Marketing research group NPD has released its weekly list of the best-selling PC software at U.S. retailers, covering the time between October 26 and November 1, 2008.

That week saw two high profile releases, Fallout 3 and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, both of which make strong debuts on the chart. So strong, in fact, that they pushed regular chart resident World of Warcraft right off the list, though that absence isn't likely to last--the Wrath of the Lich King expansion hits this Thursday, November 13.

1. Fallout 3 / Bethesda / $49 (Average)
2. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 / EA LA / $46 (Average)
3. Fallout 3 Collector's Edition / Bethesda / $69 (Average)
4. Spore / EA Maxis / $50 (Average)
5. Far Cry 2 / Ubisoft Montreal / $50 (Average)
6. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $20 (Average)
7. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy / Her Interactive / $16 (Average)
8. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $20 (Average)
9. Fallout 3 Survival Edition (Amazon.com Exclusive) / Bethesda / $120 (Average)
10. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Premier Edition / EA LA / $64 (Average)

"More smartphone owners are playing games than using business related applications on their device," claims a new report from marketing research firm The NPD Group.

Specifically, iPhone users saw the greatest growth in game-playing time across the past three month. That coincides with the launch of the iTunes App Store in early July, which brought games and other custom applications to the iPhone-owning masses.

Unsurprisingly, the study found that smartphones are still primarily used for communication purposes such as phone calls, e-mails and text messages, with 46% of those surveyed reportedly using their smartphones more now than 3 months ago.

In all, NPD reports that portable devices, such as the iPod, iPhone, PSP, Nintendo DS, and smartphones, saw the most usage in-home, suggesting that "these devices may be competing with more stationary entertainment devices for a user's time."

For a look at the report's methodology, check below... Read more

The NPD Group has released its weekly take on the PC software marketing, listing the ten best-selling PC games at US retailers during the week of October 19 - 25.

Both Far Cry 2 and Dead Space were released on PC during that timeframe, with both making a strong debut on the sales chart. Also noteworthy is Warhammer Online's sudden drop to eighth place after sitting in the top four since its September release.

1. Far Cry 2 / Ubisoft Montreal / $49 (Average)
2. Spore / EA Maxis / $49 (Average)
3. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy / Her Interactive / $20 (Average)
4. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
5. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $26 (Average)
6. Dead Space / EA Redwood Shores / $39 (Average)
7. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $26 (Average)
8. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $49 (Average)
9. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
10. Civilization IV: Colonization / Firaxis / $30 (Average)

Sales-tracking marketing firm The NPD Group has released its regular chart of the best-selling PC games at US retailers, this time covering October 12 to October 18.

Despite being topped by World of Warcraft and Spore, Nancy Drew stays strong with a #3 position, following its debut at #2 last week. Meanwhile, Gearbox's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway has disappeared from the top 10, making room for a revival of the constantly-selling World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade expansion pack.

1. Spore / EA Maxis / $49 (Average)
2. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $32 (Average)
3. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy / Her Interactive / $20 (Average)
4. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $49 (Average)
5. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
6. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
7. Civilization IV: Colonization / Firaxis / $30 (Average)
8. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
9. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $29 (Average)
10. Crysis Warhead / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $29 (Average)

Following up on the monthly totals for September, the sales-tracking NPD Group has chimed in with the top-selling PC games at U.S. retailers for the week of Oct. 5-11.

Making its strong debut on this week's chart is Her Interactive's Nancy Drew: The Castle of Malloy, which continues in the tradition left by the chart-topping Nancy Drew: The Phantom Of Venice. Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway also makes its debut on this week's chart, coming in at number 9 after its Oct. 7 launch.

1. Spore / EA Maxis / $49 (Average)
2. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy / Her Interactive / $18 (Average)
3. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $49 (Average)
4. Civilization IV: Colonization / Firaxis / $29 (Average)
5. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
7. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
8. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
9. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway / Gearbox / $49 (Average)
10. Crysis Warhead / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $29 (Average)

Rollings its weekly PC sales charts into one giant monthly bundle, the NPD Group has released a list of the 20 best-selling PC games at U.S. retailers across September.

