U.S video game sales are up, with the market for hardware, software, and accessories expanding by 3 percent in February compared with the same time last year. While it may not be the only successful gaming device, Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360 and Kinect motion-sensing controller have been flying of the shelves and making the biggest impact on the market.
Market Researcher NPD Groups have reported that $1.36 billion was spent on gaming technology in February 2011. This figure is made up from money spent on consoles, mobile devices, game, and accessories, and is up from $1.33 billion from the year before. What makes this growth even more impressive is that it had absolutely nothing to do with portable devices, with portable sales down a whopping 27 percent.
However, the drop in the portable market is down to timing more than anything else, with consumers anticipating the up-and-coming Nintendo 3DS. The Xbox 360 had its biggest ever month, mostly because of the highly successful bundled sales of Xbox 360 consoles and Kinect controllers. Digital downloads and social network gaming is also having a big effect, even though software as a whole was down by 8 percent.
“Full game and add-on content digital downloads, social network gaming, and consumer purchases of mobile apps are some of the areas where we’ve seen the greatest percentage growth over last year,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. Points cards are also doing well, making up 22 percent of the entire gaming accessories market in February, a growth that does not look like slowing down any time soon.
“Call of Duty: Black Ops” from Activision Blizzard Inc. was the No. 1 game in February, with many analysts calling it the best-selling game ever made. “Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds” from Capcom USA was the second-best-selling game, followed by “Just Dance 2″ from Ubisoft for the Nintendo Wii platform.
via Geek With Laptop
