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Good thing Books's around, otherwise it'd be more like 40% ... but the recession's taken a big bite outen game sales.

Video game industry decline continues

According to industry research firm NPD, US video game industry revenues dropped 29% last month to $849 million. With revenues of $280.94 million, hardware sales were down 37% from a year ago, while software sales fell by 26%, to $437 million.

The Wii and DS continue to dominate the hardware sales charts, although NPD notes that the Xbox 360 is the only console to show an improvement in year-to-date unit sales. Nintendo moved 252,900 Wii consoles, while the Xbox 360 continues to hold second place with 202,900. 121,800 PS3 consoles were sold last month.

On the software side of the industry, EA and Nintendo dominated the sales charts, with Wii Sports Resort taking the number one position with sales of 508,200 units. NCAA Football 10 took the number two and three spots, with EA selling 376,500 copies of Xbox 360 port, while the PS3 version racked up 237,400 units in sales. Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii round out the top 5.

Going forward, NPD believes the year-over-year comparisons will get better thanks to the arrival of blockbuster titles like Madden 10 and Halo: ODST. NPD analyst Anita Frazier says: "There are some big titles set to be released over the next several months, including Madden this month, which should help spur sales. The worst comps should be behind us, and looking beyond August we have The Beatles: Rock Band, Halo 3: ODST, and of course, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to look forward to."

http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsart … chid=22026