Top 10 Video Games, October 2004

Electronic Gaming Business, Nov 17, 2004

Rank  Title                          Platform  Publisher           Unit Sales
1     Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas  PS2       Take-Two/ Rockstar  2,054,00
2     NBA Live 2005                  PS2       EA Sports           348,000
3     Mortal Kombat: Deception       PS2       Midway              261,000
4     ESPN NBA Live 2K5              PS2       Take-Two            260,000
5     Tony Hawk Underground 2        PS2       Activision          245,000
6     Mortal Kombat: Deception       Xbox      Midway              218,000
7     ESPN NBA 2K5                   Xbox      Take-Two            190,000
8     Paper Mario 2                  GameCube  Nintendo            190,000
9     Madden NFL 2005                PS2       EA Sports           178,000
10    X-Men Legends                  PS2       Activision          159,000
Source: NPD Funworld

While it is no surprise that Take-Two's GTA: SA sold through more than 2 million units in October, it is important to note that all of the other titles in the Top 10 released well ahead of the GTA juggernaut, so only November's numbers will tell us whether the GTA/Halo 2 tsunami of sales actually drains interest from other titles. Midway is the big winner in October, ending its long slump with MK: Deception selling through almost half a million units across the platforms. Activision is up 160% in October revenues over same period last year, with THUG 2 and X-Men Legends leading a strong pre-holiday release schedule that also includes Shark Tale. THUG 2 is outperforming last year's THUG. Overall video game software sales were up 34.8% in October, year-over-year. EA Sports is getting seriously spanked by the ESPN franchise with 46% of the basketball game market going to the ESPN contender this year, which also is outselling the NBA Live on the Xbox. For the console game software industry generally, the year-to-date revenues are up 11.2% over 2003, which is on track for the 10% to 15% growth many analysts predicted for the year. Full industry revenues YTD are up only 3%, however.

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