NPD sales for November Are Out

We have the NPD sales for you, and it’s been a busy month, especially after all that Black Friday craze. The results were supposed to be available yesterday, but it was delayed by one day, and here it is.

Check them out below.

“Overall, the new physical portion of industry sales was essentially flat versus last November. While content sales grew substantially thanks to a great slate of new content, a decline in average retail price in all categories with the exception of portable hardware resulted in flat dollar sales even though unit sales grew for console hardware, as well as console, portable, and pc software,” explained NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

In terms of hardware, Xbox dominated again, although exact figures aren’t available yet. “This is the fourth consecutive month in which the Xbox 360 has been the top selling hardware system,” said Frazier. “The gap between 360 sales and sales of the next best selling platform was the largest we’ve seen since December 2008 when the Nintendo DS was the top selling system.”

As for software, November was quite impressive. Said Frazier, “This November marks the best November on record for sales of new physical content. November 2008 was previously the best November on record.”

Microsoft’s PR:

November 2011 highlights from the NPD Group, an independent market research firm that tracks the digital entertainment industry, include:

· Holding 49 percent share of the overall current-generation console market, Xbox 360 sold 1.7 million units in November, maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. for 2011. This marks the ninth consecutive month Xbox 360 has had more than 40 percent of the current-generation console market share, and eleventh straight month the Xbox was the top selling console in the U.S.

· Xbox 360 unit sales grew 23 percent year over year in November.

· Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in November (hardware, software and accessories) reached $1.4 billion, the most for any console in the U.S.

· During the month of November, Xbox 360 held four of the top 10 console game titles including: “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,” “Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim,” “Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” and “Battlefield 3″.

Overall:

Total retail sales: $3 billion (+0.4%)
Total non-PC retail sales: $2.93 billion (-0.5%)
Total software: $1.74 billion (+16%)
Non-PC hardware: $982.4 million (-9%)
Non-PC software: $1.67 billion (+15%)
Accessories: $273.8 million (-34%)

Software:

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, WII, PC)** Activision Blizzard ~9 million
2. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (360, PS3, PC)** Bethesda Softworks
3. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)** Electronic Arts
4. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC) Ubisoft
5. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360) Ubisoft
6. Madden NFL 12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2)** Electronic Arts
7. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (PS3)** Sony – 700k
8. Saints Row: The Third (360, PS3, PC)** THQ
9. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (WII) ** Nintendo
10. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)** Warner Bros. Interactive