It seems that August was a time when the game industry chose to take it more slowly - after all, it’s not healthy to grow and grow in all that heat. But gamers and game-makers should not be deterred by this apparent lag, after all, we’re talking about the industry which managed to conquer 9% of the market realm each year. (Be ready for some serious numbers and business runes in this article – still, take heart, friend gamer, and stand your ground. After all, the savvy game taster must be aware of the undercurrents controlling the life and death of his or hers favorite titles.)

So here’s how things went in August: if overall game sales were $994.8 in August 2007, this time, they were $1.08 billion. (And don’t forget this is supposed to be the slow month.) Sales of gaming hardware rose by 3 percent from last year, reaching $394.5 million, and software saw an increase of 13 percent (for a total of $550.7 million), as well as the accessories segment ($137.3).

The August Gaming Industry Olympics were won by the Wii, Nintendo managing once again to trash their competition with a staggering number of 453,000 units sold – which doesn’t mean they were immune to the slowing powers of August (Wii sales in July were an even more staggering 608,000). Coming behind Nintendo and somewhat out of breath is Microsoft, with 195,200 sales for its Xbox 360 – not a bad performance, considering the age and health problems of this veteran console. Right on Microsoft’s tail, face contorted in powerless fury, comes Sony with its PlayStation 3 and the 185,400 sales they managed this month. As for the portable systems, Nintendo is, once again, the undisputed champion, thanks to its selling of 518,300 DS units; the PSP managed to get sold 185,400 times this month.

Electronic Arts cleared the table in the games event, all thanks to Madden NFL 09 – in fact, they took all the places on the podium with three versions of the same title. This game sold no less than 2.3 million units, which is 2 percent more than last year’s August title, therefore breaking the sale-reduction spell of this accursed month. Nintendo was the second strongest player out there, with titles like Wii Fit and Wii Mario Kart. A lot more was expected from Microsoft’s Too Human, a title which brought a mere 168,200 sales for its coach.

So, these are how things looked in the gaming arena last month. Fortunately, unlike the Beijing Olympics, the gaming events go on throughout the year. And the month of September looks like it will bring some more than interesting record-breaking results.