The closest competitor to the system during the busy shopping month was Nintendo's own DS, which sold 1.57 million units. November 2007 saw Wii sales of 981K and DS sales of 1.53 million.
Sales of the Nintendo hardware helped drive total videogame sales (software, hardware and accessories) to $2.91 billion, a 10 percent year-on-year increase. Hardware sales were up 10 percent to $1.21 billion, and software sales were up 11 percent to $1.45 billion
While Wii had by far the largest hardware unit sales for the month, Xbox 360 enjoyed a boost as well, selling 836K, up from last November's 770K. Microsoft called November Xbox 360's biggest to date.
PS3 sales were 378K, down from last November's 466K. The aging PS2 managed to rake in 206K (down from 2007's 496K) and the PSP hit 421K during November (down from 567K).
"All three of the newer generation console systems have something to brag about," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "The expanded supply of Wii systems at retail was clearly evident in the sales figures this month. The 360 realized a nice unit sales bump over last November and the PS3 year-to-date unit sales growth is impressive.
"It's clear there can be more multiple victors this generation 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."
The sales growth is also notable this November because the month had seven less post-Thanksgiving shopping days than 2007.
Software
Xbox 360's Gears of War 2 from Epic Games won the November software battle, selling 1.56 million during the month. NPD said the game has a 13 percent attach rate to Xbox 360 hardware.
Call of Duty: World at War, Wii Fit, Resistance 2, Left 4 Dead and Wii Music also cracked the top 10 during the highly-competitive month.
- 360 Gears of War 2*, Microsoft: 1.56m
- 360 Cal of Duty: World at War*, Activision Blizzard: 1.4m
- Wii Play w/ Remote, Nintendo: 796K
- Wii Fit, Nintendo: 697K
- Wii Mario Kart, Nintendo: 637K
- PS3 Call of Duty World at War, Activision Blizzard: 597K
- Wii Guitar Hero World Tour*, Activision Blizzard: 475K
- 360 Left 4 Dead, EA: 410K
- PS3 Resistance 2*, Sony: 385K
- Wii Music, Nintendo: 297K
(*includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)
Frazier also noted one important PC title that is performing well. "We would be remiss not to point out the strength of PC game sales this month as led by the release of the latest World of Warcraft expansion pack. Wrath of the Lich King sold over 1.4 million units in the U.S. during its debut month at retail."
Accessories
Accessory sales were up 7 percent to $255.4 million during the month.
On the Economy
Frazier added that she is confident that the games industry in the U.S. can hit total revenues of $22 billion in 2008 despite the economic downturn. So far, the industry has generated $16 billion this year.
"One reason for the continued strength of the industry compared to other forms of entertainment comes from a number of sources. 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 videogame is a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment for the hours of value it provides.
"Our Consumer Spending Indicator shows that videogames is the category consumers are least likely to cut back on this holiday."