After two years of double-digit growth, sales of video games have slowed down. According to NPD market research, sales have slowed from 28% growth in July to only 9% growth in August. Sales in the video game industry will always be dependent on the titles released and the biggest seller in August was Electronic Arts' NFL Madden 09. That title has not been exempt from the growth slowdown as it sold only 2% more units than last year's edition of the game. Up to this point, the games industry has been doing a good job at bucking the overall slowing market trend but there are now signs that the video game industry is not isolated from the rest of the economy.
As we enter the 4th quarter and the holiday season, new titles will likely spur a resumption of growth. Nintendo increased Wii production in July to cope with shortages and, while that action did not come in time to affect August sales, it will make a difference for the holiday season. Microsoft has also just recently cut prices of the Xbox 360 and the entry level model is now less expensive than the Nintendo Wii. This will likely boost September sales.
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