Do videogames live in a parallel economic universe? They must, with the way sales are going according to the February 2009 NPD Group data. At least we can say they’re a stimulus to the economy. Overall, the videogame industry grew another notch to $1.47 billion total sales in February 2009 (10% over February 2008).
Nintendo has a solid hold on the industry, making an impressive showing with some games that were released well before February 2009. It just goes to show you the longevity of their games and the large Nintendo hardware base they have out there. Nintendo had 5 of the top 10 games on the February 2009 top seller list, with their most recent game on there being Wii Fit (released May 2008). Nintendo calls them “evergreen” games. Wii Play hit the 10 million unit sold mark since it’s launch in February 2007. Ironically, that makes Wii Play the top-selling software on all consoles and portable systems in the United States. We really know the Wii Remote pack-in is the driving force of the Wii Play game at $49.99. Wii Play itself is ranked #225 in the GameRankings.com Wii game list. Can Microsoft and Sony come up with a clever controller packed with game bundle?
Capcom is doing well with it’s Street Fighter IV games, which came out mid-February ’09. Activision is still hanging on with two of its popular franchise games, Call of Duty: World at War and Guitar Hero: World Tour. Sony’s Killzone 2 came in at just about the very last day in February, but still managed to take the #5 spot for the whole month.
Here’s the February 2009 videogame sales breakdown:
February 2009 hardware game sales (units):
Wii
– 753k
DS
– 588k
Xbox 360
– 391k
PLAYSTATION 3
- 276k
PSP
– 199k
PlayStation 2
- 131k
February 2009 software game sales (units):
1. Wii Fit (Wii) – Nintendo – 644k
2. Street Fighter IV
(Xbox 360) – Capcom – 446k
3. Street Fighter IV
(PS3) – Capcom – 403k
4. Wii Play with Wii Remote
(Wii) – Nintendo – 386k
5. Killzone 2
(PS3) – Sony – 323k
6. Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel
(Wii) – Nintendo – 263k
7. Call of Duty: World at War
(Xbox 360) – Activision – 193k
8. Mario Kart DS
(DS) – Nintendo – 145k
9. New Super Mario Bros.
(DS) – Nintendo – 144k
10. Guitar Hero World Tour
(Wii) – Activision – 136k
What are some of the games contending for top spots in March 2009 sales? Expect the usual Nintendo suspects, but many others should be worthy contenders. We know we’ll be seeing plenty of Resident Evil 5 reported in March 2009′s top list, if the reports from Capcom are foretelling. Halo Wars will also be there, as good sales have been reported by Microsoft. Will Killzone 2 be up there in a crowded March month? If there’s one Sony exclusive game that can, Killzone 2 would be it. March ’09 should be another healthy month for the DS, and for Rockstar Games, with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Pokémon Platinum games breaking in. Any others you think will make the March 2009 top 10 video game list?
NPD Group February 2009 sales numbers from GameDaily.
