Data: Nintendo drives the video game industry

NPD group yesterday released its figures representing the video game industry at large, and with total sales up 19% over 2007, Nintendo was responsible for nearly all of that growth.

Nintendo secured the top two spots in number of consoles sold in 2008. The Wii accounted for 55% of all gen7 console sales, moving 10.17 million units in America last year, breaking all previous single-year sales records. The company's handheld system, the DS, fell in just behind the Wii, with 8.52 million units sold. In December alone, the DS sold 3.04 million units and the Wii sold 2.14 million.

Despite economic conditions, the video game industry appeared to be thriving, however, NPD data shows the only company that's truly thriving is Nintendo. The industry's annual revenue was 19% higher in 2008 than in 2007, and Nintendo products were responsible for 99% of that. Not since the days of the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System) has Nintendo been such a force.

Of the top ten selling titles of 2008, half were first-party Nintendo titles These include Wii Play (5.28 million, with the controller bundle), Mario Kart (5 million, with the wheel bundle), Wii Fit (4.53 million), Super Smash Brothers Brawl (4.17 million), and Mario Kart DS (1.65 million). Once again, Nintendo blasted away the industry wisdom that said bundling a controller with games would only cannibalize the platform's attach rate; instead, it sent it skyrocketing.

The only title exclusive to a non-Nintendo system on the list of top-selling games for the year was Microsoft's Gears of War 2 for the Xbox 360, the remainder were all cross-platform titles.