NEWS - Friday, October 19, 2007
Halo 3 Sells Over 3 Million Units in 12 Days
A little Bungie game called Halo 3 owned the videogame marketplace in September, selling nearly twice as many units as its nine closest competitors combined, according to monthly sales figures released by the NPD Group today. The third chapter in Master Chief’s tale of alien woe sold 3.3 million units in the 12 days it was on sale last month, a figure that includes the Standard, Collector’s and Legendary editions. Intense interest in Halo 3 also spurred sales of the Xbox 360, helping Microsoft move more than 527,000 units in September. "Halo 3 posted phenomenal results for just 12 days of sales in the month of September. True to its name, the game rubbed off on hardware sales too - the Xbox 360 realized it’s best month ever in unit hardware sales outside last holiday season," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "If ever there was a doubt that great content drives hardware acquisition, this should put that doubt to rest." But the Xbox 360 wasn’t last month’s only hardware winner. The Nintendo Wii had its second-best month ever, selling more than 500,000 units despite having no Spartans on its roster. The DS also sold almost 500,000 units in September, the PSP moved about 285,000 and the PS2 outsold the PS3 - with 215,000 and 119,000 units of those systems selling respectively. In terms of units, overall console hardware sales in September jumped 124 percent over the same month last year, from about 613,000 to 1.37 million. "Although we’ve been confident for many months now that the industry was poised to realize it’s best year ever in terms of revenue, the results in recent months makes me even more bullish," Frazier said. "I believe the U.S. videogame industry will realize somewhere in the range of $17 to $18 billion for the year". Total videogame sales - for both hardware and software - in September were $1.36 billion, a 74 percent increase from last September’s $778.7 million figure. Of the top ten highest-selling games in September, four were Xbox 360 titles, two were Wii titles, two were DS titles and the PS3 and PS2 had one apiece. Here’s how the top ten ranked: 1. HALO 3 (360) - 3.3 million units 2. PLAY W/ REMOTE (Wii) - 282,000 3. LEGEND OF ZELDA: PHANTOM HOURGLASS (DS) - 224,000 4. MADDEN NFL 08 (PS2) - 205,000 5. SKATE (360) - 175,000 6. MADDEN NFL 08 (360) - 173,000 7. METROID PRIME 3: CORRUPTION (WII) - 167,000 8. BIOSHOCK (360) - 150,000 9. BRAIN AGE 2 (DS) - 141,000 10. HEAVENLY SWORD (PS3) - 139,000Source: http://www,ign.com
