Despite scoring in the 50s across all three platforms, Duke Nukem Forever managed to seat itself in the #2 position during the month of June, following one step behind L.A. Noire (419,000 copies) for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and one placement head of the PlayStation 3 exclusive, InFAMOUS 2. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean managed to claim the #4 spot followed by Call of Duty: Black Ops in the #6 spot, both also available on the PC.
"With sales data, It seems like *customers* love Duke," Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford tweeted when the game first appeared on store shelves. "I guess sometimes we want greasy hamburgers instead of caviar." And he may be right: the game, which launched in the States on June 14, sold 376,300 copies locally in just a few weeks.
According to the NPD chart, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D landed in the #5 spot last month. NBA 2K11 ranked seventh, followed by Mortal Kombat, Cars 2 and Just Dance 2. Sony pointed out that InFAMOUS 2 was the best-selling first-party title, soaring above Zelda for the 3DS.
"The recently launched inFAMOUS 2 was the #1 software SKU in June," said SCEA's senior director of corporate communications, Patrick Seybold. "In addition, momentum is accelerating with the upcoming fall releases of Resistance 3 and UNCHARTED 3 on the horizon. This week the UNCHARTED 3 multiplayer beta surpassed 1.5 million unique players, demonstrating the strength of the PlayStation platform and consumers' interest in gaming experiences that combine rich stories, challenging gameplay, and exhilarating 3D immersion."
Despite the launch of Duke Nukem Forever and L.A. Noire, overall over-the-counter sales of hardware, software and accessories were down 10-percent compared to June 2010, earning $995 million. Console software sales took a 12-percent nosedive, dropping to $469.5 million; the overall software numbers only dropped 10-percent (or $508.9 million) when physical PC game sales are added to the mix. New video game hardware sales dropped from $401.7 million to $366.6 million whereas accessories dropped from $177.7 million to $158.9 million.
Will Duke Nukem Forever remain on the chart for July? It's possible despite all the negative reviews. At this point, most of the long-time fans have gotten their fill and have probably moved on to other titles like the spooky F.E.A.R. 3 and Red Faction Armageddon. What Duke needs now is incredible DLC similar to the content featured in the Duke Burger and Morninwood chapters mid-way through the game. Throw in some multiplayer bot support too since the online portion seems full of tumbleweeds and undisturbed layers of dust.
Here's a batch of screenshots I took during my first run through Duke Nukem Forever:
