Sales of video game hardware and software in the United States plummeted last month according to new data from market research firm The NPD Group. The firm’s January figures suggest that sales of video game hardware fell 38% to $199.5 million, down from $324 million in January 2011. Video game software sales slid 38% as well in January, falling to $355.9 million, and sales of accessories in the U.S. dropped 18% year-on-year to $195.2 million. Total industry sales were down 34% to $750.6 million. “January retail performance experienced steep declines with a lack of software launches, and poor Hardware and Accessory performance partly related to bad comps from Kinect-related success in Jan’11,” NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. “Outside of new physical retail sales, we estimate that the consumer spend on other ways to acquire content including used games, full game and add-on content downloads, social network games, mobile games, rentals and subscriptions accounted for an additional $350 – $400 million in sales.” Callahan noted that Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling console for the sixth consecutive month in January, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 was the top-selling software title. A complete list of NPD’s top-10 games for the month follows below.

Owners of Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch can now enjoy a remake of the first-ever PC game, co-written by Bill Gates himself, which came pre-installed on several IBM computers in 1981. First released late last month, XVision’s DONKEY.BAS is a terrific recreation of the PC game by the same name. Players control a race car as it advances up the screen. Donkeys repeatedly come into view, and the simple goal is to switch lanes before colliding with any curious creatures. “We did this game as a tribute to the original,” XVision founder Johnny Ixe told BGR, noting that the firm added a number of new features to the game in order to distinguish it from the original. The spirit of the game remains, however, and gamers looking for a bit of nostalgia would be hard-pressed to find a better blast from the past. DONKEY.BAS is available now in the App Store for $0.99.

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An Oklahoma lawmaker has proposed levying a new tax on violent video games. Oklahoma Democrat Will Fourkiller has suggested the tax be applied to all games that receive an ESRB rating, which is intended for adults only. In addition, Fourkiller thinks T-Rated games should also have a tax added to the cost of the games, since some include “simulated gambling.” But a tax on all T-Rated games would be too broad, Ars Technica points out, as there are also titles that are rated T for “cartoon violence, crude humor and suggestive themes.” Read on for more.

During his effort to gain backing for the proposed tax, Rep. Fourkiller refers to a crime in which a man killed a police officer and stole his car after playing Grand Theft Auto. ”Not everybody is going to react the same, but I believe after hours and hours of watching the screen, playing the video game, being that person and taking on that role, people get desensitized,” Fourkiller said. It is unclear how imposing a 1% tax will impact the effects violent video games may or may not have on those who play them.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has been vocally opposed to Fourkiller’s plans to tax such video games. ”We are disappointed that even in the wake of an overwhelming decision in the United States Supreme Court finding proposals such as this to be patently unconstitutional, there are those who still try to attack video game with outdated notions of our industry,” VP of ESA Dan Hewitt explained to Ars Technica. “Taxing First Amendment protected material based on its content is misguided.”

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Apple has hired a former marketing executive from Microsoft to help promote the App Store and iTunes in Europe, MCV reports. Robin Burrowes, former head of Xbox LIVE marketing in the EMEA region for Microsoft, joined Apple in January according to his LinkedIn profile. His formal duties at Apple remain unclear — Burrowes’s profile only states that his role involves “App Store Marketing” — but the executive’s background suggests gaming will be a strong focus. Apple has hired a number of executives with experience in the gaming market recently, including Nintendo’s former head of public relations Robert Saunders and former Activision, EA and Xbox PR head Nick Grange. The video game industry finds itself among a number of businesses that have been disrupted by Apple’s iOS lineup, and the company’s recent hires suggest that Apple intends to continue pushing the gaming capabilities of its mobile device lineup.

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The video game industry capped off a rough year in the United States with a horrible holiday month that saw sales plummet year-over-year across all categories. Market research firm The NPD Group recently released its sales estimates for December 2011 and the full year, and neither set of figures paints a pretty picture. Last month, total industry sales plummeted to $3.99 billion, down 21% from $5.07 billion in December 2010. Hardware sales dropped 28% to $1.32 billion in December, and software sales were down 14% to $2.08 billion. “December was very rough for new physical sales of video games hardware, software and accessories,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. “Because of the great slate of content that came to market during the fourth quarter, I had expected December sales to represent a larger portion of total year sales than what occurred. This year, December accounted for just 23% of annual sales, while the average for the past ten years has been 28.” For the full year, hardware sales were down 11% to $5.58 billion, software sales dipped 6% to $8.83 billion and total industry sales slid 8% to $17.02 billion. The NPD Group’s full press release follows below along with a list of the top-10 best-selling games of 2011.

