wombleroberts

[wombleroberts]

September NPD: Grand Theft Auto 5 Sales Boost Industry [Update]

It's a good thing for everyone! According to the NPD Group, the videogame industry's performance in physical retail was up 27 percent over the course of September. $1.07 Billion, compared to $848 million in the previous year.

Predictably, the most of the increased revenue came from the software segment, which is also known as "where all the Grand Theft Auto 5 money is stored." The new physical sales for console and portable games in September totaled $754.3 million, which is a 52 percent increase over $497.5 million earned during the same time frame the previous year. GTA 5 understandably tops the list of September's top 10 most-sold games, followed by Madden NFL 25 and NBA 2k14.

The hardware sales of the period resulted in $183.2million, 13 percent less than September 2012's figures. The Nintendo 3DS had its fifth month as the top-selling thing in the segment, while Wii U sales increased "more than 200 percent" over August, but Nintendo abstained from providing specific figures on how many Wii U boxes that works out to.

Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3 broke the Xbox 360's record-breaking streak and was the best-selling console for the period, largely thanks to the available Grand Theft Auto 5 bundle as per NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan.

The Accessories segment, which contains giftcards, digital currency vouchers, Disney Infinity/Skylanders figures and other various items, was mostly unchanged year-over-year, with only an increase of 2 percent in sales to $142.3 million.

Update: Microsoft has chimed in saying that it made 80 million sales to retailers of Xbox 360 worldwide in September, with console sales hitting $401.2 million. The Xbox 360 was the No. top-selling console last month, Microsoft instead says that it remains the top console in the US in 2013. Clever words and team.

Grand Theft Auto 5 (360 PS3, PS3)

Madden NFL 25 (360, PS3)

NBA 2k14 (360, PC3, Mac)

Diablo 3 (360, PS3, PC)**

FIFA 14 (360, PS3, Vita).

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix for PS3

Disney Infinity (360), WII, PS3, NWU and 3DS

NHL 14 (360, PS3)

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition (360)

Saints Row 4 (360 - PS3, PC)

Oct. 17, 2013

Nintendo News

Nintendo 3DS Remains No. 1. Minecraft Wii U Responds to Price Reduce

Nintendo begins the crucial holiday selling season with an impressive performance and a strong performance, as Nintendo 3DS finished as the top-selling video game system in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive month. Wii U enjoyed new momentum following the price cut.

On Oct. 15, Nintendo announced that Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, which launched globally on Oct. 12, teamed up to sell more than 4 million units worldwide in the initial two days on the market. A full breakdown of U.S. sales for the games as well as the brand new Nintendo 2DS handheld, which launched on the same day, will be included in next month's NPD report. Nintendo 3DS gamers have two exciting games in development the Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds, and Mario Party: Island Tour.

Nintendo reduced the Wii U Deluxe Set's price by $50, bringing it down to $299.99. They also introduced an exclusive bundle that comes with a code that allows you to download an online copy of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. With just 15 days of data recorded at the new price, September Wii U hardware sales increased by more than 200% compared to August. Over the next few weeks and months, Wii U fans can look forward to playing Wii Party U (Oct. 25), Wii Fit U (Nintendo eShop ), Nov. 1) Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games (Nov. 15) and Super Mario 3D World (Nov. 22).

*Data on physical sales of games in September are from the NPD Group. Data regarding digital downloads of games as well as the combined life-to-date physical and digital numbers are derived from Nintendo's internal sales figures. All numbers, unless otherwise stated, are for the United States only.