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L.A. Noire, Duke Nukem top slumping June sales - NPD

One-two punch from Take-Two tops best-seller chart as total industry revenues down 10 percent to $1.03 billion.

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The gaming industry is enduring a summer swoon, as the industry-tracking NPD Group today announced its June retail sales figures, showing shrinking revenues year-over-year across the board.

L.A. Noire was on top for the second straight month.
L.A. Noire was on top for the second straight month.

Even with grim news for the industry as a whole, there were some individual winners. Take-Two Interactive fared better than the rest for the month, with L.A. Noire (on the publisher's Rockstar label) and Duke Nukem Forever (on its 2K Games brand) taking the top two spots on the charts. It was the second consecutive month L.A. Noire claimed the title of best-seller, while Duke Nukem settled for second place in its debut.

Other new releases to make a splash on the charts included Sony's Infamous 2, which came in third place. According to Sony, its PlayStation 3 exclusive was the single best-selling SKU of the month (L.A. Noire and Duke Nukem's sales were split between versions for multiple platforms).

Microsoft also touted some of its own NPD stats for the month, most notably revealing that the Xbox 360 sold 507,000 systems for the month, "nearly twice as many units as other current-generation platforms." The Xbox 360 maker went on to note that the total hardware, software, and accessory spend on its system total $350 million, with the Xbox 360 editions of L.A. Noire, Duke Nukem Forever, and Call of Duty: Black Ops all among the 10 best-selling SKUs of the month.

Nintendo's latest handheld also placed a new game in the top 10, as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D finished in fifth place, just ahead of 2010's sales endurance champs Call of Duty: Black Ops and NBA 2K11.

Another of last year's hits, Just Dance 2, grooved its way to the 10th spot on the charts. Shortly after the NPD numbers were released, Ubisoft proclaimed that the rhythm game's June performance was enough to put it over the top as the best-selling third-party Wii game of all time. The publisher also revealed that its Just Dance games have shipped 14 million units worldwide.

The total take at US retailers for PC, console, and handheld software came out to a little less than $509 million, which was off 10 percent from a June 2010 slate propelled by hits like Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Gaming hardware sales were also down 9 percent, to $366.6 million, unable to keep pace with year-ago sales during the month the slimline Xbox 360 launched.

[UPDATE]: Microsoft sent out an amended announcement of its NPD recap, saying that four of the top 10 best-selling SKUs of the month were Xbox 360 games. NBA 2K11 was the omitted entry from its previous missive.

JUNE 2011 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total retail sales: $1.03 billion (-10%)
Total non-PC retail sales: $995 million (-10%)
Non-PC hardware: $366.6 million (-9%)
Total software: $508.9 million (-10%)
Non-PC software: $469.5 million (-12%)
Accessories: $158.9 million (-11%)

TOP 10 GAMES FOR JUNE 2011
Title (Platforms) - Publisher
1. L.A. Noire (360, PS3) - Rockstar Games
2. Duke Nukem Forever (360, PS3, PC) - Take-Two Interactive
3. Infamous 2 (PS3) - Sony
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (360, PS3, PSP, Wii, 3DS, DS, PC) - Disney Interactive Studios
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) - Nintendo
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, DS, Wii, PC) - Activision
7. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP, PC) - Take-Two Interactive
8. Mortal Kombat (360, PS3) - Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
9. Cars 2 (DS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC) - Disney Interactive Studios
10. Just Dance 2 (Wii) - Ubisoft

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