Image source: Kristen Lanae

2011 TOTAL CONSUMER SPEND ON ALL GAMES CONTENT IN THE U.S. ESTIMATED BETWEEN $16.3 TO $16.6 BILLION

-  U.S. VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY NEW PHYSICAL RETAIL CONTENT SALES REACH $9.3 BILLION -

PORT WASHINGTON, NY, January 12, 2012 – According to leading market research company, The NPD Group, the preliminary estimate* for total consumer spend on gaming content via all monetization methods, including new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games, is between  $16.3 to $16.6 billion. This total consumer spend on games content in 2011, which includes both physical and digital formats, represents sales that are down approximately 2 percent when compared to 2010.

Based on this estimate, spending on new physical content at retail continues to account for the majority of the total consumer spend on games content.  U.S. retail sales of new physical video game content, which includes portable, console and PC game software, generated revenues of $9.3 billion, an 8 percent decline over the $10.1 billion generated in 2010.

Bright spots came from HD console software sales, which were up 9 percent in 2011, as well as increases in the consumer spend on used games sales, full-game digital downloads and downloadable content, and mobile gaming apps, which partially offset declines in the other areas of consumer spend on content.

“Overall industry results are not entirely surprising given that we are on the back end of the current console lifecycle, combined with the continued digital evolution of gaming.  Core gamers continue to be engaged and spend on established franchises across both the digital and physical format using multiple devices for different gaming occasions,” said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group.

“Our overall estimate of the market continues to point toward the increased imperative for deeper visibility into digital distribution than is available today, not only in the U.S. but globally.  This is the goal of our partnership with EEDAR, and central to our discussions with publishers and others in the gaming community,” said David McQuillan, president, Games at The NPD Group.

Sales of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 video game console trounced the competition in November, nearly doubling PlayStation 3 sales and sales of Nintendo’s Wii console. According to November sales data from leading market research firm The NPD Group, Microsoft sold 1.7 million Xbox 360 consoles in November. While Sony managed unit sales growth of about 70% year-over-year, the company only sold about 900,000 PlayStation 3 consoles last month. Nintendo sold 860,000 Wii consoles, 795,000 portable Nintendo 3DS consoles and 350,000 older Nintendo DS units in November. “This is the fourth consecutive month in which the Xbox 360 has been the top selling hardware system,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. “The gap between 360 sales and sales of the next best selling platform was the largest we’ve seen since December 2008 when the Nintendo DS was the top selling system.” Total industry sales were up less than 1% to $3.00 billion in November according to NPD, and hardware sales dipped 9% from 2010 to $982.4 million. Software sales were up 15% year-over-year to $1.67 billion but accessory sales dropped 34% to $273.8 million despite strong holiday sales of Microsoft’s Kinect controller. The NPD Group’s list of the 10 best-selling video game titles in November follows below.

Microsoft just sold nearly one million Xbox 360 consoles last week alone, but we’re nearing the end of the road for video game consoles according to one industry visionary. Richard Garriott, known for having created the fantasy role-playing franchise Ultima and the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Tabula Rasa, says converged devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets will soon render dedicated game consoles obsolete. Read on for more.

“I think we might get one more generation, might, but I think fundamentally they’re doomed,” Garriott told IndustryGamers in an interview. “I think fundamentally the power that you can carry with you in a portable is really swamping what we’ve thought of as a console.”

Smartphones and tablets have plenty of ground to cover before they can even come close to approaching the capabilities of the current generation of consoles, and we may see next-generation consoles launch as soon as next year. BGR exclusively reported in June that Microsoft plans to unveil its next-generation Xbox console at E3 next year, and Sony may also unveil its PlayStation 4 in 2012 according to recent reports.

Several industry leaders disagree with Garriott’s assessment. In a recent interview with BGR that will be published in the coming weeks, Saber Interactive co-Founder and CEO Matthew Karch suggested smartphones and tablets may never catch up to consoles in terms of capabilities and user experience. Consoles already have such a tremendous technology lead and the physical limitations of mobile devices will be a huge barrier until broadband data speeds and reliability reach a point where the bulk of game processing can be handled remotely.

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Microsoft announced on Tuesday that last week marked the Xbox 360′s best ever week of sales. The company sold more than 960,000 Xbox 360 consoles and more than 750,000 Kinect controllers last week. Microsoft also confirmed that more than 800,000 of the consoles it sold last week were purchased on Black Friday alone. ”We have seen tremendous excitement from customers for our hot holiday gaming offers,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of Home Entertainment at Best Buy, in a statement. “Xbox 360 was among the best-sellers at Best Buy this Black Friday, and is a testament to the continued popularity of the gaming category this holiday.” Microsoft’s full announcement follows below.

Entering the seventh year of its lifecycle, Xbox 360 just closed the biggest sales week in the history of Xbox, selling more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday.

Microsoft’s retail partners are equally excited about our sales performance this holiday.

