NPD Reports Gaming Industry Growth For August, Nintendo Responds

NPD has just released their report for the month, reporting the gaming industry experienced growth by 1 % year over year, the first time for quite a while. Nintendo has a persistently huge presence in these reports, and responded by sharing software figures for their games.

While hardware was down 40 %, software sales are up 21 % year over year. The top selling titles (disc only, across platforms unless otherwise indicated) are as follows:

1. Madden 25
2. Saints Row IV
3. Disney Infinity
4. Splinter Cell: Blacklist
5. Minecraft for Xbox 360
6. Mario and Luigi: Dream Team
7. NCAA Football 14
8. Payday 2
9. Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn
10. Pikmin 3

Most of these games were launched in August. NPD’s Liam Callahan notes that Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 software sales combined grew by 50 %, a remarkable feat considering the nearing launch of their descendants.

Nintendo’s 3DS was the top selling console for the month again. In response to the NPD report, they shared the actual sales numbers for some of their most prominent games, combining physical and retail sales:

• Mario and Luigi: Dream Team – 190,000
• Pikmin 3 – 115,000
• New Super Luigi U – 120,000
• Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon – 863,000
• Animal Crossing: New Leaf – 739,000
• New Super Mario Bros 2 – 406,000 for the year, 1.85 million lifetime
• Fire Emblem Awakening – 390,000
• Mario Kart 7 – 352,000 for the year, 2.84 million lifetime
• Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity – 298,000
• Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D – 268,000
• Super Mario 3D Land – 265,000 for the year, 2.86 million total
• LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins – 264,000

I think I can safely predict that the 3DS is the one next generation console guaranteed to do very well for the rest of the year and coming into the next one. Whatever the fate of the Wii U, or other next generation consoles will be in the coming months, the portable has proven it has legs.

Source: NeoGAF