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Black Ops Tops NPD Again, Console Sales Up
Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops maintained its now customary spot atop the NPD February 2011 video game sales charts, and made history in the process. NPD's Anita Frazier broke the news in a press release, stating, "Call of Duty: Black Ops was the best-selling game in February, retaining the top selling spot since launch in November. It has now become the best-selling game in history, topping Wii Play." The month also saw strong debuts by Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds, Bulletstorm, and Killzone 3. It should be noted that Bulletstorm and Killzone 3 did not launch until February 22, and Killzone (a PS3 exclusive) tallied all its sales on one platform.
Elsewhere in the industry, there was more good financial news. Total physical sales were up 4 percent, including hardware, software, and accessories. Console sales were especially good, up 10 percent over the same month in 2010, despite a decline in the portable market of 27 percent. However, with 3DS on the near horizon, NPD expects much better handheld sales for the rest of the year.
In the home console market, the Xbox 360 was the top seller, boasting its biggest non-holiday month ever. However, all three systems saw sales increases over the previous month.
Top Ten Games of February 2011 (physical retail sales)
1 Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) – Activision
2 Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (360, PS3) – Capcom
3 Just Dance 2 (Wii) – Ubisoft
4 NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, PC) – Take 2 Interactive
5 Dead Space 2 (360, PS3, PC) – Electronic Arts
6 Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, 360, PS3) – Majesco
7 Bulletstorm (360, PS3, PC) – Electronic Arts
8 Killzone 3 (PS3) – Sony
9 Michael Jackson The Experience (Wii, DS, PSP) – Ubisoft
10 Mario Sports Mix (Wii) – Nintendo
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