Video games continue to be recession-proof, based on November sales data compiled by the NPD Group. Sales were up last month 10 percent over November 2007, and that was with seven fewer days of post-Thankgiving shopping. With $16 billion in sales so far this year, the industry is expected to tally a record $22 billion by Dec. 31.

“One reason for the continued strength of the industry compared to other forms of entertainment comes from a number of sources,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said. “Certainly, the expanded audience for gaming due to the availability of a wider variety of compelling content is a strong contributor.  Economic factors are also at play given that a video game is a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment for the hours of value it provides.  Our Consumer Spending Indicator shows that video games is the category consumers are least likely to cut back on this holiday.”

Leading the way again were Nintendo’s Wii and DS systems. The Wii, with a bigger supply of stock in stores, set a non-December monthly record with more than 2 million in sales in November. The DS sold 1.56 million. That makes 15.4 million to date for the Wii in a month in which it marked its two-year anniversary and nearly 25 million for the DS — both U.S. figures. But the news is also good for Nintendo’s rivals, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3.

“All three of the newer generation console systems have something to brag about,” Frazier said. “The expanded supply of Wii systems at retail was clearly evident in the sales figures this month.  The Xbox 360 realized a nice unit sales bump over last November and the PS3 year-to-date unit sales growth is impressive.”

The Xbox 360 sold 836,000 units in November, and the PS3 tallied 378,000.

“It’s clear there can be more multiple victors this generation,” Frazier said. “And while price is certainly a strong factor, particularly as the current economic situation continues to prevail, the most important factor that will drive success in 2009 will be the line-up of compelling games that will keep consumers involved in the industry.” 

She added, “Reinforcing that at this point in the cycle, content is once again king, year-to-date games sales growth is 31 percent.  The top-10 list of games shows just how varied the most popular games have become.”

Here are the top-selling games for November:

1. GEARS OF WAR 2* (360) 1.56 million
2. CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR* (360), 1.41 million
3. WII PLAY (Wii), 796,000
4. WII FIT (Wii), 697,000
5. MARIO KART (Wii), 637,000
6. CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR (PS3), 597,000
7. GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR* (Wii), 475,000
8. LEFT 4 DEAD (360), 410,000
9. RESISTANCE 2* (PS3), 385,000
10. WII MUSIC (Wii), 297,000
(*includes all editions, but not those bundled with hardware)

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