Ahead of the release of U.S. NPD console retail numbers later today, Sony says PlayStation 3 had its best holiday season to date.
The company is touting a 90 percent increase in U.S. console/handheld sales and a 60 percent increase in game sales in December 2009 compared to December 2008. Just after the New Year, Sony said it
sold 3.8 million PS3 units over the holiday, 1.7 million of which were sold in the U.S.
Sony also said December was the single highest revenue month ever for PlayStation Network, a 155 percent year-over-year increase. The month's peak activity on the service came on Christmas day.
Final Fantasy VIII was the month's most-downloaded game, followed by
PixelJunk Shooter, according to Sony's data. The number one download in 2009 was
Call of Duty: World At War's Map Pack.
The top 10 most-downloaded games on PlayStation Network during December were as follows:
1.
Final Fantasy VIII
2.
PixelJunk Shooter
3.
Final Fantasy VII
4.
Resident Evil: Nemesis
5.
Resident Evil 2
6.
Frogger Returns
7.
Call of Duty Classic
8.
Zombie Island Of Dr. Ned (
Borderlands DLC)
9.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
12.
Battlefield 1943
Sony reveals its growth figures today ahead of the release of December NPD numbers, which will specify exact numbers for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable for the month. Analysts
had predicted growth in a similar range for the PlayStation 3 console during the month.
