November 2011 NPD Results

November 2011 is but a memory, so let us take a look at the American sales of video game products for the month. This well-formatted information comes from NeoGAF.

NPD Coverage: October 30 - November 26 (4 weeks)

Overall:

Total retail sales: $3 billion (+0.4%)
Total non-PC retail sales: $2.93 billion (-0.5%)
Total software: $1.74 billion (+16%)
Non-PC hardware: $982.4 million (-9%)
Non-PC software: $1.67 billion (+15%)
Accessories: $273.8 million (-34%)
http://www.gamespot.com/news/modern-...es-npd-6347394


Software:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, WII, PC)** Activision Blizzard ~9 million
2. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)** Bethesda Softworks
3. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts
4. Assassin's Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC) Ubisoft
5. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360) Ubisoft
6. Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)** Electronic Arts
7. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (PS3)** Sony - 700k
8. Saints Row: The Third (360, PS3, PC)** THQ
9. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (WII) ** Nintendo
10. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)** Warner Bros. Interactive

xx. Super Mario 3D Land (3DS) Nintendo - 625k

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)
Physical retail copies only.


Hardware

360 - 1.7 Million (+24%)
PS3 - 900K (+70%)
WII - 860k (-32%)
3DS - 795k
NDS - 350k (-77%)

Call of Duty is one franchise that just won't deteriorate in sales for better or worse depending who you are. Skyrim may be a buggy mess, but that didn't stop gamers from embarking on a journey in the open world WRPG. Battlefield 3 continues to do well for EA as does the Assassins Creed series for Ubisoft. Uncharted 3 had a huge marketing campaign and a huge window to sell copies, releasing on the first of last month. It's a bit surprising it didn't sell better. Meanwhile, the newest Legend of Zelda is the fastest-selling title in the series's history even though it is the only game on the list that requires a peripheral. Something that disturbs me is the lack of Kinect software in the top ten. Sure, the hardware is selling extraordinarily well, but who is buying software for the darn thing? Apparently no one. Even the Wii at this stage in its life is still selling software, and that console is pretty much cruising towards oblivion.

The Xbox 360 resumes its dominant position in the industry with Kinect (unfortunately as Kinect is a letdown and hasn't reached its potential), the PlayStation 3 did well, too. The Wii is winding down as it should at this time in its life, but you can't help but wonder if Nintendo prematurely killed its momentum. The Nintendo 3DS outperformed the O.G. DS's first year of sales within nine months. Not bad for a system that started off horribly thanks to awful decisions by its creator. We'll see you back here in January for the December 2011 NPD Results.