“We have seen tremendous excitement from customers for our hot holiday gaming offers,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager of Home Entertainment at Best Buy. “Xbox 360 was among the best-sellers at Best Buy this Black Friday, and is a testament to the continued popularity of the gaming category this holiday.”

Sales highlights in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday include:

• Xbox 360 sold more than 960,000 consoles in the U.S. alone, of which more than 800,000 were sold within a period of 24 hours – the biggest week of sales in Xbox history. (Source: Internal data)
• More than 750,000 Kinect for Xbox 360 sensors were sold in the U.S. – standalone and bundled. (Source: Internal data)

Sales of video games and video game hardware remained lackluster in October according to market research giant The NPD Group. Overall industry sales in the U.S. grew just 1% to $1.08 billion last month compared to October 2010. Total hardware sales were up 6% year-over-year to $295.6 million in October, and software sales were up 3% to $621.3 million. Sales of video game accessories in the U.S. dipped 5% to $135.9 million last month. Microsoft’s Xbox showed the most impressive growth among home consoles with unit sales up 20% from last October, while sales of Nintendo’s 3DS/DS line topped portable devices with 25% growth. November numbers should be a bit more impressive ahead of the holidays thanks to holiday sales paired with a number of high-profile launches including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, which pulled in a record $400 million in sales during its first 24 hours of availability, and Halo Anniversary, which launches on Tuesday. NPD’s list of the top-10 video game titles follows below.

I haven’t turned on my Xbox 360 in almost a year. I did to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, though.

Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t differ greatly from previous editions of the game, though that’s not always a bad thing. The story events pick up right where Modern Warfare 2’s storyboard ended and you’re plopped right in the middle of downtown New York City, which is under siege and swarming with Ruskies. The storyline itself doesn’t have much depth, but for something you can get through in around five to six hours, it doesn’t exactly need to. Besides, the gameplay and graphics surely pull the weight here.

As far as multiplayer mode, it’s more focused than ever before but there are a few additions to multiplayer like Team Defender and Kill Confirmed. Team Defender is a version of capture the flag, except, you know, with grenades going off and buildings crumbling around you. Kill Confirmed is based around a quest to retrieve dog tags of your friends and enemies, and just as you can collect them from fallen players around you, your opponents can try to grab them before you can. There are other new additions like killstreak rewards that are now baked into Strike Packages, allowing you to customize them, and there are new customizable weapons as well.

I didn’t play co-op mode that much, though, but the new survival mode was insanely difficult. You basically stand there while an endless surge of enemies come at you, but each wave gets harder and harder for you and the other players.

Infinity Ward and Activision’s Call of Duty and Modern Warfare titles have consistently pushed the boundaries of what a first-person shooter can be, and I don’t think Modern Warfare 3 is any different. I’m not a serious gamer, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to pick up a copy and review this game. Multiplayer mode is obviously the big draw here, and for good reason — it’s excellent. While single-player mode is fun, the story definitely isn’t going to win any Oscars. But the gameplay and the graphics are incredible, and this is probably my favorite first-person shooter ever.

Following parent company Coinstar’s third-quarter earnings report, Redbox announced that daily DVD rental fees have increased to $1.20 from $1. “The price change is based on an increase in operating costs, including higher debit card fees that went into effect October 1,” Redbox said in a statement on its website. “This is the first time in eight years Redbox has raised our daily DVD rental price.” Redbox will continue to charge $1 for the first day of each DVD rental during a promotional period from October 31st through November 30th, though additional days will be charged at the new rate of $1.20 per night. Rates for Blu-ray ($1.50 per day) rentals and video game rentals ($2 per day) are not affected by this change.

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Sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the United States continued to slide in August according to new data from NPD Group, again dipping more than 20% compared to the same period last year. Overall industry sales slid 23% to $669.9 million last month from $873.8 million in August 2010. Hardware sales were down 12% from last year to $249.4 million, accessory sales were down just 1% to $134.7 million and software sales plummeted 34% to $264.8 million. ”August 2011 sales saw a decline versus August 2010 in all categories except for portable games hardware,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier in a statement. “In software, the bulk of the decline can be attributed to the shift of the annual Madden release from August to September (8/30 release falls within NPD’s September 2011 reporting period).” Frazier continued, “Even though year to date performance of the new physical portion of the industry is down 5%, more than half of industry sales in this channel are still to be realized in the back four months of the year.  Given the strong release schedule in the coming months, new physical retail sales could still be flat to slightly up once full year sales are tallied.” Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling console for the seventh consecutive month in August with 308,000 units sold. NPD’s top-10 list of video game software title sales in the month of August follows below.

