AfterDawn: News

Guess what? Video game sales fell again

According to the latest figures by the NPD Group, sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. fell again, continuing a multi-year trend.

Overall sales fell 29 percent in June to just $700 million.



The industry has seen a prolonged slump as the market for systems like the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 mature and more casual gamers move away from hardcore consoles to stick with Android/iOS and Facebook gaming.

Nintendo, which saw its first loss in years earlier this year, sold 155,000 3DS handhelds and 150,000 DSi/XL consoles, whilst also selling 95,000 Wiis.

"The 3DS is still up nearly 25 percent over where the Nintendo DS was in a similar point in time after release to market, and has topped portable hardware sales for the last 11 months," said Anita Frazier, the lead video game NPD analyst.

Microsoft remained the top console seller, with 257,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold during the month. Sony did not reveal their figure, but it was higher than the Wii and lower than the Xbox.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jul 2012 23:32

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• 24 comments

• eggbert52

  Don't let the tablet and phone sales fool you. This is the longest time in between new console releases and it's taking its toll on existing sales. The systems are old and people are just over looking at the same tired graphics.
  

  Egg

  13.7.2012 01:40 #1

• Mr_Bill06

  Nothing really huge is being released, just wait until the next call of duty is released and sales will rise again. It is also summer and I think less people are staying inside for entertainment. Also with the price games are demanding people are not going to pay $60.00 to take a chance on a game at least not in this economy. A lot of older triple A titles can be had for $20 or less.
  

  13.7.2012 06:29 #2

• djkorn

  Think about the days of old when new games were put out and their value stayed true. Earthbound for example, one of the most sought after games in nintendo history and the game is nothing more than a cartoon with some witty dialogue. But the games back then werent anything special, but they kept people playing and buying since they were good well put together games. New consoles cant keep up with PC gaming with the new graphics and the ability to expand on current technology where as consoles dont have that option really. If consoles got to be more like the new consoles what with the expanding and growing of current specs there might be hope.
  

  13.7.2012 09:24 #3

• salsa36

  You can play for so long the same kind of game, shooters look all the same and many others. Maybe people are getting a life or because of the economy they can't afford them.

  13.7.2012 09:35 #4

• Ben79

  I don't have anything nice to say about the lack of entertaining, worthwhile games.

  13.7.2012 10:30 #5

• keith1993

  Does this include PC sales? Because I'm fairly sure that's where pretty much all the money that was spent on console games is going, why buy an older console game for $40 when you can have 8 older PC games off Steam for the same price that will run about the same or better on what's now considered an average PC?

  13.7.2012 11:24 #6

• keith1993

  Ignore this box...

  13.7.2012 11:24 #7

• djkorn

  Im thinking it means console games, since most stuff for PC is digital now.
  

  13.7.2012 11:33 #8

• keith1993

  Ah, The data includes PC sales, but only physical disks.
  
  From another source:
  Quote:Retail software sales (including PC) dropped 27 percent to $362.8 million
  Quote:The NPD Group pointed out that this data only covers 50 to 60 percent of the total consumer spend on games. The company estimates that customers spent as much as $491 million on digital sales last month

  13.7.2012 11:42 #9

• LordRuss

  Hey! Guess what!?! The next report is probably coming from the NPD Group is probably going to say that it all due to piracy. Followed up with some douche bar graphs & made up statistics from 6 years ago that has no bearing on anything but Somali pirates from back in 93.
  
  Like some of the folks are hinting here, the economy is for shite and game developers are (for once) working to put out better (hopefully more polished) titles for that $60 when it comes release time.
  
  The days of the 21st century, open season, screw the public consumerism is over for a while. People aren't plopping down a C note for just "I'll see if it's any good" any more. This goes for everything... Movies, cars, food, clothes, hookers...
  
  Start looking at your congressional leaders too. You're going to start seeing them loosing their shit here real quick too (the younger ones anyway). They can't handle the pressure of a public coming down on them. Mark my words. It is happening.
  
  It is an interesting time.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  13.7.2012 12:17 #10

• JST1946

  That's why it's a good idea to rent them before you buy them so you don't get burned in the end.
  

  20 Year U.S.Army Veteran.Vietnam 1969-1972 101st Abn.Div.

  13.7.2012 12:33 #11

• Mr_Bill06

  Originally posted by JST1946: That's why it's a good idea to rent them before you buy them so you don't get burned in the end. Yeah here it's like $15-$20 to rent a game for 1 week, I think that's a rip, and I stopped renting when it was reaching the $10 mark years ago. Really it's a good idea but that much to rent a game it's just not that good of an idea any more. When again you can buy an older title like God of War 3, Uncharted 2 for that 1 week rental fee. Then if you like the game you now just paid to rent it then you will head off to the store and pay for it, I guess if you can beat the game in that week then it's a win win. What they should be doing is offering a trial (for all games) you can download and play via the console store. I know Sony does this but only for PS+ subscribers. I know for people with no internet, slow speeds, or caps it wont help them but having this instead of nothing is better then nothing at all. I still think the best thing they can do is lower prices, I mean it's software damn it, you are not going to run out of it!
  