Recent releases such as Spore, Warhammer Online, Crysis Warhead and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky all made strong debuts, with classics such as The Sims 2, World of Warcraft, StarCraft, Warcraft III and Diablo continuing to sell well.

Unlike the regular console sales charts, no hard figures were provided, though NPD yesterday revealed that the regular edition of Spore sold 406,000 units and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning hit 274,000. Had the two been factored into the console sales chart, Spore would have ranked third while WAR would be eighth.

Along with the other data, NPD also provided a list of the month's best-selling PC software, which showed that Spore outsold the perennial chart-topper Microsoft Office.

PC Game Sales (September)

1. Spore / EA Maxis / $50 (Average)
2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $49 (Average)
3. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
4. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Collector's Edition / EA Mythic / $80 (Average)
5. Spore Galactic Edition / EA Maxis / $79 (Average)
6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $37 (Average)
7. Crysis Warhead / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $29 (Average)... Read more

Today's NPD numbers left out sales for PC games, as is typical, but this month the market research firm decided to take a look at PC game sales anyway to see how they would fare.

"Although PC games sales are not included in these numbers, there were two that should be pointed out," wrote NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a press release accompanying September's sales data.

"Spore realized sales of 406,000 units and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning sold 274,000 which would put them both in the top 10 list of combined console, portable and PC games sales for the month," Frazier continued.

In fact, Spore's numbers would place it squarely in third place for September, just below the explosive launch of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (PS3, PS2, 360, Wii, DS, PSP) and perpetual best-seller Wii Fit. Warhammer Online, on the other hand, would take eighth in a combined PC-and-console sales chart.

If Warhammer's sales look at odds with the 500,000 players the game picked up in the days after its September 18 launch, it's because NPD only looks at United States retail sales whereas Warhammer's subscriber base is a worldwide number.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed took top honors for sales in the month of September 2008, according to new numbers released by market research firm The NPD Group. Also of note was the near doubling of Xbox 360 sales after the system's price cut took effect in early September.

The top ten U.S. console games from September, according to NPD, were:

1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts, Xbox 360) - 610,000
2. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 518,000
3. Rock Band 2 (Harmonix, Xbox 360) - 363,000
4. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 353,000
5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts, PlayStation 3) - 325,000
6. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (Pandemic, Xbox 360) - 297,000
7. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 243,000
8. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon, Xbox 360) - 224,000
9. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Krome, Wii) - 223,000
10. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon, PlayStation 2) - 158,000

Meanwhile, September hardware sales in the United States were as follows:

1. Wii - 687,000 units
2. Nintendo DS - 536,800 units
3. Xbox 360 - 347,200 units
4. PSP - 238,100 units
5. PlayStation 3 - 232,400 units
6. PlayStation 2 - 173,500 units

The games industry overall sold $1.27 billion worth of games, hardware and accessories in September 2008, marking a 7% decline from September 2007. Last September, however, saw the launch of Bungie's Halo 3, which according to NPD analyst Anita Frazier generated a full 35% of software sales for all of 2007.

"Overall, the health of the video games industry remains quite strong despite the rocky economic conditions," Frazier added, echoing comments from other industry analysts.

The latest PC software sales figures from research firm NPD have arrived, detailing the top 10 best-selling PC games at North American retailers from Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2008.

As with last week's figures, EA Maxis' Spore and Mythic's Warhammer Online take the top slots, with EA-published titles making up 60% of the overall list.

1. Spore / EA Maxis / $50 (Average)
2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $49 (Average)
3. Civilization IV: Colonization / Firaxis / $29 (Average)
4. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $29 (Average)
5. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
6. Crysis Warhead / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $29 (Average)
7. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
8. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
9. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade / Blizzard / $29 (Average)
10. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)

After a strong debut at the top slot, Electronic Arts' Warhammer Online dropped to second place on the PC sales chart, settling behind EA's Spore across the period of September 21-27.

Civilization IV: Colonization made its debut at the number three spot, while newcomer LEGO Batman slipped in at the ninth position.

