In the gaming world, March 2009 will be remembered for its successes as well as for the games that fell short.
As reported Wednesday by the NPD Group, Capcom hit it big with Resident Evil 5, selling 1.5 million copies across both platforms. Halo Wars did well for Microsoft; perennial performer Pokemon cashed in for Nintendo.
But sales of some critically acclaimed, Mature-rated games were not as impressive. Gamasutra reported that Sega's Wii game MadWorld (above) and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for DS sold only 66,000 and 89,000 units, respectively.
EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich, ahead of the NPD release, said that Chinatown Wars' performance "confirms that attempting to release a major AAA title on the Nintendo DS, targeted at a mature demographic, carries significantly elevated risk. With the majority of publishers currently taking a risk-adverse stance, we expect this to slow the growth rate of future mature rated titles on the DS."
And that was what Divnich said after his organization estimated GTA sales at 200,000. One can imagine how he feels about the risk of releasing M-rated titles on Nintendo hardware with sales less than half that.
Even so, sales of both games put them on the Top 10 charts this month for their respective hardware. Those charts, plus the overall Top 20 results, are below.
Top 20 Games Overall:
RESIDENT EVIL 5* 360 CAPCOM USA
POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
HALO WARS* 360 MICROSOFT
RESIDENT EVIL 5* PS3 CAPCOM USA
WII FIT WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
MLB '09: THE SHOW PS3 SONY
KILLZONE 2 PS3 SONY
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
MARIO KART W/WHEEL WII NINTENDO OF AMERICA
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K9 360 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
GUITAR HERO METALLICA 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* 360 ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
STREET FIGHTER IV* 360 CAPCOM USA
MARIO KART DS NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
STREET FIGHTER IV* PS3 CAPCOM USA
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
MLB '09: THE SHOW PS2 SONY
HALO 3* 360 MICROSOFT
LEGO STAR WARS: COMPLETE SAGA WII LUCASARTS
Top 10 Wii:
WII FIT NINTENDO OF AMERICA
WII PLAY W/ REMOTE NINTENDO OF AMERICA
MARIO KART W/WHEEL NINTENDO OF AMERICA
LEGO STAR WARS: COMPLETE SAGA LUCASARTS
LINK'S CROSSBOW TRAINING NINTENDO OF AMERICA
GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
GUITAR HERO METALLICA ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
NEW PLAY CONTROL! MARIO POWER TENNIS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
MADWORLD SEGA OF AMERICA
SONIC AND THE BLACK KNIGHT SEGA OF AMERICA
Top 10 Xbox 360:
RESIDENT EVIL 5* CAPCOM USA
HALO WARS* MICROSOFT
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
GUITAR HERO METALLICA ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
STREET FIGHTER IV* CAPCOM USA
HALO 3* MICROSOFT
TOM CLANCY'S H.A.W.X. UBISOFT
NBA 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
WWE LEGENDS OF WRESTLEMANIA THQ
Top 10 PlayStation 2:
MLB '09: THE SHOW SONY
NARUTO: ULTIMATE NINJA 4 NAMCO BANDAI GAMES OF AMERICA
GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
NBA 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
RESIDENT EVIL 4* CAPCOM USA
TOMB RAIDER: UNDERWORLD EIDOS INTERACTIVE
GOD OF WAR II SONY
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
Top 10 PlayStation 3:
RESIDENT EVIL 5* CAPCOM USA
MLB '09: THE SHOW SONY
KILLZONE 2 SONY
STREET FIGHTER IV* CAPCOM USA
GUITAR HERO METALLICA ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
TOM CLANCY'S H.A.W.X. UBISOFT
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
WWE LEGENDS OF WRESTLEMANIA THQ
SONIC'S ULTIMATE GENESIS COLLECTION SEGA OF AMERICA
NBA 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
Top 10 Game Boy Advance:
ASTEROIDS/PONG/YARS DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
UNO 52 DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
PUPPY LUV: SPA & RESORT ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
BIG MUTHA TRUCKERS DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
VALUE GAME BUNDLE 14.99 MULTIPLE VIDEO GAME MANUFACTURER
GBA SPYHUNTER/SUPERSPRINT DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
VAN HELSING ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
PRINCESS NATASHA: STUDENT SECRET AGENT DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
UNO/FREEFALL DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
GAUNTLET/RAMPART DESTINATION SOFTWARE INC.
Top 10 Nintendo DS:
POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION NINTENDO OF AMERICA
MARIO KART DS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
NEW SUPER MARIO BROS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE NINTENDO OF AMERICA
GRAND THEFT AUTO: CHINATOWN WARS TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
LEGO STAR WARS: COMPLETE SAGA LUCASARTS
PHINEAS AND FERB DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
MARIO PARTY NINTENDO OF AMERICA
SUPER MARIO 64 DS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
CLUB PENGUIN: ELITE PENGUIN FORCE DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
Top 10 PSP:
MLB '09: THE SHOW SONY
RESISTANCE: RETRIBUTION SONY
PHANTASY STAR PORTABLE SEGA OF AMERICA
GRAND THEFT AUTO: LIBERTY CITY STORIES TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY STORIES TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
IRON MAN SEGA OF AMERICA
MEDAL OF HONOR: HEROES 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
MIDNIGHT CLUB: LA REMIX TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2008 THQ
MX VS ATV UNLEASHED: ON THE EDGE THQ
Top 10 Portable Games (All):
NDS POKEMON PLATINUM VERSION NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
NDS MARIO KART DS NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
NDS PROFESSOR LAYTON AND THE CURIOUS VILLAGE NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
NDS GRAND THEFT AUTO: CHINATOWN WARS NDS TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
NDS LEGO STAR WARS: COMPLETE SAGA NDS LUCASARTS
NDS PHINEAS AND FERB NDS DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS
PSP MLB '09: THE SHOW NDS SONY
NDS MARIO PARTY NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
NDS SUPER MARIO 64 DS NDS NINTENDO OF AMERICA
Top 10 Accessories
WII NUNCHUK CONTROLLER NINTENDO OF AMERICA
360 LIVE 1600 POINT GAME CARD MICROSOFT
WII REMOTE CONTROLLER W/ JACKET NINTENDO OF AMERICA
PS3 DUALSHOCK 3 WIRELESS CONTROLLER SONY
360 LIVE 1 MONTH GOLD CARD MICROSOFT
WII REMOTE CONTROLLER NINTENDO OF AMERICA
360 HEADSET MICROSOFT
360 LIVE 12 MONTH GOLD CARD MICROSOFT
360 LIVE 3 MONTH GOLD CARD MICROSOFT
WII WHEEL GRIP NINTENDO OF AMERICA