14 DAY TRIAL // The NPD Group has published its sales tracking data for the month of August in the USA and the overall downward trend is being kept, with a 23 decline, while Deus Ex: Human Revolution managed to defeat its opposition despite being on sale for just five days during the tracking window.
August was another example of the traditional summer drought of games, as the downward trend of sales was continued, fact attributed by the NPD Group to the delay of Madden NFL, whose release was pushed from its mid-August slot to the end of the month, falling outside the tracking window of the NPD Group.
Still, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is the best selling game of the month, managing to defeat lackluster competition composed of older titles like NCAA Football 12 or Call of Duty: Black Ops, both managing to score the last two podium spots, largely because of their genre, like American football for NCAA, or the fresh downloadable content, like the Rezurrection DLC for Black Ops.
After these three titles, an array of casual games follow, including Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd, Cars 2, Just Dance Summer Party or Just Dance 2.
Two more serious titles follow in the eight and ninth spots, with Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game and Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, the latter seeing increased sales due to the price cut implemented on the Nintendo 3DS platform. Rounding up the top ten is the perennial Zumba Fitness: Join the Party.
Check out the full top ten of the best selling games of August 2011 in the USA below, courtesy of Gamasutra.
1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360, PS3, PC) 2. NCAA Football 12 (360, PS3) 3. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC) 4. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd (NDS, Wii, PS3) 5. Cars 2 (NDS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC) 6. Just Dance Summer Party (Wii) 7. Just Dance 2 (Wii) 8. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) 9. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) 10. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, 360, PS3) In terms of future expectations, NPD analyst Anita Frazier expects September to see increased sales, largely because of big releases like Madden NFL 12, Resistance 3 or Gears of War 3.
"Games fans have a huge variety to choose from in September, especially for fans of games in the sports genre. Those interested in more 'core' gaming experiences have both Resistance 3 and Gears of War 3, among others, to look forward to," said Frazier.