October NPD: NBA 2K11 tops charts, Xbox 360 'best selling console in 2010'

by Andrew Yoon on Nov 17th 2010 1:20AM

Here is the second edition of the revised (and less informative) monthly NPD report. With the market research group no longer sharing specific hardware figures, it's noteworthy to point out that only Microsoft has (as of writing) released concrete sales numbers. Major Nelson tweeted that Microsoft sold 325K Xbox 360s in October. Although the figure represents a 32-percent drop from the previous month, it was enough to secure Microsoft's spot as best-selling console of the month. Major Nelson also added that the Xbox 360 "is the best selling console in 2010 [with] 3.5 million" sold so far.

Sony's response doesn't offer console sales numbers, but Patrick Seybold commented on increased momentum for the company's PlayStation Move motion controller. "The PS3 Move Bundle had a 15-percent increase in sales since launch last month, and we're working hard to keep the inventory up across the country to meet strong consumer demand." In addition, Seybold reminded us of the impending launch of Sony's big holiday game: "With next week's launch of the industry's most anticipated title, Gran Turismo 5, we're sure to carry the momentum through the holidays."

Nintendo, as of the time of publishing, had not offered comment.

Software sales jumped 6 percent year-over-year for the month to $605 million. The multiplatform release of NBA 2K11 helped propel it to the top of the charts, undoubtedly aided by EA Sports' cancellation of NBA Elite 11. Fallout, Medal of Honor and Fable all made strong debuts -- but Rock Band 3's 15th-place position in sales has us concerned. NPD analyst Anita Frazier did make a special note in the report, assuring us that "this game has the potential to perform well over the holidays."

The top-ten software breakdown is posted after the break.

Top 10 bestselling games for October 2010:

1. NBA 2K11 - 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS - Take 2 Interactive
2. Fallout: New Vegas - 360, PS3, PC - Bethesda Softworks
3. Medal of Honor - 360, PS3, PC - Electronic Arts
4. Fable III - 360 - Microsoft
5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - 360, PS3, Wii, PC, DS - LucasArts
6. Halo: Reach - 360 - Microsoft
7. Just Dance 2 - Wii - Ubisoft
8. FIFA Soccer 11 - PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, NDS, PC
9. Madden NFL 11 - 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP
10. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 - PS3, 360, PS2, Wii, PSP

Also, did anyone else notice that there are no Nintendo published games in the top 10? This may be the first time this has happened since the GameCube days.

Source: Twitter @majornelson, Industry Gamers

Reader Comments (38)

Y throw in Exclusives?

@Riley Freeman

Because their still games?

@This Little Man Says His Name Is

Yeah i know, But if you remove exclusives, You get a closer race.

@Riley Freeman

That argument doesn't even begin to make sense. Exclusives are a part of the "race." Not to mention removing exclusives only changes the software sales chart and won't reflect back any differently on the hardware.

@Riley Freeman

That's not a real representation of games sales then.

It's just a glorified e-penis competition between publishers.

Sony, I love my PS3, but are you seriously banking the holidays on a single game? And it's a hardcore driving simulator, no less.. I am constantly amazed by the GT franchise, but it can be a bit overwhelming to someone not willing to really immerse themselves in it.

@sigma8

To be fair, the same thing can be said about other genres out there, and we have seen companies bank on that "one" FPS before. GT series has always put out solid numbers. I think Car's are a bit more mainstream then say...guns.

Oh well, there's always the new PacMan, and Crazy Taxi.

@sigma8

If theres 1 game to bank on, It's GT5. Gran Turismo games have sold in the ten of millions. I work in retail and people are dying to see how GT5 will be. Some people are waiting to buy a PS3 for that game alone. GT does big #s worldwide.

@sigma8.

Gran Turismo 5 will keep sales very very high. And it's taken so long it might as well have the whole month to itself to enjoy. But yeah, I can see it easily selling a few million copies, probably not so much as Halo but definitely a big hitter.

@PhilipJWitow
i don't think GT5 is going to sell well, here are my reasons:
1) it's been constantly delayed since 2006, a lot of people have forgotten or moved on
2) i haven't seen any advertisement for it. if i didn't frequently visit gaming sites, i wouldn't even know it's coming out.
3) all previous versions of GT "5" that i've played, GT:HD, GT Prologue, and early builds of GT5 at CES haven't been that great. in fact, they make me not want the game.

GT5 will probably be a great game in its own right, but, a system mover and top software title, i don't see that happening. however, i'd love to be wrong because Polyphony has definitely put in a lot of work.

@MLC

I've lost all interest in GT5. Has been delayed far too often and I've been able to play Forza 2 and 3 since it was suppose to release.

@sho220 you're wrong end of story. unfortunately I won't be there to tell you to put a foot in your mouth when it reaches the 10 million mark like the previous titles have so I'll just have to trust you to do it yourself when this happens. Notice I never said 'if'

@sho220 You want to know just how wrong you are ?

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=275822
"We've never seen anything like this before," said ShopTo marketing manager Philip Driver. "As soon as the new release date was announced the sales just went through the roof.

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2010/11/13/gran-turismo-5-sales-skyrocket-after-solid-release-date-reveal/
Both Gran Turismo 5 and its Collector’s Edition (which is back in stock) have skyrocketed to the top of Amazon’s movers and shakers list, seeing over a 1300% increase in sales over the past 24 hours (see the chart below). On top of the sales boom for the game, Gran Turismo 5 seems to have re-ignited interest in the PlayStation 3 160GB console, as it’s in the #3 spot on the movers and shakers list, right behind Gran Turismo 5 and the Gran Turismo 5 Collector’s Edition.

http://www.play.com/Games/Games/6-/PreOrderChart.html --> Pre order chart all consoles, GT5 top of the list and collectors edition is number 5.

