Post by swfwebmaster on Jan 19, 2008 21:53:03 GMT 1
Video Gaming Industry Shows Strong Growth in 2007
By Frederick Lane
January 19, 2008
Much of the credit for the strong software sales can be attributed to Nintendo, which clobbered competitors in game-console sales. Consumers scarfed up a remarkable 6.29 million Nintendo Wii units in 2007 (1.35 million in December alone) and, not surprisingly, those figures helped make Wii games some of the most popular of the year.
According to figures just released by market research firm NPD Group, escapism was a big winner in 2007. Despite an overall slowdown in consumer spending, the video-game industry posted a strong increase in earnings, up 43 percent from the year before. It was the second year of double-digit growth for video games, which grew by 19 percent in 2006. In total, NPD said, the video-game industry generated $17.94 billion in sales, compared with $12.53 billion the year before.
The Wii's main diversion, Wii Play, sold 4.12 million copies, making it just one of two games in 2007 to break the 4 million mark. The other, not surprisingly, was Microsoft’s long-anticipated Halo 3, which sold 4.82 million copies. The other two Wii titles in the top 10 for the year were Super Mario Galaxy (2.52 million) and Mario Party 8 (1.82 million).
In addition to the immensely popular Halo 3, Microsoft had another game in the top three: Call of Duty 4, which sold 3.04 million copies. The combined software sales of more than 7 million copies for those two games helped lift sales of the Xbox 360 to more than 4 million for 2007, with more than a quarter of those sales coming in December alone.
On the basis of console sales alone, Sony had a disappointing year. Its newest unit, the PlayStation 3, trailed all other consoles, with sales of just 2.56 million units. Ever more disconcerting, no doubt, was the fact that the older PlayStation 2 outsold the newer model by more than 50 percent.
But those figures help underscore the biggest success for Sony: the overwhelming popularity of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The PlayStation 2 version was the fourth most popular game, selling 2.72 million units, and overall, the Guitar Hero franchise racked up $820 million in sales -- an all-time record for a video-game franchise.
By Frederick Lane
January 19, 2008
Much of the credit for the strong software sales can be attributed to Nintendo, which clobbered competitors in game-console sales. Consumers scarfed up a remarkable 6.29 million Nintendo Wii units in 2007 (1.35 million in December alone) and, not surprisingly, those figures helped make Wii games some of the most popular of the year.
According to figures just released by market research firm NPD Group, escapism was a big winner in 2007. Despite an overall slowdown in consumer spending, the video-game industry posted a strong increase in earnings, up 43 percent from the year before. It was the second year of double-digit growth for video games, which grew by 19 percent in 2006. In total, NPD said, the video-game industry generated $17.94 billion in sales, compared with $12.53 billion the year before.
The Wii's main diversion, Wii Play, sold 4.12 million copies, making it just one of two games in 2007 to break the 4 million mark. The other, not surprisingly, was Microsoft’s long-anticipated Halo 3, which sold 4.82 million copies. The other two Wii titles in the top 10 for the year were Super Mario Galaxy (2.52 million) and Mario Party 8 (1.82 million).
In addition to the immensely popular Halo 3, Microsoft had another game in the top three: Call of Duty 4, which sold 3.04 million copies. The combined software sales of more than 7 million copies for those two games helped lift sales of the Xbox 360 to more than 4 million for 2007, with more than a quarter of those sales coming in December alone.
On the basis of console sales alone, Sony had a disappointing year. Its newest unit, the PlayStation 3, trailed all other consoles, with sales of just 2.56 million units. Ever more disconcerting, no doubt, was the fact that the older PlayStation 2 outsold the newer model by more than 50 percent.
But those figures help underscore the biggest success for Sony: the overwhelming popularity of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The PlayStation 2 version was the fourth most popular game, selling 2.72 million units, and overall, the Guitar Hero franchise racked up $820 million in sales -- an all-time record for a video-game franchise.