The NPD Group, in partnership with GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, Inc., today released its Top Global Markets for the third quarter of 2008 (July-September). The report, which tracks combined video game software unit sales across the world's three largest games markets, revealed growth of just one percent. This nearly flat growth was primarily attributable to strong declines in the Japanese market.

While the U.K. experienced growth of 15 percent and the U.S. saw growth of eight percent, Japan's software market fell by 21 percent. Console software fell by 33 percent and portable software dropped 13 percent. A year ago during this period, Japan's software sales were up 27 percent.

"Japan did experience sales declines in both software categories, but it is important to keep in mind that not only is Japan a more mature market than the U.S. and UK, but 2007 was a banner year for the Japanese software market, with the titles released in the third quarter of 2008 not being as highly anticipated as those released during the same time period in 2007," noted Ricky K Tanimoto, Global Marketing Analyst, Enterbrain, Inc. "Also, software titles generally have stronger launch sales in Japan, which represent a large percentage of the total sales in Japan compared to the U.S. and UK. In regards to expectations for the remainder of the calendar year, we estimate overall video game sales in Japan this holiday season will not be greatly affected by the world financial crisis, especially in the portable space. Portable software sales are particularly strong, and new portable hardware systems like Sony's PSP-3000 and Nintendo's DSi will prove to be driving market forces in Japan throughout the 2008 holiday season."

Although the U.K. exhibited the strongest growth, the report noted that this sales spike was "skewed" since console software saw a 26 percent gain while portable software declined by on percent. The U.S., on the other hand, was more evenly balanced, with console software growth of six percent and portable software growth of 10 percent.

"Taking into consideration the marked differences between the 3 territories, the U.K. market in particular is gearing up for a best-ever Q4 performance overall, even under the well-documented financial climate," said Dorian Bloch, Business Group Director, GfK Chart-Track Limited. "We fully expect U.K. consumers to drive sales for the full year to unprecedented heights, especially considering the line-up of exciting single and multi-format new franchises currently hitting the market, not to mention the evergreen portfolio of Nintendo-published Wii & DS titles which have done such a great job of expanding the market to a far more mainstream consumer."

"In the U.S., third quarter total industry unit sales grew 8 percent versus 2007, even as the economy showed accelerating signs of recession," added Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. "As would be expected at this point in the console lifecycle, games sales are starting to take the spotlight even as the average retail prices of games increased slightly. Heading into the critical fourth quarter, the U.S. games industry is on solid ground."

Third-quarter sales were largely driven by EA Sports' popular Madden franchise. Madden NFL 09 sold 2.994 million units across the three markets, the vast majority of which came from the U.S. (2.958 million). Nintendo's Wii Fit was also a top seller with 2.089 million units sold (1.283 million in U.S.). Taking the third spot was LucasArts' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which sold 1.738 million copies (1.417 million in U.S.), and the fourth spot was occupied by Pokemon Platinum with 1.482 million units. Rounding out the top five was Mario Kart Wii, which sold through 1.468 million units (856K in U.S.).