Crispy Gamer News

NPD sales data numbers for the month of Nov. 2008 are in, and to its competition’s chagrin, Nintendo continues to dominate the hardware sales chart. for the month of November, Nintendo managed to sell through 2.04 million units in North America, outpacing its own sales numbers from the same period a year ago (981K) by twofold. The Nintendo Ds also did pretty well during the month, moving 1.57 million units, up slightly from 1.53 million in Nov. 2007.

While Nintendo’s platforms continue to take the rest of the pack to the woodshed on a regular basis, there’s some good news for Microsoft and some even more bad news for Sony; the Xbox 360 sold 836K units in Nov., up slightly from 770K units a year ago beating out the PS3, PSP and PS2. The PS3 moved 378K units, but was down from 466K a year ago. The PSP moved 421K units, but was down from 567K in the same period a year ago, and the aging PS2 moved 206K units - down substantially from 496K units in Nov. 2007.  (more after the break)

(more…)

No matter what you think of Fable II (great game, crappy game, whatever), Lionhead’s lofty RPG is doing very well at retail. According to retail sales data from NPD for the month of Oct., Fable II moved a respectable 790, 000 units, beating out such heavy hitters as Fallout 3, and LittleBigPlanet.

Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360 moved 375, 000 units, while LittleBigPlanet managed to move a meager 215, 000. If you’re looking for the big winner based on platform, then this month goes to the Xbox 360, with Wii coming in second and PS3 coming in last. So sorry, Sony.  The full top ten list after the break with all the dirty little numbers you hunger for.

(more…)

September’s NPD retail sales numbers for the month of Sept. show that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was the most popular software title for the month, raking in a combined 1,158,000 units across three platforms (Xbox 360 – 610K, Wii – 223K and PS3 – 325K). Wii Fit came in at number 2 with sales of 518K, and Rock Band 2 came in third at 363K units. Full list after the jump.

(more…)

Nintendo reported a 31.5 percent gain in profits for the quarter on the continued success of the Wii. April to June operating profit at Nintendo climbed to 119.19 billion yen (or $1.10 billion), up from 90.63 billion yen year over year. Net profit was also on the rise, climbing 33.7 percent to 107.27 billion yen. Sales climbed 24.4 to 423.38 billion yen. Continued interest in the Wii and software titles like Mario Kart Wii and Wii Fit helped drive sales during the period, but the appeal of the DS seems to be on the decline.

Wii sales jumped 51 percent to 5.17 million units in the quarter, spanking the PS3 (1.56 million units) and Xbox 360 (1.3 million). Sales of the DS were flat, slightly below last year’s sales of 6.98 units at 6.94 million units. Despite that slight decline in DS unit sales, Nintendo kicked ass and took names at home and abroad, though my gut tells me that Sony’s PSP is starting to cut into DS sales in Japan.

Square Enix is probably delighted to hear that its latest Dragon Quest game debuted as the number of game in its first week at retail in Japan. The game managed to move an impressive 664,000 units in its first week, outpacing games like Gundam Battle Universe for PSP, Persona 4 for PS2, Wii fit and Mario Kart Wii. Its nearest competitor for the week, Gundam Battle Universe sold a paltry 138, 000 units. Here are the rest of the top ten best selling games in Japan for the week ending July 20, 2008:

1. Dragon Quest V - DS
2. Gundam Battle Universe - PSP
3. Persona 4 - PS2
4. Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi - PS3
5. Wii Fit - Wii
6. Mario Kart Wii - Wii
7. Daigasso! Band Brothers DX - DS
8. Derby Stallion DS - DS
9. Monster Hunter Portable 2 G - PSP
10. Densetsu no Stafi: Taiketsu! Dire Kaizokudan - DS

Source: GI.Biz

While Metal Gear Solid 4 was technically the best selling software title in June According to NPD Group, LEGO Indiana Jones had the most sales  (if you lump together all platforms), easily beating Konami’s PS3 exclusive. Metal Gear Solid 4 sold an impressive 774,600 units in North America during the month of June; and if you factor in the special MGS4 PS3 bundles that number swells to 1 million units.

But even if you factor in the bundles, Metal Gear Solid 4 couldn’t beat the popular LEGO Indiana Jones, which had combined sales (PS2, DS, Wii) of 1.1 million. Other notables for June included Guitar Hero On Tour (400,000 units) for DS, and the Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Gaiden II (372, 000 units). Top ten list below:

June Software Sales

1. Metal Gear Solid 4 (PlayStation 3, Konami) - 774,600 Units
2. Guitar Hero World Tour (Nintendo DS, Activision) - 422,300 Units
3. Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360, Tecmo/MGS) - 372.700 Units
4. Wii Fit w/balance board (Wii, Nintendo) - 372,700 Units
5. Wii Play w/remote (Wii, Nintendo) - 359, 100 Units
6. Battlefield: Bad Company (Xbox 360, EA) - 346,800 Units
7. Mario Kart (Wii, Nintendo) - 322,400 Units
8. Lego Indiana Jones (Wii, LucasArts) - 294,500 Units
9. Lego Indiana Jones (DS, LucasArts) - 267,800 Units
10. Lego Indiana Jones (PS2, LucasArts) - 260,300 Units

According to figures released by Japanese print publication Enterbrain, Nintendo’’s Wii home console outsold the PlayStation 3 in the region by more than three to one. Nintendo sold 774,123 Wiis in the five weeks to Dec. 30, while Sony sold 232,421 PS3 units. It had looked like the PS3 was set to continue to trounce the Wii, a trend that began in November (a milestone in the one-sided battle with Nintendo), but the Wii bounced back in Japan during December to Sony’’s dismay. One factor said to contribute to the comeback of the Wii was the Dec. 1 release of Wii Fit in Japan.

Like Track & Field for the NES, Wii Fit comes bundled with a motion-sensing mat about the size of a bathroom scale.