NPD With Report That Wii Fronts Video Game Industry To "Biggest Sales Month Ever" In December

NPD Group's retail data released last night discloses that December was the video game industry's "biggest sales month ever", besting last December by 4%.  While it wasn't enough to match up with 2008's combined record-smashing revenues, December's sales rally saved 2009 from an even dismal finish, leaving aggregate industry revenue 8 points down, or $19.7 billion compared to last year's $21.4 billion.

""January and February were both up, and since the decline that began in March, only September experienced growth," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said, though ending on an upbeat note: "The big sales [in December], particularly on the hardware front, [are] a positive move for the industry headed into what will hopefully be a recovery year in 2010.""  We certainly hope so too.

Hardware (units)

3.81m – Wii

3.31m – Nintendo DS

1.36m – PlayStation 3

1.31m – Xbox 360

655k – PSP

333k – PlayStation 2

Software (units)

2.82m – New Super Mario Bros [Wii]

2.41m – Wii Fit Plus [Wii]

1.79m – Wii Sports Resort [Wii]

1.63m – Modern Warfare 2 [Xbox 360]

1.12m – Modern Warfare 2 [PS3]

1.01m – Wii Play w/remote [Wii]

936k – Mario Kart w/wheel [Wii]

783k – Assassin's Creed 2 [Xbox 360]

729k – Left 4 Dead 2 [Xbox 360]

657k – Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story [DS]