Much has been made of the video game console business’ steady decline, and rightfully so; console sales have dropped considerably in recent months. Some attribute the sliding sales to a weakened economy while a minority believe trends are turning toward casual mobile gaming, but market research firm IDC says we shouldn’t be sounding any alarms just yet. In a new report, IDC suggests that console gaming will begin to reverse current downward trends in 2012, with a big-time resurgence to follow in the coming years. “Total console hardware and disc-based software revenues are on track to slide a few percent in 2011 compared to 2010,” Lewis Ward, an IDC research manager, said in a statement. “But prognostications that consoles have peaked as a product category are premature. I expect that the launch of the Wii U, a revamped interactive entertainment console from Microsoft in the 2014 timeframe, and the arrival of Sony’s ‘PS4′ circa 2015 – along with more than a few exclusive, innovative games – will help drive a new wave of console-centric spending in the next several years.” Of course the market could rebound even sooner than that. BGR reported exclusively that Microsoft may be preparing to unveil a new Xbox model as soon as E3 2012, and Sony could be fast-tracking plans for a new PlayStation 4 console as well. The Xbox is now six years old, Sony’s PlayStation 3 is five years old and Nintendo’s Wii is almost five years old as well. As quickly as technology now evolves, it shouldn’t be any mystery that console sales are currently waning. IDC’s press release follows below.

IDC Finds the Demise of Game Consoles Is Greatly Exaggerated

18 Aug 2011

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., August 18, 2011 – Despite recent macroeconomic instability and particularly weak overall video game spending in North America this summer, the latest International Data Corporation (IDC) forecast of the worldwide video game and interactive entertainment console market points to a rebound beginning in 2012, largely driven by new platform releases and rising console penetration and spending in select developing economies.

“Total console hardware and disc-based software revenues are on track to slide a few percent in 2011 compared to 2010,” says Lewis Ward, research manager, Consumer Markets: Gaming, at IDC. “But prognostications that consoles have peaked as a product category are premature. I expect that the launch of the Wii U, a revamped interactive entertainment console from Microsoft in the 2014 timeframe, and the arrival of Sony’s ‘PS4′ circa 2015 – along with more than a few exclusive, innovative games – will help drive a new wave of console-centric spending in the next several years.”

IDC forecasts direct global console hardware and disc software sale revenue will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6% from 2010 to 2015, reaching $39.7 billion in 2015 with developing economy growth rates about twice those in developed markets. Despite this rebound, the installed base of actively used game consoles won’t keep pace with the number of worldwide households. IDC expects there to be about 257 million active consoles worldwide by 2015, or 12.7% of anticipated households that year, down about 1% when compared to same console penetration figure for 2011. In this sense, it’s possible to conclude that console popularity will slip due to the rise of media tablet gaming, casual, free-to-play/social online PC games, etc.

This IDC study, Worldwide Game and Interactive Entertainment Console Hardware and Software 2011 -2015 Forecast (IDC #229438), assesses and forecasts the demand for, usage of, and revenue associated with video game console hardware and software on a worldwide basis through 2015. It provides a competitive assessment of the leading current-generation console platforms based on survey data, interviews, and other research sources and models next-generation platform releases based on historical precedent and other inputs. Worldwide game console totals are broken down into four regions: North America, Western Europe, Japan, and the rest of the world.

The forecast also shows the PS3 will have the largest active installed base of any game console worldwide by 2015. In this sense, the PS2′s “long tail” may ultimately repeat.

Nintendo’s recent decision to drop the price of its Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming device looks to have paid off. In the device’s first full week of sales following Nintendo’s price drop, the company sold 215,000 units in Japan alone, where the 3DS now retails for 15,000 yen following its launch at 25,000 yen. Weekly sales of the portable 3D console dipped from 31,826 units to 16,415 in the week following Nintendo’s announcement that the price would soon drop, for obvious reasons. With sales in Japan having exploded by more than 13 times in the week following the 3DS price drop, it looks like the initial high price point may have been a big factor in the 3DS’ slow adoption up to this point. Nintendo lowered the price of its 3DS from $249.99 to $169.99 on August 11th in the U.S., so this week will mark the first full week of sales at the new lower price point here in America.

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U.S. video game industry sales were down 26% in July compared to the same period last year according to new data published by The NPD Group. Hardware sales were down 29% year-over-year to $223 million, video game software sales dipped 17% to $336.2 million and sales of video game accessories were down 8% to $127.8 million. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the U.S. for the seventh consecutive month with unit sales of 277,000, though July marked the first time the Xbox saw a year-on-year decline since December 2009. ”There is no getting around the fact that video game sales in the new physical retail channel suffered its lowest month since October 2006,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. “Despite the very rough month, new physical retail sales are down just 4% year-to-date and based on seasonality trends observed over the last 10 years, which have been remarkably stable year-in, year-out, industry sales in this particular channel are poised to land in the flat to -2% range once the total year is completed.” NPD’s top-10 list of video game software title sales in the month of July follows below.

Image source: Kristen Lanae