Alright, NPD numbers are in for December. Who’s ready to be surprised?
Turns out, there are very few surprises in the top ten game sales for the period of November 29, 2009 through January 2, 2010. Nintendo supplied the top three games on the list with New Super Mario Bros. Wii perched at the top after moving almost 3 million copies. Despite Wii Fit Plus’ $99 price tag, it only sold around 400,000 less than Mario to take the second place slot. Rounding out the top three was Wii Sports Resort with around 1.7 million copies sold. Nice month for Nintendo!
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 performed exceptionally well on both PS3 and 360. The 360 version moved about 500,000 units more than its PS3 counterpart, but both numbers clearly show a dedicated interest in the game on both consoles.
The Wii Remote pack-in, Wii Play just edged out Mario Kart Wii. The fact that both of these games are over two years old and STILL making an appearance in the top ten is certainly a testament to Nintendo’s ability to make games that go strong at retail for a very long time (or their business acumen to make a controller/game bundle one of the biggest selling SKUs ever).
Assassin’s Creed 2 (360) and Left 4 Dead 2 both turned out to be excellent sellers during this time. Positive review scores and word of mouth have turned these games into commercial juggernauts. I’m sure Valve is feeling good in light of all the flak they took earlier in the year for releasing L4D 2 so soon after the original. By the numbers, it doesn’t seem that consumers minded so much.
Rounding out the top ten is the only handheld title, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story for the DS, which will probably enjoy the slow burn that many of Nintendo’s titles continue to display at retail for a long time to come.
The top ten, with numbers:
1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) – 2,820,000
2. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) – 2,410,000
3. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) – 1,790,000
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360) – 1,630,000
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) – 1,120,000
6. Wii Play (Wii) – 1,010,000
7. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) – 936,100
8. Assassin’s Creed II (360) – 783,100
9. Left 4 Dead 2 (360) – 728,500
10. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (DS) – 656,700
