US video game market skyrockets 57%, Xbox 360 ahead
In the never ending video console war, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has now stepped back ahead of Sony's PlayStation 3 in terms of unit sales, says a new study by the leading industry analyst group on the subject.
But both platforms got outperformed by Nintendo's Wii and the portable Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable, within a total US video game market that reached a $1.7 billion milestone in March.
Even in a tough economy, the US market for video game hardware, software, and accessories soared 57% from March 2007 to reach $1.7 billion last month, according to NPD Group's David Riley, who attributed his group's findings to a number of factors, including "a shift in preferences for expenditures of consumer dollars."
Nintendo's unit sales of 720,000 Wiis are followed in descending order by Nintendo's DS platform with 698,000 units; Sony's PSP with 297,000 units; Microsoft's Xbox 360 with 262,000; and Sony's PS3 with 257,000.
Consequently, the PS/3 -- which had stepped ahead of the Xbox 360 during the much publicized game machine battle of the past few months -- now lags behind again.
"But personally, I think the whole 'console war' thing is a bit ridiculous," Riley contended in an interview today with BetaNews. "One [machine] is always going to be ahead of the rest. Yet that doesn't cancel out the others. Each offers an entirely different experience."
With the US economy so distressed, why is the video game market thriving? For one thing, the market is still fairly new, with plenty of room for growth, according to Riley, who is marketing manager for the analyst firm. "People hear about video games, and they get interested in finding out more."
Meanwhile, NPD has discovered that the added dollars that consumers are investing in video gaming are coming out of other forms of entertainment, such as CDs and DVDs.
"Gaming is not cheap, but it is satisfying. There are options out there for everyone, whether you're a light gamer or a heavy gamer," he elaborated. The gaming market is also starting to expand to include more older gamers, and to embrace more of a "family/group activity" kind of an orientation.
Other recent research by the NPD Group shows growth in sales of game products to 25-to-34-year-olds shot up 63.4% from 2006 to 2007, in contrast to 42% for 18-to-24-year-olds, and 37.2% for people aged 35 and up.
Another study by NPD indicates that gaming enthusiasts share similar views on "gaming as a family/group activity" to those of lighter gamers such as "dabblers" and "hobbyists."