Industry watcher NPD Group says sales of video game software in the U.S. declined by 5% year-over-year in January 2011, totaling $576 million. Console sales were down 8% to $324 million. On the back of continued strong sales of the Microsoft Kinect and PlayStation Move motion-based controllers, sales of video games accessories increased 6% year-over-year to $235 million. The only console to see growth in January was Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which sold 381,000 units — a 14.1% increase year-over-year. NPD ranked January’s software title sales as follows:
- Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision Blizzard) – Xbox 360, PS3, Wi, DS, PC
- Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft) – Wii
- Dead Space 2 (Electronic Arts) – Xbox 360, PS3, PC
- Little Big Planet 2 (Sony) – PS3
- Zumba Fitness: Join the Party (Majesco) – Wii, Xbox 360, PS3
- NBA 2K11 (Take-Two Interactive) – Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, PS2, PC
- Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft) – Xbox 360, PS3
- Dance Central (MTV Games) – Xbox 360
- Michael Jackson The Experience (Ubisoft) – Wii, DS, PSP
- DC Universe Online: The Next Legend Is You (Sony) – PS3, PC
Overall, the U.S. gaming industry took in $1.14 billion excluding PC sales — a 4% slide versus the same month in 2010.