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March NPD: BioShock Infinite rises to the top, Tomb Raider in second
The sales-tracking data hounds at NPD have released their figures for March 2013, which collectively place hardware sales down, physical software sales slightly up, and BioShock Infinite at the top of the best-selling pile.The physical retail sales sector of the U.S. video game industry pulled in 10 percent less coin than it did during the same five-week period in 2012, amassing a total of $992.5 million between March 3 and April 6, 2013. Hardware sales took the biggest hit out of the three monitored retail sub-categories, bringing in a total of $221.6 million, a 32 percent year-over-year decrease. Microsoft's Xbox 360 claimed its 27th month as the best-selling console in America, selling 261,000 units, down 13.5 percent from last month.Meanwhile, overall physical software sales (console, portable and PC games) outperformed March 2012 by two percent: $602.4 million in 2013, as compared with last a total of $592.2 million in sales last March.BioShock Infinite took an immediate victory over the rest of the period's release calendar, with Tomb Raider and Gears of War: Judgment rounding out the podium lineup. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon placed sixth overall; we learned yesterday it has sold 415,000 units. Though that figure's retail-to-digital ratio remains undefined, the "vast majority" of sales took place at retail, according to Nintendo's Scott Moffit.As always, jump on through for the top 10 best-selling games of March, 2013.
Nintendo: 30% of Fire Emblem sales on eShop, Luigi does better at retail
Nintendo's executive vice president of sales and marketing, Scott Moffit, revealed during a Nintendo event in San Francisco that Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon has sold 415,000 copies in the US, while 3DS RPG Fire Emblem: Awakening has sold 240,000. This data will be reflected in tomorrow's NPD report.According to Moffit, "the vast majority" of Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon sales have come through retail. More than a third of Fire Emblem's sales (80,000) have been through the eShop, with over half of those individuals coming back to purchase a map pack. Moffitt says nine more map packs are planned for Fire Emblem: Awakening, with three of those nine due later this month.
Analyst: Gears of War: Judgment, God of War: Ascension weak in March
Analyst firm Cowen & Company estimates high-profile March launches God of War: Ascension and Gears of War: Judgment both sold far less than their predecessors. The firm projects (via GI.biz) that Ascension sold 360,000 in the US during March and Judgment moved 425,000, down from first-month sales of 1.1 million for God of War 3 and over three million in Gears of War 3's first week of availability.A much better March for Tomb Raider and BioShock Infinite is predicted. The Crystal Dynamics reboot has amassed 696,000 sales in the US over March, while the firm says BioShock Infinite is near 665,000 in just 10 days.Cowen & Company predicts NPD data for March will show a decline in software and hardware spend compared to last year, though the firm is hopeful the launches of StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and SimCity will help contribute to a substantial increase in PC game sales.
NPD: Digital game sales growing year-over-year 33 percent
Digital games and downloadable content sales are growing at a rate of 33 percent year over year in the US and Europe, according to data presented by NPD, iResearch and Digi-Capital analysts at GDC. The speakers at the digital games sales talk noted that sales in China are expected to grow over 10 percent every year for the next three years.According to GamesIndustry International, NPD analyst Liam Callahan told attendees that digital game content sales in 2012 reached $5.9 billion in the United States. Sales in the UK reached $1.7 billion, followed by Germany with $1.4 billion and France with $1 billion. Callahan also said that digital content composes 40 percent of the United States' total spend on games, an increase from 28 percent in 2010.NPD estimated that 48 percent ($7.1 billion) of the $14.8 billion spent on games in the US in 2012 came from purchases on brand new games at retail. The other 51 percent was from digital games and downloadable content ($2.22 billion), mobile game sales ($2.11 billion), used game sales ($1.59 billion), subscriptions ($1.05 billion), social network gaming ($544 million) and rentals ($198 million). The NPD also reported a drop in used game sales from 2011 by 17.1 percent.
Mac sales up as iMac supply improves
Mac sales were down for the holiday 2012 quarter due to supply constraints on the new iMac models, but NPD Group data is showing that sales are up 14 percent year over year for January and February. According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, that growth is due to improved availability of the all-in-one iMacs that began shipping in November 2012. Munster believes that total global Mac sales for the March quarter will be down 5 percent year over year, but provided some positive spin in saying that there's room for "some slight upside." Munster noted that iMac sales are less impacted by cannibalization by sales of iPads, so the "vast majority of the y/y unit decline in December was likely supply." Those supply issues were apparently caused by problems with a new screen lamination processed used in the ultra-thin late 2012 iMacs.
