Posted 08/15/09 at 05:18:05 PM by Justin Kerr

Last month we reported on the rather bleak fortunes of the gaming industry, and it appears as though the trend that was identified in June has carried over to July. According to the NPD Group, July marks the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year video-game sales declines. Not only is the gaming industry no longer considered recession proof, but it managed to shed a staggering 29 percent compared to the same period last year. Sales of software and hardware for July 2009 were approximately $848.9 million, down from $1.1 billion in 2008.

NPD blames the summer tailspin on lackluster new game releases, and fewer hardware purchases. The industry on a whole is expected to pick up some steam in the traditionally strong Q4 period with several high profile launches expected. "This isn't the best time of year for video-game sales. In a down economy it makes it all that tougher said Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret. "Of course, there's nothing that's ultimately going to be recession-proof if the recession goes on long enough."

“Video games have large amounts of entertainment value beyond short-term enjoyment," Gartenberg said. "That's typically one of the reasons video games have done well." Would you agree?

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Posted 05/24/09 at 12:20:48 PM by Justin Kerr

New research from NPD and Nielsens reveals some fairly interesting information on how Americans spend their free time, and the results might surprise you. On the gaming front, 63 percent of Americans reported having played some form of video game within the past six months, while only 43 per cent admitted to having gone to see a movie in the theatre. This bodes well for the gaming industry which reported that consumers now spend roughly one third of their entertainment budget on games, which equates to about $38 per person per month on average for content.

On the video front, Neilsen has released a separate study that shows online video might not be as big a threat as the major TV networks are letting on. Despite the rapid rise in online video viewing, consumers on average only watched about three hours per month via the Internet. That is up an hour from the results last year, but still only represents about 1.1 percent of total video consumption, which is totally dominated by traditional TV.

The other interesting statistic is that when it comes to video, apparently we are now watching more TV than ever before. The average American now consumes about 153.5 hours of TV per month, which works out to over 5 hours per day. This study excludes non-legitimate video sources such as peer to peer networks, but includes numbers pulled from Hulu, You Tube, and many other online video sites. Want to read the whole study? Click the link to read the whole report.

So how do you spend your spare time?

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Posted 12/11/08 at 08:12:00 PM by Nathan Grayson

No one.      

Not even itself.

Call of Duty: World at War, Spore, and Fallout 3 definitely got in a few chomps before getting turned to paste under the weight of WoW's millions, though. Left 4 Dead also made the "November Top Ten" page of 2008's gaming yearbook, though in a somewhat unspectacular fashion -- probably because NPD figures only cover retail sales.

Check out the full list below:

1. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King / Blizzard / $36 (Average)   
2. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Ed. / Blizzard / $50 (Average)
3. Call Of Duty: World At War / Treyarch / $50 (Average)
4. Spore / EA Maxis / $48 (Average)
5. Fallout 3 / Bethesda / $49 (Average)
6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $34 (Average)
7. The Sims 2 Deluxe / EA Maxis / $19 (Average)
8. Left 4 Dead / Valve / $48 (Average)
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Exp. Pack / EA Maxis / $21(Average)
10.  Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 / EA LA / $49 (Average)
11. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $18 (Average)
12. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Exp. / EA Maxis / $19 (Average)
13. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy / Her Interactive / $20 (Avearge)
14. EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey / Sony Online Ent. / $40 (Average)(Average)
15. Far Cry 2 / Ubisoft Montreal / $50 (Average)
16. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack / Blizzard / $29 (Average)
17. BioShock / 2K Boston, Australia / $14 (Average)
18. Spore Creepty & Cute Parts Pack / EA Maxis / $19 (Average)
19. IGT Slots: Little Green Men / Masque / $20 (Average)
20. Assassin's Creed / Ubisoft Montreal / $11 (Average)

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Posted 11/17/08 at 11:24:42 PM by Nathan Grayson

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Posted 10/17/08 at 10:20:19 PM by Nathan Grayson

As per usual, the NPD Group kept its giant, cyclopian eye glued to videogame sales for the month of September*. However, as per never before, the Group also decided to compile its weekly retail PC game sales into a colossal monthly communion, full of surprises and intrigue.

Hot Wheels: Beat That set the standard for September, issuing forth a challenge to all other games. 17 games did, in fact, beat that, with at least two unquestionably better games also beating it, but in reverse.

Spore and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning took top honors, selling 406,000 and 274,000 units respectively. NPD, sadly, did not divulge digits for any more of the 20 games listed.

It should also be noted that NPD only covers retail sales, so any sales generated by Steam, Direct 2 Drive, or other such outlets do not count.

PC Game Sales (September)

   1. Spore / EA Maxis / $50 (Average)
   2. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning / EA Mythic / $49 (Average)
   3. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Expansion Pack / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
   4. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Collector's Edition / EA Mythic / $80 (Average)
   5. Spore Galactic Edition / EA Maxis / $79 (Average)
   6. World Of Warcraft: Battle Chest / Blizzard / $37 (Average)
   7. Crysis Warhead / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $29 (Average)
   8. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe / EA Maxis / $30 (Average)
   9. World Of Warcraft / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
  10. Spore Creature Creator / EA Maxis / $10 (Average)
  11. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade / Blizzard / $28 (Average)
  12. Civilization IV: Colonization / Firaxis / $29 (Average)
  13. Warcraft III Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
  14. Civilization IV / Firaxis / $27 (Average)
  15. The Sims 2 IKEA Home Stuff Expansion / EA Maxis / $20 (Average)
  16. Diablo Battle Chest / Blizzard / $39 (Average)
  17. StarCraft Battle Chest / Blizzard / $20 (Average)
  18. Hot Wheels: Beat That / Activision / $15 (Average)
  19. Crysis / Crytek (Publisher: EA) / $38 (Average)
  20. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky / GSC Game World / $39 (Average)

Jump past the break for overall software sales, with games included. (Exciting preview: Apple fails.)

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Posted 07/19/08 at 02:09:13 AM by Pulkit Chandna

It was more a question of when than if: Wii sales leaping past Xbox 360’s in the U.S. The Wii has formally breached Xbox 360’s bastion by going past its US sales tally, according to the latest data from NPD. Wii is now the best-selling console in the U.S also. The month of June proved to be quite fecund for the Wii, as the headcount of US Wii owners rose by 666,000 in this month. Nintendo has sold 10.9 million units of its popular 7th generation console in the States. The month of June was great for the US videogame industry as a whole. The PS3 saw a massive increase of 94% in sales compared to the preceding month and also trounced the Xbox 360 to finish second.

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