Video game sales fall again in August
Dave U. Random
http://xrl.us/bfjw6b
Video game sales fell again in August, the sixth straight
month of declines for a sector that has been suffering from
a slumping economy and challenging comparisons.
According to data from the NPD Group late Thursday, sales
of game software fell 15% during August compared to the
same month in 2008. The results were roughly in line with
expectations from analysts, who noted that the period is
historically a weak one for the industry and the main title
for the month, "Madden NFL 10," underperformed compared to
last year.
The six-month slump in sales will make it even more
challenging for the industry to how growth this year.
Overall sales for the sector so far this year have totaled
$9.07 billion, down 14% from the same period last year.
"The back four months of the year will have to be up 14% in
aggregate for 2009 to come in flat in comparison to 2008
sales," NPD analyst Anita Frazier wrote in the report.
A notable slump was seen for "Madden NFL 10," published by
Electronic Arts (ERTS). While still the best-selling title
for the month, unit sales across the PlayStation 3,
PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 platforms fell 15% compared to
the performance of its predecessor last August.
Another strong selling new release for the month was
"Batman: Arkham Asylum" from Square Enix Holdings
(9684.TO). The game sold 593,000 units for the PS3 and 360
platforms.
Sales of game hardware fell 16% to $908.7 million for the
month compared with last year.
That was mostly the result of price cuts, as several key
consoles saw unit sales climb for the month. Most notable
was Sony Corp., which saw sales of its PlayStation 3 spike
by 72% to reach 210,000 units compared with July. The
company lowered its price on the consoles in the latter
half of the month, putting the main unit under the $300 for
the first time since its launch in late 2006.
The other next-generation consoles saw growth as well. The
Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. saw sales rise 6% from July
to 215,400 units. The company cut the price of its most
expensive console by $100 during the month.
The Wii from Nintendo Co. Ltd. saw sales rise 10% to
277,400 units. The company's handheld DS device saw sales
of 552,900 units up from 538,900 units in July.