These Were The Best-Selling U.S. Games In December

The end-of-year holiday season always does wonders for the sales of games with a mainstream appeal, regardless of whether you’re looking at Japan or North America.

For example, while Call of Duty: Black Ops held on to its #1 spot in the U.S. for another month in December, games like Just Dance 2 and Donkey Kong Country Returns actually rose from #3 and #6 respectively in November to #2 and #5 in December, as games like Madden NFL 11 and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit dropped lower onto the top-ten chart.

While Just Dance 2 had Call of Duty: Black Ops blocking it from hitting the #1 spot, Donkey Kong was faced with the continued success of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and a new release in the form of World of WarCraft: Cataclysm.

Epic Mickey for the Wii appeared in December’s NPDs as well, at #6, which is quite the feat considering the competition it was up against. Ubisoft’s Michael Jackson: The Experience made an appearance, too, at #9. The game has sold over 2 million units across the Wii, DS and PSP since its November release.

Note that these numbers only account for retail purchases, which might explain how Just Dance 2 beat out World of WarCraft: Cataclysm.