SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Business

September 11, 2009

NPD: Video game sales slide again in August

NEW YORK (AP) — Retail sales of video games have declined for six straight months.

Analysts are blaming the slow August — which was expected — in part on a disappointing showing from the latest "Madden" title from Electronic Arts.

Market researcher NPD Group reports a 16 percent decline to $909 million in overall U.S. retail sales of hardware, software and accessories.

Sales of games fell 15 percent $470 million when compared with the same month a year earlier. Hardware sales, meanwhile, dropped by a quarter to $298 million.

Still, price cuts lifted sales of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 by 72 percent over July.

The sales figures do not reflect Septemb er's release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" and "Guitar Hero 5," two titles expected to give the industry a boost.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Business

AP Video
Stocks Fall Sharply As Greek Deal Is Held Up $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses States, Banks Reach Foreclosure-abuse Settlement Bernanke: Recovery Depends on Consumer Spending And the Winner for Best Super Bowl Ad Is... Unemployment Rate Down to 8.3% Hiring Burst Pushes Jobless Rate Down to 8.3% Status Update: Facebook to Go Public, Raise $5B Pfizer Recalls 1M Birth Control Packs Pfizer Recalls 1M Birth Control Packs After Mixup $10 Billion Deutsche Boerse, NYSE Merger Blocked Stocks Have Best January Since '97 Serbia Buys US Steel Plant for $1 Will Investors 'Like' Facebook After IPO? Fed Moves Mean Little Interest for Savers Fed Unlikely to Raise Rates Until at Least 2014 RIM's Future Lies With New CEO's Decisions Lagarde to Europe: Boost Growth and Protections Tom Curley Announces His Retirement AP CEO Tom Curley Announces His Retirement
NDN Video
Woolly Mammoth Caught on Camera? Sandusky makes a statement Halle Wants to Leave the Country Did JLo 'Assault' Marc Anthony on Camera? Toddler forced to run half-naked in snow Christie Brinkley's Runway Slip Northern Lights shine above earth Plane makes perfect belly landing Kris Jenner New Face of Arousal Oils Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames Trending: Zip it! What's in Steve Jobs' FBI file? SJP Talks About Replacing Demi Moore in 'Lovelace' Over 200 dead dolphins wash ashore Lady Gaga's Battle With Bulimia Evacuation at Sea Osama Bin Laden Zombie Movie: "Osombie" Teaser Released LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal VS Model Quits Over Religion Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life
Comments Trcker