February NPD: Total sales up, new games come out swinging

Here's something we didn't expect to say in a non-holiday month or one without the launch of a new DS or something: Total US game revenue is up year-over-year, from $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion. Hardware and accessories both saw gains, while software dipped a bit between February 2010 and 2011.

There's also good news in software top ten chart -- at least, good news for people who like the charts to look different every month, with top-ten debuts for Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Killzone 3, Bulletstorm, and Mario Sports Mix, all of which launched in the month of February. The dance genre continued to dominate, with Just Dance 2, Michael Jackson, and Zumba Fitness holding on.Top 10 best-selling games for February 2011:

Call of Duty: Black Ops -- 360, PS3, WII, NDS, PC -- 1 -- Activision Blizzard
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds -- 360, PS3 -- 2 -- Capcom
Just Dance 2 -- WII -- 3 -- Ubisoft
NBA 2K11 -- 360, PS3, PSP, WII, PS2, PC -- 4 -- Take 2 Interactive
Dead Space 2 -- 360, PS3, PC -- 5 -- Electronic Arts
Zumba Fitness: Join the Party -- WII, 360, PS3 -- 6 -- Majesco
Bulletstorm -- 360, PS3, PC -- 7 -- Electronic Arts
Killzone 3 -- PS3 -- 8 -- Sony
Michael Jackson The Experience -- WII, DS, PSP -- 9 -- Ubisoft
Mario Sports Mix -- WII -- 10 -- Nintendo

Reader Comments (36)

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk19/Threddd/AndHereWeGo.gif

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

And damn, people sure do love to dance. Makes me wonder what am I missing out on by hating to dance?

I love me some marvel vs capcom 3

I roll my eyes at Just Dance 2 every month wondering how anyone could by that.... and of course I just bought it a few minutes ago on Amazon for my niece.

Well played, convenient online shopping.

@Truant
hypocrite.

@Truant

Welcome to the "You are everything that is wrong with gaming" club.

@Truant

Yeah guys, keeping hating his niece, let it alllll out.

@Puertoricarious
I'm not hating on his niece. That's just mediocre parenting, if you ask me. Giving into what the kid wants, rather than trying to find a better alternative. If I don't support something, I'm not going to support it in any way, shape, or form.

You're not going to see me say "Screw Wal-Mart!", followed by "oh well, I'm off to shop at Wal-Mart now", literally the next sentence later.

@mywhitenoise
HOLY SHIT! YOU ARE ARE SO OBSERVANT! obviously he was pointing that out. i dont know why you act like he committed treason though.

@mywhitenoise

I don't get it, you do not support DANCING?

Who are you DAD from Footloose?

@A Sandwich

Wait, I was being ironic! I own that game!

Glad to see DS2 stick in the Top 10, still my favorite game so far this year.

I can't believe Black Ops is still number 1. Why does the general public have bad taste in games, tv, movies, and music?

@mywhitenoise
Not a big fan on black ops on top either but if that's what America wants we can't change it.

@mywhitenoise

Black Ops is a good game. Don't understand why it's cool among the gaming community to hate FPSs nowadays.

The people who have bad taste in games are the ones that bought MJ The Experience, Just Dance 2, and Zumba Fitness.

@ItsameMatt03
Oh believe me, I think those games are bad as well :)

@ItsameMatt03

No, it's just cool to hate on Activision.

@ItsameMatt03 Couldn't I say the same about Black Ops? It's the same shoter from years gone by.

It's a matter of opinion, Matt. There are people who like to dance, just like people who like to blow other's head's off. I enjoy Black Ops from time to time, but it gets old and stale after a few matches.

Good to see Dead Space 2 up there. Hope it made enough this time.

Man, Killzone 3 sure dropped off fast.

@A Sandwich

Nah.

@A Sandwich
Uh...that's a debut. It was only out for 1 week of February.

@Ezio Auditore da Firenze

We'll find out within a day. It only did about 260,000 the first week which was down from Killzone 2's opening week, and I'll bet it dropped down quite a bit this week in sales.

I'm one who will wait to buy it when I see it for about $30 or less. It's not one of those games I want to pay full price for personally. Plus, I'm interested in playing it in 3D, but I'm not planning on buying a 3D TV until probably late this year.

@A Sandwich

In all fairness, the only exclusive higher on the list is Just Dance 2. The NPDs are now combining numbers for PS3, Wii, etc. so with that in mind, Killzone 3 seems to have done fairly well.

Nice to see both Dead Space 2 and Killzone 3 up there.

MJ: The Experience, CoD, Zumba Fitness... What's wrong with you, americans?

That's a lot of curleh mustaches.

Where can I find this NPD stuff?

Zumba Fitness, Just Dance 2, man, gym's around the country must be pissed.

I can't believe the Xbox 360 sold over 500,000 units in February. How the hell?

@leobebes

Price drop + tax refund is how.

@leobebes

Well its an awesome console, its fun to play, it has great games, and if you have kids or play online with your friends, its an awesome console to use.

Its not rocket science, make something thats fun, easy to use, and has great entertainment and it'll sell :)

Wow.. 360 does 535,000 on a non-holiday month.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/technologybrierdudleysblog/2014459929_npd_xbox_kills_it_in_february.html?syndication=rss

Is anyone else confused by the way Joystiq chose to format the order?

Why is the ranking in the middle of the line after the platforms instead of at the front? Is that the way NPD provides the rankings?

No wonder a lot of great games came out last month.

Its amazing that Black Op can break sales records yet it can't hold a candle to MW2 (sans hacking) over all.

February NPD: Total sales up, new games come out swinging

Reader Comments (36)

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:31PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:32PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:38PM xbashingx said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:39PM Truant said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:40PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:45PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:54PM Puertoricarious said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:30PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:39PM The Soft Machine said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:46PM pickupdoctor said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:57PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:39PM Lincoln said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:40PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:54PM Jawmuncher said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:57PM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:08PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:09PM EJ A said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:17PM religiousjedi said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:40PM ScottG13 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:46PM A Sandwich said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:54PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:57PM mywhitenoise said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:01PM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:05PM asg said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:49PM MiceInATank said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 6:50PM KazamaSogetsu said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:29PM Syesta said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:44PM ND92 said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:52PM Hong Dong said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 7:59PM leobebes said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:07PM False said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 9:16PM BoBsS said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:18PM Ordeith said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 8:38PM Lerkero said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 9:21PM trutenprower said

Posted: Mar 10th 2011 11:51PM RagingStormX said

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