NPD: May Game Sales Up 31%, Led By Pokemon

Author: by Staff

The NPD Group has released initial information on U.S. video game sales for May, up 31 percent to $274 million, as Pokemon Diamond for Nintendo's DS led all-format sales for a second month running. According to official sources and a number of independent reports, total industry sales were up 49 percent to $815 million for the month, with hardware sales up 79 percent to $221 million, and the Nintendo DS selling an impressive 423,000 units for the month. The rest of the hardware sales revealed that the Wii sold an impressive 338,000 units for the month, with the Xbox 360's sales down somewhat at around 155,000 units and the PlayStation 3 sold just 82,000 during May in the U.S. On the handheld side of things, the PSP trailed the DS but still sold around 221,000 units, and the Game Boy Advance sold just 80,000 units for the month. Rounding off the major players, the PlayStation 2 sold 188,000 units during May. The top-selling game, Pokemon Diamond, sold 331,000 units for the month, with its sister Pokemon Pearl selling 238,000 units, showing continued impressive form for Nintendo, as four first-party games for Wii or DS crowded the overall Top 5. The top ten by amount of copies sold for May 2007 in the U.S. is as follows: 1. Pokemon Diamond - DS (Nintendo) - 331,000 units 2. Mario Party 8 - Wii (Nintendo) - 314,000 units 3. Spider-Man 3 - PS2 (Activision) - 249,000 units 4. Pokemon Pearl - DS (Nintendo) - 238,000 units 5. Wii Play - Wii (Nintendo) - 227,000 units 6. Forza Motorsport 2 - Xbox 360 (Microsoft) - 217,000 units 7. Guitar Hero II - Xbox 360 (Activision) - 184,000 units 8. Spider-Man 3 - Xbox 360 (Activision) - 140,000 units 9. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars - Xbox 360 (Electronic Arts) - 138,000 units 10. Guitar Hero II - PS2 (Activision) - 131,000 units Further analyst and Gamasutra correspondent analysis on the NPD charts is expected early tomorrow, and Gamasutra will link to the in-depth commentary as it arrives. [Thanks to biz site GameDaily and to Bloomberg News for originally reporting some of the figures reprinted above.]