U.S. Game Sales Up 25% In June

Gamasutra is reporting that sales for the gaming industry were up 25% over last year in June. The results were significantly different than those expected by analysts, primarily driven by high demand for Nintendo's DS Lite handheld console and the videogames based on the Disney/Pixar film 'Cars'. From the article: "Figures from Nintendo claim that combined sales of both Nintendo DS hardware iterations amounted to just under 600,000 in June - a figure with which NPD's estimates of 593,000 agree. PSP sales for the month were put at 221,000, with no information yet available for the Game Boy Advance - which had previously beaten both new portable formats in the U.S."

Comments

So the gaming industry isn't dying?

[CaseM]

From TFA: It's as if consumers woke up and decided to start gaming again

Pullleeeeeze! Every time sales are down from the prior year the industry is in a "slump" and doom and gloom projections about the industry are cast wide and far. Sales are up this year, so has the game industry turned itself around now? Oh wait, comparing this year's sales to last year's means next to nothing. Maybe, just maybe, there was nothing released comparable to the present demand for the DS Lite in June of '05?

Re:So the gaming industry isn't dying?

[Cadallin]

Depends on who you're talking about by saying "the industry." Sony and Microsoft, not doing so hot. Nintendo (as usual actually) is rolling in it. And they're doing it by focusing on a cheaper machine with an emphasis on fun games (the DS). I say this bodes well for the Wii, not so well for the PS3, with its high price and focus on Blu-Ray movies (rather like the PSP and UMD).

Re:So the gaming industry isn't dying?

[ObligatoryUserName]

From TFA: It's as if consumers woke up and decided to start gaming again

Anecdotes aren't always meaningful, but my personal experience concurs with the reported conclusion and what you're saying. The DS Lite is making all the difference here.

My game purchasing had never really recovered from the WoW induced slump, and when the DS Lite came out I bought it and... I think I'm up to 11 games now.

My brother did the same and also has 11 games, as did a good number of my friends - though they're mostly in the 3-4 games range at this point. The games that we all want the most are games with multiplayer and WiFi.

Mobile gaming has become social gaming... if people remember to carry their DSes!

Re:So the gaming industry isn't dying?

[badasscat]

Maybe, just maybe, there was nothing released comparable to the present demand for the DS Lite in June of '05?

Analysts have consistently underestimated the appeal of the DS, and they continue to do it despite all evidence that consumers actually, really do LIKE this thing.

It's as if we're in 1986 again and everybody's still saying the NES is a fad and the big new game machine is going to be the Atari XEGS. Uh, duh? Have we learned nothing from history?

I remember reading from Pachter or Gartner or one of these outfits before the DS release that the DS and PSP would be neck and neck for a while, but that by this time the DS would be history and the PSP would be the clear market dominator. Hasn't worked out that way, has it? Yet rather than actually revise their thinking, these people continue to believe that the DS will just have no impact on the market. Pretty much the entire explanation for the discrepancy between the actual numbers and the projected numbers is DS Lite sales and DS games. (I know they mention "Cars", but that didn't really sell hugely over expectations, and in any case it's just one game.)

It's almost as if they looked at the upcoming DS Lite launch and wrote it off as a non-factor. When will they learn?

Re:So the gaming industry isn't dying?

[thatoneguy_jm]

Mod parent up - they're completely correct, here. On June 11 I went down and picked up two new DS Lites - one for me, and one for my fiancee. I picked up New Super Mario Bros for myself, and Brain Age and Animal Crossing for her.

The very next week, she comes over with a "present" for me - she had bought me Mario Kart and my own copy of Animal Crossing, so we could play multiplayer. Now, realize, the ONLY other time she's gone into the store and bought a video game was to buy a game for me for Christmas or my birthday. And, even then, she already had known the name of the game and the price, since I'd "hinted" quite heavily.

However, this time, she would have had to go IN the store, browse the games, and decide which ones to buy - and, of course, she picked up two more for herself. We each have about 5 games for the DS, now, and we RARELY buy games - and, if we do, we buy them used. The DS Lite is the sole reason that we spent any money on video games last June, and I'm betting that this is the case for quite a few other people as well.

Re:DS Lite

[SuperMog2002]

Contact Nintendo directly. When the DS was near impossible to find, Nintendo still had a stock of replacement units on hand for warranty fulfillment. I understand they take your credit card number and mail you a new one. You mail yours back in the same box after you've gotten replacement. As long as they get yours within so many days, they don't charge your card at all.