Best-Selling games for December 2006 [update 1]

by Nick Doerr { Jan 12th 2007 at 1:30PM }

Don't get your hopes up, fellow Sony defenders. No PS3 title made the top ten for the month of December, but a few PS2 games did and we're the closest thing to PS2Fanboy, so we might as well talk about it. Let's toss up the list first thing and the game at #1 shouldn't surprise anyone:

Gears of War (360)
Guitar Hero II (PS2)
Madden '07 (PS2)
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN)
Same... but for Wii
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 (PS2) ... Seriously? I never saw the appeal.
New Super Mario Bros. (DS)
Call of Duty 3 (360)
Yoshi's Island 2 (DS)
[updated/corrected list] Call of Duty 3 (PS2)

As far as hardware goes, we'll just cover the Sony end because it's sort of surprising. The PS2 was in second place for December (because it's a race, so we have to have places and not just numbers) with 1.4 million units sold, behind the DS. Next was the 360, but closely following it was, *gasp* the PSP! Fourth place with 953.2 thousand units. The PS3, due to limited supply, sold 490.7 thousand units, which is still respectable, since I've only ever seen one -- the one in my living room.

I don't know if this was just for Japan or worldwide, but the source claims the PS2 has sold 37.1 million units in its life -- wasn't it closer to 90 million? Perhaps that was a dream I had. Either way, this is pretty delicious news for all gamers. We all get a taste of victory. Enjoy your medal.

Tags: Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation2, Playstation3, PS2, PS3, Sony

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jason B. @ Jan 12th 2007 1:39PM

I would say that is for America only.

Jason B. @ Jan 12th 2007 1:43PM

Also, number 10 is Call of Duty 3 for the PS2.

alienclay @ Jan 12th 2007 2:26PM

thats what i thought would happen. i didn't see people pick up a 360 because they couldn't find a ps3, i watched them buy a psp instead.

gonzooo @ Jan 12th 2007 5:42PM

wierd about the psp considering thats more of a complimentary good not something that can substitute a ps3, wii, xbox360 home console.

BklynKid @ Jan 12th 2007 3:39PM

"The PS3, due to limited supply, sold 490.7 thousand units"

Right. Like all those PS3s sitting on shelves throughout the holiday season? Hah!

me @ Jan 12th 2007 4:57PM

Im not going to trust that data, because of the call of duty mistake and the fact that they claimed ps2 has sold 37 million over its lifetime. ps2 recently surpassed the 100 million mark, being only the second console to do that EVER.

Rick @ Jan 12th 2007 2:56PM

@3 Why did you mention the 360?I might be missing something here but what is your point?,the 360 was the biggest selling "Next Gen" console and considering M$ did not price drop I think you will find they are more than happy with the large sales and comparing last gen cheap units with next gen priced machines is not quite fair,what you should point out is that the old fashion last gen PS2 almost sold as many units as the PSP and the PS3 combined is that good news?,oh and did you notice that software chart at number 1"GEARS OF WAR" the biggest selling consoles PS2 games were no match for the 360 Gears of war and the best they could do was number 2 with "Guitar Hero II" which was a massive seller not far behind Gears that month but you know what! that is not good news for the PS3 owners as it comes out on the XBOX 360 in march (along with some other huge 360 AAA titles) and it look's very very impressive indeed and it includes downloadable content on XBL and this all being at the same time as the Europe PS3 launch I belive!!!!.

AG @ Jan 12th 2007 3:09PM

I heard Saints Row is coming to the PS3 ...

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156373

Rick @ Jan 12th 2007 4:24PM

Saints row !You want it you can have it,no 360 owner will complain about that,in fact make it a PS3 Exclusive it's just so good...

JJ @ Jan 12th 2007 7:17PM

What rick? saints row is a pretty decent GTA clone. In fact i would say in some ways its better than GTA but not in others, either way, it (like oblivion, and R6: Vegas) are good games, so whose gonna argue? and why bother?

AG @ Jan 12th 2007 4:54PM

@Rick

The 360 must be pretty impressive if you spend most of your time here at PS3FANBOY.COM

Go play your 360 or something. Are you and other 360 fanboys who come to this site such losers that you have to troll around here. If you don't want the PS3 or like it, then why the hell are you here?

Rick @ Jan 12th 2007 6:14PM

@8 nice name AG? real nice eh!
Yer right I'm a troll,just answer my question I made at number 4 and I will try not to troll again eh!and like I said "Saints Row" is so good you can have it exclusive"so where is the troll there? in fact looking at your response shows you didn't even read my posts so you should stop trolling.

Strike Man @ Jan 12th 2007 7:09PM

Those of you who are complaining about the 37.1 million PS2s being sold, you DO know they're referring to either the US or North American market, right? And if these numbers are from NPD, to the best of my knowlede, they still don't include sales figures from Wal-Mart (you know, that oh-so-small company).

