Xbox 360 hardware units went through the roof in November 2011, according to new figures from the NPD Group. As posted on Microsoft's official blog, the company sold a whopping 1.7 million units of the game console in the US last month, an increase of 23 percent compared to the same period a year ago. That's well above a prediction earlier this week by Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter who claimed that Microsoft sold 1.44 million Xbox 360 hardware units in November 2011.
In addition, Microsoft said that total retail revenue for the Xbox 360, which includes hardware, software and peripheral sales, came in at $1.4 billion for November 2011 in the US.
The other console makers didn't even come close to what the Xbox 360 in terms of sales. IndustryGamers.com reports that Nintendo sold 860,000 Wii consoles in November. Sales of the portable 3DS console has improved quite a bit compared to sales earlier this year, as Nintendo said that 795,000 3DS unit sales were generated last month. Sony didn't reveal specific unit sales (always a bad sign) but did say that the Playstation 3 saw a 70 percent increase in hardware sales in November and a 30 percent increase in software sales.
Even with all three console companies proclaiming huge sales, the NPD Group said that over all, US game sales were basically flat. Industrygames.com reports that in November 2011, the video game industry's retail revenues came in at an even $3 billion compared to $2.99 billion last year. Those numbers don't include digital game revenues. The NPD Group said that while unit sales for hardware were up, they were offset by price cuts for those consoles.
It's not a shocker to learn that Activision's first person shooter Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 was the number one best selling game in the month of November 2011. It was followed by Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in second place, EA's Battlefield 3 in third place, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Revelations and Just Dance 3 in fourth and fifth places respectively.
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