Gaming market scores explosive March sales

USA - The video games industry racked up hardware and software sales of roughly US$1.7 billion in March, according to NPD Group, a consumer sales tracking firm. Total sales in March 2008 were some 57% higher than the $1.1 billion the industry made just one year earlier.

"You'd never know that the US economy was under distress by looking at the video games industry sales figures. Year-to-date growth is rock-solid 27% through March," said Anita Frazier, an NPD industry analyst.

Video game software accounted for the bulk of the gaming industry's earnings with nearly $946 million in sales. Hardware did not lag far behind, bringing in $551.3 million in March. In console sales Nintendo's Wii led the pack with 721,000 units. Video game accessories had a decent showing as well with sales of $220 million, an increase of 58% over March 2007.

"Overall hardware sales are staggering, and that is what is sustaining this software sales growth. The software numbers are unprecedented and largely unfathomable," said Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Morgan analyst.

"It is important to note that March represented the second highest sales month ever - outside of Decembers - with only November 2007 higher, and we expect sales in April to approach the same level," Pachter added.

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