Conduit, Grand Slam Tennis feel June gloom, Red Faction hits 267,000

Yesterday, the NPD Group released its sales figures for its worse-than-expected June reporting period, which lasted from May 31 to July 4. Supplemental information provided today cemented Prototype's place atop the industry research firm's non-PC game charts. Combined sales of the Xbox 360 (first place with 419,800 units) and PlayStation 3 (13th, 179,200 units) versions of the game totaled 598,200 units, a respectable debut.

Subsequent game-sales figures collated from analyst reports and other sources shed light on the sales results of several other games. Though the Xbox 360 version of Red Faction: Guerrilla came in ninth place on NPD's non-PC chart with 199,400, the PlayStation 3 version didn't even make the top 20. In fact, the critical hit only sold 67,600 units on Sony's platform, bringing the game's 31-day console sales total for the Volition-developed game to approximately 267,000 units.

A bigger disappointment was The Conduit from Sega and High Voltage software. Despite being hyped as a hardcore first-person shooter designed from the ground up for the Wii, the game sold less than 72,000 units on the back of so-so reviews. Besides boding ill for High Voltage's other upcoming core Wii games, Gladiator A.D. and The Grinder, the game's poor showing underlined the risks of launching non-mass-market IP on the Wii. Sega knows the pitfalls all too well, having seen the M-rated Wii-exclusive actioner Madworld sell just 66,000 units domestically when it debuted in March.

Ironically, while EA Sports games took four of NPD's top-10 slots, another heavily hyped title from the megapublisher's athletic arm didn't even make the top 20. That title was Grand Slam Tennis, the heavily hyped--and tepidly reviewed--first tennis game from the publisher in years. It sold just 54,000 units in the 26 days after its June 8 launch, a performance which cast a shadow over the 360 and PS3 versions planned for later this year.

Last and possibly not least is Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood from Ubisoft and Polish developer Techland. Released on June 30, the critically praised Wild West shooter sold 24,000 units on the 360 and 20,000 on the PlayStation 3 for the PS3. (PC numbers were not available.) While the 44,000-unit total seems low, keep in mind it covers only five days, two of which fell during the long July 4 weekend--when travel, barbecues, and outdoor activities typically take precedence over gaming.