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November NPD sales figures show some unexpected results

by: Dan -
More On: Xbox 360 PLAYSTATION 3 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Nintendo Wii
With the holidays approaching and November being one of the biggest sales months of the year, it was expected that we would see some impressive sales figures for both games and hardware. NPD Group released their November 2009 sales analysis yesterday and it contained some interesting data. What was expected was that Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 would dominate software sales and it certainly did. With a combined 6 million plus in sales, it was by far and away the top seller. What was surprising was that the 360 version outsold the PS3 version 4.2m to 1.87m, for a greater than 2-1 ratio. Along with strong sales for Assassin’s Creed 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Dragon Age: Origins, the 360 had a very impressive sales month for software as did the Nintendo Wii.

Video Game Software Sales:

• Modern Warfare 2 (360) - 4.20M
• Modern Warfare 2 (PS3) - 1.87M
• New Super Mario Brothers (Wii) - 1.39M
• Assassin's Creed 2 (360) - 794.7K
• Left 4 Dead 2 (360) - 744.0K
• Wii Sports Resort (Wii) - 720.2K
• Wii Fit Plus (Wii) - 679.0K
• Assassin's Creed 2 (PS3) - 448.4K
• Dragon Age: Origins (360) - 362.1K
• Mario Kart w/Wheel (Wii) - 315.0K
 
The most surprising news was found in the hardware sales. Even with a price cut, aggressive marketing and recording their third highest sales month since launch, the PS3 was outsold (yes, outsold) by 100k+ units by the Xbox 360 (819.5k to 710.4.) That one took me by complete surprise when I looked at the numbers, and was totally unexpected. Take a look at the figures below and see how everything shook out during the biggest sales month of the season:

Video Game Hardware Sales:

• DS - 1.70M
• Wii - 1.26M
• 360 - 819.5K
• PS3 - 710.4K
• PSP - 293.9K
• PS2 - 203.1K

The PlayStation 3, it only does everything…except outsell the Xbox 360 in November