Video game market finally dives in June
Many would say the worst is behind us where the recession is concerned but gaming giants Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft would probably disagree. An industry that stumped analysts and remained strong throughout the recent turbulent economic climate is finally beginning to feel the impact of the wave of reduced spending that has attacked most industries in recent history. Video game sales began declining slowly in March but NPD Group has just released June numbers that show a slightly more alarming drop than we’ve been seeing over the past few months. US sales in June dipped a substantial 29 percent YoY — a record drop — and consoles sales were down a whopping 38 percent. Long story short, an industry that held strong on the back of Nintendo’s Wii and DS/DSi is looking like it may finally be approaching relative saturation. The odds of another Wii-like breakthrough reaching market any time soon are slim to none but something better happen in the near future to woo gamers back into opening those wallets. Drops in console pricing are rumored but still not confirmed, though we have little faith that minor price adjustments would have the kind of impact the industry needs to rebound significantly.
Can we say “summer camp”?
No really A games are out right now.
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).
LOL that pic reminds me of tha kid on youtube screaming an throwing a tantrum when his mom cut off his web access
I heard that nintendo may cut prices on the wii.
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).
Most people interested in next gen hardware already have at least 1 console, so there is a level of market saturation on the hardware side.
On the software side there are virtually no new titles to be excited about. These #s should have been expected.
The videogame market is going to be just fine though. Project NATAL for 360 and Modern Warfare 2 is right around the corner, a slim PS3 and price drop will spark SONY sales and XMAS is always a VG buying bonanza.
Wii Sports Resort should help Nintendo out some because it’s fun as hell but it most likely won’t change things that much unless a lot of people buy it. Buy hey, Wii Sports is the best selling game so it could happen.
I heard that most people don’t care about this acticle, they only care about when the HTC Hero will arrive on Sprint’s awesome 3G network (that was not a sarcastic remark btw, their 3G is sweet)
I would have to agree – there weren’t any huge games that came out in June besides Ghostbusters. No price drops in quite some time on the consoles. What else do people expect the industry to do? Especially with so many movies coming out in the summer, I’m surprised it’s not usually lower (or a lot higher) than the rest of the months in the year.
Why buy consoles when you’re sitting in front of a computer looking for a job — buy a PC/Mac game.
Makes sense, right?
I just buy used. $60 per game is to much. When Guitar Hero World Tour went on sale for $89.99 that was the first thing I bought new since Gears of War.
Maybe just maybe, the parents have noticed that their children get dumber as they play video games.
The video game market is always slow in the summer. Most companies rarely release a big title during the summer months.
This easily understandable considering there hasn’t been any great games out for a couple months now. Nobody releases right before or after E3. Games will start coming again at the end of August.
Yeah like others have been sayin, not too many good games out there right now
Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Pauline United States
A ton of great games getting ready to start releasing in august. Wait till Modern Warfare 2 streets. It will be pretty big! Oh and Halo ODST should do ok. There is a new God Of War and Drakes Unchartered Fortune and MAG for the PS3 too. Plus continued rumor Sony will lower the PS3 sales and Microsoft doing another shuffle of its console line-up and price lowering. Plenty of stuff happening in the second half of the year to keep the industry buzzing.