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God Of War And Pokemon Conquer March NPD Sales
It's the middle of the month! It's a Thursday! You know what that means: time for a nap. Also, time for a look at last month's video game sales courtesy of NPD. We've got the numbers for March 2010, and unsurprisingly, God Of War III, new versions of Pokemon, and Final Fantasy XIII dominated the software, while the Wii once again overtook the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on the hardware front.
March was a busy month for big new game releases, so this month's top 10 has a lot of debuts. God of War III nabbed the top slot, with Pokemon SoulSilver not far behind. According to NPD, hitting over 1 million in its first month puts God of War III at a 32% better first month than God of War II.
The PS3 version of Final Fantasy XIII took third place, handily outselling the 360 edition, which landed in sixth. With both platforms put together, this is the best launch of any game in the Final Fantasy franchise.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 also had a strong debut, with the 360 version getting fourth highest sales of the month and the PS3 version getting eighth. Bad Company 2 sales beat out the original's first-month sales by a staggering 170%.
And, hey, look at that! New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Wii Fit are hanging onto top 10 slots, but there's no Wii Play, Wii Sports Resort, or Mario Kart Wii in sight. That's progress, folks! Wii mainstays are great and all, but it's nice seeing new software getting a chance to shine.
Also of note is the number 10 position, held by MLB 10: The Show. Competitor MLB 2K10 didn't make it onto the top 10 on any platform. Check out the full software list with numbers below:
1. God of War III (PS3) - Sony - 1,100,000 units sold
2. Pokemon SoulSilver (DS) - Nintendo - 1,020,000 units sold
3. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) - Square Enix - 828,200 units sold
4. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (360) - EA - 825,500 units sold
5. Pokemon HeartGold (DS) - Nintendo - 761,200 units sold
6. Final Fantasy XIII (360) - Square Enix - 493,900 units sold
7. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) - Nintendo - 457,400 units sold
8. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3) - EA - 451,200 units sold
9. Wii Fit w/Balance Board (Wii) - Nintendo - 429,600 units sold
10. MLB 10: The Show (PS3) - Sony - 349,200 units sold
Though the Wii's software showing was less impressive than usual this month, on the hardware side, Nintendo's picking up steam once more. After losing first place for home console to the Xbox 360 last month, the Wii is once again on top. Check it out:
1. Nintendo DS - 700,800 units sold
2. Wii - 557,500 units sold
3. Xbox 360 - 338,400 units sold
4. PlayStation 3 - 313,900 units sold
5. PSP - 119,900 units sold
6. PlayStation 2 - 118,300 units sold
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