It is no secret that the global economic recession has hurt the gaming industry in 2009. Just about every month this year has yielded lower software and hardware sales than the same month in 2008. Research firm NPD Group has published its software and hardware sales figures for November, and thanks to huge sales from the likes of Modern Warfare 2 and New Super Mario Bros, it has be recorded as the second biggest November ever.
November Software Sales
1. Modern Warfare 2 (360) — 4.20M
2. Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) — 1.87M
3. New Super Mario Brothers (Wii) — 1.39M
4. Assassin’s Creed 2 (360) — 794.7K
5. Left 4 Dead 2 (360) — 744.0K
6. Wii Sports Resort (Wii) — 720.2K
7. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) — 679.0K
8. Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3) — 448.4K
9. Dragon Age: Origins (360) — 362.1K
10. Mario Kart w/Wheel (Wii) — 315.0K
Interestingly Modern Warfare 2 for Xbox 360 outsold its PS3 counterpart by a ratio of more than 2:1. This has been largely put down to the console’s higher install base as well as the game’s marketing campaign which focused on Microsoft’s console. Assassin’s Creed 2 also sold significantly better on Xbox 360 than PS3, although the ratio is less than 2:1.
November Hardware Sales
1. Nintendo DS — 1.70M
2. Nintendo Wii — 1.26M
3. Microsoft Xbox 360 — 819.5K
4. Sony PS3 — 710.4K
5. Sony PSP — 293.9K
6. Sony PS2 — 203.1K
Despite its recent price cut and analysts’ predictions that the PS3 would dominate over the festive season, the Xbox 360 managed to outsell it. This has come as a surprise to many, as at its new price point that PS3 is generally considered to offer a greater value proposition.
