Extra extra! Hot off the presses, we’ve got the NPDs for the month of March, namely the stats on the top ten best selling games of the month and what all the consoles sold in the US as well. Looking at the list, we realize that March was a crazy month for game releases; it arguably had more AAA titles than last November. Here are the top ten games of 3/10:
1. God of War III (PS3) - 1.10 million
2. Pokemon SoulSilver (DS) - 1.02 million
3. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) - 828,200
4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (360) - 825,500
5. Pokemon HeartGold (DS) - 761,200
6. Final Fantasy XIII (360) - 493,900
7. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - 457,400
8. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3) - 451,200
9. Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board (Wii) - 429,600
10. MLB 10: The Show (PS3) - 349,200
Most interesting was that this was a huge month for PS3, not only is the number one game GoWIII, but its version of Final Fantasy XIII outsold the 360 version by a wide margin of more than 300,000 copies, and MLB 10: The Show closed out the list for the PS-triple. Still, not to sound like the Pokemon fanboys we are, the combined sales of Pokemon SoulSilver and HeartGold (which are essentially the same game on the same system) pummeled GoWIII.
Above: Settle down Kratos, you’re still technically number one
But it wasn’t a bad month for 360, even with just two entries in the top ten, plus its version of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 outsold the PS3 version by a similar margin to what Final Fantasy did on PS3. Meanwhile, Nintendo dominated with only one new game (well sort ofnew for the Pokemon remakes), as NPD regulars New Super Mario Bros Wii and Wii Fit Plus just can’t stay off the list.
As for hardware sales, afterlast month’s surprise appearance by the 360 as best-selling home console, things are back to normal with the Wii rebounding strongly off last month. Also of note, PS3’s game sales dominance didn’t really equal console sales, as they retained their usual spot closely following the 360 sales. Here’s the brass tacks:
1. Nintendo DS - 700,800
2. Wii - 557,500
3. Xbox 360 - 338,400
4. PlayStation 3 - 313,900
5. PSP - 119,900
6. PlayStation 2 - 118,300
Also, big ups to the PSP, which barely outsold the PS2. Good going, that PSPgo must be a huge hit. That’s all till next month, kiddos.
Arp 15, 2010
