NPD August 2013: 3DS tops hardware again, Madden 25 clear software winner

NPD released its August figures for the US overnight reporting a rise in software sales of 21% and a 40% year-over-year decline in hardware sales.

As usual the figures released by NPD do not include online, digital distribution, mobile, social or DLC sales - which would show a significant rise in percentages at least on the software end.

For the month of August, retail spend was slightly over $1.2 billion and even with the decline in hardware sales in a transitional market, new software and accessory sales were up 1% over July to $521 million.

Accessory sales, which include toys sold with video games such as Disney Infinity and Skylanders, were up 7% to $136.7 million.

Hardware

Sales of new gaming hardware declined 40% year-over-year to $90.8 million, and for the fourth straight month, Nintendo 3DS was the best-selling piece of hardware in the US with over 6.47 million units sold in 2013 - 30% increase year-over-year.

Xbox 360 was again the best-selling homes console for the 32nd consecutive month, moving 96,000 units in August. Total retail spend on the platform (hardware, software and accessories) reached $213 million, the most for any console in the US.

Microsoft mentioned again in its note on the figures that pre-order sales of Xbox One are still trending as double that of Xbox 360 during the same time period.

Sony did not respond to the NPD figures.

Software

Software sales fro August were up 21% to $305 million, and it was the first time the sector has seen a year-over-year increase since November 2011.

Madden 25 was the top selling software title for the month, with Saints Row 4, Disney Infinity (294,000 units), Splinter Cell: Blacklist and Minecraft Xbox 360 rounding out the top five.

While sales of the popular football title from EA Sports were down year-over-year, EA stated last week that according to its internal estimates, first week sell-through of Madden NFL 25 came to over 1 million units, compared to the 1.65 million units sold the prior year.

Nintendo included some unit sales with its NPD note stating that Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, which launched August 11 sold nearly 190,000 combined physical and digital units.

Pikmin 3, which landed in tenth place on the NPD chart (the first time a Wii U exclusive has hit the NPD top 10), released on August 4 and sold more than 115,000 combined physical and digital units.

New Super Luigi U for Wii U launched in stores on August 25 after two months as a digital-only download, and has now sold nearly 120,000 combined units.

So far in 2013, nine Nintendo 3DS games in the US have sold at least 250,000 combined physical and digital units.

These include:

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon - 863,000 units
Animal Crossing: New Leaf - 739,000 units
New Super Mario Bros. 2 - 406,000 units (1.85 million units lifetime)
Fire Emblem Awakening - 390,000 units
Mario Kart 7 - 352,000 units (2.84 million units lifetime)
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity - 298,000 units
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - 268,000 units
Super Mario 3D Land - 265,000 units (2.86 million units lifetime)
LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins - 264,000 units

Here's the top 10 NPD software chat for August 2013:

1. Madden NFL 25 (Xbox 360, PS3)
2. Saints Row 4 (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
3. Disney Infinity (Xbox 360, Wii, PS3, Wii U, PC)
4. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)
5. Minecraft (Xbox 360)
6. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (3DS)
7. NCAA Football 14 (Xbox 360, PS3)
8. Payday 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)
9. Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn (PS3, PC)
10. Pikmin 3 (Wii U)