TORONTO - The Canadian video game industry rang up a record $1.5 billion at the cash register in 2007, up 56 per cent from the previous year.
The figures, as reported Thursday by the NPD Group which tracks the industry, follow sales of $933 million in 2006, which in itself was a 22 per cent rise from the year before. Those totals include hardware, software and accessories
Nintendo, which continues to enjoy great demand for its Wii console and strong interest in its portable DS, accounted for 10 of the top-20 selling games in 2007. The Wii "Play" game, which came with a remote, was the No. 1 game of the year, consigning "Halo 3" for the Xbox 360 to second place.
Xbox had six 360 games in the top 20 while PlayStation had four, all for the PS2. Four of the top 20 games were part of the "Guitar Hero" family.
"Super Mario Galaxy" for the Wii was third, followed by "Pokemon Diamond"for the Nintendo DS and "Guitar Hero 3" for the PlayStation 2. The rest of the top 10 featured "Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare" for the Xbox 360, "New Super Mario Bros" for the DS, "Guitar Hero 2" for the 360, "Mario Party 8" for the Wii and "Brain Age 2" for the DS.
Ubisoft's made-in-Montreal "Assassin's Creed" for the Xbox 360 finished the year at No. 12.
Hockey games, which often dominate the Canadian sales charts, had to settle for No. 14 and 17 -- both versions of EA's made-in-Canada "NHL 08."
The top-selling game in December was "Super Mario Galaxy" for the Wii.
