December NPD: Nintendo ends 2009 on a high note

It's time to find out how the US games industry ended the last decade, and the answer is "Nintendo." Wait, that's not a proper answer -- or is it? Consumers continued The Big N's fortunes in December, even in spite of some disparagingcomments from third party partners. DS also sold remarkably well, and post-Thanksgiving sales of PS3 managed to surpass those of Xbox 360 by about 50,000 units.

Wii software flew off the shelves, proving that Wii games sell ... as long as they're published by Nintendo. Six of the top 10 titles for December were published by the company. New Super Mario Bros. Wii continues to dominate at retail with nearly three million copies sold in December alone. It's joined in the top three by Wii Fit Plus (2.14M) and Wii Sports Resort (1.79M). Not surprising, given the number of Nintendo consoles sold in the final weeks of the oughts.

-Wii: 3.81M

2.11M (+202%)
-DS: 3.31M

2.05M (+95%)
-PS3: 1.36M

650K (+92%)
-360: 1.31M

490K (+60%)
-PSP: 655K

361K (+123%)
-PS2: 333K

130K (+64%)

Check out the software sales chart after the break.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Wii - Nintendo - 2.82M

2. Wii Fit Plus - Wii - Nintendo - 2.41M

3. Wii Sports Resort - Wii - Nintendo - 1.79M

4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Xbox 360 - Activision - 1.63M
   

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - PS3 - Activision - 1.12M
   

6. Wii Play w/remote - Wii - Nintendo - 1.01M

7. Mario Kart w/ Wheel - Wii - Nintendo - 936.1K

8. Assassin's Creed II - Xbox 360 - Ubisoft - 783.1K

9. Left 4 Dead 2 - Xbox 360 - Valve - 728.5K
   

10. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - DS - Nintendo -656.7K