The Last of Us Tops US Sales Charts for June

The NPD Group has revealed the top ten best-selling games in the United States for the month of June.

Total game sales for the month (including hardware, software and accessories) were $593 million, down 15% compared to last year. Software sales brought in $296 million, down 10% from the same month in 2012.

The best-selling titles in the United States for the period between June 2nd and July 6th were the following:

The Last Of Us (PS3)**Animal Crossing: New Leaf (3DS)Minecraft (360)Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, PC, NWU)**NBA 2K13 (360, PS3, WII, NWU, PSP, PC)**Injustice: Gods Among Us (360, PS3, NWU)**Donkey Kong Country Returns (3DS, WII)Deadpool (360, PS3)Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)**Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon (3DS)

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

According to NPD analyst Liam Callahan, The Last of Us had "the second highest first-month sales of a PS3 first-party game, after God of War 3 in March 2010. The Last of Us was also the third highest game to launch during the month of June since NPD began tracking sales in 1995." Last week, Sony confirmed that The Last of Us sold 3.4 million copies in three weeks.

Callahan wrote that Animal crossing "also sold well in the context of first-party games for the 3DS, having the third highest first-month sales next to two launches from holiday 2011: Mario Kart 7, and Super Mario 3D Land.” He added that "3DS software sales momentum is building due to a steady flow of content over the past few months, leading to positive year-to-date sales results.”

"This is the first time since this console generation began that the top 3 games that sold through retail were first-party platform exclusives – each from a different first party," Callahan noted. "In this case, The Last of Us, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Minecraft.”

Discussing Minecraft, Callahan pointed out that “Minecraft’s successful foray into physical retail shows that digital products can reach a new market when launching a physical disc. While many have downloaded the game, these sales indicate that there are plenty of consumers willing to buy a physical disc who are either not connected to the internet, don’t have a credit card to purchase digital games online, or simply prefer the physical disk over digital copies.”

In terms of hardware, Callahan reports that "Nintendo’s 3DS maintained the top spot for overall hardware sales across all platforms for the second consecutive month. The Xbox 360 was the highest selling console, continuing its streak for the thirtieth month in a row." He also points out that while Ouya launched in June, sales "were relatively light for a new console. This may be due to the lack of a major marquee title driving consumers to seek out the console, low awareness due to Ouya being a new brand, or low inventory volume due to manufacturing constraints.”

Microsoft reports that Xbox 360 sold 140,000 units in June in the United States, “making June the 30th consecutive month Xbox 360 was the best-selling console.” $197 million was spent on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. in June.

Nintendo reports that 225,000 3DS systems were sold in the U.S. in June. In June in the United States, Animal Crossing: New Leaf sold 505,000 copies, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D sold 108,000 and Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon sold 115,000 (bringing its lifetime total to 750,000). Software figures include both physical and digital sales.

This article will be updated once we receive a statement from Sony.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Billboard’s Changes to Charts Draw Fire

The magazine started counting digital sales and online streams along with radio airplay in its tallies for most major formats. It also created two new charts using the same criteria, breaking out rap songs in one and R&B songs in a second.

The results have given stars with a pop-oriented sound and broad crossover appeal an advantage over other artists, upsetting and puzzling some music fans. Take Psy, the pudgy South Korean pop star with the infectious dance moves whose video “Gangnam Style” went viral on the Internet. Since the new rules took effect, “Gangnam Style” has been the No. 1 song on the new Rap Songs chart for the last three weeks, even though Psy does not rap on the track and most American hip-hop radio stations have yet to embrace him as a bona fide rapper.

On the Hot Country Songs chart, Taylor Swift’s pop single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” has held the No. 1 position for three weeks, even as many country stations have rejected it, and Rihanna’s pop hit “Diamonds“ has remained atop the Hot R&B-Hip Hop Songs chart, causing dismay among R&B purists.

Bill Werde, Billboard’s editorial director, said the shake-up was necessary to reflect changes in the way people consume music these days. There was a time when radio programmers — and the record labels who lobbied them — largely defined the charts, using surveys of their listeners and their gut instincts to select hits. Now the Internet gives fans a greater say, as people buy music from online stores, stream it through services like Spotify or listen to it on video sites like YouTube and Vevo.

“Three weeks ago, the main genre charts only reflected FM radio play,” Mr. Werde said. “Every fan out there in the world knows and everyone in the music business knows that is not the business we are in anymore, that a stream on Rhapsody or Spotify, or a download at iTunes or Amazon — all these different things — are a meaningful part of the fan experience. And to have genre charts that don’t reflect that? I can’t believe anyone would be arguing for that.”

Still, some people did. The changes caused a backlash on Twitter and other online forums from some purists among hip-hop, country and R&B fans. A headline on one commentator’s blog was “Billboard Chart Changes — R.I.P. R&B Music.” The Web site Saving Country Music lamented that “these new rules could cause the largest wholesale power shift to superstars that music has ever seen.”

Psy’s climb up the rap chart was also criticized. “Trust me when I tell you hip-hop does not consider Psy rap,” said Ebro Darden, the program director at Hot 97 (WQHT, 97.1 FM) the leading hip-hop station in New York. “Billboard has pull, but they cannot make people who live hip-hop believe Psy is rap.”

Most of the criticism, however, has come from fan groups with narrow interests. Carrie Underwood fans were furious that her song “Blown Away” was blocked from No. 1 by Ms. Swift’s pop tune, even though Ms. Underwood’s track is being played far more on country radio stations.

Some R&B and hip-hop fans were dismayed that Rihanna’s song jumped abruptly to No. 1 from No. 66, and that it has remained at the top of the chart ever since. Fans of R&B singer Brandy were particularly incensed, because her song “Put It Down,” featuring Chris Brown, which had been in the Top 10, dropped like a stone after the rule change, even though it remains a favorite on urban radio stations.

An online petition was started to persuade Billboard to undo the changes and has gathered 625 signatures, a small number for an Internet-based campaign.

Mr. Werde characterizes the detractors as a “vocal minority” and has stood firm in the face of the criticism, arguing in columns and online discussions that the definition of a hit has changed and Billboard must keep up with the times.

Similar changes were made a few months ago to the Hot 100 song chart, the main chart that measures popularity across genres, and they have been widely accepted by the industry. Some critics have said there is a subtle price to pay for the new rules. For starters, it becomes harder for artists of a traditional bent, or whose work lacks crossover appeal, to attain a No. 1 hit in their genre.

Billboard made one other change to its methodology that rewards crossover hits. Previously, the magazine only counted airplay on country stations for the country chart, and spins on R&B stations for the R&B chart, and so on. Now it is counting all the plays a song receives on 1,200 stations across genres.