Research firm NPD Group said that EA and Crytek's critically lauded FPS Crysis sold just 86,633 units last month, following its release on November 13.

A Metacritic average review score of 91 wasn’t enough to overcome the apparent apprehension regarding the game's relatively steep hardware requirements. A PC with a dual core processor, 2GB of RAM and a mid-level DX10 card runs the game at around 30 framers per second average at midrange resolution. [Judging by my own rig.--Ed.]

Midway and Epic Games’ Unreal Tournament 3 for PC fared even worse, selling just 33,995. However, sales will be supplemented by PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. The game launched for PC on November 19, also receiving strong reviews.

The FPS market is crowded to say the least. Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3 launched during a time when BioShock, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4 and The Orange Box have been occupying shelf space.

(Thanks to virtual stock market The simExchange for the additional NPD data.)

By Kris Graft