  13.7.2012 12:53 #12

• diggum

  Originally posted by eggbert52: Don't let the tablet and phone sales fool you. This is the longest time in between new console releases and it's taking its toll on existing sales. The systems are old and people are just over looking at the same tired graphics. Graphics have nothing to do with it. It's the fact that the software for this generation of games is abysmal by comparison to last generation's. The market has squashed studio developement in favor of a mass market approach and it sucks.

  13.7.2012 15:21 #13

• Hopium

  what is the market penetration like though in comparison, its hard to sell ps3 wii and 360's when everyone already has one. i imagine 360 sales are still up for replacement consoles though.

  13.7.2012 16:16 #14

• eggbert52

  Originally posted by diggum: Originally posted by eggbert52: Don't let the tablet and phone sales fool you. This is the longest time in between new console releases and it's taking its toll on existing sales. The systems are old and people are just over looking at the same tired graphics. Graphics have nothing to do with it. It's the fact that the software for this generation of games is abysmal by comparison to last generation's. The market has squashed studio developement in favor of a mass market approach and it sucks.
  No offense man, but I've been playing games for 35 years. Graphics have everything to do with it as well as the engine it runs on. Tell me in 1992 graphics didn't matter when I sold my Genesis to get a Neo Geo. Designers can only do so much with the current chip set and configuration they are given. And don't give me that hogwash about how the designers have only gotten X% out of the machine. It's just Microsoft and Sony stretching the last possible mile out of each system which is smart. Still, I think they really waited too long this time and I'm happy to see things like Stern pinball gaining traction in terms of overall recreational time.
  

  Egg

  14.7.2012 08:32 #15

• xtago

  GFX is one part you can have crysis type gfx in every game released but the bugs in that game didn't make it an utter stand out of a game.
  
  I've been gaming for a long time since the early 80's myself.
  
  I buy games and generally never play them I've never bothered with COD as it just doesn't interest me at all, Battlefield I have some of them as well. but the newer ones are like COD and well who cares really.
  
  I think it's the MS effect,
  they hand out cash to everyone,
  tell them they will make tons of cash on top and when they stop handing out cash for nothing and pretty much dump the market because they aren't making money out of it anymore,
  The companies don't want to make too much because they don't want to take many risks anymore.
  
  Worse thing was them getting into the console market as they screw every market they get into.
  
  They'll try and do the same thing with mobile phones.
  
  The other problem as well, more and more people are getting mobiles those same mobiles are pretty much little consoles now for some people and kids.
  
  So while you could make a console game to X amount of people, if you make a phone game you pretty much 10X that amount of people straight up.
  
  PC's have pretty much moved to 100% digital and MMO gaming now.
  
  These NPD stats don't cover that and it's only the US market they are covering.

  14.7.2012 22:11 #16

• 8686

  Does this include DLC sales? Being how they have been raping us all lately with that bs....
  
  I have a hard time swallowing this statement:
  "....mature and more casual gamers move away from hardcore consoles to stick with Android/iOS and Facebook gaming..."
  
  C'mon. People that play phone games should not be lumped in with console gamers. Just like you cannot compare a cell phone with a video game system.

  16.7.2012 15:37 #17

• keith1993

  Originally posted by 8686: Does this include DLC sales? No, it's only for the sales of physical disks...

  16.7.2012 15:42 #18

• VGenscher

  Tablets is really the future of gaming now, they pretty much show its the game that matters not the fancy graphics. Even still some of the games on the tablets show amazing graphics, which just shows that console developers are lazy and not using the consoles to their full power.
  
  Also tablet gaming is cheap and just got cheaper, why buy a 3ds or a psp vita when i could have a Tablet that does the same and more then likely a lot more.
  
  Also Demos do not help the sales, for instance I download all game demos before i buy them, If i don't like the demo no sale simple.
  

  8.8.2012 17:32 #19

• bodyman247

  Originally posted by LordRuss: Hey! Guess what!?! The next report is probably coming from the NPD Group is probably going to say that it all due to piracy. Followed up with some douche bar graphs & made up statistics from 6 years ago that has no bearing on anything but Somali pirates from back in 93.
  
  Like some of the folks are hinting here, the economy is for shite and game developers are (for once) working to put out better (hopefully more polished) titles for that $60 when it comes release time.
  
