Softpedia >News >Games
Softpedia Homepage   

NPD Group: Xbox 360 and Darksiders II Lead August Charts

The overall value of the industry is 20 percent lower than last year

Sep 7, 2012 12:30 GMT  ·  By
August leader
   August leader

The NPD Group has released hardware and software charts for the month of August for the United States market and has revealed that, when compared to the same period in 2011, the overall value of sales has declined by 20 percent, a trend that has been apparent all through the year.

Overall, video game sales have reached 515.6 million dollars (408.1 million Euro) and the NPD Group estimates that if used game sales, digital sales and rentals are taken into account, then the total value goes up to 989 million dollars (782.7 million Euro).

Hardware was the biggest problem for the gaming industry, with an overall decline that reached 39 percent just as the Xbox 360 home console from Microsoft has once again taken the number one position, with sales of 193,000 units.

The Microsoft device now has 20 months on the number one position in the hardware chart.

The Nintendo 3DS handheld and the PlayStation 3 from Sony also saw increases over the same period of 2011.

Anita Frazier, who is an analyst watching the industry for the NPD Group, stated, “The current hardware systems are showing their age, so it goes without saying that it would be great to have new systems breathe life into traditional retail industry sales. I am anxious to learn more about the Wii U launch later this month. And with any luck we will hear news about other systems on the horizon.”

For the video game space sales dropped by just 11 percent.

The top ten of the video game chart includes:

1. Darksiders II - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC from THQ 2. New Super Mario Bros. 2 - 3DS from Nintendo 3. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance - 3DS from Square Enix 4. NCAA Football 13 - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 from Electronic Arts 5. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes – Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, DS, PlayStation 3, 3DS, PS Vita, PC from Warner Bros. 6. Sleeping Dogs - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC from Square Enix 7. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 from Activision 8. Batman: Arkham City - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC from Warner Bros. 9. Call of Duty: Black Ops - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, DS, Wii, PC - Activision 10. The Amazing Spider-Man - Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, 3DS, DS, Wii - Activision