NPD March 2012: A Mass Effect on the industry

You know what time it is, right? That's right, it's time for the NPD Report. And it seems despite controversy over its ending, Mass Effect 3 has become a dominating factor in the industry. But what about the rest of em?

01. Mass Effect 3 (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts - 1.3 Million total, 4:1 Xbox:PS3, over double ME2's opening
02. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (360, PS3)** Capcom USA - 582K
03. MLB 12: The Show (PS3, PSV) Sony (Corp)
04. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PC, PS2) Take 2 Interactive
05. SSX 2012 (360, PS3) Electronic Arts
06. Street Fighter X Tekken (PS3, 360)** Capcom USA
07. Mario Party 9 (Wii) Nintendo - 230K
08. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)** Activision Blizzard
09. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja (360, PS3) Namco Bandai Games
10. Major League Baseball 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PSP, PC, PS2) Take 2 Interactive

Let's just say this month belongs to Electronic Arts, regardless of how evil it is compared to Activision Blizzard

Starting at number 10 is Take 2's Major League Baseball 2K12, proving that baseball season is in season. Anime fans can't get enough of Naruto Shippuden at number 9. At number 8, The Call of Duty continues, but has started to decline. Mario throws a 9th party with Mario Party 9 at number 7. At number 6 is Street Fighter X Tekken. SSX 2012 from EA Sports. Meanwhile, Take 2's NBA 2K12 is at number 4 while MLB 12: The Show from Sony is at number 3. Despite harsh criticism, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City debuts at number 2. And at number 1 is Mass Effect 3, proving how many suc....I mean loyal consumers there are.

But what about Hardware? Well it's not looking good as hardware as all the systems saw a decline.

Xbox 360 - 371K (-14.3%)
PlayStation 3 - 337K (-7.7%) [PR Math]
Nintendo 3DS - 225K (-43.8%)
Nintendo Wii - 175K (-39.7%)

As for the Vita, it is around 200K.

So why the doom and gloom? Well...

NPD has revealed its March US retail sales data, and as several analysts predicted, despite BioWare's Mass Effect 3 topping the charts, overall it's not pretty. Total game industry sales dropped 25 percent to $1.1 billion, as total software across consoles, portable and PC fell 26 percent to $585.1 million, while hardware sales plunged 35 percent to $323.5 million.

"While it was a disappointing month, and first quarter, for new physical retail sales of video games hardware, software and accessories, it wasn't entirely unexpected given guidance we've seen from several sources," said NPD industry analyst Anita Frazier.

"Outside of new physical retail sales, we find that the consumer spend on content on used games, rentals, subscriptions, mobile games, social network games, digital full game downloads and add-on content accounted for an additional $2.5 billion to $2.7 billion across the U.S., U.K., France & Germany in Q1 2012."

It seems the digital trend is catching up and this generation is slowing down. But that's okay as long as I can continue to download my games.

Xenoblade Chronicles is out in North America courtesy of GameStop. But will Operation Rainfall respond with open arms? If you haven't bought your copy of Xenoblade, now is the time to do so. Here's hoping that Shulk becomes a playable character in Smash Bros 4.

Before I go, a Belated Moment of Silence. Jack Tramiel passed away on the Easter Weekend. He was known for creating the Commodore 64, which helped build the foundation of the Home Computer. He also brought Atari back up after the video game crash and formed Atari Corporation. You will be missed, Jack.

Works Cited
NeoGAF
Games Industry