Nintendo Leads Surging Gaming Segment

By Doug Olenick -- TWICE, 12/1/2008

PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. — The U.S. retail sales may be suffering overall, but the video game segment is so far proving immune.

According to The NPD Group Video Game Industry sales report, October sales of gaming hardware and software rose 18 percent to $1.3 billion compared with Oct. 2007. Year-to-date sales numbers were also impressive, with the category posting an overall 25 percent increase on $13.1 billion in sales.

In October, hardware accounted for $494.7 million, up 5 percent, while software generated 35 percent growth on $696.7 million in sales. Accessories were the only down spot for the month, showing an 8 percent fall off on $130.8 million in sales.

"The video games industry grew an impressive 18 percent year-over-year in the first month of the critical fourth quarter. With 10 months under its belt, the video games industry is still poised to top $22 billion in annual sales in 2008," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Leading the game console charge was Nintendo's with its Wii, selling 803,000 units during the month, and the DS with 491,000 units sold. Nintendo's ability to increase supply of Wii systems helped boost its sales, Frazier said.

On the software side, October's best seller was Microsoft's just-released 360 Fable II, which sold 760,000 units.

U.S. Video Games Industry Sales

Dollar Sales by Category
Dollar Sales	Oct. 07	Oct. 08	Chg.	YTD Oct. 07	YTD Oct. 08	Chg.
Video Games	$1.12B	$1.31B	18%	$10.50B	$13.13B	25%
Hardware	$470.47M	$494.74M	5%	$4.13B	$4.72B	14%
Software	$514.60M	$696.79M	35%	$4.98B	$6.76B	36%
Accessories	$130.81M	$120.19	-8%	$1.40B	$1.65B	18%
Unit Sales of Game Systems
Hardware Unit Sales		Oct. 2008
Wii		803K
Nintendo DS		491K
Xbox 360		371K
PSP		193K
PlayStation3		190K
PlayStation2		136K
Unit Sales of Game Titles
SKU				Publisher	Release Date	Units
360 Fable II				Microsoft	Oct. 2008	790K
Wii Fit w/balance board				Nintendo	May 2008	487K
360 Fallout 3				Bethesda Softworks	Oct. 2008	375K
Wii Mario Kart w/wheel				Nintendo	April 2008	290K
Wii Play w/remote				Nintendo	Feb. 2007	282K
360 Saints Row 2				THQ	Oct. 2008	270K
PS3 Socom: U.S. Navy Seals Confront				Sony	Oct. 2008	231K
PS3 Little Big Planet				Sony	Oct. 2008	215K
360 NBA 2K9				Take 2 Interactive	Oct. 2008	202K
Source: The NPD Group © TWICE 2008

NPD Market Magnifier: Top Widescreen (4.3") Navigation* Markets
Widescreen unit share of total navigation devices for three months ending Oct. 2008

1. Houston	47.9%
2. West Palm	47.5%
3. Greenville, S.C.	46.8%
4. Memphis	46.5%
5. Washington	46.3%
Total U.S.	44.9%
* Includes handheld and mobile navigation devices The NPD Group market-level information enables subscribers to identify the strongest markets and opportunities for improving business. Data is collected from individual retail locations of a panel of 70 industry-leading retailers for consumer electronics, information technology, mobile audio and imaging. For more information contact NPD at (866) 444-1411. Source: The NPD Group/Market Tracking Service © TWICE 2008