November is traditionally a big, big month for games, thanks to the impending holidays and the temporary financial insanity bestowed upon Americans by the Black Friday Effect. This November may have been the biggest. The NPD reports that last month was the "best November on record in terms of new physical retail sales," ahead of November 2008 by around $30 million. Call of Duty: Black Ops had the biggest first month of any game ever, with 8.4 million copies.
From the original grey PlayStation to chunky PS2 and the sleeker PS3, the three generations boast thousands of titles that have redefined gaming. Here, Megabits picks 16 of the best games from the past 16 years. These key titles have obviously spawned sequels over time that are equally worthy of mention, but those listed are those which I think "defined" each console and the PlayStation brand in general.
Overall, October was a rockin' month for video games. And it's a good thing, too, because we were huddled inside all month long, hiding from werewolves. And because we have neither the knowhow nor the wherewithal to craft silver bullets, we decided to pass the time playing games instead. It was a welcome distraction from the gnawing fear. But, being IGN editors, we couldn't be satisfied with just any games. We had to play the best. These are the games that wowed us in October.
01. Halo: Reach (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 3.3 Million 02. Madden NFL 11 (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP) - Over 477k for sure, perhaps up to 550k-600k-ish (we lack the September 2009 Wii/PS2/PSP numbers to fully calculate from) New! 03. Dead Rising 2 (Capcom, Xbox 360, PS3, PC) - 370,000 04. NHL 11 (EA, Xbox 360, PS3) 05. FIFA Soccer 11 (EA, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS) 06. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (Square Enix, PSP) - 225,000 07. Mafia II (Take 2 Interactive, Xbox 360, PS3, PC) 08. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Activision Blizzard, PS3, 360, NDS, Wii) 09. Metroid: Other M (Nintendo, Wii) - 173,000 10. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Outside of Top 10: Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (All Platforms) - 86,000 [This means all Top 10 titles >86k]
Xbox 360: 483,989 Units (Up 37% Year Over Year) DS: 403,000 Units (Down 23% Year Over Year) PS3: 312,000 Units (Down 37% Year Over Year) Wii: 254,000 Units (Down 45% Year Over Year) PSP: 106,624 Units (Down 44% Year Over Year)
Thanks. We can cash out Halo: Reach at 330 DKP and Metroid: Other M at 17.3 DKP. Unless we get an Xbox 360 specific number for Madden NFL 11, which I think is unlikely, we'll have to roll that one back. Super Mario Galaxy 2 didn't make the top 10 at all so it'll have to be rolled back.
The Top 10 sellers (in order, publisher and platform in parentheses): 01. Halo: Reach (Microsoft, Xbox 360) - 3.3 Million 02. Madden NFL 11 (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP) - Over 477k for sure, perhaps up to 550k-600k-ish (we lack the September 2009 Wii/PS2/PSP numbers to fully calculate from) New! 03. Dead Rising 2 (Capcom, Xbox 360, PS3, PC) - 370,000 04. NHL 11 (EA, Xbox 360, PS3) 05. FIFA Soccer 11 (EA, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Nintendo DS) New! 06. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (Square Enix, PSP) - 225,000 07. Mafia II (Take 2 Interactive, Xbox 360, PS3, PC) 08. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (Activision Blizzard, PS3, 360, NDS, Wii) New! 09. Metroid: Other M (Nintendo, Wii) - 173,000 10. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Activision Blizzard, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
@kooistrak1, And I forgot to post that the 360 has now outsold the wii YTD in 2010 in the US. I do expect MSFT to have a great xmas but the Wii usually goes huge in Nov Dec so could be interesting to see if MSFT can finally knock off the champ
I stand corrected its Sony bringing down NPD. Nintendo and MSFT both released Sept hardware numbers Sony didn't. "Citing NPD figures, Microsoft said it sold 484,000 of the consoles, up 37% year-over-year. Nintendo, meanwhile, sold 403,000 of its handheld DS systems in the U.S., and 254,000 Wii consoles. Sony would not disclose how many PlayStations it sold."
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