U.S. retail sales of video games fell for 9th month
NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. retail sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories fell for the ninth straight month in August, according to research firm NPD Group.
Overall sales fell 20 percent to $515.6 million.
Software sales - the video games themselves excluding PC titles - fell 9 percent from a year earlier to $237.7 million. Sales of hardware such as Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 fell 39 percent to $150.6 million. Accessories slid 7 percent to $127.3 million.
The study from NPD Group tracks sales of new physical products - about 50 percent of the total spending. Excluded are sales of used games and rentals as well as digital and social-network spending. The research firm estimates that when including these, Americans spent $989 million on games in August.
Despite the sharp decline, analyst Todd Mitchell called August's results a "potential bright spot" for video game software. The analyst with Brean Murray Carret noted that it was hardware that dragged on the month, while software sales dipped just 9 percent. New titles, he said, helped boost the year-long video game slump and teased a "possible inflection point."
"A number of blockbusters are expected to be released in September, which could boost software sales into positive territory for the first time in 2012," he added.
NPD also listed the top-selling games in August:
1. "Darksiders II" (THQ Inc)
2. "New Super Mario Bros 2" (Nintendo Co.)
3. "Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance" (Square Enix Inc.)
4. "NCAA Football 13" (Electronic Arts Inc.)
5. "Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes" (Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Interactive)
6. "Sleeping Dogs" (Square Enix Inc.)
7. "Transformers: Fall of Cybertron" (Activision Blizzard Inc.)
8. "Batman: Arkham City" (Warner Bros. Interactive)
9. "Call of Duty: Black Ops" (Activision Blizzard)
10. "The Amazing Spider-Man" (Activision Blizzard)
Overall sales fell 20 percent to $515.6 million.
Software sales - the video games themselves excluding PC titles - fell 9 percent from a year earlier to $237.7 million. Sales of hardware such as Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 fell 39 percent to $150.6 million. Accessories slid 7 percent to $127.3 million.
The study from NPD Group tracks sales of new physical products - about 50 percent of the total spending. Excluded are sales of used games and rentals as well as digital and social-network spending. The research firm estimates that when including these, Americans spent $989 million on games in August.
Despite the sharp decline, analyst Todd Mitchell called August's results a "potential bright spot" for video game software. The analyst with Brean Murray Carret noted that it was hardware that dragged on the month, while software sales dipped just 9 percent. New titles, he said, helped boost the year-long video game slump and teased a "possible inflection point."
"A number of blockbusters are expected to be released in September, which could boost software sales into positive territory for the first time in 2012," he added.
NPD also listed the top-selling games in August:
1. "Darksiders II" (THQ Inc)
2. "New Super Mario Bros 2" (Nintendo Co.)
3. "Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance" (Square Enix Inc.)
4. "NCAA Football 13" (Electronic Arts Inc.)
5. "Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes" (Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. Interactive)
6. "Sleeping Dogs" (Square Enix Inc.)
7. "Transformers: Fall of Cybertron" (Activision Blizzard Inc.)
8. "Batman: Arkham City" (Warner Bros. Interactive)
9. "Call of Duty: Black Ops" (Activision Blizzard)
10. "The Amazing Spider-Man" (Activision Blizzard)
Console sales are dragging because it's been 6 years since we got new hardware, and people are waiting for the Wii U (which is what's shown in the picture for this article). Â The Wii U is due out in the next couple months, so it makes sense to wait and see what's up with it.
oh and with the over saturation of gently loved newer model consoles and tons of used games why buy brand new?
 @BlueJedi Exactly! Also, when you buy new, especially with sports games, i.e. Madden, the game is nearly broken until the first couple of patches are released. You basically become a game tester for them but you're not getting paid. If you have just a little patience, you can pick up a $60 game for cheap and beat Game Stop at their own game, if you don't like it or beat the game within 7 days, return it for a full refund. I don't feel guilty doing that to greedy Gamestop. I tried to return a new Madden game the day after it came out and was told I could trade it in for $25 credit, or $20 cash. Meanwhile they turn around and sell it for $50 as soon as they put that used copy on the shelf. It's a great way also to try out games I might not otherwise try as their is no risk. Red Box works well if you just gotta try out a brand new game right away, $2 a day.Â
I'm not surprised. I've always bought my games used. Wait 3-5 months, get same game at 25% off (for really popular titles) wait about a year and your looking at 50% off if not more.Â
Why is anyone surprised? People aren't buying new consoles for two reasons. The biggest reason is most gamers already own one so why buy another one? My PS3 has lasted me almost 4 years without a single issue. I recently upgraded to a new one only because I wanted a larger hard drive and after selling my old one used I almost broke even. XBOX is another story but even they've been a lot more reliable in recent years. Gamers are also waiting for the next-gen consoles to come out so why bother buying a new console at this point? As for software, people are sick of buying games that require DLC to get the full game. Madden, Tiger Woods, MW3 are all great examples of incomplete games. Who wants to spend another $60 on DLC when they already threw down $60 for the game? Now game companies are getting even more greedy trying to get a piece of the used game market by charging to play online if the game is used. Greed is what is taking down the video game world. It will never go away completely but even hardcore gamers like myself are getting turned off.Â
 @FremontTroll You do know you could have just bought a Laptop HDD and kept the old ps3. My PS3 is a 1st gen with a 720gb HDD, originally had the 40 gb HDD.
Â
 @Aaron Corbin I know I could have just upgraded the hard drive but I figured selling it I was getting back almost what I originally paid for it and Target had a good sale on a 320 gb system. I don't mind spending a few extra bucks because Playstation has always been good to me and I have a brand new system under warranty just in case. XBOX on the other hand hasn't been very reliable. My latest system has held up fine (knock on wood) but I bought a brand new system in 2009 and got the ROD two weeks later. I had a hell of a time returning it to Game Stop. Never buy anything from them unless it's a used game that you can return within 7 days. It took me a couple years until I trusted them enough to get another one. Aside from the controller I really don't care for the XBOX much at all. I play 90% of my games on the PS3. It takes a beating but keeps on ticking.Â