NPD: Dead Space 3 sold 605K in February
Dead Space 3's chart-topping debut in February amounts to 605,000 copies, the NPD told GameSpot, proving that February was a relatively slow month for video games in the US overall.Launch sales for the first Dead Space in the US came in at around 500,000. EA said Dead Space 2 approximately doubled that launch performance two years later – but regions were not specified for that, so it's hard to compare US performance.In any case, at 605K, that puts Dead Space 3 ahead of 1, and still part of a series of games that just don't seem to be massive hits at launch. A rumor from earlier this month, which EA denied, suggested that a proposed sequel was no longer in development.
Fire Emblem Awakening posts 180K first month sales, 63K downloads
Fire Emblem Awakening shifted 180,000 units across its debut month at North American retail, Nintendo of America tells us. In a statement sent to Joystiq, the company said the tactical 3DS RPG enjoyed best ever first month sales in the franchise's nearly 23-year history. No doubt that was helped by a strong eShop uptake of 63,000 units, which comes in at 35 percent of total sales.Considering the series' last entry, Shadow Dragon, sold just over 250,000 units in North America to date, Awakening's sales bump over here is impressive, much as we thought the game was in our review. We awarded Awakening four and a half stars, deeming it "the best soap opera since CBS canceled Guiding Light," which is certainly saying something.
February NPD: Dead Space 3 on top, Aliens: Colonial Marines in sixth
Dead Space 3 outsold Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 in February to snag the No. 1 spot, throwing the latter to No. 2, according to the NPD's US sales data. Following those, in descending order, are Crysis 3, NBA 2K13, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and the critically lambasted Aliens: Colonial Marines. Check out the full list at the very bottom of all these figures.Total physical video game sales in February, including software, hardware and accessories, totaled $810 million, down 25 percent from February 2012. The NPD estimates used games and rental sales hit $90 million, while digital transactions made $319 million, bringing total sales for the month to $1.2 billion.All consoles saw increased sales from January to February, with the Wii U up 40 percent and Vita up 30 percent. Xbox 360 sold 302,000 units in February and topped US hardware sales for the 26th month in a row, Microsoft made sure to point out.
Xbox 360 sold 281K units in January
At least 281,000 people became the brand new owners of an Xbox 360 during the month of January, Microsoft has announced. This feat, as we mentioned yesterday, marks January as the twenty-fifth consecutive month in which the 360 has been the best-selling console in the United States, as well as its eighteenth month as the best-selling piece of gaming hardware in general.When asked for comment, our Xbox sat there and whirled its disc drive at us, because it's an Xbox, and we don't know what we were expecting.
Report: Wii U slumps to January NA sales of 'well under' 100K
The Wii U reportedly crashed to January sales in North America of "well under" 100,000, marking a desperate drop for the recently launched console. Gamasutra, who spoke to someone with access to NPD data, estimates the figure is between 45,000 and 59,000 units. That's despite NPD including an extra week of sales in January for calculation purposes.As Gamasutra notes, if its estimate is accurate, the Wii U's January sales in North America were fewer than any month on record for the PS3 or Xbox 360. PS3 sales fell to 82K in both April and May 2007, but, after being launched in November 2006, its January 2007 performance saw it shift 244,000 units at twice the cost of the Wii U's cheapest bundle.In its recent financial report, Nintendo slashed projections for the Wii U, expecting the console to ship 4 million by the end of March instead of the initially estimated 5.5 million. Despite its flagging performance, Nintendo definitively ruled out the Wii U getting a price cut anytime soon.
