NPD: Game Industry Rakes in $1.27 Billion in September, But Down 7% On Halo 3 Comparison

October 16, 2008 | By: James Brightman

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Yes, sales were down, but it was still a good month, and NPD's Anita Frazier tells us she "doesn't see any evidence" of the economic downturn affecting games.

The NPD Group has released its video game sales data for the month of September, and while sales were indeed down across all categories, the results would seem to be far better than some analysts had forecast. The industry saw total sales of $1.27 billion, down seven percent from last September's $1.35 billion. Hardware was down nine percent to $497.98 million and software was down six percent to $616.09 million. Accessories saw the smallest decline, dropping three percent to $152.59 million. Year-to-date, industry sales are still tracking ahead 26 percent, totaling $11.82 billion. Hardware and software sales are tracking ahead 16 and 36 percent, respectively.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier told GameDaily BIZ, "[It's important to] keep in mind that Halo 3 was $225 million in sales last September - representing 17% of the total month's revenues and 35% of total software revenue. It's fair to say it would be hard to top that." She added that in the context of any other September, the results for this month still "look pretty impressive."

On the hardware front, the Wii and DS as usual dominated the scene. Wii sold 687K units and DS sold another 536.8K units. The Xbox 360, likely driven by its new pricing, sold a healthy 347.2K units. Sony's PS3 meanwhile didn't fare as poorly as some thought it would – PS3 sold another 232.4K units. Rounding out hardware, the PSP sold 238.1K units and the PS2 sold 173.5K.

In terms of software, considering that LucasArts already said Star Wars: The Force Unleashed sold over 1.5 million units worldwide in less than a week, we knew the game would feature prominently in U.S. sales. The Xbox 360 version topped the chart with 610K units sold. Well over a million units were sold across the 360, PS3 and Wii platforms. Nintendo's Wii Fit also did well, as did Rock Band 2, which released only on 360 in September.

Here's the complete top 10 chart (ranked by units):

1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Xbox 360 – LucasArts – 610K
2. Wii Fit w/ Balance Board - Wii – Nintendo – 518K
3. Rock Band 2 - Xbox 360 – MTV Games/EA – 363K
4. Mario Kart w/ wheel - Wii – Nintendo – 353K
5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - PS3 – LucasArts – 325K
6. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames - Xbox 360 – EA – 297K
7. Wii Play w/ remote - Wii – Nintendo – 243K
8. Madden NFL 09 - Xbox 360 – EA – 224K
9. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Wii – LucasArts – 223K
10. Madden NFL 09 - PS2 – EA – 158K