U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

[Feb 09, 2012, 9:29 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The AP has word from NPD group on retail video game sales in the U.S. for January:

LOS ANGELES – U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 34 percent in January from a year earlier to $751 million due to the lack of new game titles

Market researcher NPD Group says the dearth of new games likely resulted in fewer people going to stores and buying other recent releases on impulse.

Sales of console and portable software — the video games themselves — fell 38 percent to $356 million.

That's a bigger decline than the 12 percent drop forecast by Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter.
Activision's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" was the top seller for the third-consecutive month following its early November release.

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23.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 22:33

^Drag0n^

PREY 2 looks delicious.

Just saying.

#random

^D^




"Never start a fight, but always finish it."

22.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 21:35

silentsammy

Silicon Avatar wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 08:52: I still have a huge backlog from all the Steam sales last year. Seriously...I am still chipping away at all the games I bought over the Xmas sale on steam which has held me over until I get a new vid card to start into Skyrim (again which I picked up on sale this past week on Steam!) God I love Steam sales!

21.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 14:00

Agent.X7

Kajetan wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 04:12:
Agent.X7 wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 02:34:
Derp. What did you release in January, again? Isn't that traditionally when you expect sales to slump? Ya know, because of the glut of spending on that holiday that just occurred?
They are NOT comparing sales from January to December. They compare sales from January 2011 to January 2010. As they always do with these comparisons. Always the same month of the last year, NOT the month before.

No kidding. Where did I say otherwise? Listen, when you have a record holiday season, you can expect a record slump afterwards.




Seven Star Gaming - Sayre, PA

20.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 10:58

avianflu

actually if you compare to the last couple of years rather than just last year -- game sales are wayyyyy down. Not just a blip on the radar.

19.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 09:50

Verno

Everyone is usually pretty broke in January too but whatever.




Playing: Faster Than Light, Tales of Graces F, Fire Emblem 3DS Watching: Ghost in the Shell, Hannibal, Oblivion

18.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 09:45

nin

JaguarUSF wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 06:14:
What is "retail"?

Bingo.




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

17.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 08:52

Silicon Avatar

I still have a huge backlog from all the Steam sales last year. I also find myself buying a lot of used stuff - including old game cartridges for ancient gaming consoles. They are still fun in their own way and a lot of the games are new to me. For $60 I can get 4 old Nintendo carts (good games, not crap ones), a huge bag of popcorn, a used comic volume (a compilation that tells an entire story arc), and a used movie DVD. The value of new stuff often just isn't there anymore for me - and that's just me buying nerd crap. There's all kinds of stuff out there anymore. There's no reason to ever pay full price.

16.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 08:00

FloorPie

Wait, sales are down after a holiday in a bad economy with few new releases (aka they all showed up for the holidays 2-3 months earlier). I'm shocked!

15.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 06:47

reisub

JaguarUSF wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 06:14: What is "retail"? Where the console players still get their games apparently. It won't last.

14.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 06:14

JaguarUSF

What is "retail"?

13.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 04:12

Kajetan

Agent.X7 wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 02:34: Derp. What did you release in January, again? Isn't that traditionally when you expect sales to slump? Ya know, because of the glut of spending on that holiday that just occurred? They are NOT comparing sales from January to December. They compare sales from January 2011 to January 2010. As they always do with these comparisons. Always the same month of the last year, NOT the month before.

12.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 03:29

PHJF

Can none of you read? The sales are down 38% from last January. If January sales were compared to December sales they'd be down like 400,000%.




Steam + PSN: PHJF

11.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 02:34

Agent.X7

Derp. What did you release in January, again? Isn't that traditionally when you expect sales to slump? Ya know, because of the glut of spending on that holiday that just occurred?

Still playing BF3 online.

Still playing Skyrim. I haven't done much at all on the main quest and I'm 100+ hours in. Thieves Guild? Check. Magic college? Working. Companions? Working. Bards? Working. Ooooh, another random cave! Wait, what was I working on? Ooooo, wait, it's...

...Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning! Again, hours and hours in, and I've done 2 of the main quests.




Seven Star Gaming - Sayre, PA

10.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 01:23

Illumin

The Half Elf wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 00:29: What exactly was AAA released in Jan? Holiday 2011 was huge, and they are surprised that sales are down following that? Exactly

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 00:55

Kitkoan

Haven't bought many games lately and while I can't say much about the console side of it (haven't bought a console game for myself in over a year...), all my Windows games have been pretty much from the different indie bundles that keep coming out.
While not every game in each bundle is great or something I would play, there is at least 1+ per bundle it leaves me with more games then I can play.
Also there are the Steam sale bundles which also means more games for cheap. Buy in bulk and don't have to worry about new games for a while so my purchases drop heavily after bundles happen (indie and Steam bundles)




automatically refuses to place horse heads in anyone's bed

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 00:50

eunichron

space captain wrote on Feb 10, 2012, 00:40: PIRATES! A sequel to Sid Meier's Pirates! would be awesome.

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 00:40

space captain

PIRATES!




Go forth, and kill!

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 00:32

Prez

... (ME3, MP3, B2, TR, M:LL, D3, H:A, BI, etc.,)...

I got Mass Effect 3 and Diablo 3, but I'm at a loss as to what the others are.




Prez on Soundclick http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=604888

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 10, 2012, 00:29

The Half Elf

What exactly was AAA released in Jan? Holiday 2011 was huge, and they are surprised that sales are down following that?

Re: U.S. Retail Video Game Sales Down 34% in January

Feb 9, 2012, 23:15

Ray Marden

I admit that the baseline quality has increased, but where are the really amazing AAA releases? Or brand new genres? Epic experiences?

I have so many games now that I have purchased in the $5-$20 range and, though they are generally worth their price, I really cannot bother to finish them or, in some cases, install/play them. There are actually a handful of games that, even at this price, I feel burned for purchasing due to how flawed they are.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands for example...
I raid in WoW, socialize in ToR, and get my RPG groove on in Skyrim. In contrast, $60 for games with five hour play times or seriously flawed mechanics are not remotely interesting. Even looking at the various releases, I have all four systems for their unique titles, but those are fewer and farther between. When looking at my preferred platform, PC, I am tired of being called a pirate and get late or crappy ports.

I am following all the various sequels (ME3, MP3, B2, TR, M:LL, D3, H:A, BI, etc.,) but what are the new, exciting games I am looking forward to? Uhh...

Liking gaming, but loving many, many fewer releases,
Ray




Anna. Anna? Anna...is that you? http://www.youtube.com/blacklily8 I love you, mom.

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