January NPD: Black Ops 2 tops, DmC: Devil May Cry debuts in sixth place
Black Ops 2, Far Cry 3 and Just Dance 4 were January's best-selling games, according to NPD sales data, with Capcom's rebooted DmC: Devil May Cry sliding in at sixth place. As per usual, the full list of the month's top 10 best-selling games can be found after the break.During the five-week period running from December 30, 2012, through February 2, 2013, the combined might of the video game sales industry's physical retail channels earned a total of $834.7 million, a nine percent year-over-year increase as compared with January 2011's performance. This is the first time the industry has reported an annualized overall increase in sales in at least twelve months.2013's "January" is five weeks, as opposed to the traditional four, for calculation purposes. The NPD Group makes this adjustment once every six or seven years to combat data drift in its reporting, much in the same way our calendar system implements a Leap Day to correct for discrepancies between the number of days in the year, and the length of Earth's orbit.Therefore, January's year-over-year increase is actually the direct result of the extended recording period. If January's overall results are "corrected" for the additional time, the industry's physical retail performance is actually down by 13 percent, rather than up by nine. Regardless, hardware sales in general were responsible for $205 million of the period's total invoice, up four percent since last year without corrections and down 17 percent with.Once again, the Xbox 360 was the best-selling piece of overall hardware, as it has been for the last 18 months. January was also the console's twenty-fifth month as the leading console.Accessories sales saw the largest development in sales, increasing by 30 percent pre-corrections and four percent post – $256.6 million in January of this year versus $198.1 million last year. Meanwhile, Software sales saw the smallest pre-correction annualized jump with $373.1 million for the period, which is just one percent above the segment's earnings in 2011. After corrections, that difference drops to a 19 percent year-over-year loss.
Microsoft: Xbox 360 at 76M sold worldwide, Kinect at 24M
Microsoft has sent out a chest-thumping press release, boasting about new milestones for the Xbox 360, Kinect and Xbox Live. As of now, 76 million Xbox 360 consoles have been purchased worldwide, with a total of 24 million Kinects flailing their way into homes around the globe.The hardware numbers are bolstered by 46 million subscribers on Xbox Live. Microsoft says this new figure represents a 15 percent increase in year-over-year subscribers – both free memberships and premium Gold subscribers are accounted here.In a missive over on Microsoft's website, newly appointed President of Entertainment and Digital Media Nancy Tellem says the company is looking to launch 40 new custom Xbox interactive entertainment apps for 2013. It's quite a sign of the times if we're not counting games as "entertainment apps."
NPD: Apple tops Q4 US smartphone sales, Samsung a strong second place
Nothing super-shocking in this latest report from NPD -- not after seeing fairly similar numbers from Strategy Analytics not all that long ago, that is. According to the research group, Apple's leading the pack at 39-percent of US smartphone sales in the final quarter of last year -- that number's down from 41-percent this time last year. Bigger changes are afoot over at Samsung, however. The handset maker jumped from 21- to 30-percent from the same time last year, thanks in no small part to demand for the Galaxy S III. Go figure, NPD's top five list is dominated entirely by iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S iterations -- in fact, combined, the two manufacturers make up some 70-percent of sales. Motorola is in at a distant third, with seven-percent of sales, followed by HTC and LG, each at six-percent.
Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two life-to-date sales 529K in US
Disney's multiplatform Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two sold 529,000 units over November and December of 2012 in the United States, according to new data provided by the NPD group. Joystiq was also informed that sales of Epic Mickey 2, plus Nintendo 3DS title Disney Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion, across North America reached 695,000 units over the same period. An unconfirmed report previously pegged Epic Mickey 2's sales at 270,000 copies.Disney Epic Mickey developer Junction Point Studios was closed today, with the House of Mouse noting it was due to an ongoing effort to address fast-evolving gaming platforms and the marketplace.Junction Point was the last studio standing of Disney's previous attempt to break into the triple-A "core" market, with many studios lost along the way, including the critically acclaimed Pure and Split/Second developer Black Rock Studios. Disney has readjusted its sights and is now developing Disney Infinity.
Report: Epic Mickey 2 sold 270K copies in North America last year
Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two reportedly sold 270,000 copies in North America by the end of last year, around a million fewer than its Wii-only predecessor in roughly the same amount of time post-release. That's according to the LA Times, which reports it learned the figure from a person with access to recent NPD data.Epic Mickey, released in November 2010, reportedly sold 1.3 million copies by the close of that year. If accurate, Epic Mickey 2's sales represent a commercial plummet for the series, despite the sequel coming to PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii U last year in addition to the Wii, not to mention the 700 or so people who worked on the game.In a recent interview, Epic Mickey creator Warren Spector showed plenty of interest in continuing his series, saying "there are plenty of stories still to tell about Wasteland and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse." Going by these figures, Disney might not share his enthusiasm.Update: New information provided places Epic Mickey 2 sales at 529,000 copies in US since November 2012 launch.
