Declining sales in video games industry

Videogame sales were weaker than expected in August, suggesting that the slowing U.S. economy may have finally caught up with the sector. Late Thursday, the NPD Group reported that sales of videogame software for the U.S. rose 13% from the same period last year. On average, analysts covering the sector had been expecting a gain of 20% to 25%. It was the lowest year-over-year sales gain since January, according to NPD data. Sales of game software totaled just over $550 million for the month, according to NPD data. That was down from the $591 million reported for July. As expected, the biggest title for the month was EA’s “Madden NFL 09,” which typically releases in August ahead of the football season. Across the four major platforms, “Madden” sold more than 2.18 million units for the month.

Nintendo also has some strong sellers, with “Wii Fit,” “Mario Kart” and “Wii Play” ranking under “Madden” as the top-selling titles for the month. Sales of game consoles were another disappointment. With one exception, every major console saw its unit sales slip from July. Only the hand-held PSP from Sony Corp. notched a gain, moving from 221,700 units to 253,000 units following a redesign of the console. Nintendo sold 453,000 Wii units for the month, down 18% from July. The Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp. slipped nearly 5% to 195,200 units while Sony’s PlayStation 3 fell nearly 18% to 185,400 units.

Source: WSJ