Videogame Sales in the US Drops in October

Consumer market research firm NPD Group on Thursday said that the videogame sales in the United States have slipped by around 19 percent in October, a second straight year of decline in its year over year results.

According to NPD, the US videogames industry has made more than $1.07 billion dollars in October. However, it was still not enough to overtake sales results at the same period last year.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier attributed the second straight year of drop to the continued effect of the economic recession to the average Americans, the most prolific buyers of new videogame releases.

“Despite fresh release of previously blockbuster titles, the trend remain on the reverse of what we are hoping. It clearly showed that the high unemployment rate and the credit crunch have directly affected the industry,” Frazier said.

Meanwhile, the data also showed that videogame hardware and console sales has only reached $380.75 million compared to the slightly strong surged last year of $497 million.

Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Microsoft Xbox 360 remained the top choice among heavy gamers with some 27 and 26 percent market shares, respectively.

PlayStation Network senior vice president Peter Dille said that PS3 sales increased by more than 70 percent this month compared to the same period last year. He added the sales would further improve as the holiday season comes closer.

“We have no plans of slowing down. Last month’s sales result is an understatement and we hope to break more to our costumers this season,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Wii and DS handheld gaming consoles remain on top of their league in October. However, NPD was not available to furnish as to how many units were sold during the period.

In a related development, PS3’s “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves” was rated as the hottest selling videogame for the month with more than 540, 000 copies sold while Wii’s “Fit Plus” grabbed the second spot with more than 441, 000 copies.

Merchants and other retailers are now keeping a close watch on what’s hot and not as like the previous, November and December are the strongest months in terms of sales of videogames.

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