Duke Nukem Forever (Take 2 Interactive)May might have been the worst month for video game sales in 5 years, but June didn't do much to right the ship.
The NPD Group reports that total video game retail revenue fell once again in June, down 10% from last year's $1.15 billion to a, uh, 'measly' $1.03 billion. The culprit? Plenty of things, but analysts like Michael Pachter are pointing fingers at the once-mighty Nintendo Wii. Wii software has dipped startling 75% since this same time last year, contributing greatly to the overall monthly software slide of 12% (from $531 million to $469 million).
It was a rough month for hardware, too, as sales of game consoles took a hit. Microsoft, however, can at least rest easy: the Xbox 360 was the only console to have experienced year-over-year growth in June, managing to sell 507,000 units in the month -- nearly twice as many as the Playstation 3 or Wii, according to Microsoft.
Another silver lining could be spotted by Take Two Interactive, who scored the top two games of the month in detective yarn L.A. Noire and the critically-panned shooter Duke Nukem Forever as well as nabbing the seventh spot with b-ball sim NBA 2K11. Other winners include a surprising third place finish for Sony's infamous 2 and yet another week on the charts for Ubisoft's Just Dance 2, which has been the top-selling third-party Wii game since its release last October.
And while the Wii is struggling mightily, Nintendo got a smidgen of relief courtesy their well-received Nintendo 3DS remake of N64 great The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is the first 3DS game to land in the top 10.
Top 10 Games for June 2011:
1. L.A. Noire (Take Two | X360, PS3)
2. Duke Nukem Forever (Take Two | X360, PS3, PC)
3. Infamous 2 (Sony | PS3)
4. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game (Disney | Wii, X360, DS, PS3, 3DS, PSP, PC)
5. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo | 3DS)
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision | X360, PS3, Wii, DS, PC)
7. NBA 2K11 (Take Two | X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, PC)
8. Mortal Kombat 2011 (Warner Bros. | PS3, X360)
9. Cars 2 (Disney | NDS, Wii, X360, PS3, PC)
10. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft | Wii)