NPD: ME2 helps 360 overcome PS3

By Robert Purchese Published 12 February, 2010

But Nintendo is still ruler of all.

Xbox 360 sold comfortably more units than PlayStation 3 during January in North America.

The NPD Group recorded 322,800 sales for Microsoft's system, while Sony's machine shifted 276,900 units. The PS3 looked to have the upper hand after December's NPD results.

Xbox 360 momentum can be attributed to the release of Mass Effect 2, BioWare's widely celebrated sequel. The game finished as second best seller for January in the US, having shifted 572,100 copies.

But once again Nintendo was out in front and by some distance. Wii sold 456,800 units to be crowned January's champion, followed by DS with 422,200.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii lead software with 656,700 copies sold, and was joined in the top 10 by platform siblings Wii Fit Plus, Mario Kart Wii, Wii Sports Resort and Just Dance - Ubisoft's surprise champion.

Both SKUs of Modern Warfare 2 were present in their third month on sale, and newcomers Army of Two: The 40th Day and Darksiders managed to scrape in towards the bottom.

Hardware - January 2010

  1. Wii: 465,800
  2. Nintendo DS: 422,200
  3. Xbox 360: 332,800
  4. PlayStation 3: 276,900
  5. PSP: 100,100
  6. PlayStation 2: 41,600

Software - January 2010

  1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 656,700
  2. Mass Effect 2: 572,100
  3. Wii Fit Plus: 555,700
  4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: 326,700
  5. Mario Kart Wii: 310,900
  6. Wii Sports Resort: 297,600
  7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: 259,000
  8. Army of Two: The 40th Day: 246,500
  9. Just Dance: 191,900
  10. Darksiders: 171,200
Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • stevethemeat #1 2 years ago

    Great games will drive console sales, its as simple as that, except in the case of the Wii, which continues to sell by the shitload.
    Edited by 1 at 12/02/10 @ 09:09

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #2 2 years ago

    Reggie may have been wrong to bet that NSMBWii would outsell MW2 (oh, the acronyms!) in the run up to Christmas 2009, but I've a feeling the tables will be turned if we keep the bet running until Christmas 2010.

  • Vice.Destroyer #3 2 years ago

    Reggie did put in a little caveat, didn't he? Choose just one platform version. Total sales of either Xbox or PS3 will be less than total sales of NSMB. I can't be sure, since I don't have the stats to hand, but I think he was right.

    Can anyone confirm?

  • Stompy #4 2 years ago

    I bet Sony and MS would turn their backs on the hardcore gamers in a heartbeat if they knew they could corner the casual market. It's just such a money-spinner. And I get to play games with my girlfriend AND NMH2!

  • JetSetWilly #5 2 years ago

    Reggie says NSMBWii will outsell MW2 on ONE platform.
    Edited by 1 at 12/02/10 @ 09:53

  • Murton #6 2 years ago

    Stompy: I don't think so, both companies are a little too savvy for that. MS know that if they turn face and gun for the casual crowd Sony will corner the hardcore market and vicey versey, which is why both are going for a piecemeal approach through Natal and the Wand and even then they're trying make their casual offerings appeal to the core market as well.

  • Teamallstar #7 2 years ago

    Why would Microsoft go for the casual Market where people on average buy less than 2 games for every console purchased, when their current attach rate is about 7 per 360 sold!!

    I can see sales of the 360 and ps3 overtaking the wii by the end of the year.

  • Monkey_Puncher #8 2 years ago

    I wish I could, even with the stories that Wii is slowing down, it still seems to be selling like cakes what is hot from where I'm sitting.

    I'm not sure what their line-up is this year, but then all they really need is more Wii Fit and some kind of New Sports Resort with maybe a game of Badminton and they'll be selling gangbusters again.

  • irve77 #9 2 years ago

    Nintendo really don't care if the attach rate is low , they make a profit on the hardware so if you take someone like me that has a Wii and has only bought 1 game for it in the 8 months i've owned it they still rub their hands with glee.

    if it were MS or Sony they would be crying as it wouldn't cover their costs.

  • malexous #10 2 years ago

    "buy less than 2 games"

    http://pl aystation.joystiq.com/2008/04/2...

  • geeza2020 #11 2 years ago

    Who the hell is buying Wii's? I'm constantly hearing about it being the highest selling console at the moment, but i only know one person who owns one, and she hates the damn thing. I suppose i dont know that many grannies, so i guess they're the ones who are buying the Wii's?

  • captainrentboy #12 2 years ago

    Natal and PS3'S wand thing could take a fair chunk out of the Wii's chrimbo sales this year but only if they advertise the products well. I know that seems obvious and to be fair to them their TV adverts have improved and have got to the point of what they're actually advertising a lot better, but remember how bloody awful they used to be? Cryptic and highly stylised bullshit, adverts that looked pretty but didn't really work. So if they focus on the party aspect of their new product like every single Wii advert does, they could do very well.

    Although the Wii is doing stonkingly well, I think a lot of folk who own one are beginning to cotton on to its limitations as we're getting a shit load being brought back and traded in towards one of the other two in my workplace. I know it's only one store but the amount we get back really is rediculous.

  • secombe #13 2 years ago

    I was going to say the Wii attach rate must be at least 4 or 5, based on the software unit figures released not so long ago.

  • Moribundman #14 2 years ago

    ME2 coming in second is a fairly stunning achievement in its own right, coming out in the US 4 days before the end of the month one a single (console) platform. NSMB is essentially a platform seller and had all month to rack up those figs...

  • Quixz #15 2 years ago

    ME2 is putting up some good numbers but it's annoying to see the Wii still leading.

  • Mono_X #16 2 years ago

    @Teamallstar

    The gap between the attach rates between the Xbox 360 is nowhere near that wide, the Xbox's attach rate will naturally be higher because it has been available for a year longer. It's also worth noting that the Xbox attach rate has been dropping recently.The more popular a console gets, the more it's attach rate tends to drop.
    And even though the Xbox 360's attach rate is higher, the sheer size of the Wii's user base makes it have better sales.

    7 games X 35 million = 245 million games sold.
    5 games X 65 million = 325 million games sold.

  • Badassbab #17 2 years ago

    Hurrah for Wii Shit and Wii WaterSports....gaming at it's finest!
    Edited by 1 at 13/02/10 @ 21:20

  • malloc #18 2 years ago

    Hang on, NSMBWii is a good game init? So is Mario Kart for that matter. What's wrong with Wii Fit for crying out loud?