Videogames sales for March 2010 in the USA are in and it’s time to ring in the good news! March has become the third best non-Holiday sales month on record with over four games going Platinum. Each with over one million copies sol. They are: Final Fantasy XIII, God of War 3, Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
As a result, the gaming industry bounced back by 6% year-over-year to $1.44 billion for combined sales of non-PC videogame hardware, software and accessories.
“In terms of total revenue, March 2010 is the third best non-holiday month on record behind March 2008 and June 2008,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a statement.
Hardware sales though ultimately fell 4% to $440.5 million.
“Wii experienced its best non-holiday sales month (hardware) since March 2009,” said Frazier, who also called out the PS3. “Sony’s PS3 hardware posted its eighth consecutive month of year-over-year increases. For the first time since its launch in the US, the PS3 has four titles in the Top 10, and was also the leader in console software sales.”
The PS3 had the first game to reach the #1 slot on the top 10 videogame sales charts in March 2010 with God of War 3, selling over 1.1 million units and helping to raise the non-PC U.S. game sales to 10% ($795 million). This was the first time a PS3 game had been on top since 2008’s Metal Gear Solid 4.
Although the sales charts don’t combine numbers for multiplatform games. If it were to do so, Nintendo would come out on top. As Pokemon sold like hotcakes. Pokemon SoulSilver sold over 1.2 million copies alone while Pokemon HeartGold version sold 761,200 copies, for a total of 1.78 million sold (Which means Pikachu would Tackle Kratos off the top of the hill and raise arms in victory).
Also getting the NPD-shaft is Final Fantasy XIII, which marked the first time a Final Fantasy game in the core series went multiplatform. As a result, the game sold 828,200 copies on the PS3 and 493,900 on the Xbox 360 for a total of 1.322 million units sold. Despite the numbers of the Xbox 360 being a ways behind the PS3, half a million is nothing to scoff at and will likely be marked a plus in Square Enix’s somewhat controversial decision to release an Xbox 360 version outside of Japan (where the game remains a PS3-exclusive). For some people, like myself, it was definitely a plus for them, as I bought TWO copies of the game; One for Xbox 360 and one for PS3. But yes I’m insane.
And finally you have the multiplatform Battlefield: Bad Company 2, EA’s Studio DICE-developed shooter sold 1.276 million units total: 825,500 million on Xbox 360 and 451,200 on PS3.
MARCH 2010 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Games: $1.52 billion (+6%)
Hardware: $440.5 million (-4%)
Software: $875.3 million (+10%)
Accessories: $206.8 million (+11%)
HARDWARE SALES
DS: 700,800
Wii: 557,500
Xbox 360: 338,400
PlayStation 3: 313,900
PSP: 119,900
PlayStation 2: 118,300
TOP 10 GAMES (by SKU)
1) God of War III / PS3 / SCEA / Mar-10 / 1.1 million
2) Pokemon SoulSilver / DS / Nintendo / Mar-10 / 1.02 million
3) Final Fantasy XIII / PS3 / Square Enix / Mar-10 / 828,200
4) Battlefield: Bad Company 2 / X360 / Electronic Arts / Mar-10 / 825,500
5) Pokemon HeartGold / DS / Nintendo / Mar-10 / 761,200
6) Final Fantasy XIII / X360 / Square Enix / Mar-10 / 493,900
7) New Super Mario Bros. Wii / Nintendo / Nov-09 / 457,400
8) Battlefield: Bad Company 2 / PS3 / Electronic Arts / Mar-10 / 451,200
9) Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board / Wii / Nintendo / Oct-09 / 429,600
10) MLB 10: The Show / PS3 / SCEA / Mar-10 / 349,200
Via GameSpot