It takes more than bad press and negative reviews to keep the good Duke down. The video game number crunchers at NPD revealed Duke Nukem Forever was the second best-selling game of June, outgunned only by L.A Noire, which celebrated its second month at the top of the sales heap.
It was a close fight for the two Take Two contenders. L.A. Noire moved 419,000 units, while Duke Nukem Forever followed closely with 376,300. Sony’s Infamous 2 managed to keep up with its multi-platform competition, selling a reported 369,200 copies on PS3. The sequel topped the list for best performance by a single-platform title, edging out the 3DS’ The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, which sold a respectable 283,200. Considering NPD only records physical sales,it’s likelyInfamous 2’s totalwinis even higher than reported.
The complete list of who beat who is as follows:
1. L.A. Noire (Take Two Interactive -360, PS3)
2. Duke Nukem Forever (Take Two Interactive – 360, PS3, PC)
3. Infamous 2 (Sony – PS3)
4. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney Interactive – all systems)
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo – 3DS)
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision – 360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC)
7. NBA 2K11 (Take Two Interactive -360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC)
8. Mortal Kombat (Warner Bros. Interactive – PS3, 360)
9. Cars 2 (Disney Interactive – NDS, Wii, 360, PS3, PC)
10. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft – Wii)
On the hardware side, the Xbox 360 continued its slow ascent to console domination, out-performing all other consoles for the twelfth month in a row with sales of over 507,000 units. Despite Nintendo’s strong showing inthe top 10 list, the company trailed far behind Microsoft, moving 386,000 Nintendo DS systems, 273,000 Wiis, and 143,000 3DS’s, which isn’t such a good sign for Nintendo’s new handheld as it gets ousold by it’s older brother.
Overall, total software sales took a 12% nosedive from 2010, dropping from $531.3 million to $469.5 million; and total hardware sales sunk 9% from this time last year,sinking from $401.7 million to $366.6 million. There’s a joke about the industry going soft or failing to perform, but in honor of Duke Nukem’s second place showing, we’ll refrain from stealing his schtick.
Jul 15, 2011