Game Sales Plunge to Nine-Year Low

[Broughden]

Couldnt post it in News so I thought this was the best forum.

by  Brian Heater

Video games were supposed to be one of the few "recession proof" industries. While everyone was spending less on pretty much every other aspect of their lives, they were locking themselves in their homes with their new PS3 titles. Even with the recent excitement of E3, game sales took a steep drop in June, down 31 percent to $1.1 billion, NPD reported.

"This is one of the first months where I think the impact of the economy is clearly reflected in the sales numbers," NPD's Anita Frazier said in a statement. "This level of decline is certainly going to cause some pain and reflection in the industry."

That's the single largest monthly drop in nine years--it's larger than analysts had predicted, but just slightly. Game sales dropped 29-percent to $625.7 million, and console sales dropped 38-percent to $382.6 million. Only the Xbox 360 managed to increase in sales for June.

[apocrypha]

What about used game sales and rentals?

[schild]

And they still beat the shit out of the Box Office, TV, Music, and Home Video.

[Jobu]

If it's a one month drop.... maybe June didn't have anything worth buying?


*edit: Wait... I read that wrong. I thought it was down 30% from the previous month.

[CharlieMopps]

Current products are rehashes of stuff thats been out for decades.
Completely lack any creativity.
They are marketed to people who have no loyalty to anything other than "Easy."
What is released is so incomplete, unfinished and buggy that it would instantly trigger a lawsuit if it were anything other than software.
Developers treat their customers like money filled punching bags that should be clobbered with the most ridiculously stupid excuse to extract more money from them on a regular basis ($20 cloth map anyone?)
It's now a borderline nightmare to install a game that you got anywhere other than popcap with the myriad of Processors, graphics cards, chipsets and OSs that are out. Even hooking up a console to an HD TV requires a ridiculously over priced cable.

and now sales are down... hmmmm

[Sky]

 

[Hayduke]

That's a touch melodramatic.

[CharlieMopps]

What can I say? I'm excitable.

[Hawkbit]

I've had a Wii for two years.  I haven't turned it on in months, and that was only to play Guitar Hero with my wife.  In fact, I've only got GH games and Wii sports left for it.  There's not much worth buying and they don't drop prices enough on the Wii for me to afford buying games for it on a librarian's salary (esp. one that's about to get laid off from budget cuts). 

About a month ago I bought a PS3.  Lots of fun, 25x a better investment than the Wii.  Problem is, I spent all my damn money on buying the system and I can't afford any games for it. 

Damned if I do, damned if I don't.   

[Velorath]

If it's a one month drop.... maybe June didn't have anything worth buying?


*edit: Wait... I read that wrong. I thought it was down 30% from the previous month.

It's a really poorly titled article and poorly written article.  Game sales aren't at a nine year low.  This is the largest YoY drop in video games in nine years (as the article attempts to state in the last paragraph).  That is to say that there was a big drop in sales in June 2009 compared to June 2008, and a large part of that is because of MGS4's sales last June.

[gryeyes]

Poor sony, PS2 is about to surpass the PS3 in monthly sales. 

[columba]

maybe June last year was an especially high sales month???!!! Basic analysis and reasoning ftw!

[Azazel]

Two Kotaku-threads on the first page at once! Go Go F13!