NPD report finds Xbox 360 'dominated' 2012 console sales, 890,000 Wii Us sold in the US so far
It's a trend that's been clear for some time now, but NPD's year-end report out today has confirmed that the Xbox 360 is the clear winner in US console sales for 2012, with 1.4 million units sold in December alone keeping it in what's described as a "dominant" position. As for this year's big new console, the Wii U, the NPD Group reports that it's sold nearly 890,000 units in the US after its first 41 days on the market, with 460,000 sold in December (actually less than the 475,000 of the original Wii). Nintendo found a slightly different spin to put on that, though, noting that the Wii U has generated $30 million more than the original Wii at the same point in its lifecycle, which sold more units but also cost less. When it comes to Nintendo's other consoles, the 3DS was on top with sales of 1.25 million in December, while the standard DS moved 470,000 units. On the whole, however, 2012 saw a fairly significant decline in video game sales compared to the previous year, with overall hardware sales dropping 27 percent to an estimated $4.04 billion for the year. NPD didn't have specific sales figures for Sony, but an IDC report out yesterday found that the PlayStation 3 managed to pull ahead of the Xbox 360 on a worldwide basis in December, with a total of 77 million consoles shipped since its introduction compared to 76 million Xbox 360s.
December NPD: 2012 sales hit $13.26 billion, Black Ops 2 leads the pack
During a period that encompassed both post-Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping and the Christmas season (November 25 through December 29), the physical retail sector of the video games industry pulled in $3.2 billion, bringing the total dollar amount spent in 2012 up to $13.26 billion, which is just a little less than half of one Scrooge McDuck money vault. Both December and the year as a whole were down 22 percent from their respective 2011 counterparts, according to NPD data, with December 2011 earning $4.10 billion and all of 2011 pulling down a smooth $16.99 billion.Hardware sales specifically amount to 20 percent less in 2012 than in 2011, reporting $1.07 billion for the period and $4.04 billion for the year as a whole. Most of the decline this December, however, was seen in non-HD system sales, according to NPD analyst Liam Callahan. Hardware bundles that included software sold 37 percent more than they did last December, with sales of stand-alone hardware SKUs dropping 37 percent to balance the scales.The Xbox 360 once again held the top spot in overall hardware sales in December, with 1.4 million units sold according to Major Nelson. Meanwhile, the Wii U experienced its inaugural holiday shopping season this period. It sold fewer units that the original Wii did during its launch in December of 2006, but earned comparatively three percent more moolah than the Wii for the month. The Wii U's most expensive SKU costs $350, compared to the Wii's single $250 model.Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 topped off physical retail software sales in both December and 2012 as a whole, which totaled $1.54 billion for the month and $2.67 billion for the year, down 26 and 23 percent from 2011, respectively. Surprisingly, Far Cry 3 accomplished the second-most successful December launch NPD has recorded since it started monitoring sales in 1995, earning it the number six slot on the list of December's top 10 best-selling games. The list of 2012's 10 best-selling games can also be found after the break, in all of its "comprised entirely of sequels" glory.
NPD counts 39M game consoles in US homes going into 2013
The NPD's latest report says there are 400 million Internet-connected devices in American homes these days, 39 million of which are video game consoles.The majority of connected devices (about 184 million) are still plain ol' desktop and laptop computers, and smartphones are in second place with about 133 million devices. Video game consoles come in third, right above tablets (31.8 million) and connected HDTVs (16 million), which means there's a significant number of game-oriented devices out there plugged into the Internet.The NPD says it expects these devices to start connecting to each other more in 2013, with smartphones and tablets doing more sharing to larger television screens. Video game consoles serve plenty of functions outside of pure gaming already, including video streaming, networking, and Internet browsing. NPD's report says that if smartphones and tablets can provide those services in a combination that appeals to customers, those categories will continue to grow this year, possibly even leaving dedicated game consoles behind.
NPD: Black Ops 2 sold 7.5 million in US during November
Zooming in on yesterday's NPD data for November, it turns out Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 sold 7.5 million copies in the United States. The retail tracking service also told Gamespot that second-place entry Halo 4 sold 3.2 million units, while runner-up Assassin's Creed 3 moved 2.9 million copies.NPD's data tracked Black Ops 2 sales from launch on November 13 until November 24. The game would go on, according to Activision, to reach sales of $1 billion four days later.
Wii U sold 425K units in US after 7 days of availability
According to NPD data sent by Nintendo, the Wii U sold over 425,000 units in its debut month – or, at least, the seven days of it counted toward NPD's November sales period (the Nov. 18 launch through Nov. 24). Nintendo points out that the debut is almost as promising as the 475,000 units of the original Wii sold during its own first week.Nintendo provided sales numbers for only one Wii U game: New Super Mario Bros. U sold over 273,000 units in that period.
