Market research firm the NPD Group has released its report on the US retail videogame market for last month, and once again it makes for depressing reading: declines in every sector saw overall spending fall 10 per cent year on year to $995 million.
Hardware sales fell 9 per cent, to $366.6 million; software by 12 per cent, to $469.5 million; and sales of accessories slumped 11 per cent to $158.9 million. The best-selling game, for a second consecutive month, was Team Bondi's detective adventure LA Noire, ahead of Duke Nukem Forever, also published by Take-Two.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 was the best-selling console, with Xbox Live mouthpiece Major Nelson tweeting last night to say that 507,000 units were sold in June. Nintendo announced Wii sales of 273,000, while Sony declined to reveal figures for PlayStation 3.
While the figures are more bad news for retail, it should be noted that NPD's monthly report does not account for second-hand or digital sales. The firm is stepping up its efforts in digital reporting, upping the frequency of its reports from quarterly to monthly following criticism by EA.
Comments
1