NPD Top Five Selling Games for 2008

NPD List;

Top-Selling Games In The U.S. For 2008

(All versions combined. Units in millions)
1. Wii Play 5.28
2. Madden NFL ‘09 5.25
3. Grand Theft Auto IV 5.22
4. Mario Kart w/ Wheel 5.00
5. Call of Duty: World at War 4.63

One interesting note, all of the top five form a different outlook on how to sell a videogame;

1. Mini games bundled with an extra controller
2. Multi-SKU(NO PC)with Special Edition and a Spanish Edition of a long running sports franchise
3. HD Multi SKU Sequel from popular developer
4. Exclusive sequel with a peripheral
5. HD Multi SKU sequel of a popular fps franchise

MEGATON News: Palermo back on, says Maradona

Ten years after failing to convert three penalty shots during a 1999 Copa America match versus Chile, Palermo "está entre los seleccionables" (translation: El Loco in the AFA pool of players). Martin Palermo achieved cult status among Boca Junior's "12th column" after scoring twice against Real Madrid during the now defunct, replaced by FIFA Club World Cup, Intercontinental Cup final in 2000. Maradona has confirmed that Palermo is on an impressive list of Argentine players if he would return to form after his eight month injury layoff.



via Terra

I have embed the video, since Terra had not....ciao!

NPD Videogame Sales Numbers for December 2008

Video game sales grew 19 percent, from 2007 to 2008, at $21.3 billion, according to NPD group.

2008 Dec
Hardware sales

PS2 410K
PS3 726K
PSP 1.02M
X360 1.44M
Wii 2.15M
DS 3.04M

Top 10 software sales

WII PLAY W/ REMOTE 1.46M
360 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR 1.33M
WII FIT W/ BALANCE BOARD 999K
WII MARIO KART W/ WHEEL 878K
WII GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR 859K
360 GEARS OF WAR 2 745K
360 LEFT 4 DEAD 629K
NDS MARIO KART 540K
PS3 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR 533K
WII ANIMAL CROSSING: CITY FOLK 497K

Dec 2007
Hardware sales

* NDS: 2,470,000
* Wii: 1,350,000
* 360: 1,260,000
* PS2: 1,100,000
* PSP: 1,060,000
* PS3: 797,600

Top 10 software sales

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (360) 1.47 Million
2. Mario Galaxy (Wii) 1.40 Million
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS2) 1.25 Million
4. Wii Play (Wii) 1.08 Million
5. Assassin’s Creed (360) 893.7 K
6. Halo 3 (360) 742.7 K
7. Brain Age 2 (NDS) 659.5 K
8. Madden 08 (PS2) 655.2 K
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (360) 624.6 K
10. Mario and Sonic: Olympic Games (Wii) 613.0 K
11. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3) [500K - 613K]
12. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock* (Wii) >500K
13. Rock Band* (Xbox 360) [463K]
14. New Super Mario Bros. (DS) [401K - 500K]
15. Mario Party 8 (Wii) [401K - 500K]
16. Assassin's Creed* (PS3) [401K - 500K]
17. Mass Effect* (Xbox 360) 401K
18. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) [385.7K - 401K]
19. Madden NFL 08 (Xbox 360) [385.7K - 401K]
20. Mario Party DS (DS) 385.7K


* Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) >500k
* Mass Effect (Xbox 360) 401,000
* Mario Party DS (DS) 385,700
* Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii) 147,600
* Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS) 117,200
* Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (PS3) 56,500
* Nights: Journey of Dreams (Wii) 60,800
* TimeShift (PS3) 25,000
* PS3 Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune - 206,000
* 360 Rock Band - 463,000
* PS3 Rock Band - 174,000

Meet The Chicanator! From EA Burnout Paradise

Criterion has finally announced the remaining cars from the Burnout Paradise Legendary Cars pack. Rounding out the list, is the cleverly named, Calvary Bootlegger an homage to The Chicanator. But what the hell is a Chicanator, one might ask, since Spanish is not known to all.

A Mexican White Bullanator would have a better ring!

At first, I thought it was Chicana - tor, a Chicano(a) is someone of Mexican descent but born and raised in the United States, especially from the West and Southwest regions of the country. But why would Criterion name a car that is a knock off the famous Dukes of Hazard 69-70 Dodge Charger, General Lee, The Chicanator (The Confederate flag is replaced with the Mexican one). I know, the car is named the Calvary Bootlegger but what the hell is The Chicanator, a fictional tv character in who drinks and drives, slaps chicas asses, and saves Paradise City from a white haired industrialist?

Maybe it is not Chicana, but Chica. What does Chica mean, it can have different definitions, chica can be reffered as; girl, young women, or plural, darling, maid or to describe something as small or tiny. The most probable definition of The Chicanator is The PussyWagon or The Babenator (Babenator does not work, needs more syllables). So are all Mexicans, who generally buy American automobiles, a stereotypical chauvinistic macho women hungry man who also bootlegs liquor? The only bootleggers that exist currently in Mexico are the ones who create the illegal pulque, similiar to moonshine, makers are so poor, they have a burro rather than a Dodge...

I have a few better ideas for The Chicanator. How about a different homage, maybe a factual person like The Shermanator, named after the other famous General of the Civil War General Tecumseh Sherman, painted navy Federal blue and grey with Old Glory on her roof because if the car was named General Grant it would be an uproar. Or not. Too insensitive to our Southern compartriots.

The Chicanator will just fly over the heads of everyone else, Mexicans and Women gamers will not even know, heck, do latinos or women even buy HD games, or do they just play the Wii? What about a famous Mexican general, El Zapata, El Pancho Villa or even better, General Santa Anna, with some awesome hydrolics and a horn that plays a the famous mariachi song, Las Mananitas or El Rey, and painted green or red?

My favorite name, I came up before I typed this raving blog post, El Chonchanator or El Luchadore. I just can not decide!