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Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare repeats as the best-selling game of December 2016
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare launched on November 4, and it easily took the crown as the best-selling game for the whole month. Today, The NPD Group revealed the best-selling games for December, and Infinite Warfare managed to repeat as the top title.
While Activision’s shooter series continued to be a favorite among gift givers at the end of the year, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XV had an almost equally impressive retail peformance.
“Although a Call of Duty has now topped the December sales chart for the ninth consecutive year, Final Fantasy XV was the best-selling game for the PS4 during the month,” NPD Analyst Sam Naji told GamesIndustry.biz. “Final Fantasy XV was the second best-selling title for December 2016… Final Fantasy XV experienced the best console launch month in the history of the franchise selling 19% more new physical units than Final Fantasy XIII in its launch month and 54% more in total dollar revenue including digital full game sales.”
The remainder of the top ten should look familiar as it contains several of 2016’s biggest games including Battlefield 1 (#3), Madden NFL 17 (#4), NBA 2K17 (#5), Watch Dogs 2 (#6), FIFA 17 (#8), and Pokemon Sun and Moon (#8 and #10, respectively). 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V also cracked the best-sellers list for December at #7.
You can find the complete top ten in list form after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, FIFA 17, Final Fantasy XV, Grand Theft Auto V, Madden NFL 17, NBA 2K17, NPD, Pokemon Sun/Moon, Watch Dogs 2
Warp Zoned’s 2016 Golden Pixel Awards: A Look Back at the Year in Video Games
In a very real way, the game industry wiped the slate clean in 2016.
After nearly a decade of development difficulties, Square Enix unleashed Final Fantasy XV on the world. Fumito Ueda and Sony Japan Studio overcame similar troubles to finally release The Last Guardian. Id Software shook off the past and was reborn after the launch of the fourth game in the Doom franchise. Blizzard closed the book on their failed “Titan Project” with the release of Overwatch. Naughty Dog said goodbye to Nathan Drake, but gamers said hello to altered realities that were both “augmented” and “virtual.” Nintendo found new kingdoms to conquer with Super Mario Run. And the launch of No Man’s Sky taught us that while the hype machine sometimes fails to deliver, the chance for a brighter tomorrow is always there.
But before we venture off into that great unknown, let’s look back at some of gaming’s highlights from 2016. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, Features, Mobile, PC, PS4, Top Story, Xbox One
Tagged Dangerous Golf, Dark Souls III, Doom (2016), Dragon Quest Builders, Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, Final Fantasy XV, Hyper Light Drifter, No Man's Sky, Overwatch, Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, Pokemon Go, Pokemon Sun/Moon, Superhot, The Last Guardian, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Pokemon Sun/Moon were the best-selling games on Amazon in 2016
Earlier this week, Steam provided a quick glimpse at the best-selling games available through the storefront in 2016. Besides The NPD Group’s monthly reports on gaming’s retail sector, it might be the best window into what sells and what doesn’t that we have.
However, Amazon also published a list of best-selling games from 2016 earlier this week, and naturally, it features a considerably more console-centric bent. Nintendo’s Pokemon Sun and Moon reigned supreme, taking the #1 and #2 spots. Final Fantasy XV was the best-selling PS4 game (#3 overall), while Madden NFL 17 claimed the Xbox One’s highest ranking (#5).
You’ve got to go all the way down to #18 to find the best-selling Wii U game (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD), and the only PC game on the list is Overwatch (#46). No Vita games managed to crack Amazon’s Top 100 (which also included console bundles and accessories), but the Wii version of Just Dance 2017 checked in at #21.
The complete list of Amazon’s best-selling games from 2016 can be found after the break. (more…)
CoD: Infinite Warfare was the best-selling game of November 2016, but it sold less than Black Ops III
Ever since it was first announced, the public reaction to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare has been less than kind. Fans furiously downvoted the debut trailer, while others pledged not to purchase something that strayed so far from the franchise’s roots. But it looks like not everyone felt that way.
According to the NPD Group’s latest report (via GamesIndustry.biz), Infinite Warfare was the best-selling game of November 2016. However, it performed much worse for retailers than the first-month sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops III last year.
Total game sales were down roughly 19% versus November 2015, but a few new releases put up big numbers including Pokemon Sun (#3), Pokemon Moon (#4), and Watch Dogs 2 (#8). And in hardware news, it was reported that Nintendo sold 196,000 NES Classic Edition consoles during its first month on sale.
The full Top 10 from November 2016 can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, FIFA 17, Madden NFL 17, NBA 2K17, NPD, Pokemon Sun/Moon, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, TitanFall 2, Watch Dogs 2
Pokemon Sun and Moon sells 3.7 million copies in North America since November 18
The Pokemon franchise is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and it seems to be more popular than ever. Want more proof? Pokemon Sun and Moon just became the fastest-selling games that Nintendo has ever launched in North America. Since launching for the 3DS on November, Nintendo has sold 3.7 million copies of Pokemon Sun and Moon.
