Somebody at Microsoft must be doing a happy dance, as the latest data from The NPD Group indicates that not only did the Xbox 360 outsell the PlayStation 2 for the first time, but Madden NFL 08 on the original Xbox outsold Madden NFL 08 on the Nintendo Wii.
Of course, in terms of hardware sales, both the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS outsold the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 combined. So Nintendo is obviously getting the heartiest laugh of all.
The NPD Group’s data also showed that the videogame industry is having a bang-up year on the whole.
All told, game sales are up 46 percent year-ver-year (to $993 million), with software sales up 22 percent and hardware sales up 94 percent.
The top-selling games for the recently concluded period were:
Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360): 896,600 units sold
Madden NFL 08 (PS2): 643,600 units sold
BioShock (Xbox 360): 490,900 units sold
Madden NFL 08 (PS3): 336,200K units sold
Wii Play with remote: 256,800 units sold
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii): 218,100 units sold
Mario Strikers: Charged (Wii): 147,400 units sold
Guitar Hero 2 with Guitar (PS2): 145,400 units sold
Mario Party 8 (Wii): 138,300 units sold
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the ’80s (PS2): 127,100 units sold
