November NPD: big franchises, new consoles drive industry sales up 34% [update 1]

By Ludwig Kietzmann

The above headline shouldn't come as a great surprise to many gamers, what with November having been a deadly obstacle course of top-tier franchises and console debuts. Surviving the month with wallet unscathed was quite impossible, a fact clearly reflected in the NPD's sales data for the period which typically sees manufacturers clash in full force, guns blazing. Consumers caught in the cash crossfire spent an impressive $1.7 billion in total, with console, software and accessory sales all seeing notable increases. The NPD's Anita Frazier told GameDaily BIZ that she expects this to be a record-breaking year for the industry, with total sales expected to come in at $14 billion.

In the interest of having you maintain consciousness, we've put the most pertinent information into those convenient bullet-point things (it also ties in nicely with our earlier gun metaphor):

Console Sales (units)

  • DS: 918k
  • PS2: 664k
  • Game Boy Advance: 661k
  • Xbox 360: 511k
  • Wii: 476k
  • PSP: 412k
  • PS3: 197k

Software Sales (units and sales grossed)

  • Gears of War: 1 million — $61.5 million
  • Final Fantasy XII: 896k — $49 million
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: 412k — $20.2 million
  • Guitar Hero II: 356k — $20.2 million

Check out the full report for even more numbers and commentary — mind you don't go cross-eyed.

[Update 1: PSP information added.]

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