http://www.thestreet.com/story/10412598/1/video-game-industry-enjoys-torrid-sales.htmlpuc=newshome
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6189493.html
My Takeaways:
*Video Game SOFTWARE sales rose 63% to $945 million...expect more of the same thanks to 2008's strong software line-up (please refer to my "Gamestop's All Star Line-Up" post for the Star-Studed Ro$ter)
*Video Game Hardware sales rose 46% to $550 million
*On the Hardware front, Nintendo continues to kick some MAJOR a$$ (Wii + the DS)..their not doing too shabby in software sales either (#1 Super Smash Bros.)
*The Xbox 360 and PS3 basically shipped the same numbers in March 2008 (250K)...its probably a NET Positive for the video game industry as a whole if the PS3 continues this positive sales trend of making inroads against Xbox 360 sales...wonder if the BluRay factor is finally starting to matter...
*Sony's older PlayStation 2 console stayed strong as it sold 216,000 consoles last month (interesting...had no idea that 'old' console was still putting up solid numbers..def underestimated its 'staying power'...)
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"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. "Year-To-Date GROWTH is a rock-solid 27 Percent through March 2008."...The amazing year-over-year increase in software sales isn't just explained by a few top games...As compared to last March, TWICE as many SKU's achieved sales in excess of 100K units this month."
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The MARCH 2008 Numbers:
*US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY:
Software: $945.6m (+63%)
Hardware: $551.3m (+46%)
Accessories: $220m (+58%)
Total Games: $1.7 billion (+57%)
*TOP-SELLING HARDWARE:
Nintendo Wii--721,000
Nintendo DS--698,000
PlayStation Portable--297,000
Xbox 360--262,000
PlayStation 3--257,000
PlayStation 2--216,000
*TOP SELLING SOFTWARE:
Title / Publisher / Release Date / Units
1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) / Nintendo / March 2008 / 2.7 Million
2. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas 2* (360) / Ubisoft / March 2008 / 752.3K
3. Army of Two (360) / Electronic Arts / March 2008 / 606.1K
4. Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) / Nintendo / Feb. 2007 / 409.8K
5. God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) / Sony / March 2008 / 340.5K
6. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) / Square Enix / March 2008 / 301.6K
7. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) / Activision / Oct. 2007 / 264.1K
8. MLB 2K8 (360) / Take-Two Interactive / March 2008 / 237.1K
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* (360) / Activision / Nov. 2007 / 237K
10. Army of Two (PS3) / Electronic Arts / March 2008 / 224.9K
*Includes Collector's, Limited, Legendary, Bundles (Guitars) Editions
Data Courtesy: TheStreet.com + VideoGames.com.
Full Disclosure: I own shares of GME.
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