Video Game Sales Up 32% in March

Reuters is reporting that video game sales were up 32% in March. The story attributes the increase in sales to improved console supplies, Gran Turismo 4, and some handheld Sony is hawking. From the article: "Citing figures from market researchers NPD Group, analysts also said Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation Portable handheld gaming unit sold 620,000 units of hardware in the month and 1.1 million pieces of software. The PSP was released on March 24."

Comments

Re:Need I state?

[Propagandhi]

I don't think that little idiom is all that applicable in this situation.

Video game sales are up because more video games are being sold (duh). More video games are being sold because a new system (the PSP) has been successfuly launched and those who buy it also buy games for it.

In this case, I think it's fair to say that the increase in sales is a result, at least in part, of the PSP's launch and the sales that said launch has generated...

End the Q4 release cycle!

[Inoshiro]

Maybe with the fact that launching things which are promoted seems to be the key to sales, not just being released around Q4, we'll start to see fewer pump-and-dump games coming out just in time for gift shoppers to buy...

One can hope :/

Am I the only one reading this the other way?

[MMaestro]

analysts also said Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation Portable handheld gaming unit sold 620,000 units of hardware in the month and 1.1 million pieces of software

If those numbers are right, that means people only bought one or two games to go with their PSP...

Keep in mind it was/is nearly/completely impossible to buy a PSP without the bundle so you're really looking at about 50% of the people either picking up the PSP as 'early adopters' and probably not using it much due to the sheer lack of use so far (1 game, 1 movie, and unrefined hacked software doesn't make a iPod, GBA:SP or DS killer). The other 50% probably doesn't use their PSP much either for the same reasons...

Not to mention dead pixel issues, returns, broken systems, systems resold online...

Re:Am I the only one reading this the other way?

[UWC]

Thinking about Sony's official "bundle", the only really superfluous bits that came with it were the movie and maybe the headphones, though the little inline remote can be handy but could be sold as an official accessory. The slipcover and screen cloth are invaluable and should be included with even a barebones bundle, and the memory stick is necessary, though I guess the Playstation/PS2's memory cards prove that you can get away with charging people $25 extra for something completely needed by modern games in the name of "choice". What amuses me is that the PS2 memory cards are STILL $25--with the occasional $20 sale price--each for 8MB of flash memory, 4.5 years after US release. I have to wonder what kind of profit margins they have on those things.

And I got mine at Best Buy, no extra game purchases required. Ended up with Wipeout and their last copy of Lumines, and only 2 stuck subpixels that don't bother me at all. Got their last copy of Metal Gear Acid a few days later, after someone had apparently returned it, unopened of course.

seems like

[Sv-Manowar]

it seems like these few months will be the last surge before a drop leading up to the release of the new generation consoles

Of course the PSP sales will stay steady when the PS2 and Xbox sales start dropping to make way for the new releases.

End of the Warcraft effect?

[supabeast!]

My hypothesis is that this is directly due to the majority of early World of Warcraft adopters hitting level 60, getting bored, and moving on to other games. I certainly have.