Unit sales of video games in three major territories fell 8 percent in 2009, thanks to the recession.
Total unit sales in the United Kingdom, Japan, and the U.S. were 379.3 million in 2009, down 8 percent from the year before, according to data from market researchers NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track, and Enterbrain.
In Japan, unit sales fell 2 percent — a 5 percent decline in console software units and a 1 percent decline in portable game software. U.S. unit sales fell 7 percent, and UK unit sales fell 14 percent. In the U.S., console game unit sales fell 7 percent and portable game sales fell 6 percent. Console unit game sales fell 8 percent in the UK and portable game sales fell 25 percent.
While the recession gets some of the blame, so does the shrinking PlayStation 2 software market, which saw a 57 percent decrease across the top global markets (56 percent down in the U.S., 67 percent down in the UK, and 55 percent down in Japan).
In Japan, the big hits were Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito, Pocket Monster Heart Gold/Soul Silver, and the year’s most successful original game, Tomodachi Collection, which sold 2 million units. Other big hits were Final Fantasy XIII, Wii Sports Resort, Wii Fit Plus and the New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The latter sold 2.4 million units in the first month in stores. But these big games couldn’t overcome slower sales in the first half of the year.
In the UK, PS 3 and Xbox 360 games hit records but couldn’t offset the decline in PS 2 games. Wii unit sales actually feel 10 percent in 2009, but Wii was still the No. 1 format in games sold. A drop in portable games caused the overall decline. Could it be due to the popularity of 99 cent games on the iPhone and iPod Touch?
In the U.S., there were 778 new titles released in 2009, up from 764 in 2008, despite talk of focusing on higher-quality and fewer games.
Across the territories, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 was the top selling game, with 11.86 million games sold in the three territories. The next-closest games were Wii Sports Resort at 7.57 million and New Super Mario Bros. Wii at 7.41 million.
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[photo credit: geek alerts]
