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January NPD: Mass Effect 2 debuts at #2, hardware is down

Christopher Grant
Updated ·2 min read

Sure, last month's NPD numbers post had all sorts of green arrows plastered all about its form -- this month, we knew things would go down. Little known fact: Christmas never occurs in January, and this year is no exception. Without Consumermas driving console adoption, numbers were down across the board; what's not so obvious is that numbers were also down year-over-year. That means that overall sales are down 13 percent since last January, way back in ought nine.

Nintendo's consoles lost the most in sales, with the Wii dropping a hefty 88 percent; however, that still wasn't enough to knock the white wonder from its top spot. The Xbox 360 and PS3 continue their back-and-forth battle, with the Xbox reclaiming its number three spot again, having just reclaimed it in November. A good reason for the Xbox's "victory": the not-available-on-PS3 Mass Effect 2, which pushed an impressive 572,000 units in the six short days following its January 26 release. That still wasn't enough to dethrone New Super Mario Bros. Wii, though, which moved 657,000 units with a full month of sales propelling it.

Beyond Mass Effect 2, the bottom of the software sales list is made up of similar newcomers: Army of Two: The 40th Day in 8th, Just Dance in 9th place, and Darksiders just making the cut. Really, universe? Just Dance made the top ten while the excellent MAG is nowhere to be found? Color us disappointed in all of you.

-Wii: 466K

3.34M (-86%)
-DS: 422K

2.89M (-85%)
-360: 333K

977K (-65%)
-PS3: 277K

1.08M (-74%)
-PSP: 100K

361K (-72%)
-PS2: 42K

291K (-86%)

Check out the software sales chart after the break.


  1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Wii - Nintendo - 656.7K

  2. Mass Effect 2 - Xbox 360 - Electronic Arts - 572.1K

  3. Wii Fit Plus - Wii - Nintendo - 555.7K

  4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Xbox 360 - Activision - 326.7K

  5. Mario Kart w/ Wheel - Wii - Nintendo - 310.9K

  6. Wii Sports Resort - Wii - Nintendo - 297.6K

  7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3 - Activision - 259K

  8. Army of Two: The 40th Day - Xbox 360 - Electronic Arts - 246.5K

  9. Just Dance - Wii - Ubisoft - 191.9K

  10. Darksiders - Xbox 360 - THQ - 171.2K