Video Game Sales Plunge, but Have They Hit Bottom?

After a brief sales increase in September, video game sales took another nosedive in October — but the bad news may finally be over. Sales of video game software dropped 19 percent compared to a year ago, to $573 million. The decline was notably worse than most analysts were expecting. The worst-case scenario for most analysts was a 15 percent drop. Most were looking for something in the neighborhood of 9-10 percent. Year-to-date, game sales are now 13 percent behind 2008's pace. Hardware sales were even worse than software, falling 23 percent compared with the 2008 numbers, despite recent price cuts for all gaming systems. Sony [SNE  ...
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NPD: October video game sales tumble 19 percent

NEW YORK (AP) -- After a slight reprieve in September, U.S. video game retail sales slumped again in October, unable to escape the economic turmoil that's cutting into consumer spending and swelling the ranks of unemployed. Market researcher NPD Group said Thursday total sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 19 percent in October from the same month last year, to $1.07 billion. Year-to-date sales were down 13 percent at $11.43 billion. It is unlikely that the industry will be able to match last year's record sales, which topped $21 billion.But for a business that makes most of its money during the holidays, things may not be as bleak as they seem. Industry analysts expect November sales to pick up again."Based on typical industry seasonality, the industry is on track to generate full-year revenues in the range of ($20 billion to $21 billion) in the U.S., which would put it just a bit below last year's sales," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.Not included in the October sales figures is Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," which went on sale Tuesday and broke entertainment records on its first day in stores. According to its publisher, it raked in an estimated $310 million in North America and the United Kingdom in 24 hours.With that game, and others such as Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed 2" and Nintendo's "New Super Mario Bros.," November is poised to be a strong month for the industry.Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, said Thursday his company expects a strong holiday season.October sales of gaming hardware fell by nearly a quarter to $380.7 million.The Wii from Nintendo Co. was the month's best-selling gaming system, followed by the handheld DS, also from Nintendo. Sony's PlayStation 3 was in third place.All three of the gaming console m...
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In Video-Game Sector, Now May Be the Time to Score

 Alabama  Alaska  Arizona  Arkansas  California  Colorado  Connecticut  DC  Delaware  Florida  Georgia  Hawaii  Idaho  Illinois  Indiana...
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