Posted by Bezhou Feng on 19 April 2008 - 01:07 · 11 comments & 5968 views
U.S. sales of video game hardware and software rose 57%in March from a year earlier, industry data showed on Thursday, evidence that the industry has so far been immune to wider economic woes. Sales of gaming hardware, software and accessories hit $1.7 billion in March, led by Nintendo's Wii console, which posted its biggest non-holiday month ever, according to market research firm NPD. "You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the video games industry sales figures," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. U.S. consumers snapped up 720,000 Wiis, driven in part by the release of Nintendo's critically acclaimed "Super Smash Bros. Brawl", which was the top-selling game with 2.7 million copies sold.

Additionally, Microsoft's Xbox 360 regained its lead over Sony's PlayStation 3 after two months of sluggish sales the company blamed on supply constraints. Consumers bought 262,000 Xbox 360s and 257,000 PlayStation 3s. "We said as our supply issue lifted that we'd be back in the game," said Microsoft spokesman David Dennis. For its part, PS3 sales have doubled from a year earlier, and Sony said new and upcoming games such as its "Gran Turismo 5 Prologue" racing game and Konami's "Metal Gear Solid 4" stealth action title would drive sales in the coming months.

View: Full Story at Reuters



There are 11 additional comments
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(1 reply) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #1 Posted by Swordnyx on 19 Apr 2008 - 02:25
I'm surprised Brawl only sold 2.4m. I thought there would be much more..
Quote this comment #1.1 Posted by Unwonted on 22 Apr 2008 - 09:10
80% of Wii owners don't buy anything after Wii Sports. Not joking, not exaggerating.
(1 reply) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #2 Posted by PermaSt0ne on 19 Apr 2008 - 02:37
"..evidence that the industry has so far been immune to wider economic woes."

we buy video games to escape reality. the worse the economy gets, the more escapism you need
Quote this comment #2.1 Posted by EduardValencia on 19 Apr 2008 - 02:49
seems true
(5 replies) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #3 Posted by Rohdekill on 19 Apr 2008 - 03:36
I believe this has a direct link to the economic woes.

Where else can you spend $50, get hundreds of hours of entertainment and let everyone in your family get hundreds of hours of entertainment on the same $50 ?

Computer games give you & your family the biggest bang for the dollar...by far.
Quote this comment #3.1 Posted by pyehac on 19 Apr 2008 - 05:29
(Rohdekill said @ #3)
I believe this has a direct link to the economic woes.

Where else can you spend $50, get hundreds of hours of entertainment and let everyone in your family get hundreds of hours of entertainment on the same $50 ?

Computer games give you & your family the biggest bang for the dollar...by far.

I thought that was the internet?
Quote this comment #3.2 Posted by OblivionStalker on 19 Apr 2008 - 18:00
(pyehac said @ #3.1)
I thought that was the internet?


Think of it as a connection to that entertainment.
Quote this comment #3.3 Posted by daftperception on 21 Apr 2008 - 22:58
(pyehac said @ #3.1)
(Rohdekill said @ #3)
I believe this has a direct link to the economic woes.

Where else can you spend $50, get hundreds of hours of entertainment and let everyone in your family get hundreds of hours of entertainment on the same $50 ?

Computer games give you & your family the biggest bang for the dollar...by far.

I thought that was the internet?
Internet is free now.
Quote this comment #3.4 Posted by Harreh on 26 Apr 2008 - 19:20
What about drugs? At least the economy gets stimulated though video games, but with drugs.. the money going though there is completely invisible to the economy.
Quote this comment #3.5 Posted by G0NADS on 28 Apr 2008 - 16:11
(Harreh said @ #3.4)
What about drugs? At least the economy gets stimulated though video games, but with drugs.. the money going though there is completely invisible to the economy.


No it isnt. Look at the drug lords that drive around in 200k doller vehicles. I can assure you that those are not stolen. Every doller a drug dealer makes is felt by the economy as they also need stuff to live with and most of them (the ones I know) actually buy stuff with the illegal money they make.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #4 Posted by w3stfa11 on 01 May 2008 - 23:10
Sales will be up like 200% when the April NPD arrives, solely because of GTA4 and also Mario Kart Wii. I see both Xbox 360 and PS3 outselling the Wii in April.

http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Video_Game_Sales
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