December NPD: Slowdown

It's not surprising to see that hardware sales rose significantly in December, but what is surprising is the comparatively small progress made by the Wii — only a 5% increase from November, compared to some big gains for the competition. People who are paid a lot more than us predicted the Wii would smash the 3 million sales barrier, but nope. We're putting this down to a lack of holiday season supply, or November's figures simply being amazing.

On the other hand, selling 2.15 million of anything in a single month isn't too shabby!

- DS: 3.04m 1.47m (94%)
- Wii: 2.15m 110K (5%)
- Xbox 360: 1.44m 604K (72%)
- PSP: 1.02m 599K (142%)
- PS3: 726K 348K (92%)
- PS2: 410K 204K (99%)

December's best-selling games are past the fold, along with 2008's top sellers. Spoiler: Nintendo software kicked ass.
Top 10 games of December 2008

1. Wii Play — Wii — Nintendo — 1.46 million
2. Call of Duty: World at War — Xbox 360 — Activision — 1.33 million*
3. Wii Fit – Wii — Nintendo — 999K
4. Mario Kart Wii — Wii — Nintendo — 979K
5. Guitar Hero: World Tour — Wii — Activision — 850K*
6. Gears of War 2 — Xbox 360 — Microsoft — 745K*
7. Left 4 Dead — Xbox 360 — Electronic Arts — 629K
8. Mario Kart — DS — Nintendo — 540K
9. Call of Duty: World at War — PS3 — Activision — 533K
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk — Wii — Nintendo — 497K*

Top 10 games of 2008

1. Wii Play — Wii — Nintendo — 5.28 million
2. Mario Kart Wii — Wii — Nintendo — 5.00 million
3. Wii Fit — Wii — Nintendo — 4.53 million
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl — Wii — Nintendo — 4.17 million
5. Grand Theft Auto IV — Xbox 360 — Take–Two — 3.29 million*
6. Call of Duty: World at War — Xbox 360 — Activision — 2.75 million*
7. Gears of War 2 — Xbox 360 — Microsoft — 2.31 million*
8. Grand Theft Auto IV — PS3 — Take–Two — 1.89 million*
9. Madden NFL '09 — Xbox 360 — Electronic Arts — 1.87 million*
10. Mario Kart — DS — Nintendo — 1.65 million

* Includes collector's, limited, and bundled editions.