The video-game industry has officially defied the economic downturn, although Sony’s high-priced PlayStation 3 lags lower-priced consoles. The NPD Group reported a record-breaking year for video games.
U.S. consumers purchased $21.33 billion worth of video-game systems, software and accessories in 2008, according to NPD. That’s a dramatic climb from 2007’s total of about $18 billion, but falls short of NPD’s November prediction that the industry would reach $22 billion by the end of 2008.
Growth did slow from the second and third quarters, but NPD said December enjoyed a nine percent increase over December 2007. Overall, 2008 saw a 19 percent boost in video-game systems, software and accessory sales. In fact, December was the first time the gaming industry topped $5 billion in revenue in a single month. Nintendo products were responsible for 99 percent of those additional retail dollars.
The Wii’s Ultimate Victory
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 sold 1.4 million units in December, up 14 percent from December 2007. Sony’s PS3 sold 726,000 units, down nine percent from December 2007. But the PS2, a nine-year-old video-game console, sold 410,000 units.
Nintendo holds the ultimate bragging rights for its Wii console. Before 2008, no video-game system had ever been purchased by 10 million Americans in a single year. NPD’s data show Nintendo has surpassed that figure with 2008 unit sales of 10.17 million. The Wii accounted for 55 percent of all next-generation console sales in 2008. Wii broke its own monthly record, set in December 2007, by selling 2.14 million units last month.
The Nintendo DS portable handheld system came in a close second, with 2008 unit sales of 9.95 million. Both Nintendo products broke the previous yearly sales record set in 2007 by Nintendo DS at 8.52 million. The Nintendo DS claimed 72 percent of all portable system sales in 2008.
“Our type of entertainment has now…