December 2006 Video Games Sales Numbers

The NPD released the following game sales numbers:

HW Sales (month and LTD)
Nintendo DS 1.6 mm 9.2 mm
PS2 1.4 mm 37.1 mm
GBA 850.7 K 35.1 mm
Xbox 360 1.1 mm 4.5 mm
Wii 604.2 K 1.1 mm
PSP 953.2 K 6.7 mm
PS3 490.7 K 687.3 K

Top 10 Video Games
360 GEARS OF WAR - MICROSOFT 815.7 K
PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR - ACTIVISION 805.2 K
PS2 MADDEN NFL 07 - ELECTRONIC ARTS 737.1 K
GCN LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 532.9 K
WII LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 519.2 K
PS2 WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2007 - THQ 484.5 K
NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS - NINTENDO 427.5 K
360 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 410.8 K
NDS YOSHI'S ISLAND 2 - NINTENDO 407.2 K
PS2 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 365.3 K

So the XBOX 360 is dominating the next gen for the end of the year ... no big surprise, considering the Wii was unavailable for most of the month. The PS2 is still kicking butt though with its lower price point ... so all 12 of you that don't have one can get one for sure.

I am a little surprised at some of the software numbers.... not that Gears of War was #1, that is a no-brainer...but that Guitar Hero with the controller is number 2 ... that is a LOT of units for something with hardware, so good for them -- it's a great product, but that doesn't always translate into great sales.

I was also surprised to see there are over 6 million PSP's ... the media tends to kick the PSP a bit, compared with the DS (maybe because the DS is the underdog when it comes to power, the same with the Wii) but really, 6 million is respectable and they should be able to get some decent software sales out of it ....yet, there isn't a PSP on the list of best selling software. That is a bit worrisome and I think about myself -- I'm only buying PSP stuff when it's cheap but have no qualms about buying a 360, PS3 or Wii game for full price..... maybe if the PSP games weren't $50 or $60 new (in Canada anyways) that would be less of an issue.

The other big surprise I saw was that the Gamecube version of Zelda outsold the Wii one ... but that's probably only because of a lack of systems.

I've been taking a bit of a game break since finishing Twilight Princess but I should have some new reviews up here soon.