New Video Game Sales Slow, But Used Games Rock On

Although new video game sales dipped in October a whopping 19 percent year over year to $1.07 billion, it may be that gamers are, in fact, expanding their collections -- just in ways that don't directly benefit the entertainment companies.

NPD Group reports that October video game retail software sales fell from $698 million in October 2008 to $573 million. That was surprising to some analysts who had been expecting gains of up to 20 percent. Much of the decline can be blamed on a recessionary economy, which has caused consumers to tighten up discretionary spending. However, turned off by typical video game prices of roughly $50, purchasers are turning to used games instead, said NPD in a separate study.

In another NPD study, The Canadian Video Game Purchase Process, 40 percent of video game buyers said they have purchased a game on impulse in the past six months -- but that coincides with a rise in low-cost used games, which flourished during the recessionary months to the tune of $65 million in sales.

Quarterly results for gaming software was dismal as well. According to recent findings from Top Global Markets, an integrated monthly report including data from The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, combined video game software unit sales globally experienced a decline of 6 percent during the third quarter.

Recent price cuts for gaming hardware among all three major players -- Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo -- have done little to boost sales of new games, which have not seen similar price adjustments. And even with the lower prices for game consoles, hardware sales were down 17 percent in units for the month; Sony's PlayStation was the only system to see growth in year-over-year comparison. PlayStation sales grew 18 percent from 190,000 in October 2008 to 320,000 last month. The Xbox 360 fell 33 percent to 250,000 and the Wii, still the leader in unit sales, tumbled 37 percent to 507,000.

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