14 DAY TRIAL // Last week the NPD Group, which tracks hardware and video game sales for the North American market, has released data which shows that December was another pretty bad month for the industry that has capped a bad year, when overall revenue dropped by about 5 percent.
And it seems that 2011 might debut much in the same way, with a pick up expected after the launch of the new 3DS handheld from Nintendo and after one or more of the home consoles could get a cut in price.
Evan Wilson, who is an analyst working for Pacific Crest Securities, has told investors in a note that sales, both for hardware and for video games, will continue to slide, even if a lot of high profile titles will be launched, with the concentration being highest during March.
Wilson says, “Our call remains that the industry will continue to be weak because growth in the 360, largely from Kinect, is not enough to offset Wii, PS3, DS and PSP declines.”
Michael Pachter, who is doing analysis of the video game market, has also expressed skepticism about how sales will evolve in the first few months of 2011 with a number of factors kicking in later that could make 2011 a good year for the video game industry.
The analyst says, “We think that a bad end to 2010 positions the industry for a rebound, and product introductions and price cuts should be sufficient to ensure solid growth. While this may not begin until April (after the 3DS launches), we think that savvy investors will begin to establish positions now and will be handsomely rewarded in the coming months.”
The big releases of the coming months, which some have dubbed Second Christmas, include Dragon Age 2, Dead Space 2, Little Big Planet 2, Total War: Shogun 2.
The 3DS arrives on February 26 in Japan and one month later in North America and Europe.