at #9.
You can find the full top ten after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops, Cars 2, Duke Nukem Forever, InFamous 2, Just Dance 2, L.A. Noire, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Mortal Kombat, NBA 2K11, NPD, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
L.A. Noire tops NPD chart in May
Rockstar Games’ detective procedural L.A. Noire has topped The NPD Group’s list of bestselling games in May. The PS3/Xbox 360 game was followed by several other new releases including Brink at #2 and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean in the third slot.
The remainder of the top ten is a mix of recently games (Portal 2 at #4 and Mortal Kombat at #5) and holdovers from last Fall’s game rush (Call of Duty: Black Ops at #6 and NBA 2K11 at #8).
The complete top ten can be seen here:
1. L.A. Noire (PS3, Xbox 360)
2. Brink (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
3. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (3DS, DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360)
4. Portal 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
5. Mortal Kombat (PS3, Xbox 60)
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
7. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
8. NBA 2K11 (PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360)
9. Just Dance 2 (Wii)
10. Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (3DS, DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Brink, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Just Dance 2, L.A. Noire, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Mortal Kombat, NBA 2K11, NPD, Portal 2, Zumba Fitness
Mortal Kombat decapitates the competition in April NPD report
It’s no secret that the video game community has responded to NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat reboot with a resounding “I love it.” But like Shao Kahn taunting a clearly inferior kombatant, the game also emerged on top of The NPD Group’s April 2011 sales report. And according to a tweet from Kombat creator Ed Boon, the game sold over 1,000,000 copies during the month. Flawless victory indeed.
April 19’s other big release, Portal 2, teleported its way to the top of the list with a strong #2 showing. Of course, it’s important to point out that a good portion of Portal 2’s sales were digital downloads through Steam, which isn’t counted by the NPD.
But the biggest surprise from last month’s top ten might be the absence of Sony’s SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs. The online shooter was also released on April 19th, one day before hackers took down the PSN. The service has yet to return and its offline status definitely contributed to SOCOM 4’s lackluster sales.
Hit the jump for the complete top ten of April’s bestselling games. (more…)
Pokemon Black/White dominate sales chart
The NPD Group has revealed the list of bestselling games for March and the latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Black/White, has caught the top of the chart.
Pokemon White Version came out on top with Pokemon Black Version just behind it in the number two slot. According to Nintendo, both games combined to sell nearly 2.5 million copies (over 1.3 million for White and another 1.1 million for Black).
New releases were well represented among last months bestsellers with Homefront (#3) and Dragon Age II (#4) both taking up residence in the top five. The bottom half of the top ten was also almost completely made up of new releases including Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (#6), Crysis 2 (#7), MLB 11: The Show (#9) and Fight Night Champion (#10).
Hit the jump for a complete look at the NPD Group’s top ten for March. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops, Crysis 2, Dragon Age II, Fight Night Champion, Homefront, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, MLB 11: The Show, NBA 2K11, NPD, Pokemon Black/White
Guitar Hero III tops biggest moneymakers list
Guitar Hero may be dead (for now at least), but the franchise has certainly left its mark on the gaming world. In a report released by The NPD Group yesterday, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was crowned the king of all video games… in terms of total sales dollars that is. The music game has brought $830.9 million into Activision’s coffers, no doubt thanks to the expensive guitar bundle you see above.
Activision can also lay claim to the number two game on the list, Call of Duty: Black Ops (even though gamers have bought more copies of CODBLOPS than any other game ever). All told, the publisher snapped up half of the spots in the top ten.
But when it comes to printing money, the only other name that comes to mind is Nintendo. The consolemaker has four games in the top ten: both versions of Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii. The only non-Activision/Nintendo title in the top ten was MTV Games’ Rock Band.
Interestingly, no game on the list was released before 2007, but CNBC pointed out that the list may not be entirely accurate as Super Mario Bros. 3 sold 18 million copies back in 1990 (before The NPD Group started tracking game sales). Originally retailing for $50, the game’s $900 million dollar tally would surpass every other game on the list.
Hit the jump for the full top ten. (more…)