Borderlands 2, a space western first-person shooter was developed by Gearbox and builds on elements introduced in its predecessor Borderlands.
The game has also received critical acclaim and has received positive reviews on aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic. The two sites have the PlayStation 3 version 90.6 percent and 91/100, respectively and the Xbox 360 version 89.90 percent and 90/100. The two sites have the PC version ranking the lowest with ratings of 88.87 percent and 89/100.
It also appears that the game has outsold its predecessor in the UK by a 4-to-1 ratio and became this year's biggest launch title. In the U.S., according to the NPD, Borderlands 2's first-month sales outsold the original Borderlands, which launched in October 2009, by 234 percent.
According to research firm NPD, the rest of the game industry didn't fair as well as Borderlands 2. The industry as a whole experienced another month of declines as U.S. retail video game sales declined in September 2012 from $1.11 billion to $848.3 million.That is a 24 percent decline for the year-over year.
The biggest decline of the month was video game hardware, which dropped 39 percent from last September. The Xbox 360 continued to lead the pack in home consoles sales and was the highest-selling console for the month with 270,000 units sold. However, Sony and Nintendo have yet to release their hardware sales numbers for the month.
Borderlands 2 the wildly popular co-op shooter by 2K Games sold 1.48 million units for the month, However EA Sports latest edition in its long running video game football franchise Madden NFL '13 took the top spot on the charts. Madden was available for the entire months, while Borderlands released midway through September. EA Sports FIFA 13 came in at the three spot.
According to the research firm, sales of video games themselves, excluding PC titles, fell 18 percent to $497.4 million. With PC games included the number becomes a smaller and software sales only fell 14 percent to $547.3 million.
The industry is gearing up for the holiday shopping season that will begin with the release of Assassin's Creed III on Oct 30. The last two months of the year will see release of the next installment of the $3 billion Halo franchise, and Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
What do you think about the continuing decline in video game sales? Do you think the release of blockbuster video games during the holiday season will buck the trend? What games or systems do you plan to buy this holiday season? Comment below...
