NPD September 2013: Ghoulish edition

Before we wrap up October, first things first.  A big and hearty congratulations to Valve and the Steam service for reaching the 65 million mark.

---

Valve announced that its Steam platform now has 65 million users, with the last 12 months alone bringing a 30 percent increase in active accounts.

Steam reached its current milestone as Valve prepares to launch Steam Machines, an initiative that aims to bring PC gaming to the living room with dedicated

hardware, a platform-specific operating system, and a gaming-optimized controller. Currently, Steam hosts over 3,000 downloadable games from a broad spectrum of publishers and independent developers.

"The main goal of Steam has always been to increase the quality of the user's experience by reducing the distance between content creators and their audience," said Valve president Gabe Newell. "As the platform grows, our job is to adapt to the changing needs of both the development and user communities. In the coming year, we plan to make perhaps our most significant collaborations with both communities through the Steam Dev Days and the Steam Machines beta." 

 

---

 

It's rather obvious that the Steam service is doing a lot to attract the end user.  With low-priced sales, collectables, and a more open-ended service, Steam is the number one system for gamers nowadays.

But onto the Console peasants of September.

 

At number 10: Saints Row IV by Deep Silver for the 360, PS3 and PC.  The Real GAT V is in the house.

 

At number 09: Minecraft by Mojang and Microsoft for the 360.  I use to be a great miner, but then I took a Creeper to the face.

 

At number 08: NHL 2014 by Electronic Arts for the 360, and PS3.  Just in time for Hockey season.

 

At number 07: Disney Infinity by Disney Interactive for the 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U and 3DS.  Now when are they gonna put Marvel and Star Wars characters in?  Oh, and some Muppets as well

 

At number 06: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix by SquareEnix for the PS3.   R.I.P. Wayne Allwine, the previous voice of Mickey Mouse

At number 05: FIFA 2014 by Electronic Arts for the 360, PS3 and Vita.  Now this is real football

At number 04: Diablo III by ActivisionBlizzard for the PC, 360 and PS3.  Stay awhile and listen.

At number 03: NBA 2K12 by Take 2 Interative for the 360, PS3 and PC.  Now if this won't let Michael Jordan return to basketball, I dunno what will?

At number 02: Madden NFL 25 by Electronic Arts for the 360 and PS3.  Pigskin powerhouse.

And finally at number 01, at its highest yet: Grand Theft Auto V by Take 2 Interactive for the 360 and PS3.  Online problems not withstanding.

While GTA is the highest selling game of the franchise and in any September, it is not the highest opening month, right behind the Call of Duty franchises.

Speaking of which, after topping the PS3, Wii and Wii U for along time, the 360 finally gets knocked out of 1st place by the PS3.  The Wii U, despite it's sluggish sales, got a nice jump in sales due to the price, though we are hoping an additional set of games will boost it up.  Regardless, the 3DS is still the number one console to beat.

Speaking of which, what kind of sales will the Pokemon franchise do next month?  Keep your eyes peeled.

 

Works Cited:

Joystiq 

>NeoGAF