NPD January 2011(With extras): The beginning of the end

Folks, before we get to the fractured NPD report, I must rant on something that caught my eye.

Recent analyst findings by investment bank Digi-Capital have found that, in the past two years, hardcore console game sale growth has become relatively stagnant when faced against the rising social/mobile gaming scene.

According to Digi-Capital's findings, the "historically strong" home console games market sector has been flat to down in recent years while the online, social and mobile games market have been growing progressively stronger each year with speculation that it will grow global revenue to a hefty $87 billion market.

Digi-Capital also notes that while social/mobile games are high growth, they are also "unconsolidated." Entry barriers into the market remain low with strong competition without any one dominance from "major competitors," as a result many independents share the same level ground as established competitors.

This is an insult to Hardcore gaming. How dare Social gaming take sales away from the real gaming. You can tell if the game is hardcore by the amount of man hours it will take to finish it and how much junk food you can stuff your face full of.

But the chart in the link in the Works Cited shows what is leaping over hardcore gaming. Consoles are being triumphed by Online, Mobile and PC "Social" gaming. But what triumphs them all, is In-Game Advertising.

Now onto the NPD itself. Or at least a fraction of it. As it turns out, the NPD only released the sales of the Console games itself. The Handheld part was left out(That and the PS2). So I will put up estimates from other sites. Now here's the deal. If it says NPD, I will put down (NPD). But if it comes from another source, I will put the source of it.

Hardware
X-Box 360:381,000(NPD)
Nintendo DS:373,000(VGChartz)
Nintendo Wii: 320,000(NPD)
Playstation 3:267,000(NPD)
PSP:80,000(VGChartz)
PS2:40,000(VGChartz)

Not only does the 360 outsell the Wii, but also the Nintendo DS as the Wii has taken a tumble this year. The PS3 is still behind, but not as bad as the Wii itself. The PSP on the other hand, really took a fall right behind the PS3.

That's the Hardware. But what about the software? Well for one, it ain't pretty

01. Call of Duty: Black Ops* (360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC) Activision Blizzard
02. Just Dance 2 (WII) Ubisoft
03. Dead Space 2* (360, PS3, PC) Electronic Arts - 452K
04. Little Big Planet 2* (PS3) Sony - 353K
05. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (WII, 360, PS3) Majesco
06. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC) Take 2 Interactive
07. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood* (360, PS3) Ubisoft
08. Dance Central (360) MTV Games
09. Michael Jackson The Experience* (WII, DS, PSP) Ubisoft
10. DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You* (PS3, PC) Sony - 195K

If you were thinking Little Big Planet was gonna dominate, you can think again. Call of Duty: Black Ops was once again the number one title with Just Dance 2 right behind em. Dead Space 2 inches its way behind them and Little Big Planet 2 is on its tail. Zumba Fitness hits number 5 with NBA 2K11 folling behind. Assassin's Creed is also on the charts and MTV's Dance Central is dancing right behind. Closing out the Top 10, DC Universe Online, outselling WoW: Cataclysm for that month.

What will next month bring us? Will Marvel vs Capcom 3 be the top game? Or will Call of Duty give the Super Hero Squad their just desserts? Stay tuned.

Works cited:

Gaming Union