1. Spore / EA Maxis / $49 (Average)
2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $49 (Average)
3. Civilization IV: Colonization / Firaxis / $29 (Average)
4. Crysis Warhead / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $28 (Average)
5. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $29 (Average)
6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $38 (Average)
7. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
8. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
9. LEGO Batman / Traveller's Tales / $30 (Average)
10. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade / Blizzard / $29 (Average)

After the flurry of new releases that flooded US retailers between September 14 and 20, sales-tracking group NPD has released its list of that week's best-selling PC games.

Three of the most high-profile games to arrive during that time--Warhammer Online, Crysis Warhead and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky--all made the chart, with Warhammer taking up two slots courtesy of its $80 goodie-filled Collector's Edition.

1. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $48 (Average)
2. Spore / EA Maxis / $50 (Average)
3. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Collector's Edition / EA Mythic / $79 (Average)
4. Crysis Warhead / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $28 (Average)
5. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $29 (Average)
6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $35 (Average)
7. Spore Galactic Edition / EA Maxis / $79 (Average)
8. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
9. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky / GSC Game World / $39 (Average)
10. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)

The Shacknews NPD tag is an easy resource to look at the state of the games industry, with weekly PC sales and monthly console sales charts showing what's popular now. But when it comes to long-term trends, it might not be so easy.

With that in mind, Gamasutra has taken a closer look at this year's NPD numbers to date and presented the best-selling five games on each current generation console. Collector's editions are unaccounted for in Gamasutra's numbers, meaning that games that sell heavily in those editions may deserve higher positions in these rankings.

The top five Xbox 360 games of 2008, through August, are as follows:

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar Games)
2. Call of Duty 4 (Infinity Ward)
3. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon)
4. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (Ubisoft Montreal)
5. Army of Two (EA Montreal)

PlayStation 3:... Read more

Though EA Maxis' Spore magically appeared on sales charts before its official release, this week's data from marketing research firm NPD Group unsurprisingly puts the highly-anticipated PC evolution simulator in the top slots.

The below data--culled from United States retailers across the week of September 7-13, 2008--also continues publisher EA's domination of the weekly PC software charts, with the company's titles representing 60% of the list for the second week in a row.

1. Spore / EA Maxis / $49 (Average)
2. Spore Galactic Edition / EA Maxis / $78 (Average)
3. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
4. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $9 (Average)
5. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $40 (Average)
6. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
7. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
8. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $30 (Average)
9. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
10. Crysis / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $39 (Average)

Sales-tracking firm NPD today issued its list of the ten best selling PC games in the United States from August 31 to September 6, featuring the usual Blizzard and The Sims titles along with the magical debut of Spore and a resurgence in Crysis sales.

While some may not consider the appearance of Spore surprising, let alone magical, the game officially launched in the US on September 7--the day after the tracking period ended--suggesting that Spore managed to hit #2 without widespread availability.

1. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
2. Spore / EA Maxis / $49 (Average)
3. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)
4. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
5. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
6. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
7. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $29 (Average)
8. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack Limited Collector's Edition
   / EA Maxis / $39 (Average)
9. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
10. Crysis / Crytek / $33 (Average)

A trio of versions of Madden NFL 09 filled the top three at US retailers across August, sales-tracking firm NPD Group revealed today. Also coming in strong were Nintendo's first-party Wii offerings, including Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii. The top ten console games from August, according to NPD, were:

1. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon, Xbox 360) - 1,000,000
2. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon, PlayStation 3) - 643,000
3. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon, PlayStation 2) - 424,500
4. Wii Fit (Nintendo, Wii) - 394,900
5. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo, Wii) - 328,700
6. Wii Play (Nintendo, Wii) - 200,200
7. Soul Calibur IV (Project Soul, Xbox 360) - 174,000
8. Too Human (Silicon Knights, Xbox 360) - 168,200
9. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon, Wii) - 115,800
10. Guitar Hero: On Tour (Vicarious Visions, Nintendo DS) - 111,200

Meanwhile, August hardware sales in the United States were as follows:

1. Nintendo DS - 518,300 units
2. Wii - 453,000 units
3. PSP - 253,000 units
4. Xbox 360 - 195,200 units
5. PlayStation 3 - 185,400 units
6. PlayStation 2 - 144,100 units

The video games industry proved itself worth a grand total of $1.08 billion in the month of August, marking a 9% increase over August of last year.

