Wii and DS keep the videogame industry in the black

by Stevie Smith - Jan 16 2009, 13:20

Despite a year of choking recession, the videogame industry has emerged virtually unscathed from 2008 and has even experienced continued growth, with Japanese gaming giant Nintendo leading the way.

According to research data released this week by NPD Group, sales figures for 2008 saw industry revenue surge by 19 percent to a total of $21.3 billion USD. However, while 2008 was still a year of significant improvement for videogames, tough economic conditions have brought annual growth down from the 28 percent notched up in 2007.

Furthermore, the industry in general did experience a sizeable downturn during the month of December, which is traditionally the busiest month of the year, with year-on-year growth plummeting to just 9 percent.

Sony Corp., clearly suffering the wrath of tighter purse strings and the persistently high prices associated with its hardware, experienced a decline in sales for its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable (PSP) during December, which is the second consecutive month the electronics giant has lost out year-on-year.

Sony sold a mere 726,000 units of its flagship PlayStation 3 during December, while its handheld PSP surpassed its powerhouse counterpart with 1.02 million sales. Impressively, despite almost a decade of service, the PlayStation 2 still managed to pull in 410,000 sales for the month.

By stark comparison, Nintendo’s demographic-busting Wii and DS platforms massively outperformed their market rivals, with the clamshell DS securing a huge 3.04 million units in the United States – the first time a games console has sold more than 3 million units in a single month.

Following close behind the dual-screened DS, the motion-sensing Wii notched 2.15 million unit sales in December, while six of the top-ten software performers for the month were Nintendo titles, with Wii Play, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, and Guitar Hero Wii dominating the top five.

Cementing its position between Nintendo’s dominance and Sony’s stagnancy, American software titan Microsoft Corp. sold 1.44 million units of the Xbox 360 in December, while Call of Duty: World at War, Gears of War 2 and Left 4 Dead held firm in the month’s top-ten software sellers.

When gauging total home and portable console sales for 2008, Nintendo wiped the floor with its market rivals across both formats, with the Wii selling 10.18 million units and the DS selling 9.95 million units.

After a considerable drop-off, the Xbox 360 sold 4.74 million units for the year, with the PSP selling 3.81 million, and the PlayStation 3 limping in with a paltry 3.55 million units.

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