  The days of the 21st century, open season, screw the public consumerism is over for a while. People aren't plopping down a C note for just "I'll see if it's any good" any more. This goes for everything... Movies, cars, food, clothes, hookers...
  
  Start looking at your congressional leaders too. You're going to start seeing them loosing their shit here real quick too (the younger ones anyway). They can't handle the pressure of a public coming down on them. Mark my words. It is happening.
  
  It is an interesting time. You got that right!!!
  

  8.8.2012 18:17 #20

• deak91

  everyone your wrong this is the first status proof that consoles games that release playable demos to generates buzz for sales is a total fail people are knowing what the game is like and if it sucks no one will buy it remember back in the day no playable demos so you buy it and hope its good from the pics in the mags. at home you find out it sucks after you play it since its open now you cannot return the game...from a sales stand point every game is a seller until it cant be sold. gone are the days of a blind buy of a video game the industry is 3-5 five years behind on facing this and 2-3 years behind on adjusting to this trend ........after all the music industry is just now starting to recover from the birth of the mp3 and how long did they fight and ignore that hell still ......lol
  

  8.8.2012 19:09 #21

• LordRuss

  Originally posted by deak91: everyone your wrong this is the first status proof that consoles games that release playable demos to generates buzz for sales is a total fail people are knowing what the game is like and if it sucks no one will buy it remember back in the day no playable demos so you buy it and hope its good from the pics in the mags. at home you find out it sucks after you play it since its open now you cannot return the game...from a sales stand point every game is a seller until it cant be sold. gone are the days of a blind buy of a video game the industry is 3-5 five years behind on facing this and 2-3 years behind on adjusting to this trend ........after all the music industry is just now starting to recover from the birth of the mp3 and how long did they fight and ignore that hell still ......lol And who could go wrong without the use of punctuation, the enticing use of an indisputable run-on sentence, the seemingly inability to use an apostrophe or separation of paragraph (or two) in an attempt to build temperament for your statements?
  
  If everyone is so wrong, why are you in such a hurry to ignore all these power lingual tools to basically repeat what has already been said?
  
  Besides, there have been playable demos since the DOS only releases. Rise of the Triad (1995?) is one of the first that come to mind.
  
  If you wish to argue the old 8 bit console games might I suggest that those days consisted of visiting Sears & playing the actual game at the store before you bought it. That's why titles like E.T. got killed right out of the gate.
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  10.8.2012 13:36 #22

• deak91

  Originally posted by LordRuss: Originally posted by deak91: everyone your wrong this is the first status proof that consoles games that release playable demos to generates buzz for sales is a total fail people are knowing what the game is like and if it sucks no one will buy it remember back in the day no playable demos so you buy it and hope its good from the pics in the mags. at home you find out it sucks after you play it since its open now you cannot return the game...from a sales stand point every game is a seller until it cant be sold. gone are the days of a blind buy of a video game the industry is 3-5 five years behind on facing this and 2-3 years behind on adjusting to this trend ........after all the music industry is just now starting to recover from the birth of the mp3 and how long did they fight and ignore that hell still ......lol And who could go wrong without the use of punctuation, the enticing use of an indisputable run-on sentence, the seemingly inability to use an apostrophe or separation of paragraph (or two) in an attempt to build temperament for your statements?
  
  If everyone is so wrong, why are you in such a hurry to ignore all these power lingual tools to basically repeat what has already been said?
  
  Besides, there have been playable demos since the DOS only releases. Rise of the Triad (1995?) is one of the first that come to mind.
  
  If you wish to argue the old 8 bit console games might I suggest that those days consisted of visiting Sears & playing the actual game at the store before you bought it. That's why titles like E.T. got killed right out of the gate. ..... blah blah blah more things to do that check for you precious period... tell you what check you underwear for that period your looking for this is not school get over it
  

  10.8.2012 15:10 #23

• LordRuss

  Originally posted by deak91: ..... blah blah blah more things to do that check for you precious period... tell you what check you underwear for that period your looking for this is not school get over it How sweet, he's growing up from grade school tactics to junior high "you throw the first punch" jibes. Sounds to me Ma Nature's little gift has visited you more than it has me.
  
  You're right, this isn't school little boy, this is the real world. Step in, step up, or STFU & step aside & let the rest of us who have actually done this dance shed a little light on the subject.
  
  Even in your woeful attempt to get a rise out of me you still haven't resolved WHY my argument is invalid or why your invalid repetitious behavior is so valid.
  
  This article is about the fall in sales within the video game industry, NOT whether you've actually touched a girl or not. And that doesn't mean dreamed about one with your left hand either. The gaming industry is the subject here, not me, but if you want to play...
  

  http://onlyinrussellsworld.blogspot.com

  14.8.2012 15:03 #24