2002 Industry Sales Up, Vice City On Top In December

Take-Two, the second largest publisher, sold 1.4 million units of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It has sold 4.4 million units since the game's launch in October -- selling at double the rate of Grand Theft Auto 3 over the same period.

Activision, the third largest publisher, saw its sales drop in December drop by 22 percent from December 2001. Analysts fear the company is becoming a one-hit wonder, relying too much on its Tony Hawk franchise.

THQ's sales in December rose by 25 percent over the same period in 2001.

Just one Xbox game and one Gamecube game cracked the top-20 list for the month of December. PS2 and Game Boy Advance games dominated sales last month. According to NPDFunworld, the top-20 console/handheld games in December were: 1. GRAND THEFT AUTO:VICE CITY (PS2, ROCKSTAR GAMES, OCT'02, $49) 2. DRAGON BALL Z:BUDOKAI (PS2 INFOGRAMES, DEC'02, $50) 3. MADDEN NFL 2003 (PS2, ELECTRONIC ARTS, AUG'02, $48) 4. TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL (XBX, UBI SOFT, NOV'02, $48) 5. LORD OF RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (PS2, ELECTRONIC ARTS, OCT'02, $50) 6. ZELDA: LINK TO PAST (GBA, NINTENDO OF AMERICA, DEC'02, $27) 7. YU-GI-OH! ETERNAL (GBA, KONAMI OF AMERICA, OCT'02, $29) 8. BOND 007: NIGHTFIRE (PS2, ELECTRONIC ARTS, NOV'02, $49) 9. TONY HAWK'S PRO SKATER 4 (PS2, ACTIVISION, OCT'02, $47) 10. MORTAL KOMBAT: DEADLY ALLIANCE (PS2, MIDWAY, NOV'02, $49) 11. KINGDOM HEARTS (PS2, SQUARE EA, SEP'02, $49) 12. ATV OFF ROAD FURY 2 (PS2, SONY COMPUTER ENT., NOV'02, $40) 13. WWE: SHUT YOUR MOUTH (PS2, THQ, OCT'02, $49) 14. METROID PRIME (GCN, NINTENDO OF AMERICA, NOV'02, $49) 15. METROID FUSION (GBA, NINTENDO OF AMERICA, NOV'02, $29) 16. HARRY POTTER: CHAMBER OF SECRETS (GBA, ELECTRONIC ARTS, NOV'02, $32) 17. GRAN TURISMO 3:A-SPEC (PS2, SONY COMPUTER ENT., JUL'01, $20) 18. SOCOM:U.S. NAVY SEALS (PS2, SONY COMPUTER ENT., AUG'02, $60 19. NBA LIVE 2003 (PS2, ELECTRONIC ARTS, OCT'02, $49) 20. YOSHI'S ISLAND:MARIO3 (GBA, NINTENDO OF AMERICA, SEP'02, $27)