At the end of September 2006, Sony claimed it had shipped out 111.25 million PS2 systems (~24 mil for Japan, 44.86 mil for the US, and 42.4 mil for Europe). While there can be a big difference between the number of systems shipped and sold (and while you need to consider the source of those numbers), I don't doubt that the actual sales numbers are fairly close to that (ie within a million or two).

Steven @ Jan 12th 2007 7:34PM

@12 and don't forget,Peter Pan and the fairies were real because the incredible genius of book writer J.M.Barrie told us so.

mfelps @ Jan 12th 2007 7:28PM

These numbers came from NPD, which is always US only. I'm actually a little surprised that the U.S. accounts for a third of all PS2 sales.

And just to save everyone time, these numbers don't include the real numbers from Wal-Mart or mom and pop chains, but NPD has some algorithm for each and bumps the raw numbers up accordingly. Not perfect, but probably the most accurate system available. Don't know how IGN managed to hose up ten, but it's PS2 in the original NPD numbers.

IGN also left off the numbers for the games. I won't list them all here, but Gears was 815K, while COD3 for the PS2 was 365K, just to give you the range of the list.

Rick @ Jan 12th 2007 7:56PM

JJ, You are right it is probely better than the "last gen" GTA games I am just trying to make a point that PS3 owners are the ones who seem more bothered that if a game for the PS3 "X" exclusive goes to another console or PC seem more bothered than any other rival machine owners,I mean if "Gears of war" went to the PS3 would it endanger my life or lose me X amount of $ "NO" so why should I care.Oh hang on I'm a troll that must be it eh.

Strike Man @ Jan 12th 2007 7:54PM

Steven, spare me the lecture. I posted the numbers from what most consider to be the most accurate analyst when it comes to videogame sales in the US. I also added a (necessary) disclaimer when posting the numbers that came from Sony directly.

Don't confuse my comments with fanboy tripe, please.

Chris @ Jan 12th 2007 9:51PM

You know why us Xbox360 fanboys come here? It's simple: We Love Death and Carnage! You guys are like little yellow ducks ready for a shooting.

I can't wait to see the crying when your console becomes #3 (Wait.. it is) and stays there for the rest of it's life.

I could buy 100's of PS3s easily. Microsoft has made me rich. You guys are like that linux geek who told me he enjoyed his Salary.

It's funny though.. that linux geek can't even afford the PS3.

seedaripper @ Jan 13th 2007 6:04AM

@chris...
typical gung-ho american response... "You know why us Xbox360 fanboys come here? It's simple: We Love Death and Carnage! You guys are like little yellow ducks ready for a shooting."...ever considered joining the army to kill some iraqi 'ragheads'?
insular,narrow-minded,ignorant cunt!
2 pence worth...

Noshino @ Jan 13th 2007 9:29AM

meh, Chris pretty much proves that the 360 is all about fps's, oh wait, they got Viva Piñata....they can beat them up tho :D

Rather be a Sony or Nintendo fanboy, than to to vow to a machine that has struggle to show me their "awesome games" (no fps's please? I'm not a Halo fan, so yeah, you ll have to buy better studios M$ :D)

AG @ Jan 13th 2007 1:49PM

@Rick...

So you admit trolling huh...

Why is it that the xbox fanboys actually take the time out of their impressive, busy lives to come to PS3 sites and bash the PS3?

I admit I am a PS3 fanboy, but you will never see me going to an Xbox site because I could care less.

Strike Man @ Jan 13th 2007 10:58PM

"I admit I am a PS3 fanboy, but you will never see me going to an Xbox site because I could care less."
Since when did the company behind the hardware matter when it came to enjoying games? This is one thing that I have yet to figure out when it comes to many videogame players and so-called fanboys. Games are meant to be a variety of things (escapism, entertainment, communication, etc.), but why should it matter which uber-corporation has their logo on the product?

If Bomberman: Act Zero sucks (and yes, it does), it has nothing to do with the name Microsoft on it, it has to do with the fact that Konami and Hudson produced a shitty game. Likewise, Sony has nothing to do with the fact that Gundam: Crossfire totally blows. These divisions are beyond pointless, assuming nobody here owns a massive amount of stock in either company.

"zomg i wuz goin to sit n enjoi teh movie but their showin it on a friggin westrex projector! i meen cumon wtf! ne1 nos that u can only enjoi it wit a tru Bauer 35mm! jeez get that gaytrex pos out of my site!"

driven2sin @ Jan 14th 2007 2:14AM

funny how BOTH xbots and phONYS want to be Nintendo's friend now that it holds total dominance.

Nintendo realized this console war was being fought in the back of some cave and just left..... found a big and bright world outside the cave just waiting to play with its Wii !!!