December NPD: More like DSember

Michael Pachter predicted "around 3 million" Wii consoles sold in the US in December. Right company, right ridiculously high number — wrong console. According to the NPD, the DS Lite sold a record-breaking 3.04 million units in December, the most any console has sold in any month. The Wii did fine, sure, but the DS outsold all three Sony systems combined. According to Nintendo's press release on the news, the DS "claimed 72% of all portable system sales in 2008." Take that, everybody.

- 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%)

Software, however, didn't see a commensurate rush of sales. In fact, only one DS game made it on the list of top 10 best-selling games for the month, and it's the same one that made it into the Top 10 for the year: Mario Kart DS, which came out in 2005.

Top 10 Games of December 2008

1. Wii Play w/ remote – Wii – Nintendo – 1.46 million
2. Call of Duty: World at War – Xbox 360 – Activision – 1.33 million*
3. Wii Fit w/ balance board – Wii – Nintendo – 999K
4. Mario Kart Wii w/ wheel – 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 – DS – Nintendo – 540K
9. Call of Duty: World at War – PS3 – Activision – 533K
10. Animal Crossing: City Folk – Wii – Nintendo – 497K*

* Includes Collector's, Limited, Legendary, and Bundled Editions

Top 10 Games of Calendar Year 2008

1. Wii Play w/ remote – Wii – Nintendo – 5.28 million
2. Mario Kart Wii w/ wheel – Wii – Nintendo – 5.00 million
3. Wii Fit w/ balance board – 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 – DS – Nintendo – 1.65 million