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'Grand Theft Auto IV' sets Canadian sales record in launch month |
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Written by Neil Davidson, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Thursday, 15 May 2008 |
A customer reaches for a copy of of the game Grand Theft Auto IV at a Best Buy store. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Paul Sakuma
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TORONTO - The game only came out on April 29, but "Grand Theft Auto IV" still topped the Canadian sales chart for the month with a record 270,000 copies flying out of the stores.
That number, which translates into $17.13 million for the month, is the biggest at launch in Canada since the NPD Group started tracking the video game industry in 2002.
"Halo 2," in November 2004, sold 222,000 units at launch. Last month "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" debuted at 197,000 copies while "Halo 3" sold 191,000 during its launch in September 2007.
"Grand Theft Auto IV" racked up more than US$500 million in worldwide sales in its first week of release, with cash registers ringing up US$310 million on the opening day alone.
The Xbox 360 version of the game debuted at No. 1 and the title held down three other places in the Canadian top 10 for April. The PlayStation 3 version ranked third while the more expensive special edition of the game entered the chart at No. 7 (Xbox 360) and No. 8 (PS3), according to the NPD Group.
Nintendo's "Mario Kart," which comes with a steering wheel accessory, debuted at No. 2 while "Grand Turismo 5: Prologue" opened at No. 4 for the PlayStation 3. Nintendo's "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" fell out of the top spot to No. 5.
The top 20 included nine Nintendo titles (five for the Wii and four for the DS), six for PlayStation (three for the PS3, two for the PSP and one for PS2) and five for the Xbox 360.
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XBOX MILESTONE - Thanks in part to the success of "GTA IV," the first "Grand Theft" game to be released at launch on Xbox, the Xbox 360 has reached the 10-million mark in the U.S., with the worldwide sales figure at more than 19 million consoles, according to Microsoft.
That leads the next-generation pack, although the 360 came out a year before the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.
"History has shown us that the first company to reach 10 million in console sales wins the generation battle. We are uniquely positioned to set a new benchmark for the industry," Don Mattrick, senior vice-president of the Interactive Entertainment Business in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft, said in a statement.
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HOCKEY COVER BOY - Columbus Blue Jackets star Rick Nash has been chosen cover athlete for the NHL 2K9 hockey game.
"My idols have all been on the covers of video games as I was growing up, so to be on the cover of NHL 2K9 myself is truly incredible," Nash said in a 2K Sports release.
Nash is currently with Canada at the world hockey championships in Quebec City.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 15 May 2008 )
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