Yikes!
That’s about all you can think after seeing the latest video game sales numbers from research firm NPD Group. NPD reported earlier today that U.S. retail sales of game merchandise fell 31 percent in June compared with the same month a year earlier.
The industry has posted year-over-year sales declines for every month since April. That fall-off has negated what started off as a fairly strong year, with sizeable growth through March.
Nintendo seems to be getting just the slightest bit smug.
For its E3 presentation yesterday, Microsoft brought out the remaining Beatles and showed off Project Natal, a piece of technology straight out of the “Minority Report.” At its press event, Electronic Arts brought out tennis legend Pete Sampras and a stage full of Jedi warriors. Ubisoft had James Cameron, Pele and a cool new camera accessory for the Wii.
Nintendo … Well, Nintendo today showed off a glorified pulse meter. The company’s presentation included no celebrities, few real surprises in terms of games or new accessories and was kept to a relatively curt 72 minutes.
Market research firm NPD Group on Thursday released its latest monthly video game sales numbers. At first glance, they don’t look great for the industry.
For the second straight month, U.S. retail sales of video game products plunged by 17 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. The pain was felt all over: in dollar terms, hardware sales dropped 8 percent, software sales fell 23 percent and accessories sales fell 15 percent.
Perhaps more disturbingly for future growth, sales of the latest video game consoles dropped off a cliff in the month. Sales of Nintendo’s Wii, far and away the leader thus far this cycle, plunged 52 percent from April 2008 to 340,000 units. Read the rest of this entry »
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