The NPD Group provided a reminder this week that market growth is not guaranteed. The gaming industry in the US ended the year (2007) with record retail sales of nearly $18 billion.
This week The NPD Group the industry-research firm released US retail sales data for the January 2008 period. While software sales for the month were up 11 percent to nearly $611 million, hardware sales fell by a quarter to around $378 million. Combine that with a modest decline in accessory sales, the industry overall was down 6 percent for the month, posting $1.18 billion compared to January 2007's $1.25 billion take.
Despite this, the month contained indications that the industry actually grew. That was because the January 2007 reporting period was five weeks long as opposed to this January's four-week span. Analyst Anita Frazier said that the numbers are much rosier when this adjustment was taken into account.
The big winner in the gaming market was console software which was nearly 50 percent up when compared to last year.
Hardware sales were down and a lot of this was to do with poor supply that assertion was backed up by a statement from Microsoft saying the Xbox 360 was suffering from temporary shortages.
Nintendo's longtime lead on its competitors was also slimmed. The once again took the console sales crown, by a narrower margin than in previous months. In a month that saw significant advances for the PlayStation 3's chosen Blu-ray disc format, Sony's system ran nearly neck-and-neck with the Wii, selling 269,000 systems compared to the Nintendo’s 275,000. 3rd placed Nintendo DS racked up 251,000 sales, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable brought up the rear, selling 230,000 units each.
Familiar faces dominated the software list, with Modern Warfare and Call of Duty 4 for the Xbox 360 once again beating all challengers, notching up 331,000 in sales. Another favourite Guitar Hero on the and Xbox 360 took third and fifth respectively, Super Mario Galaxy on the was sixth and the DS edition of Mario Party in ninth.
THIS IS THE NPD GROUP's DATA FOR US GAME INDUSTRY SALES FOR JANUARY 2008
#1: Metroid: Other M
Platform:  Nintendo Wii
 (27)
Buy new: $49.99 Click to see price
42 used & new from $37.94
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#2: New Super Mario Bros
Platform: Nintendo Wii
 (644)
Buy new: $49.99 $39.99
107 used & new from $31.00
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#3: Gold's Gym Dance Workout
Platform: Nintendo Wii
(28)
Buy new: $29.99
17 used & new from $29.99
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#4: Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board
Platform: Nintendo Wii
(631)
Buy new: $99.99
173 used & new from $72.00
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#5: Super Mario Galaxy 2
Platform: Nintendo Wii
(194)
Buy new: $49.99 $49.54
70 used & new from $36.43
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#6: A Boy and His Blob
Platform: Nintendo Wii
(37)
Buy new: $29.99 $13.00
30 used & new from $11.93
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#7: Just Dance
Platform: Nintendo Wii
(609)
Buy new: $39.99 $36.99
18 used & new from $34.00
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#8: Mario Kart Wii with Wii Wheel
Platform: Nintendo Wii
(881)
Buy new: $49.99 $48.93
106 used & new from $34.95
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#9: Wii MotionPlus
Platform: Nintendo Wii
(232)
Buy new: $19.99
63 used & new from $9.99
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
#10: WipeOut
Platform: Nintendo Wii
 (47)
Buy new: $29.99
17 used & new from $26.99
(Ranking is updated hourly. Visit the Bestsellers in All Games list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.)]]>
Category Total Change
Video Games: $1.18 billion -6%
Video Game Accessories: $191 million -4%
Video Games Software: $550 million +11%
Video Games Hardware: $378 million -25%
Total Sales Per Week: $295 million +18%
Hardware Sales (units sold)
Wii: 274,000
PlayStation 3: 269,000
Nintendo DS: 251,000
PlayStation Portable: 230,000
Xbox 360: 230,000
Game Software Top 10 (units sold)
1) Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat (360, Activision) - 331,000
2) Play with Remote (Wii, Nintendo) - 298,000
3) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii, Activision) - 240,000
4) Rock Band (Xbox 360, MTV Games) - 184,000
5) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Xbox 360, Activision) - 183,000
6) Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo) - 172,000
7) Burnout Paradise (Xbox 360, EA) - 144,000
8) Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat (PS3, Activision) - 140,000
9) Mario Party DS (DS, Nintendo) - 139,000
10) Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS, Sega) - 133,000
A statement from Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello is confident the company's revenue will jump to around $6 billion by the fiscal year 2011, with at least $900 million from digital revenue streams like downloadable content, in-game advertising and subscription fees. That would represent a growth of 71 percent over its 2008 fiscal year revenue forcast, which it expected to hit roughly $3.5 billion.
Other new announcements made by EA yesterday included a release date of September 7 for Spore (and possible PS3 and Xbox 360 versions).
David is the owner of ConsolesMarket.com, which has thousands of consoles & games listed on the site at fantastic prices. http://www.consolesmarket.com . The site helps you compare the market as it has other merchants offering a full range of products for you to compare.
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