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NPD sales figures, Xbox 360 dominates

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It’s that time of month again when the official sales tracking company in the US releases it’s figures and the games companies try spin them to make themselves sound fantastic.

This month we have 1 company gloating, another pointing at peripheral sales and the last talking about it’s great software library…

So when we talk about which console has the best games which one jumps to mind? I’m betting you didn’t guess the Nintendo Wii which has consistently been treated like a second class console and yet has always had some of the top selling software titles in this generation.

Last month was no exception with 6 of the top 10 titles being available on the Nintendo Wii and 15 of the top 25 titles being available on the Nintendo platform, here’s the official spin from Nintendo

Just Dance 2 Becomes Eighth Wii Title to Sell More Than 5 Million Units
Just Dance® 2 from Ubisoft®, which plays exclusively on Nintendo’s Wiiâ„¢ console, has sold more than 5 million units, according to the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. With this milestone, the Wii system now has eight 5-million sellers* in the U.S., twice as many as competing current-generation consoles combined.

In the month of July, seven of the top 10 and 15 of the top 25 best-selling software SKUs play on Nintendo platforms. Just Dance 2 sold more than 120,000 units to finish No. 3 for the month.

“By crossing the 5 million sales mark, Just Dance 2 joins one of the most exclusive clubs in the world of video games,” said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Nintendo systems have games for every type of player. We’re poised for a great holiday season, thanks to tremendous value across all our platforms and fan-favorite franchises delivering fun new surprises.”

During the next few months, Nintendo will release a huge selection of fan-favorite titles. This includes Star Fox 64â„¢ 3D, Super Marioâ„¢ 3D Land and Mario Kartâ„¢7 for the Nintendo 3DSâ„¢ portable entertainment system, The Legend of Zeldaâ„¢: Skyward Sword for Wii and Kirbyâ„¢ Mass Attack for the Nintendo DSâ„¢ family of systems, which was the best-selling platform in July.

* The Wii titles to surpass 5 million units sold in the U.S. include: Wii Playâ„¢ (13.04 million), Mario Kartâ„¢Wii (10.64 million), New Super Mario Bros.â„¢ Wii (8.36 million), Wii Fitâ„¢ (8.17 million), Wii Fitâ„¢Plus (7.06 million), Wii Sports Resortâ„¢ (6.45 million), Super Smash Bros.â„¢Brawl (5.28 million) and Just Dance 2 (5.09 million).

What that doesn’t tell you is that only 1 title in the top 10 is a Wii exclusive and that’s Just Dance 2, the rest are cross platform ports.

Next up we have Sony boasting about their peripheral sales stating that they have increased by 18% year on year. Unfortunately that’s simply down to the Move being released and an 18% increase from 0 (for the Move) isn’t mind blowing.

According to the July NPD, PlayStation peripheral sales increased by 18% year-over-year demonstrating a strong consumer interest in PlayStation Move and the Sharp Shooter. PlayStation will continue this momentum in the fall with the release of Resistance3, the groundbreaking shooter that combines 3D with Move and the Sharp Shooter. Our unmatched line-up of first-party software continues to deliver a gaming experience that can only be found on the PS3.

And lastly we have Microsoft who’s sales have dropped the most (-37.5%) and yet who are also able to make it sound like a good thing

Xbox 360 continues to lead the U.S. console market for the fifth straight month, selling more units in the U.S. than any other console for 13 of the past 14 months.

Despite a slowing of console and software sales across the industry, Xbox 360 remains on track to have the biggest year in Xbox history – an unprecedented feat in the sixth year of its lifecycle.
July 2011 NPD highlights include:

· Holding 45% share of the overall current-generation console market, Xbox 360 sold 277,000 units in July, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. for 2011. This marks the fifth month Xbox 360 has held more than 40% of the current-generation console market share. (Source: NPD Group, July 2011)

· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in July (hardware, software and accessories) reached $250 million, the most for any console in the U.S. (Source: NPD Group, July 2011)

Beyond NPD momentum, Kinect continues to inspire consumers in new ways.Kinect Fun Labs has garnered more than 1 million downloads in only two months. The worldwide gaming phenomenon “Fruit Ninja” came to Kinect for Xbox 360 yesterday as “Fruit Ninja Kinect” created by Halfbrick and Microsoft Studios. By the end of the year, the size of the Kinect games portfolio will triple and Xbox will bring new partnerships like UFC and Disney to the platform.

With “Gears of War 3” launching next month and more major launches to follow during the holiday, we expect Xbox 360 to maintain its lead throughout the year, ending 2011 as the number one console worldwide.

Here are the figures that the guys at Neogaf have been able to calculate

Hardware

  1. Xbox 360 – 277 000
  2. Wii – 190 000
  3. PS3 – 148 000

Software

  1. NCAA Football 12 (796k)
  2. Cars 2
  3. Call of Duty: Black Ops
  4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
  5. Just Dance 2
  6. Major League Baseball 2K11
  7. Zumba Fitness: Join The Party
  8. Fallout: New Vegas
  9. New Super Mario Bros DS
  10. Mortal Kombat 2011 (85k)

Catherine is further down the charts with 78k sold and Shadows of the Damned may be damned with a mere 14k sold.

Source: Neogaf

Last Updated: August 12, 2011

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