October Console Game Sales, Part II: 360 Games Win, Guitar Hero Loses

November 14, 2008 1:47 PM

Adding to October's top ten console games as measured by market research firm The NPD Group, the rankings for numbers 11 to 20 have emerged, showing strong performance for 360 versions of multiplatform games and a few high-profile disappointments.

The next best ten games, courtesy of Gamasutra, are as follows:

11. Guitar Hero World Tour (Neversoft, Xbox 360)
12. Guitar Hero World Tour (Vicarious Visions, Wii)
13. Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo, DS)
14. Fallout 3 (Bethesda, PS3)
15. Dead Space (EA Redwood Shores, PS3)
16. Rock Band 2 (Harmonix, PS3)
17. NBA 2K9 (Visual Concepts, PS3)
18. Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft Montreal, Xbox 360)
19. FIFA Soccer 09 (EA Canada, 360)
20. Guitar Hero World Tour (Neversoft, PS3)

Notably, Guitar Hero World Tour failed to crack the top 10, inspiring the quote "rhythm game fatigue" in Gamasutra's report. In comparison, Guitar Hero III monopolized the charts in November 2007 when all four console versions hit the top 10.

Additionally, four PlayStation 3 games in this list (Guitar Hero: World Tour, Fallout 3, Dead Space, and NBA 2K9) sold considerably less than their Xbox 360 counterparts. The strong lead by Xbox 360 best-sellers is indicative of the system's lead over the PlayStation 3.

One possible victim of the holiday rush may be Ubisoft Montreal's Far Cry 2, which ranked lower than was generally expected. Despite brisk sales on the PC, the game may become evidence for analysts who suspect that the market is just too crowded in the fourth quarter.

Blake Ellison

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SpaceGhosty

 reply
November 14, 2008 1:59 PM

Wasn't Guitar Hero: World Tour released on October 26th? So in the 5 days of its existence in October it hit #11, #12, and #20 in sales out of all other games available since October 1st .
Seems like a decent WIN to me.
- i poop from there
  
   reply
  November 14, 2008 2:03 PM
  
  those are 11-20 games sold for October :D
- schnitz76
  
   reply
  November 14, 2008 2:06 PM
  
  Take a look at when Fallout 3 was released (hint... 28th) and where it was (3rd). FO3 came out a couple days later and trounced GH:WT. So with respect to that I think FO3 was the winner and GH:WT didn't live up to expectations.
  - SlingBlaze
    
     reply
    November 14, 2008 2:38 PM
    
    GH:WT is also ..... $200 (or so)
    - manlyman
      
       reply
      November 14, 2008 3:06 PM
      
      Yes, but not the game alone, which is what Activision is really trying to bank on with millions of users with GH guitars.