After a dismal September, the entire gaming industry looked to October to set off the fall fire of triple-A titles. With Batman: Arkham City and Battlefield 3 headling October, the NPD group was certain that there would be growth over last October, and indeed there was. The two titles racked up a total of 3.5 million units sold, helping October to a one percent increase over last October. The top ten titles of last month can be seen below:
- Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)**
- Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3)**
- NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC)
- Rage (360, PS3, PC)
- Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360)
- Dark Souls (PS3, 360)**
- Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP)**
- Forza Motorsport 4 (360)**
- Gears of War 3 (360)**
- FIFA Soccer 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, 3DS)
**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)
On the hardware side of things, the Xbox 360 continued its dominance, moving a whopping 393,000 units. The PS3, which numbers are still estimates, moved 250,000 units, and the Wii nearly totalled that same number. After a poor NPD sales outing the past few months, the 3DS showed signs of life with its price drop, selling 250,000 units.
"On an average sales per week basis, October 2011 unit sales of 3DS, DS, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360 platforms all saw an increase over September 2011, which was a 5-week retail month (Oct '11 was a four-week retail month)," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "Between Uncharted 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and Zelda: Skyward Sword, I expect November to be a huge month for new physical retail sales.”