That’s nearly twice what Pokemon X and Y, Nintendo’s previous fastest-selling games ever, sold in the two weeks after their release in 2013.
“With these huge sales figures, Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon have proved themselves as two of the hottest video games to buy this holiday season,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “With great reviews and outstanding fan response, these next iterations in the Pokemon series are sure to please any player in the family.”
Pokemon Sun and Moon will likely continue to set sales records through the holiday season… Nintendo previously announced that more than 10 million copies of the game were shipped to stores throughout the world.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Pokemon Sun/Moon
Rumor: Pokemon Sun/Moon might be released for the Nintendo Switch as Pokemon Stars
Back when it was officially known as the NX, Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara confirmed that at least one Pokemon game was in the works for Nintendo’s next console. A few weeks later, Nintendo pulled the curtain back on the Switch, a console/handheld hybrid that seems like the perfect device to deliver the on-the-go trading and battling the Pokemon franchise is known for.
Hold that thought, as a new rumor report on Eurogamer might possibly be pointing to a re-release of Pokemon Sun and Moon on the Switch.
The Pokemon Company routinely creates a third companion game to go with each pair of Pokemon games in the main series. Red and Blue lead to Yellow, Gold and Silver were joined by Crystal, Diamond and Pearl were enhanced with Platinum… you get the idea. But none of those games managed to jump platforms. If Eurogamer’s sources are correct, fans will be able to explore an enhanced version of Pokemon Sun and Moon, currently codenamed Pokemon Stars, on the Nintendo Switch sometime in 2017.
Said to be in development at Game Freak, Pokemon Stars will include a redone visual presentation and so much more:
Pokemon Stars’ development shouldn’t be seen as taking anything away from Sun and Moon’s launch – this is how all third entries in the Pokemon franchise are developed.
And there will be reason to play both: Pokemon will be tradable between Sun/Moon and Stars via the Pokemon Bank app. We’ve also heard suggestion there will be more creatures to collect in the Switch version, although not all of our sources could confirm this.
Expect the Switch version of Sun and Moon to feature the same map – the same routes and cities – and the same art style, although be built using separate, higher-resolution assets.
Nintendo will let us in on all their Switch secrets on January 12 during a special “Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017” livestream. If Pokemon Stars is in the works, and it is on track for a 2017 release, we’ll probably learn more about it then.
In the meantime, Pokemon Sun and Moon can be found on store shelves for the 3DS as of today.
Posted in 3DS, News, Switch
Tagged Pokemon Sun/Moon, Pokemon Switch
Nintendo Download: Pokemon Sun/Moon, Excitebike 64, Wario Land Shake It, more
It’s time to catch ’em all once again… and that’s because Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon will be available to download through the 3DS eShop beginning tomorrow. The latest pair of games in the long-running series will let players travel to the never-before-seen Alola Region. There, they’ll discover new Pokemon and unleash intense Z-Moves in battle.
Over on the Wii U eShop, two new Virtual Console titles have made Nintendo’s home console a bit more retro-tastic today. First up is Excitebike 64, which was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. The well-received motocross racer brought the franchise back from a lengthy pit stop, and Nintendo even managed to resurrect the famed Track Editor.
Also available to download for the Wii U today is Wario Land: Shake It, which first launched for the Wii in 2008. Wario’s last side-scroller platformer used hand-drawn artwork to tell its story, but players were still encouraged to be as bad as they could be by shaking to Wii Remote to “shake down your enemies, free coins from treasure bags, and even cause in-game earthquakes.”
More information on all of these games (and a few other new releases) can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged Pokemon Sun/Moon
New Pokemon Sun/Moon trailer introduces fans to more new Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, Z-Moves
You’ll be able to catch Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon at your local game retailer this Friday, but in the meantime, The Pokemon Company has released one last trailer to showcase some of the game’s new features.
First up is a pair of new Pokemon, Ground–Steel types known as Alolan Diglett and Alolan Dugtrio. The trailer also gives us a look at two of the game’s Ultra Beasts (UB-05 Glutton and UB-03 Lighting). Finally, the powerful Z-Moves from the game’s three Starter Pokemon (Decidueye’s Sinister Arrow Raid, Incineroar’s Malicious Moonsault, and Primarina’s Oceanic Operetta) are also on display in the trailer.
The last trailer for Pokemon Sun and Moon has been embedded above, and more information on the new Pokemon, Ultra Beasts, and Z-Moves can be found after the break. Both games will be available to purchase, exclusively for the 3DS, beginning this Friday, November 18. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Pokemon Sun/Moon