US Videogame Sales to Hit $20 Billion for Year

NPD Group said that US videogame industry sales for the year are on track to hit 20 billion dollars despite not measuring up to stellar revenues seen in 2008.

Sales of videogame software and hardware in November totaled 2.7 billion dollars, a 7.6 percent drop from the same month last year but still the second-best November revenue figures on record, according to the market research company.

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US videogame sales for the first 11 months of 2009 were some 14 billion dollars, about 12 percent less than at the same point last year but seven percent higher than at the end of November in 2007.

"I think we all have to realize the incredible year that was 2008," said on Thursday NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Based on a traditional spike in sales during the year-end shopping season, the videogame industry is on track to take in 20 billion dollars in 2009, according to Frazier.

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To hit that mark, videogame sales for December would need to be 11 percent higher than they were in the same month last year.

"Impossible? I don't think so," Frazier said. "More positive economic news combined with 'frugal fatigue' could positively impact industry sales during these last weeks of the holiday season."

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Each of the rival videogame consoles saw increases in sales in November. Nintendo led the pack, selling 1.23 million Wii devices while Microsoft ranked second by selling 819,500 Xbox 360 consoles, according to NPD.

US sales of Sony PlayStation 3 consoles hit 710,400 while the Japanese electronics titan sold 203,100 of the previous generation PlayStation 2 (PS2) models, the industry tracker reported.

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"I was really impressed by the performance of the PS2, which after 109 months in market is still experiencing strong sales," Frazier said.

PS3 consoles logged the greatest increase over last year's November sales and had the third best monthly sales ever for the system.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" was released in November and blasted its way into record books by having the best opening month in videogame history.

"New Super Mario Brothers" for the Wii was the second best selling title for the month, followed by "Assassin's Creed 2" by French videogame powerhouse Ubisoft.

Source-AFP
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