US hardware sales slumped in December

Total physical videogame sales in the US were down again during the busiest month of the year, to $5.06 billion, or 9 per cent compared to 2009.

Hardware revenues slumped 16 per cent during the holidays to $1.84 billion, while physical software was down 8 per cent to $2.37 billion.

Videogame accessories were up 10 per cent, thanks to Microsoft's Kinect, to $853.2 million.

Nintendo's DS was the best-selling hardware for the month, with 2.5 million units sold, while the Wii shifted another 2.3 million units.

Microsoft, which said yesterday that supply was constrained during December, sold 1.9 million units. Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 1.3 million units.

"Among new physical videogame sales in December 2010, the Wii and the 360 platforms generated the greatest dollar sales of all platforms, at 32 per cent and 31 per cent of dollar sales respectively, across all categories including hardware, software and accessories," said the NPD Group.

"December 2010 is the biggest month for accessories sales in history, due to a hefty increase in the average retail price driven by specialty controllers," added NPD. "The Kinect was the best-selling accessory item for the second month in a row, following its release in early November."

The biggest highlight for software was PC game sales, which were up a massive 62 per cent due to Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

A full breakdown of sales for the entire US year can be read here.

The best-selling games for December follow:

01 Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PC, NDS, Wii, PS3)
02 Just Dance (Wii)
03 World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (PC)
04 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Wii)
05 Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
06 Disney Epic Mickey (Wii)
07 Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii)
08 Michael Jackson The Experience (Wii, NDS, PSP)
09 NBA 2K11 (360,PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC)
10 Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (360, PS3, Wii, PC)

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