NPD December Sales: PS3 Thrashed, Xbox 360 Good, Wii Wins…

The NPD December 2008 sales numbers are in. That’s the console sales numbers in the US only. They pretty much show what everyone was expecting. The Wii continued to triumph, beaten only by the seemingly unstoppable DS, which is still a win/win scenario for Nintendo.

The Xbox 360 fared very well, selling 1.44 million units in the Christmas month. Microsoft is sure to be celebrating this huge sales number, plus the fact they beat out Sony’s console pretty significantly. The PlayStation 3 came in second from last with roughly half the number of units that the Xbox 360 sold.

The sales numbers were to be expected after the Xbox 360 price cut and Sony remaining adamant that their console offers people more for their money, which it does, but that’s a different story.
Here are the statistics for you number-lovers:

Hardware 12/2008:

1. DS (3.04 million)
2. Wii (2.15 million)
3. Xbox 360 (1.44 million)
4. PSP (1.02 million)
5. PS3 (726k)
6. PS2 (410k)

Software 12/2008:

1. Wii Play with remote – Wii (1.46 million)
2. Call of Duty: World at War – Xbox 360 (1.33 million)
3. Wii Fit with balance board – Wii (999k)
4. Mario Kart Wii with wheel – Wii (979k)
5. Guitar Hero: World Tour – Wii (850k)
6. Gears of War 2 – Xbox 360 (745k)
7. Left 4 Dead – Xbox 360 (629k)
8. Mario Kart – DS (540k)
9. Call of Duty: World at War – PS3 (533k)
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk – Wii (497k)

Top Selling Games of 2008

1. Wii Play with remote – Wii (5.28 million)
2. Mario Kart Wii with wheel – Wii (5.00 million)
3. Wii Fit with balance board – Wii (4.53 million)
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl – Wii (4.17 million)
5. Grand Theft Auto IV – Xbox 360 (3.29 million)
6. Call of Duty: World at War – Xbox 360 (2.75 million)
7. Gears of War 2 - Xbox 360 (2.31 million)
8. Grand Theft Auto IV – PS3 (1.89 million)
9. Madden NFL ’09 - Xbox 360 – Electronic Arts (1.87 million)
10. Mario Kart – DS – Nintendo (1.65 million)