Market research groups NPD, GfK Chart-Track and Enterbrain have once again put their heads together to combine quarterly sales from the world's three biggest markets--the UK, Japan and the USA--and chart the best-selling games from July to September.

1. Dragon Quest IX (DS / Level-5) - 3.92M
   (3.92M Japan, not yet released in US or UK)
2. Wii Sports Resort (Wii / Nintendo) - 3.01M
   (1.7M US, 465K UK, 841K Japan)
3. Madden NFL 10 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP / EA Tiburon) - 2.61M
   (2.58M US, 39K UK, not yet released in Japan)
4. Pokemon HeartGold & SoulSilver (DS / Nintendo) - 2.06M
   (2.06M Japan, not yet released in US or UK)
5. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360 / Bungie) - 1.84M
   (1.52M US, 294K UK, 33K Japan)

The groups found a 6% decline in total software unit sales across all three markets in comparison with the same period from last year, with poor sales in the United States and UK nullifying a period of growth in the Japanese market... Read more

Sales-tracking groups NPD, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain today issued the latest Top Global Markets report, revealing the best-selling console games in the world's three largest markets--United States, United Kingdom and Japan--across 2008.

1. Mario Kart Wii (Wii / Nintendo) - 8.94M
   (5M US, 1.94M UK, 2M Japan)
2. Wii Fit (Wii / Nintendo) - 8.31M
   (4.55M US, 1.61M UK, 2.15M Japan)
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, 360 / Rockstar North) - 7.29M
   (5.18M US, 1.85M UK, 256K Japan)
4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii / Nintendo) - 6.31M
   (4.17M US, 404K UK, 1.75M Japan)
5. Call of Duty: World at War
   (PS2, PS3, 360, Wii, DS / Treyarch, Rebellion, n-Space) - 5.89M
   (4.46M US, 1.43M UK, 0 Japan)

Combined, the US, UK and Japanese console software market grew 11% in 2008, selling 409.9 million units over 2007's 367.7 million. The United States was responsible for more than 268.4 million--65%--of the 409.9 million units sold during... Read more

Marketing research groups The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain today released the second Top Global Markets report, detailing the five best-selling video games in the US, UK and Japan between July and September 2008:

1. Madden NFL 09 (EA Tiburon / PS2, PS3, 360, Wii, NDS, PSP) - 2.99M
   (2.95M US, 25K UK, 1K Japan)
2. Wii Fit (Wii / Nintendo) - 2.08M
   (1.28M US, 460K UK, 346K Japan)
3. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed * - 1.73M
   (1.41M US, 321K UK, Not Yet Released in Japan)
4. Pokemon Platinum (DS / Game Freak) - 1.48M
   (1.48M Japan, Not Yet Released in the UK or US)
5. Mario Kart Wii (Wii / Nintendo) - 1.46M
   (856K US, 394K UK, 218K Japan)

In all, the "three largest game markets" grew an average 1% in the three months between July and September 2008. The UK was up 15%, though the report noted this is "skewed" as console software saw a 26% gain while portable software was down 1%. During the same time last year, the UK saw a 34% overall growth.

"Taking into consideration the marked differences between the 3 territories, the UK market in particular is gearing up for a best-ever Q4 performance overall, even under the well-documented financial climate," noted GfK Chart-Track... Read more

Sales-tracking firms NPD, Chart-Track and Enterbrain today announced that they will be releasing a monthly Top Global Markets Report, which will provide a glimpse of the retail game sales in the US, UK and Japan.

The report is said to be "a single source for sales data" for the "the largest games markets in the world."

Below are the results of the first report, detailing sales from January to July:

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, 360 / Rockstar North) - 6.29M
   (4.71M US, 1.58M UK, Not yet released in Japan)
2. Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii / Nintendo) - 5.43M
   (3.53M US, 213K UK, 1.68M Japan)
3. Mario Kart Wii (Wii / Nintendo) - 4.69M
   (2.4M US, 687K UK, 1.6M Japan)
4. Wii Fit (Wii / Nintendo) - 3.6M
   (1.43M US, 624K UK, 1.54M Japan)
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock * - 3.47M
   (3.03M US, 412K UK, 26K Japan)

While Grand Theft Auto IV publisher Take-Two claimed the game had sold 8.5 million units, and shipped 11 million back in June, NPD analyst David Riley explained Top Global's missing 2.21M as a result of sales outside the US and UK.

"To be clear, [the report] is not a global product. It covers only the top global markets--US, UK and Japan," he explained. "Global is coming but let's not put the cart before the horse."

*(PS2, PS3, 360, Wii / Budcat, Neversoft, Vicarious Visions)