The NPD Group has released its numbers for videogame sales for December 2008. The industry raked in a total of $5.29 billion in sales of gaming hardware, software and accessories during the month of December, up 9% year-on-year.

Hardware sales for December 2009 were up by just 2% to $1.88 billion while software sales soared to $2.75 billion, an increase of 15%, and accessories increased by 8% to $622 million.

Anita Frazier, NPD Analyst commented on the new record for total industry sales: “This month marks the first time that industry revenue has topped $5B in any single month. In 1997, annual revenues were $5.1B, and now a single month has realized that level of sales.”

DS takes top honours

Nintendo dominated both the hardware and software charts, with the DS topping December sales with 3.04 million units sold followed by the Wii with 2.15 million units. Frazier had this to say about the performance of the DS: “The NDS captures the top-spot for hardware sales this month, marking the first time that any hardware system has sold in excess of 3 million units in any single month.”

However, she was quick to point out that the record for single-month console system sales still belongs to the PS2 which sold 2.7 million units in December 2002.

The Xbox 360 recorded sales of 1.44 million, beating the PS3 which only managed to sell 726 000 units. The PSP sold 1.02 million units to place it ahead of its older sibling while the PS2 sold 410 000 units to retain a spot on the chart.

Non-traditional games feature in Top 10

Wii Play was the number 1 selling game during December, selling 1.46 million copies to place it ahead of the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty: World at War which sold 1.33 million copies. Nintendo’s Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii followed at numbers 3 and 4 with 999 000 and 878 000 copies sold respectively.

The Wii version of Guitar Hero: World Tour was next with 859 000 copies. It is interesting to note Frazier’s comments about the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises, “While some have wondered if the popularity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band is waning, both properties realized their best month yet in dollar sales, and combined represent 16% of total software dollar sales this month.”

Gears of War 2 settled into sixth with 745 000 copies while EA’s Left 4 Dead sold 629 000 copies to secure number 7. Mario Kart DS proved it still has what it takes, selling 540 000 copies to finish eighth. Call of Duty: World at War for the PS3 sold 533 000 in ninth and Animal Crossing: Wild World rounded off the top ten with 497 000 copies.

Frazier commented “The variety of content on the top 10 list shows just how viable non-traditional content has become. Not only can these games succeed, they can end up on the top 10 list for the year.”

US Game Industry Totals for December 2008

Below is a list of the category, followed by the total and the change in brackets.

• Video games - $5.29 billion (+9%)
• Video games hardware - $1.88 billion (+2%)
• Video games software - $2.75 billion (+15%)
• Video game accessories - $662 million (+8%)

Hardware Sales for December 2008

• Nintendo DS – 3.04 million
• Wii –2.15 million
• Xbox 360 –1.44 million
• PSP – 1.02 million
• PS3 –726 000
• PS2 –410 000

Top Ten Software Sales for December 2008

• Wii Play with Wii Remote (Nintendo, Wii) – 1.46 million
• Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, Xbox 360) – 1.33 million
• Wii Fit with Balance Board (Nintendo, Wii) – 999 000
• Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel (Nintendo, Wii) – 878 000
• Guitar Hero: World Tour (Activision, Wii) – 859 000
• Gears of War 2 (Microsoft, Xbox 360) – 745 000
• Left 4 Dead (EA, Xbox 360) – 629 000
• Mario Kart DS (Nintendo, DS) – 540 000
• Call of Duty: World at War (Activision, PS3) – 533 000
• Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo, Wii) – 497 000

(Figures include Collector’s, Limited, Legendary and bundled editions)

Source: NPD