It is worth remembering that the recent Xbox 360 price cut took effect in September, leaving August sales of the console unaffected. This week's 600% sales spike will be recorded in September's results.

Continuing its weekly tradition, sales-tracking marketing research firm NPD has released its regular list of the best-selling PC games at US retailers.

As predicted last week, the latest expansion pack for The Sims, Apartment Life, has debuted on the charts. Even less surprisingly, it debuted at number one. Also starting out in the top ten is Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm.

The top ten for the week of August 24 to August 30 follows:

1. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $26 (Average)
2. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $35 (Average)
3. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
4. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
5. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)
6. Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm / Liquid Dragon / $42 (Average)
7. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $30 (Average)
8. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $20 (Average)
9. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
10. Diablo Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)

Continuing its weekly tradition, sales-tracking marketing research firm NPD has released its regular list of the best-selling PC games at US retailers.

Covering the week of August 17 to 23, the list is mostly unchanged from that of last week. That may soon with next week's list, as that data will include sales of the latest Sims 2 expansion, Apartment Pets.

This week though, the only major difference from week's past is the surprise resurgence of Valve's mega-compilation The Orange Box, which contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2.

1. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $35 (Average)
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
3. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
4. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)
5. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $30 (Average)
6. Diablo Battle Chest / Blizzard / $36 (Average)
7. Nancy Drew: The Phantom Of Venice / Her Interactive / $18 (Average)
8. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare / Infinity Ward / $50 (Average)
9. The Orange Box / Valve / $33 (Average)
10. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)

Following yesterday's release of July's top 20 best-selling PC games, marketing research firm NPD Group has issued its list of the top-selling PC titles at United States retailers during the week of August 10-16.

While the list is virtually unchanged from last week's, the impending releases of Maxis' The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack and Spore may soon change things.

1. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $38 (Average)
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
3. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
4. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)
5. Nancy Drew: The Phantom Of Venice / Her Interactive / $20 (Average)
6. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $30 (Average)
7. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $20 (Average)
8. Diablo Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
9. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare / Infinity Ward / $49 (Average)
10. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)

Games market research group NPD Group has released its composite list of the 20 best-selling PC games across July. As a reminder of its chart-topping run a few weeks ago, Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice took the number-one slot for July, coming in ahead of chart regulars The Sims and World of Warcraft.

Call of Duty 4 fell out of the top ten last month, leaving the rest of the charts to be mostly filled by the usual suspects. Blizzard, aside from raking its usual piles of profit from World of Warcraft, brought Diablo back into the charts following the hype for the coming release of Diablo 3.

Note that these numbers only represent sales in the United States.

1. Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice / Her Interactive / $19 (Average)
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
3. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)
4. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $38 (Average)
5. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $19 (Average)
6. Diablo Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
7. World of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
8. World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $28 (Average)
9. The Sims 2 FreeTime Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
10. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $40 (Average) ... Read more

Sales-tracking and marketing research group NPD has chimed in with the latest PC software sales in the United States, covering the week of August 3 to August 9, 2008.

As can be glimpsed below, the latest figures put Blizzard's ever-successful MMO World of Warcraft back at the top of the charts, with the Diablo Battle Chest continuing its chart presence while the Warcraft 3 Battle Chest pops up for the first time since early July.

All told, Blizzard-developed titles make up half of the week's best-selling software, with regulars from Maxis, Her Interactive and Infinity Ward representing the remainder.

1. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $32 (Average)
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
3. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
4. Nancy Drew: The Phantom Of Venice / Her Interactive / $20 (Average)
5. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)
6. Diablo Battle Chest / Blizzard / $33 (Average)
7. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $33 (Average)
8. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $30 (Average)
9. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $20 (Average)
10. Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare / Infinity Ward / $49 (Average)