Andre Yoskowitz
11 Sep 2009 16:35
NPD has released their latest U.S. video game industry numbers, for the month of August, with PS3 hardware sales seeing a bump due to the Slim PS3 but with software and other consoles seeing strong declines.
Overall, the combined industry (hardware, software, accessories) saw a 16 percent year-on-year decline to $908 million USD. August saw a slight improvement from July however, when full revenue fell to $849 million USD.
Hardware sales fell 25 percent YOY, to $298 million, up just under 10 percent from July's low. The DSi and DS Lite remained on top, with the Wii coming in second and the Xbox 360 and PS3 almost identical in third and fourth. The PSP lagged far behind. Full stats:
Xbox 360 numbers are likely to see a bump in September however, as Microsoft has cut the price of the Elite model to $299 USD.
"These PlayStation 3 figures show that the new $299 price point is a definite sweet spot for the console and I expect the momentum gained in August to continue through the holiday season,". added Electronic Entertainment Design and Research director of analyst services Jesse Divnich, via Gamespot. "August also marks the first month the PlayStation 3 has shown year-over-year growth in 2009, and we expect similar growth for the remainder of 2009."
With the exception of Madden NFL 10 and a few select others like Batman: Arkham Asylum, software took a severe hit as well, dropping 15 percent YOY.
Accessories were the only sector to see growth year on year, a 2 percent bump to $137.96 million USD.