@sho220
LOL

@sho220 it may not do GT4 numbers....but the sheer fact that its Gran Turismo means it will do at LEAST 7 million over the next year or 2......hell Prologue has sold over 3 or 4 million on its own and it wasnt complete

@PhilipJWitow
Interest in Racing game went down quite a bit since the GT4. 10 mil sales is the measuring stick now days and I don't see this will happen for GT5 regardless how good it may be. Most of people will shrug off as "whatever" then wait for it to hit the bargain bin one of these days.

I was definitely expecting Rock Band 3 to be in the top ten. Fable III launched on the same day and it's only on 360. Hopefully it will sell well through the holidays.

@pixelpushr
But don't forget, Rock Band 3 came out at the end of the month, so reaching 15th place in only a week isn't to terrible.

@comics4andy

Fable came out at the end of the month and hit 4th on a single console.

@comics4andy Both Fable, Star Wars, and Fallout came out the same day as RB3...As a player who has platinumed RB2, and will platinum RB3, the music genre is dead.

@mywhitenoise
Huh. I was trying to be optimistic but ... dang Rock Band, why?

Between Rockband and GH's dissapointing sales, it will be interesting to see what happens next. I think they need to stop making new iterations for a couple years and come back in 2013 or so. Just feed us DLC until then. But of course that will never happen. They may take a year off tops...

@Hoops Rock Band kind of has that mentality of wait a couple years, even though they did release the Beatles last year. Guitar Hero is the main offender in this regard.

Since NPD now combines software sales across all platforms, it's really not that surprising that no Nintendo game is in the top 10. The way it's reported now, It would actually make any single platform game much more noteworthy than it would otherwise appear.

@KentBrockman
At the same time, instead of one of those dumb first person shooters taking up two spots on the chart, they only take one spot. So there is more room now more games.

Sadly these numbers might be slightly skewed. I know a whole bunch of people that bought NBA2K11 during various "buy 2 get 1 free" sales just to trade in that game cuz of its high trade in value. I myself bought and traded in 4. Lol.

Games, games the magical fruit. The more you play the more you toot...

Times and the economy have changed the mindset of the consumer. Gt5 will probably be a very good game but I have a strong feeling that it will not single-handedly move consoles in big numbers. And for the poster that used Amazon's preorder numbers to argue gt5's popularity you need to remember that Amazon uses cart numbers to determine popularity percentages. The reason why those numbers jumped was because people placed the game in their cart. Many if them may or may not have purchased it. Furthermore, many of those same people could have cancelled their preorders once it was announced as being delayed and this would also not be reflected in Amazons sales numbers. Not to mention Amazon is just one entity. If numbers for other stores and retail chains are similar then maybe it will move a lot of systems but so far it doesn't look that way at all. And in case you think I am a fan boy I own all 3 major consoles and I enjoy them equally. I'm just being realistic.

I guess nobody bought Kirby?

@falfdsao Really??? You guys sell hoes! How much??

It feels weird not seeing any first party Nintendo titles on the list. This will be the holiday season that tests whether Wii still has it. Just Dance can't carry the whole console.

Also, Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero failed to chart. Is it over yet?

@Lerkero - that reasoning doesn't really fly. By combining every platform release for multiplatform games, they're always (almost without exception) going to be higher than single platform releases. And single platform releases are the Wii's bread and butter.

@MatthewBlackwell
Considering the exclusives: Fable 3, Halo Reach, and Just Dance 2 all managed to chart, I think that is decent reasoning.

It means that the Wii is making more sales with a fad dance game than it is for first party Nintendo titles, which is what I expect Nintendo does not prefer. During the holiday season sales are usually at their highest, so I won't conclude too much until the December NPD arrives in January.

@MatthewBlackwell - not to hate on the Wii, but I'm not sure your reasoning flies. You've got two 360 exclusives in this month's list compared to one for Wii. The Wii's install-base is significantly higher than both 360 and PS3 in the US, which should contribute to more of Wii's single-platform releases making this list. Yes, lumping multiplatform games together does cloud the picture of how well games sell on each perform (and probably knocks a couple of the single-platform games down the list), but I don't think it's too tough to argue that the Wii isn't moving near the volume of games that 360 and PS3 are these days.

Xbox allegedely holds the top 4 games (and 6 of the top 10). That's supposed to be a first in this generation.

NBA 2K11

October NPD: NBA 2K11 tops charts, Xbox 360 'best selling console in 2010'

Reader Comments (38)

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 1:43AM Riley Freeman said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:16AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:27AM Riley Freeman said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:59AM Xcrucio said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 3:01AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 1:55AM sigma8 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:11AM SmashZilla said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:16AM SmashZilla said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:16AM MLC said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:19AM PhilipJWitow said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:43AM sho220 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 3:56AM Anticrawl said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 4:03AM chrisredfield31 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 4:03AM chrisredfield31 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 6:17AM McDuckScrooged said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 12:45PM eNriqeu said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 1:51PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 11:48PM huffhuffhuff said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:16AM pixelpushr said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 3:16AM comics4andy said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 4:57AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 7:14PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Nov 18th 2010 2:34AM comics4andy said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 2:18AM Hoops said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 11:05AM gwangi said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 4:07AM KentBrockman said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 4:09PM EDay said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 4:11AM KentBrockman said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 4:12AM FlashJS said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 5:03AM theSkillfull1 said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 8:17AM oldschoolgamer said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 8:41AM Pandaman said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 9:14AM Revengez said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 9:20AM Lerkero said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 10:26AM MatthewBlackwell said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 10:59AM Lerkero said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 11:11AM fatboyjam said

Posted: Nov 17th 2010 12:47PM majg said

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