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Madden-less August sacks software sales - NPD

Movement of EA pigskin sim into September reporting period has software sales down 37 percent; Deus Ex takes top spot on chart dominated by casual and licensed titles.

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Last month marked a longtime low for the game industry, with the NPD Group reporting that monthly US retail game sales hit their lowest point since October 2006. The industry-tracking firm today released its August sales report, revealing another exceedingly rare occurrence. For the first time this century, Electronic Arts' Madden franchise has not topped the NPD's August sales chart.

Deus Ex topped a light month at retail.
Deus Ex topped a light month at retail.

Because the annual football sim was released later than normal on August 30, it missed the NPD Group's August reporting window, contributing to a drastic decline of 23 percent for total game industry retail sales. Hardware, software, and accessories combined for $669.9 million in the US for August, down from $873.8 million the year before, and down even from July's notable low of $707.7 million.

Software was down the most, with the absence of Madden contributing to sales shrinking 37 percent to $285.9 million. And while the NPD Group noted that hardware sales were up month-over-month on a unit basis (thanks in part to price cuts for the PlayStation 3 and 3DS hardware), system sales were still down 12 percent compared to the previous August.

As for what did sell, Square Enix's franchise prequel Deus Ex: Human Revolution took the top spot on the charts in its debut month, stiff-arming EA Sports' other football offering, NCAA 12, to second place. In its 10th month of release, Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops was the third-best-selling game, with Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D the only other title targeted at core crowds to make the charts, finishing in ninth overall.

NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier offered a silver lining to the month's numbers, saying Call of Duty: Black Ops map packs and the release of Fruit Ninja Kinect helped drive digital sales.

"Even though year to date performance of the new physical portion of the industry is down 5 percent, more than half of industry sales in this channel are still to be realized in the back four months of the year," Frazier said. "Given the strong release schedule in the coming months, new physical retail sales could still be flat to slightly up once full year sales are tallied."

AUGUST 2011 US GAME SALES
OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Total retail sales: $669.9 million (-23%)
Total non-PC retail sales: $648.9 million (-21%)
Non-PC hardware: $249.4 million (-12%)
Non-PC software: $264.8 million (-34%)
Accessories: $134.7 million (-1%)
Total software: $285.9 million (-37%)

TOP 10 GAMES FOR AUGUST 2011
Title (Platforms) - Publisher
1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360, PS3, PC) - Square Enix
2. NCAA Football 2012 (360, PS3) - Electronic Arts
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC) - Activision Blizzard
4. Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension (NDS, Wii, PS3) - Disney Interactive Studios
5. Cars 2 (DS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC) - Disney Interactive Studios
6. Just Dance Summer Party (Wii) - Ubisoft
7. Just Dance 2 (Wii) - Ubisoft
8. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC) - Disney Interactive Studios
9. The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS) - Nintendo
10. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Wii, 360, PS3) - Majesco

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VckGanteng

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I think I know how the list on November. The no.1 will be a game with first-letter 'T'. Spoiler: T** ***** ******* * : ******.

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KrazzyDJ

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Lego Pirates of the Caribbean in the top 10 at this time ??? That alone speaks enough !!!

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warhawk-geeby

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@steelmouth Yeah.. just been to town at the weekend to pick up Resistance 3. Turns out everywhere has gone Gears 3 crazy. Midnight launch an everything.. You may be right on this one :P

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warhawk-geeby

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@DanielL5583 Skyrim though!! Ignore Call of Duty! There's Skyrim!!!

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steelmouth

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@warhawk-geeby Yes Uncharted included,they say Uncharted will probably do a million in its 1st month followed by resistance and the rest of the other ps3 exclusives will do no more than 150K each in thier first month and all this will add up to around 2.5 mil whic Gears will slightly just slightly beat

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Stevieweiser

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I have to think sales are down because of all the FPS flooding the market...they're all the same

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Steakface

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So Skyrim is using a new engine. Now we get a new gigantic tech demo for only $60... what a steal!

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gix47

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Phineas and Ferb and Cars 2....4 and 5....i found that shocking!

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Lor77

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Cars 2 @ No. 5?! Go figure. *Cha-ching*

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trystkl1826

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@Zero5000X: I If I'm reading the article correctly, the 2nd paragraph 7th line says that the accessories were down and in the overall dollar sales list they were down by 1%. Do you see it? Am I reading it correctly?

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Avatar image for deactivated-5b31d3729c1fa
deactivated-5b31d3729c1fa

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this was the first year i got both ncaa football and madden, and both are worth it in my opinion :)

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ash162

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I m getting my copy of deus ex today. Also on the brighter side of things: new season of dexter on 2nd october. Yaaaaaaay!!

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Zero5000X

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Why do they have accessories as being down? Accessories were up. Typo?

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trystkl1826

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The article says that the later release date is a reason for the lack of sales. That may be true. It also may be true that people, at this time, do not have the funds to spend on $60 games. It also could be that there are games that are better than Madden and gamers are choosing to not purchase it. Heck I was shocked at the title of the article because I'm used to seeing Madden lead the pack in revenue. Deus Ex looks good. I might return my Madden and get it.

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TWO1FIVE

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Sept will be a huge month for software Madden, Gears, Resistance 3, I also expect the Shadow of the Colossus pack to make an appearance in the top 10

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dreamgod247

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This year Madden 12 wasn't good, they rush the game. But NCAA Colllege Football 12, was leaps and bounds better than Madden.

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DanielL5583

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@warhawk-geeby Oh no... I'm just gonna sit in a corner, and dread the arrival of Call of Duty...ew.

