The verdict is in: while Nintendo dominated the video game market in 2009, it missed out on the top spot.
Instead, it was the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2 that sold the most, according to retail tracking firm NPD Group. Figures from the game's publisher indicate the blockbuster war shooter sold nearly 6 million copies in 2009, a feat that's all the more remarkable considering the game didn't release until well into November. Modern Warfare 2 was also the eighth best-selling game of the year, although on the PlayStation 3 rather than the Xbox.
Beyond that, the year belonged to Nintendo. Seven of the year's best sellers were Nintendo games -- six on the Wii, and one (Pokemon Platinum) on the DS. Aside from Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3: ODST was the only other non-Nintendo entry, charting at 9th place.
“When we make some new announcement and if there is no positive initial reaction from the market, I try to think of it as a good sign because that can be interpreted as people reacting to something groundbreaking. ...if the employees were always minding themselves to do whatever the market is requiring at any moment, and if they were always focusing on something we can sell right now for the short term, it would be very limiting. We are trying to think outside the box.” - Satoru Iwata - This is why corporate multinationals will never truly understand, or risk doing, what Nintendo does.
