Initial NPD sales data reports are in for two hardcore Nintendo titles: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and MadWorld. Unfortunately, neither title seemed to have sold particularly well. Analysts were predicting a fairly huge month for Chinatown Wars, anticipating up to 450,000 units sold. In actuality, the game’s true performance was the complete opposite. GTA on the DS managed to move an estimated 88,704 copies. More disappointing news comes from the first sales data numbers on the ultra hardcore Wii title MadWorld. The title apparently sold less than 70,000 units. While NPD accounts for sales only in North America, it will be interesting to see how third-parties react to both of these latest figures.
Nintendo News
Nintendo Systems Account for 58.4% of Video Game Hardware Sold in March
Nintendo’s Wii™ home console and the Nintendo DS™ portable video game system comfortably led U.S. sales in March, according to data from the independent NPD Group, which tracks video game sales in the United States. Pokémon™ Platinum Version for Nintendo DS emerged as the No. 2 video game of the month, with nearly 805,000 units sold.
Wii tallied sales of nearly 601,000 in March, while Nintendo DS sold more than half a million, even in advance of the April 5 launch of the new Nintendo DSi™ system. Both Wii and Nintendo DS extended their lead as the best-selling video game systems of this generation.
VC
* Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars (Master System | 500pts) (17 April 2009)
* Secret Command (Master System | 500pts) (17 April 2009)
DSiWare
* Mixed Messages (Activision | 500pts) (17 April 2009)
Hardware sales
PlayStation 2 112K
PlayStation 3 218K
PSP 168K
Xbox 360 330K
Wii 601K
Nintendo DS 563K
Software sales
RESIDENT EVIL 5* CAPCOM USA 360 1 938K
POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION NINTENDO OF AMERICA NDS 2 805K
HALO WARS* MICROSOFT 360 3 639K
RESIDENT EVIL 5* CAPCOM USA PS3 4 585K
WII FIT W/BALANCE BOARD NINTENDO OF AMERICA WII 5 541K
MLB ’09: THE SHOW SONY PS3 6 305K
KILLZONE 2 SONY PS3 7 296K
WII PLAY W/REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA WII 8 281K
MARIO KART W/WHEEL NINTENDO OF AMERICA WII 9 278K
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE 360 10 205K
A very, very small number of DSi owners have experienced issues playing games on the system. However, this is mainly a result of attempting to play dirty cards.
“As is common after the launch of any new hardware system, we have fielded inquiries from consumers about their games. To date, an extremely small number (about 0.025 percent) of Nintendo DSi owners have inquired about playing their licensed DS games, though the most common issue has been related to dirty game cards. Nintendo recommends that players keep their game cards in the original packaging, or in protective cases to keep them free of dust and debris.” – Nintendo statement
A snippet from an official Ubisoft announcement regarding Assassin’s Creed 2 may point to a Wii release. Check it out below:
SAN FRANCISCO – April 16, 2009 – Today Ubisoft announced that Ubisoft Montreal is developing Assassin’s Creed II on all current-generation platforms for a scheduled Holiday 2009 release. The initial installment of Assassin’s Creed® was released in November 2007 to popular and critical success, selling 8 million copies worldwide and garnering awards such as Best Action Game 2007 from 1UP and Outstanding Achievement in Animation from the AIAS.
The main reason to think that the game could be Wii-bound is based on the fact that the game is in development for “all current-generation platforms.” The question is, does that exclude Wii? Not everyone considers the system to be next-gen. Looks like we’ll have to wait for a statement from Ubisoft.
Thanks to Jake for the news tip.