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DanielL5583

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Deus Ex was a one in a while game. By which I mean it's one of a rare breed of games where they aren't release in excessive numbers, and each iteration is still fun and interesting to play. Deus Ex: Human Revolution, by my opinion, is amazing and almost incomparable to games such as Call of Duty, on the premise that Deus Ex was GOOD. @warhawk-geeby

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shadowkiller11

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It's Disappointing but to be honest other than Deus Ex which is amazing there was not a large quantity of games that was even decent.

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kvan33

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Deus Ex is not perfect, but it's still an amazingly fun game. I'm glad it came out during the summer when nothing else did. Probably the reason I bought it day 1.

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Vari3ty

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I really don't see why developers don't start releasing games in the summer. You can't honestly tell me that all of the games launching this fall couldn't be successful launching in the summer.

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DS_fan_atic

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We're near the end of this console cycle, of course things are slowing down. The economy isn't exactly in the best shape ever either.

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aniemouse

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if you have one madden game you have them all its no surprise there. and floating gun games (fps) im so over

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Richardthe3rd

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Deus Ex really surprised me and was totally under my radar. I was about to pass until I saw a sale for PC on Amazon. Very, very glad I gave it a chance; along with Skyrim and Arkham City it could be one of the 3 best titles released this year. @Steelmouth : I'm excited for GoW3 too. Looks like it'll be a lot of fun.

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Ravenhoe

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Interesting, I did not expect Deus Ex to do so good but I am glad it does, always good if a sophisticated game does well, sets the bar for future developments. Have not played COD so I cannot comment whether it deserves the top spot, it's probably the DLC that keeps it attractive. I have to admit, I would like to play Lego POTC too :-). Anyway, this list would look less bleak if people would stop pirating games.

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theslimdavylp

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The strategy is simple really.. release good games and they will sell! Holiday season is goin to be great though... Skyrim FTW

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warhawk-geeby

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p.s. November will change everything :P

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warhawk-geeby

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Lowest point since 2006? That's hardly suprising since sod all good games have actually come out. Deus Ex is brilliant, but the last game I bought before that was Portal 2. @steelmouth Does this include Uncharted? If so then not a chance. It will do well don't get me wrong, but Uncharted combined with every other exclusive that has come out? Not a chance.

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mabbasc

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Why the hell are people still buying Black Ops

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firehawk998

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Deus Ex Human Revolution is one the best games I have played this gen, The gameplay ( expect for the bosses) can be tackled by any means and the story was awesome. I suggest anyone who loves RPG, SP Games, Stealth, Shooting, Cover shooting games to pick up Deus Ex. I am on my third playthrough

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gameking5000

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Software sales slump solution: Release a new Madden every couple of months instead of 12.

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HollowNinja

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Deus Ex is a great game. I hope the PC version sold more than the console versions.

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steelmouth

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PS anyone with me on the IGN bet that Gears3 first month sales will beat all ps3 exclusives first month sales combined, yes Gears will run circles around all ps3 exclusives combined 1st month sales

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ElevenHandMan

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@dxdevilex0 Main difference being is Monster Hunter is actually a GOOD game. You low blowing Monster Hunter is like a worm getting off the hook in fishing, you think you've won so easily.

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steelmouth

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Please please guys we need a COD less month,we cant be having COD performing this gud 10 months after release

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veeks

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Deus Ex is well worth the money, more than can be said for the rest of the list *cough COD cough*

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msfan1289

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Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a really good game i just beat it, its a must buy for sure for gamers.

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MJ12-Conspiracy

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I picked up Deus Ex Augmented Edition day one.......

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AFiercePancake

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1. Deus Ex: Human Revolution (360, PS3, PC) - Square Enix Right where it belongs.

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BloodMist

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Well, at least Deus Ex is doing nicely, that's good news.Otherwise this list makes me sad.

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dxdevilex0

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Phineas and Ferb?! cars 2?! And I thought Japanese going crazy over Monster Hunter was bad.

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AuronAXE

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Really happy to see Deus Ex on the first place spot.

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Megavideogamer

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Physical sales will be helped by 6 brand new releases by me. Yes 2011 has been a good year for games (at least in 4th quarter) Plus remember the U.S.A ecomonic situation Blows massively at the moment.

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moviequest14

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@ Texasguy : Better than seeing a sportsgame re-hashed with few new features and still in the top 10....

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PumpkinBoogie

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W00t!! Viva La (Human) Revolution!! :P LOL, no but seriously though it deserves it. Glad to see a worthy game as such on the top spot. I'd be kinda interested to see how much it's grossed so far, in terms of sales.

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DLobotomist

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There are so many games coming out people are saving up... plus the economy deosnt look that promising...

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Texasguy

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I am not hating on Call of Duty, I bought it myself a while ago, but it bothers me that almost a year later it is still third. There are some great games out there that are now available at a steal. How awesome would it be to see Vanquish at number three off of a great pricepoint. The industry is so geared at $60 or bust. Not every game needs that pricepoint. I'd just love to see some of that Black Ops money go into something like Enslaved

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Freezezzy

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So this year's Madden game was a month late? Tragedy of tragedies! Now gamers will have no choice but to play last year's version a bit longer. Oh the humanity! lol

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TheArcade

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Down across the board, what are gamers depressed or something? That's why they aren't buying as much?

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Darkmoone1

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This list........makes no logical sense. Its like most poeple who bought games in august got hit hard in the head or something and lost all will to think straight.

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