Crackdown sales surge, Microsoft expands game network

by Saleem Khan, CBC News Online

Wags who said they were going to buy the "Halo 3 demo disc" otherwise known as the Realtime Worlds' Xbox 360 game Crackdown put their money where their mouth is in February, pushing the science-fiction action game to the No. 2 spot on the Canadian sales charts.

Market research firm NPD Group Canada's video game service found Nintendo's Wii at the top of the heap in software and hardware unit sales in February, while Gears of War for the Xbox 360 continued to sell strongly, taking ninth place on the software list.

Top selling video games for February 2007

1. Play W/ Remote (Nintendo Of Canada - Wii)
2. Crackdown (Microsoft - Xbox 360)
3. Diddy Kong Racing (Nintendo Of Canada - Nintendo DS)
4. Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo Of Canada - Wii)
5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo Of Canada - Nintendo DS)
6. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom USA - Xbox 360)
7. Warioware: Smooth Moves (Nintendo Of Canada- Wii)
8. Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo Of Canada - Gamecube)
9. Gears Of War (Microsoft - Xbox 360)
10. Guitar Hero 2 with Guitar (Red Octane / Activision - PlayStation 2)
11. NHL 07 (Electronic Arts - PlayStation 2)
12. Final Fantasy VI Advance (Nintendo Of Canada - GameBoy Advance)
13. Mario Kart (Nintendo Of Canada - Nintendo DS)
14. NHL 07 (Electronic Arts - Xbox 360)
15. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas (Ubisoft - Xbox 360)
16. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (Sony Computer Entertainment - PSP)
17. Sonic And The Secret Rings (Sega Of America - Wii)
18. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix Inc./ EA -Nintendo DS)
19. Rayman Raving Rabbids (Ubisoft - Wii)
20. Resistance: Fall Of Man (Sony Computer Entertainment - PlayStation 3)

A total of 112,000 video game systems consoles and handheld were sold in Canada in February, up 81 per cent over a year ago. The sum total hardware sales came to $27.6 million, up 108 per cent over a year ago when Canadians shelled out $13.3 million.

Some 35 per cent of hardware sold was handheld units, which accounted for 23 per cent of revenues.

The video game industry as a whole in Canada has posted revenues totaling $152 million in 2007, up 61 per cent over last year.

The hardware rankings by unit sales:

1. Nintendo Wii
2. Sony PlayStation 2
3. Nintendo DS handheld
4. Microsoft Xbox 360
5. Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld
6. Nintendo GameBoy Advance handheld
7. Sony PlayStation 3

Meanwhile, Microsoft announced today that it is delivering on the promise it made at the E3 video game conference in Los Angeles, Calif., last year: It will open its Xbox Live video game network to Windows-based personal computers starting May 8.

The expansion will link console gamers to PC gamers through the unified online service in which they'll be able to use a single identity (or "gamertag") and contacts list across both types of machines.

The launch title for Games for Windows Live? The most recent instalment of Microsoft's killer app, of course: Halo 2.