| July video game sales jump 28 percent - Yahoo! News Primary Navigation Home U.S. Business World Entertainment Sports Tech Politics Elections Science Health Most Popular Secondary Navigation Tech Video Internet Gadgets Digital A/V Security Apple/Macintosh Linux/Open Source Video Easy Christmas Game For Kid Games Markets Search: All News Yahoo! News Only News Photos Video/Audio Advanced July video game sales jump 28 percent By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Business Writer Thu Aug 14, 7:46 PM ET NEW YORK - Even in a seasonally slow month and with the economy in the doldrums, U.S. sales of video game hardware and software soared 28 percent in July, hitting $1.19 billion. According to data from market researcher NPD Group, Americans westward game chat bought $446.9 million worth game over of video game hardware during the month, a 17 percent jump from the same month a year ago. The portable Nintendo DS was the top-selling gaming system with 608,400 units, followed by the Wii at 555,000. The pricier, fancier consoles, the PlayStation 3 from Sony Corp. and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft Corp., came in a distant third and fourth. The classic PlayStation 2, nearly eight years after its release, still Alice In Wonderland Game managed to sell 155,500 units. Over time, Sony hopes to convert the throngs faithful PS2 owners to the PS3, but super game improvement irons it faces a formidable rival in the Xbox 360. On the software side, full pc game downloads people spent $591.1 million on games during the month, up 41 percent from the previous year. This is slightly below what Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan, had forecast. He had predicted software sales of $605 dallas game schedule million, a 44 percent increase. As expected, "NCAA Football 09" from Electronic Arts Inc. and "Wii Fit" from Nintendo were among the month's top-selling games, along with worldofwarcraft online game Activision Blizzard Inc.'s "Guitar Hero: On Tour" for the DS. Nintendo has boosted production for the Wii last month in an attempt to keep up with relentless global demand for the console. Denise Kaigler, vice president of corporate affairs at Nintendo Mechwarrior Full Game Download of America, said customers "continued to respond well to Nintendo products" in July, even in the face of the economic downturn. Microsoft spokesman David Dennis said July was a strong month for the Xbox though it is one of the quieter periods for the gaming business. Companies focus much of their attention on the yearly E3 Business and Media seattle sonics game schedual Summit, a gaming conference held mid-July in Los Angeles. "We certainly didn't expect to see antique game boards a major spike" Dennis said, at a time when the company didn't have any major game launches. The economy, he added, is "certainly something we keep our eyes on." But Dennis said that when it comes to entertainment value, video games actually offer a lower cost per "minutes of fun" — compared to going out to dinner or a movie, for example. As such, the industry is somewhat insulated from the ups and downs of the economy, even when people are tightening their belts. Email Story IM Story Printable game show sound effects View RECOMMEND THIS STORY Recommend It: Not at All Somewhat Moderately Highly Very Highly Average (Not Rated) » Recommended Stories Technology News Review: Peek is e-mail on the go, and that's it ps3 game saves AP Apple senior execs settle options case Free Ps2 Game for $14M AP Facebook unveils new look with a new approach AP VideoSurf hopes to ride Internet video wave AP Obama sex video? Hardly. It's spyware spreading via e-mail CNET Most Viewed - Technology News Creator of Web spots a flaw in Internet Explorer AP Facebook family feud game online unveils new look with a new approach AP T-Mobile to offer Android smartphone soon: sources Reuters GM says Volt photos inadvertently posted on Web AP Review: Peek is e-mail on the go, and that's it AP Technology Video CNET: Crave: A musical water bed that will move you! CNET - Tue Sep 9, 7:56 PM ET Smart American Mcgee S Alice Game Gadgets Catch Crooks ABC News - Tue Sep 9, free sim game 11:32 AM ET New Nanos, iTunes, Blackberry ABC News - Wed Sep 10, 8:01 AM ET Meet the Real Bionic Woman ABC News - Wed Sep 10, 7:02 AM ET Technology Video CNET: Crave: A musical water bed that will move you! CNET Smart Gadgets Catch Crooks ABC News » All asshole card game news video News Search Related Searches: Wii PlayStation 2 Xbox 360 NCAA Football 09 RELATED QUOTES ATVI 17.39 +0.77 ERTS 45.60 +1.39 MSFT 26.44 +0.34 SNE 35.36 -0.06 TTWO 21.61 -0.16 Delayed Data Providers - Disclaimer Yahoo! News Topic Pages In-depth coverage on topics such as Web browsers and social networking. Elsewhere on the Web PC World: Five iPod 'Let's Rock' Updates That Should Have Been InfoWorld: Microsoft joins dance game OMG Macworld: Cocktail utility update improves performance Good Morning Yahoo! 1 ford racing cheats game boy advance man, 1 day, 100 skydives Play Speed-jumping feat is all for a good cause See today's talked-about videos Yahoo! Sports It's that time again! Sign up today for Fantasy Football '08. Add headlines to your personalized My Yahoo! page (About My Yahoo! and RSS) Technology - Video Games Add to My Yahoo! Add to RSS Video Games Add to My Yahoo! Add to RSS Software News Add to My Yahoo! Add to RSS » More news feeds NEWS ALERTS Get an alert when there are new stories about: Xbox Wii PlayStation 2 Xbox 360 NCAA Football 09 » More alerts Yahoo! - My Yahoo! - Mail Search: Rush Hour Game All News Yahoo! News Only News Photos Video/Audio Advanced Primary Navigation Home U.S Business World Entertainment Sports Tech Politics Science Health Travel Most Popular Odd News Opinion Copyright © 2008 The Associated free tetris game Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. |
