Economy may be slowing down, but consumers remain faithful
to their habits, keeping U.S. videogame hardware and software sales up for the
month of October. The most recent report from NPD Group shows an 18 percent
increase compared to the same period last year, to $1.31 billion, an obvious
improvement from last month, when monthly sales plummeted 7 percent.
The industry had its rebound after seeing the first
significant monthly decline since early 2006. According to NPD analyst Anita
Frazier, with just two months left, the videogame industry is on track and
ready to top the $22 billion in annual sales in 2008.
Amid price cuts and economic fears, consumers made significant
purchases in October, but sales results were mixed, the NPD report shows. “The
console portion of the market made significant gains at 26 percent across
hardware, software and accessories,” Frazier explained, “while the portable
side of the market stalled, declining 14 percent. Year-to-date portable segment
of the market is still up 7 percent.”
Considering the extra week consumers had in October, Nintendo
Wii continued to top the hardware charts with 803,000 units sold, up 14 percent
from last month, followed by Nintendo DS with 491,000 units, Xbox 360 with
371,000 units, PlayStation Portable with 193,000 units, PlayStation 3 with
190,000 units and PlayStation 2 with 136,000 units.
Once again, Nintendo had a great month, with sales
adding up to 13.35 million Wiis and 23.02 million DSs sold in the United
States. “Nintendo provides consumers with the best value not only among video
games, but also among most entertainment options,” Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of
America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing commented. “Nintendo
also provides an incomparable range of experiences that everyone can enjoy,
whether you’ve been playing for years or are just getting into video games.”
Hardware sales only accounted for a 5 percent increase
compared to the same period last year, but software sales went up 35 percent on
a year-over-year basis, to $697 million. Fable II was the top selling videogame
for the month, with 790,000 units, followed by a lot of Wii titles, only
disrupted by 3rd ranked Fallout 3 for Xbox 360, which sold 375,000 units. Wii
Fit with Balance Board took the second place, with 487,000 units sold, while
Mario Kart with Wheel and Wii Play with Remote completed the top 5 selling
games.
GAMES INDUSTRY Sales: $1.31B
Software: $697M
Hardware: $495M
Accessories: $120M
Top-selling HARDWARE:
1.Nintendo Wii - 803,000 units
2.Nintendo DS- 491,000 units
3.Xbox 360 - 371,000 units
4.PlayStation Portable - 193,000 units
5.PlayStation 3 - 190,000 units
6.PlayStation 2 - 136,000 units
Top-selling SOFTWARE:
1. Fable II (360)- Microsoft - 790,000 units
2. Wii Fit with Balance Board (Wii) - Nintendo - 487,000 units
3. Fallout 3 (360) - Bethesda Softworks - 375,000 units
4. Mario Kart Wii with Wheel (Wii) - Nintendo - 290,000 units
5. Wii Play with Remote (Wii) - Nintendo - 282,000 units
6. Saints Row 2 (360) - THQ - 270,000 units
7. SOCOM: US Navy Seals Confrontation (PS3) - Sony - 231,000 units
8. Little Big Planet (PS3) - Sony - 215,000 units
9. NBA 2K9 (360) - Take-Two Interactive – 202,000 units
10. Dead Space (360) - Electronic Arts – 193,000 units
