US March game sales surge, Pokemon victorious - NPD
By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
Posted Apr 15, 2010 3:46 pm PT
BREAKING NEWS: Domestic industry bounces back by 6 percent; DS, Wii win hardware race; HeartGold/Soulsilver sell 1.78 million; God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 all sell over 1 million.
After a dreary year that saw just one monthly increase in domestic game sales, March came in like a lion…and left like a lion. Thanks to a slew of blockbuster releases, combined sales of non-PC game hardware, software, and accessories for the month increased 6 percent to $1.44 billion, according to the NPD Group.
"In terms of total revenue, March 2010 is the third best non-holiday month on record behind March 2008 and June 2008," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a statement.
Hardware sales were the sole dark spot, falling 4 percent to $440.5 million. In the console race, the DS was the top finisher with 770,800 units. In unsurprising second was the Wii with 557,500 units, followed closely by last month's top console, the Xbox 360, with 338,400 units. Not far behind was the PlayStation 3 had to made do with fourth place and 313,900 units, followed by the PSP with 119,900 units, barely ahead of the nearly 10-year-old PlayStation 2's 118,300 units.
"Wii experienced its best non-holiday sales month (hardware) since March 2009," said Frazier, who also called out the PS3. "Sony's PS3 hardware posted its eighth consecutive month of year-over-year increases. For the first time since its launch in the U.S., the PS3 has four titles in the Top 10, and was also the leader in console software sales. "
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MARCH 2010 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Games: $1.52 billion (+6%)
Hardware: $440.5 million (-4%)
Software: $875.3 million (+10%)
Accessories: $206.8 million (+11%)
HARDWARE SALES
DS: 700,800
Wii: 557,500
Xbox 360: 338,400
PlayStation 3: 313,900
PSP: 119,900
PlayStation 2: 118,300
TOP 10 GAMES (by SKU)
Title / Platform / Publisher / Release Date / Units sold
1) God of War III / PS3 / SCEA / Mar-10 / 1.1 million
2) Pokemon SoulSilver / DS / Nintendo / Mar-10 / 1.02 million
3) Final Fantasy XIII / PS3 / Square Enix / Mar-10 / 828,200
4) Battlefield: Bad Company 2 / X360 / Electronic Arts / Mar-10 / 825,500
5) Pokemon HeartGold / DS / Nintendo / Mar-10 / 761,200
6) Final Fantasy XIII / X360 / Square Enix / Mar-10 / 493,900
7) New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Nintendo / Nov-09 / 457,400
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 / PS3 / Electronic Arts / Mar-10 / 451,200
9) Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board / Wii / Nintendo / Oct-09 / 429,600
10) MLB 10: The Show / PS3 / SCEA / Mar-10 / 349,200