NPD: Videogame industry still free of recession

by Stevie Smith - Mar 20 2009, 06:15

With Nintendo’s continuing popularity providing notable first quarter momentum, the videogame industry remains impervious to the gathering pressures of recession, according to market figures released this week by NPD Group.

Moreover, hardware sales in videogame industry posted 11 percent year-on-year growth during the month of February, climbing from $481.4 million USD in 2008 through to $532.7 million USD in 2009.

In terms of manufacturing breakdown, Nintendo led the way during February with 753,000 unit sales of the massively popular Wii, while the Japanese gaming giant’s handheld DS console followed close behind with 588,000 unit sales.

Main market rivals Microsoft and Sony remain some way short of Nintendo’s pace, with the former selling 391,000 units of the Xbox 360 and the latter selling 276,000 units of the PlayStation 3.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft Xbox 360 sales figures, while only around half those of Nintendo’s Wii, represents a marked year-on-year boost of some 53 percent.

While monthly software sales didn’t enjoy quite the same level of growth as the market’s hardware platforms, they still managed to post a nine percent yearly increase shifting from $673.3 million USD in 2008 through to $733.5 million USD in 2009.

Nintendo captured top spot for February with 644,000 sales of its motion-sensing Wii Fit exercise program, while Capcom’s brawler Street Fighter IV secured both second and third places with 446,000 sales on the Xbox 360 and 403,000 sales on the PlayStation 3.

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