Mortal Kombat Reigns Supreme In April 2011 NPD

npd-logoAccording to the NPD and Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat ruled the sales charts with over 1 million copies sold.

Congratulations to Netherrealm Studios! Well deserved.

I haven’t written my impressions of it yet, but here’s the takeaway: It’s the most complete fighting game released this generation. It may not be the deepest fighting game out there, but it’s certainly the most fun and that’s what’s most important.

Even non-fighting game fans can get into this and find enjoyment in the single player.

For the other results including hardware numbers, check out this NeoGAF post.

August 2010 NPD Results Are In

npd-logoHardware

  1. Xbox 360 – 356,700
  2. DS – 342,700
  3. Wii – 244,300
  4. PlayStation 3 – 226,000
  5. PlayStation Portable – 79,400

Software

  1. 360 – Madden NFL 11 - 920,800
  2. PS3 – Madden NFL 11 - 893,600
  3. Wii – Super Mario Galaxy 2 - 124,600
  4. 360 – Mafia II - 121,600
  5. DS – New Super Mario Bros. - 110,400
  6. Wii – New Super Mario Bros. Wii
  7. PS3 – Mafia II
  8. 360 – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  9. 360 – NCAA Football 11
  10. Wii Fit Plus

Reigning once again — for the second month in a row — on the top spot is the Xbox 360 S. Everyone else did well enough except for the PSP. That poor PSP continues to sell abysmal numbers.

Madden NFL 11 grabbed the top two slots in the software listings with a combine 1.8 million units during its first month. Unfortunately, the other new game, Mafia II, did not fare so well with only 121, 600 units. Not surprising when you consider how terrible the game runs on the consoles. And once again, Modern Warfare 2 for Xbox 360 makes it back in the top 10 for software. In fact, it climbed two spots to #8.

P.S – It looks like we’ll be getting NPD numbers on a quarterly basis from now on.

July 2010 NPD – Blast From the Past

npd-logoHardware

  1. Xbox 360 – 443, 500
  2. Nintendo DS – 398, 400
  3. Wii – 253, 900
  4. PlayStation 3 – 214, 500
  5. PlayStation Portable – 84, 000

Software

  1. 360 – NCAA FOOTBALL 11 – 368, 000
  2. PS3 – NCAA FOOTBALL 11 – 298, 800
  3. 360 – CRACKDOWN 2 – 208, 800
  4. Wii – SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 -193, 000
  5. NDS – LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 1-4 -141, 700
  6. 360 – RED DEAD REDEMPTION
  7. Wii – LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 1-4
  8. NDS – DRAGON QUEST IX: SENTINELS OF THE STARRY SKIES
  9. Wii – NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII
  10. 360 – CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2

The new Xbox 360 S continued to reinvigorate the platform for Microsoft while beating the Nintendo DS and everyone else while doing so. The PlayStation Portable slid below 100, 000 units once again. Poor Sony.

You know it’s a slow month for software when Modern Warfare 2 makes a reappearance in the top 10. Dragon Quest IX made it into the top 10, but with less than 141, 700 units sold. A damn shame since it’s quite the entertaining RPG.

June 2010 NPD Numbers Are Somewhat Calm

npd-logoHardware:

  1. DS – 510, 700
  2. Xbox 360 – 451, 700
  3. Wii – 422, 500
  4. PlayStation 3 304, 800
  5. PSP – 121, 000

Software:

  1. 360 – RED DEAD REDEMPTION – 582, 900
  2. Wii - SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 – 548, 400
  3. PS3 – RED DEAD REDEMPTION – 380, 300
  4. Wii – NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII – 200, 900
  5. Wii – JUST DANCE – 174,800
  6. WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD
  7. DS – TOY STORY 3
  8. 360 – UFC 2010: UNDISPUTED
  9. Wii – LEGO HARRY POTTER: YEARS 1-4
  10. PS3 – UFC 2010: UNDISPUTED

The Xbox 360 lead the home console pack for this month thanks to that new slim model. And that’s the only piece of hardware that jumps at me. The PSP jump in sales could be attributed to the summer vacationing crowd because it certainly wasn’t because of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

That’s one of the most notable absences in the top 10 software.

Red Dead Redemption continues to taunt me with its big sales and serve as a reminder that I need to pick that game up still. Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues its strong month-to-month sales with nearly 550, 000 additional units. That’s over 1 million in the U.S alone! Well deserved.

May 2010 NPD Numbers Are Finally Here

npd-logoHardware

  1. DS – 383, 700
  2. Wii – 334, 800
  3. Xbox 360 – 194, 600
  4. PlayStation 3 – 154, 500
  5. PSP – 59,400

Software

  1. 360 – RED DEAD REDEMPTION – 945, 900
  2. PS3 – RED DEAD REDEMPTION – 567, 100
  3. Wii – SUPER MARIO GALAXY 2 – 563, 900
  4. 360 – UFC 2010: UNDISPUTED – 221, 100
  5. PS3 – UFC 2010: UNDISPUTED – 192, 300
  6. WII FIT PLUS W/BALANCE BOARD
  7. Wii – NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII
  8. 360 – ALAN WAKE
  9. DS – POKEMON SOULSILVER VERSION
  10. 360 – SKATE 3

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April 2010 NPD Numbers: It Was a Slow Month

npd-logoHardware
  1. Nintendo DS – 440, 800
  2. Wii – 277, 200
  3. Xbox 360 – 185, 400
  4. PlayStation 3 – 180, 800
  5. PSP – 65, 500

Software

  1. 360 – TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL: CONVICTION – 486, 100
  2. DS - POKEMON SOULSILVER VERSION – 242, 900
  3. Wii - NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII – 200, 300
  4. DS – POKEMON HEARTGOLD VERSION – 192, 600
  5. PS3 - GOD OF WAR III – 180, 300
  6. WII SPORTS RESORT W/ WII MOTION PLUS
  7. 360 – BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 – 166, 000
  8. WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD
  9. Wii – JUST DANCE
  10. SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV – 143, 000

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March 2010 NPD Numbers: Kratos Wins!

npd-logoHardware:

  1. DS – 700, 800
  2. Wii – 557, 500
  3. Xbox 360 – 338, 400
  4. PlayStation 3 – 313, 900
  5. PSP – 119, 900
  6. PlayStation 2 – 118, 300

Software:

  1. PS3 – GOD OF WAR III – 1, 100, 000
  2. NDS – POKEMON SOULSILVER VERSION – 1, 020, 000
  3. PS3 - FINAL FANTASY XIII – 828, 200
  4. 360 - BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 – 825, 500
  5. NDS -POKEMON HEARTGOLD VERSION – 761, 200
  6. 360 - FINAL FANTASY XIII – 493, 900
  7. Wii - NEW SUPER MARIO BROS. WII – 457, 400
  8. PS3 - BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2 – 451, 200
  9. WII FIT PLUS W/ BALANCE BOARD – 429, 600
  10. PS3 - MLB 10: THE SHOW – 349, 200

PS3 software made a killing this month with God of War III leading the way. Needless to say, but it’s much deserved.

The most interesting story with these numbers are the multiplatform title splits. Final Fantasy XIII was approximately a 63/37 split in favor of the PlayStation 3 while Battlefield: Bad Company 2 was a 65/35 split in favor of the Xbox 360. A tale of audience tastes? Or perhaps news of the slightly superior PS3 version of FFXIII influenced it? I do wonder.

The new Pokemon Gold/Silver remake came in strong as expected and so were the reappearances of WiiFit and Super Mario Bros. Wii.

I guess kudos should be awarded to MLB 10: The Show for being the only baseball game to make it into the top 10 as well.