Hasta La Gadget!

We already took a look at gaming hardware sales for September, so now it’s time to pore over the software chart for the month. Unsurprisingly, Madden NFL 13 took the top spot for the month of September, selling over 2.55 million copies according to NPD (via NeoGAF). NPD told GameSpot that Madden NFL 13 sales managed to climb 11% over Madden NFL 12 sales in its first month, which is definitely good news for Electronic Arts and its yearly football franchise.

Of course, we expect Madden to sell well, so the fact that it took the top spot in September is no surprise. What is surprising, however, is that Borderlands 2 managed to come in second place. According to NPD’s numbers, Borderlands 2 sold 1.48 million copies in September, and analyst Anita Frazier tells Game Informer that represents a 234% increase over the first month sales of the original Borderlands. It’s important to remember that NPD only reports sales numbers for physical media, so none of Borderlands 2‘s digital PC sales are counted in that 1.48 million figure. In other words, Borderlands 2 could have easily sold more than 2 million copies during the month of September.

Also interesting: Guild Wars 2 managed to beat out the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria. Of course, we’re assuming that most of the sales for both Guild Wars 2 and Mists of Pandaria were digital, so it’s hard to say that Guild Wars 2 is the clear winner with any certainty. Still, it’s interesting to see that NPD has Guild Wars 2 outselling Mists of Pandaria. Have a look at the full top ten software list for September:

1. Madden NFL 13 – Electronic Arts (360, PS3, Wii, Vita)
2. Borderlands 2 – Take-Two Interactive (360, PS3, PC)
3. FIFA Soccer 13 – Electronic Arts (PS3, 360, Vita, Wii, 3DS, PSP)
4. New Super Mario Bros. 2 – Nintendo (3DS)
5. Guild Wars 2 – NCSoft (PC)
6. NHL 13 – Electronic Arts (360, PS3)
7. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria – Activision Blizzard (PC)
8. NCAA Football 13 – Electronic Arts (360, PS3)
9. LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes – Warner Bros. Interactive (360, Wii, 3DS, DS, PS3, Vita, PC)
10. Battlefield 3 – Electronic Arts (360, PS3, PC)

In September, we saw Battlefield 3 claw its way back into the top 10, most likely due to the recent release of the Battlefield 3 Premium Edition. Overall, it was a good month for sports games (and Electronic Arts), but it wasn’t so great for game sales in general. Software sales were down 14% year-over-year, but we can probably expect them to climb this month as we begin to close in on the holiday season. Stay tuned.

Borderlands 2 makes strong showing on September software chart is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Console gaming is big business; there’s no doubt about it. But the industry actually saw a pretty steep decline in sales last month. Research firm NPD Group reported that total US video game sales hit $848.3 million during September. While that might seem like a respectable number, that’s down 24% from the same time last year, which was over $1 billion.

By category, hardware sales (consoles, etc.) took the steepest loss, with a 39% slump to $210.9 million. Software sales (games, etc.) were down 18% from $609.7 million last year to $497.4 million this year. Accessories fell by 11% to $139.9 million. So, it seems the past year hasn’t been a good one for gaming companies.

However, Microsoft was quick to toot their horn, claiming that last month was the 21st consecutive month that the Xbox led the console race by selling 270,000 Xbox 360 units and owning 49% of the console market share, making that the 19th month in a row that Microsoft owned at least 40% of the console market share.

However, Nintendo‘s upcoming Wii U console will soon be the newest and hottest console on the market, and if the launch goes well, it could end Microsoft’s streak. The Wii U may also bring the gaming industry out of its slump and encourage more gamers to buy its products. We’re guessing that the lack in new hardware was the reason consumers weren’t spending much on gaming products in the first place.

[via CNET]

Gaming sales down 24% from a year ago is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It seems a fire broke out recently at an unnamed assembly plant in Japan, according to Nintendo, but that did not, in any way, impact the production of the Nintendo Wii U. David Gibson, an analyst for the Australian bank Macquarie in Tokyo, Japan, just downgraded Wii U’s shipping forecast by a million units, where he informed his Twitter followers that he fully expected Nintendo to perform a revision on their revenue forecast this coming October 24th. Of course, we have to take into consideration what analysts say, but does that mean what they share is the full truth? Anyone can come up with their own take on the situation.

Nintendo performed some firefighting of their own, both on the ground as well as in the virtual world, that they will not downwardly revise their global Wii U shipping forecast, claiming that “As of now, we see no impacts on our Wii U console production scheme”. I guess we will know when November 18th arrives as the Wii U is released in the US and later at the end of November, in Europe.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Nintendo Wii U launch day games for North America revealed, Wii U developers already complaining about underperforming CPU,

The Wii U has a pretty impressive launch line-up, to be sure, but it seems that one of the best launch titles for the console will be Ubisoft‘s ZombiU. We’ve already seen and heard some great things about ZombiU, and today we’re finding out more about the game’s story and characters thanks to a new development diary Ubisoft has shared with IGN. Needless to say, it’s going to be a bloody and scary experience, but it seems that Ubisoft has made an effort to connect the events in the game with real-world people.

We already know that the story in ZombiU is centered around apocalyptic prophecies made by John Dee, an actual mathematician and astrologer who served as an adviser to Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. Set in London in 2012, Dee’s Black Prophecy is being realized, and the game focuses on three different survivors as they fight their way through the zombie-overrun city.

The game will play out across many real-world locations in London, including Buckingham Palace. The three main characters – The Prepper, a survivalist who is prepared for the apocalypse; Sandra, a leader of the secret society named “The Ravens of Dee”; and Dr. Walker, who is frantically searching for a cure to the infection – all have a different take on Dee’s prophecies, and will have to use their unique skill sets to make sure that they all live through the zombie outbreak. Have a look at the development diary below:

ZombiU, despite having an incredibly stupid name, is shaping up to be a really great looking game. There are plenty of Wii U launch titles to get excited about, but ZombiU might just take the cake. We’re definitely excited to see more of this game, and even more excited to get our hands on it at launch, so keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more details.

ZombiU story detailed in new development diary is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’re not sure if we should always cheer figures that reflect sedentary behavior. Still, chalk one up for greater (if superficial) gender equality. Nielsen finds that, as of this past March, men who owned a modern game console like the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Wii were using their TVs almost as much as women: while males in the broader population typically spend 37 fewer minutes in front of the big screen every day than females, that gap shrank to a negligible 11 minutes when console use came into play. Unfortunately, the agency doesn’t say just what’s getting men to tune in for that much longer. Gaming is the most likely culprit, but a raft of streaming video options could have some of those refined couch potatoes watching Hulu or Netflix instead of playing one more round of Gears of War. If consoles have people of all genders spending more time together, we’re in favor of it; given that men still spend over twice as much time on consoles as women, though, it’s clear there’s still a bridge to cross if we want more of a balance in the kinds of TV activity we enjoy.

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Alt, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo

Nielsen says game consoles get men to use TV more: hurray, we think originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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