SiliconBeat

I’m in Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show. Today is press day, where there is a series of press conferences from 8 a.m. until around 6 p.m.

I’m live-blogging/Twittering throughout the day. You can read my latest observations below.

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.

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The games industry frequently surprises me … and not in a good way.

One of the most obvious things about the current console cycle has been that the Wii is the dominant platform. To date, Nintendo, has sold 50 million Wiis worldwide. In contrast, Sony and Microsoft have sold about 52 million PlayStation 3s and Xbox 360s — combined.

At least in the United States, the Wii’s lead on the other two consoles has just kept getting bigger. In recent months, the Wii has typically outsold both the PlayStation 3 and the 360 combined — by a wide margin. Read the rest of this entry »

First Microsoft unveiled Project Natal. Now Sony says it has a “motion controller” in the works.

Two-and-a-half years after Nintendo’s Wii hit store shelves, the company’s chief rivals have stopped firing at each other long enough to try to match the Wii’s motion-sensing game controllers.

Given that the Wii has been the breakout hit console of the current generation since its launch, you’d have thought Sony and Microsoft wouldn’t have tarried so long. Regardless, they clearly have Nintendo in their sites.

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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 »