According to estimates released by The NPD Group, U.S. consumers were largely unmotivated to open their wallets for either Nintendo’s new Wii U console or Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II last month, spending a total of 22% less at retailers than they did in December 2011. Consumer spending on new retail video game hardware, software, and accessories totaled $3.2 billion between November 25 and December 29, resulting in $13.26 billion in total spending in the sector for the year. This is down a depressing 22% from 2011’s $16.99 billion.
Total 2012 hardware sales were down 20% when compared to 2011, with the Xbox 360 topping the December chart with 1.4 million units sold (down 17.6% year-over-year). Nintendo’s 3DS came in a respectable second with 1.25 million new units sold (down 21.8%), followed by the Wii with 475K (down 55.2%), and the DS with 470K (down 25.4%).
Nintendo’s new Wii U console sold 460K during December, which fell short of the 604K Wii units that were sold during that system’s launch in December 2006. Despite the lower Wii U unit sales, Nintendo did pull in about 3% more in total revenue on the system thanks to its higher price point. Nintendo also noted that total Wii U sales in the U.S. as of December 2012 stand at 890,000 units.
As of the time of publication Sony did not release sales figures for the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, or PSP.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II unsurprisingly topped NPD’s new physical retail software sales charts for both December 2012 and for the full year, which was down 25% for the month and 23% for the year ($1.54 billion and $2.67 billion respectively).
Specific software sales were not provided as part of NPD’s public report, however, we do know that New Super Mario Bros. U (which failed to make the all-formats top 10) sold 337K during December 2012, bringing its U.S. life-to-date sales to 580K. New Super Mario Bros. 2 for the 3DS (which did make the chart at #9) has now reached 1.45 million in LTD U.S. sales.
NPD’s top 10 all-formats software sales chart for December 2012 and all of 2012 read as follows:
Top 10 best-selling games December 2012
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
- Just Dance 4 (Wii, 360, Wii U, PS3)
- Halo 4 (360)
- Assassin’s Creed 3 (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
- Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, Wii U)
- Far Cry 3 (360, PS3, PC)
- NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, PSP, PC)
- Skylander Giants (Wii, 360, PS3, 3DS, Wii U)
- New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
- FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, Wii U, 3DS, PSP)
Top 10 best-selling games 2012
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
- Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, Wii U)
- Halo 4 (360)
- Assassin’s Creed 3 (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
- Just Dance 4 (Wii, 360, Wii U, PS3)
- NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, Wii U, PC)
- Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)
- Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)
- FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV, 3DS, Wii U, PSP)
