NPD July 2011: Ambassador edition

Before we get to the day, just a reminder. For some reason, the Ambassador games are out on the eShop for those who registered their 3DS before August 12th. To download them, go to the eShop, select Settings, select your Downloads and scroll down.

So what are the 10 games you get? Well you don't get good games like Hydlide, Deadly Towers or Little Red Hood(J/K). But you do get the following

Metroid
Yoshi
Wrecking Crew
NES Open Tournament Golf
Zelda II: The Adventures of Link

Not bad. But if only there were games like Super Pitfall or Renegade.

But onto the NPD. Which I am behind as usual. Unfortunately, some state July 2011 as the worst month for Video Games since October 2006. Why? Well take alook

DS: 290K
Xbox 360: 277K (-37.5%)
Wii: 190K (-25%)
PS3: 148k (-31%)
3DS: 108K estimate

Hardware sales have taken a nosedive. Ether this is a typical month or gamers stopped caring about real games and more for Smartphone and Social gaming. Just think. People preferring to play Angry Birds over Halo or God of War. Now that's scary

And what else is scary is the usual Software sales

1. NCAA Football 12 - Electronic Arts (360, PS3) = ~796K
2. Cars 2 - Disney Interactive Studios (NDS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC)
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops - Activision Blizzard (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC)
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game - Disney Interactive Studios (Wii, NDS, 360, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC)
5. Just Dance 2 - Ubisoft (Wii)
6. Major League Baseball 2K11 - Take-Two Interactive (360, Wii NDS, PS3, PS2, PSP, PC)
7. Zumba Fitness: Join The Party - Majesco (Wii, 360, Ps3)
8. Fallout: New Vegas - Bethesda Softworks/ZeniMax (360, PS3, PC)
9. New Super Mario Bros DS - Nintendo (NDS)
10. Mortal Kombat 2011 - Warner Brothers Interactive (360, PS3) = 85K

NCAA Football 12 is high up on the list with Cars 2 in 2nd place. Call of Duty is not willing to go down and is in 3rd place while LEGO Pirates have a jolly good time in 4th. At 5th is the only Wii exclusive title Just Dance 2. Major League Baseball 2K11 is in 6th with Zumba Fitness in 7th. Now even 360 and PS3 owners can get a workout. Fallout: New Vegas sneaks into number 8 and New Super Mario Bros DS, NSMBWii's older brother is number 9. At the bottom of the top 10, Mortal Kombat 2011

Another thing. According to the NPD report, Catherine sold around 78K while Shadows of the Damned only sold a measly 14K. So much for a sequel.

Will a price drop of the PS3 and 3DS do much good to the industry? Or are gamers slowly leaving for Smartphones? Stay tuned.