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U.S. video game industry down again in May

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 02 Jul 2010 12:14 User comments (4)

U.S. video game industry down again in May The NPD Group has released their latest U.S. video game industry sales figures, and unsurprisingly the industry was down again for the month of May.
Overall sales fell 5 percent year-over-year (YoY), with hardware dragging the numbers down with a 20 percent plummet. Software, on the other hand, rose 4 percent for the period.

Sales of software, hardware and accessories fell to $823.5 million, hardware fell to $241.5 million, and software rose to $466.3 million.

Software was given a big boost by Red Dead Redemption, which sold 1.51 million units for the month. Super Mario Galaxy followed at 563,000 units sold.

On the hardware side, the normally strong DS and Wii sales were sluggish, and the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 continued their sluggish 2010 pace. The PSP practically fell off the map, having one its slowest months in history.



Says lead NPD analyst Anita Fraizer: "Console hardware unit sales are, in fact, flat to last year. Declines in sales result from a lower average selling price this year compared to last. The portable hardware category contributed the most to the decline in hardware sales for the month, yet the DS is the best-selling hardware system for May."

Numbers via GameSpot:

OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Games: $823.5 million (-5%)
Hardware: $241.5 million (-20%)
Software: $466.3 million (+4%)
Accessories: $115.7 million (+3%)

HARDWARE SALES
DS: 383,700
Wii: 334,800
Xbox 360: 194,600
PlayStation 3: 154,500
PSP: 59,400

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4 user comments

12.7.2010 12:22

DOH, and they didn't even blame piracy? lol

22.7.2010 13:24

Well what do they expect there nothing good coming out these days. The game developers are starting to take the story lines a little too serious and forgetting about the game play. Sure a good story line is needed but when the game only takes about 12 hours to complete its like a waste of time.

32.7.2010 13:40

Piracy has nothing to do with hardware sales.If anything, it would make it boom. Software, on the other hand, which i feel they incorrectly stated as video games, would drop. I feel that video games themselves should be considered hardware, considering its not apart of the system unless its downloadable. But this just means something new, like kinect, needs to hurry and be expedited to the public.

42.7.2010 19:49

its hype month for software, there are 2 games out this fall that i will play, 2 more out in 2011 i will play.

i just wish they'd stop with 3D and start working on dynamic motions and wear and tear.

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