Gran Turismo 5 moves 560,500 units in December, 1.14 million sold between Nov. and Dec.

Despite not making December's NPD top 10 list, Gran Turismo 5 sold 560,500 units last month in the US and Canada. IndustryGamers got the number straight from the NPD Group -- a number which looks like an apparent dropoff from Sony's late November launch numbers, which heralded 5.5 million units shipped worldwide, 1.25 million of which were in North America alone.

And hey, let's not kid ourselves: a good amount of December's "sales" figures are also accounted for in November's "shipped" figures. All of them, in fact -- 1.14 million copies of Gran Turismo 5 have been sold in the US and Canada thus far, a representative from NPD told us this afternoon, leaving approximately 110K copies from the initial shipment still on store shelves.

That said, plans for periodic support in GT5 were highlighted by developer Polyphony Digital as recently as last month. Add that to the fact that the 2011 Formula One season is just around the corner, and we'd say it's likely that racing fans will continue to pick up the game as early 2011 progresses.
Source: IndustryGamers

Pokemon Black and White reach five million sales in Japan

The two latest additions to the neverending Pokémon franchise managed to move an incredible 2.6 million units during their first two days on Japanese store shelves -- but how have Black and White fared since then? Unsurprisingly, they've done just fine; according to sales statistics from Enterbrain, this week saw the pair's combined sales reach 5,036,724 units.

Pokémon Black and White aren't the first games to reach this impressive mark -- in fact, four other DS games have managed to reach five million sales in the past. However, no other DS title has managed to reach five million quite as quickly as Black and White, which have only been available for 17 weeks. We guess that just goes to prove that, for some people "Gotta Catch 'Em All" isn't just a catchphrase, it's a way of life.
Source: Andriasang

Pachter: Xbox 360 outsold PS3 two-to-one in December; Nintendo reveals numbers

Wedbush Securities games industry analyst Michael Pachter's magic crystal ball predicts another month of Xbox 360 dominance in the NPD charts. His latest report to IndustryGamers says to expect sales of Microsoft's console to be more than double that of its biggest competitor, the PS3, for December. Prognosticating that the Xbox 360 sold 2.5 million units last month, he's betting on a 91 percent boost in sales over November for Microsoft. As for the PS3, Pachter figures it sold 1.2 million units in December, a 12 percent dip compared to its performance in November.

As for actual real numbers, Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata revealed in an interview with Nikkei (via Andriasang) that the Wii sold over two million units in December. The DS reportedly performed on par with the same period in 2009, which would be somewhere around three million units.

Black Ops led 2010 UK game sales, Just Dance top of the pops on Wii

Although it comes as little surprise, Call of Duty: Black Ops was the best-selling game in the UK last year. The UK Interactive Entertainment Association's 2010 bestsellers list features the usual suspects, with Black Ops, FIFA 11 and Just Dance occupying the top three spots, respectively, across all platform sales.

Breaking it down by format, Blops landed in the top sales spot for Xbox 360 and PS3 games, while Just Dance and its sequel filled the first and third positions among Wii releases, naturally. Professor Layton And The Lost Future took the golden picarat for DS and FIFA 11 charged to the top of the charts on PSP.

Although one could speculate as to why Black Ops wasn't at the front line of PC sales in the UK, it's just as fitting that Football Manager 2011 and 2010 occupied the forward spots in the region. Check out the complete breakdown by format after the jump.

UK Bestsellers of 2010 (via UKIE)

All Formats

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
2. FIFA 11
3. Just Dance
4. Red Dead Redemption
5. Wii Fit Plus
6. Just Dance 2
7. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
8. Wii Sports Resort
9. Halo: Reach
10. Battlefield: Bad Company

Wii

1. Just Dance
2. Wii Fit Plus
3. Just Dance 2
4. Wii Sports Resort
5. New Super Mario Bros Wii

PS3

1. Call Of Duty: Black Ops
2. FIFA 11
3. Gran Turismo 5
4. Red Dead Redemption
5. Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

Xbox 360

1. Call Of Duty: Black Ops
2. FIFA 11
3. Halo: Reach
4. Red Dead Redemption
5. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

DS

1. Professor Layton And The Lost Future
2. New Super Mario Bros
3. Art Academy
4. Pokemon Soulsilver
5. Mario Kart DS

PSP

1. FIFA 11
2. LittleBigPlanet
3. Gran Turismo
4. Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
5. FIFA 10

PC

1. Football Manager 2011
2. Football Manager 2010
3. The Sims 3
4. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
5. Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty