14 DAY TRIAL // The NPD Group for July has shown yet another month of decline for the video games industry in the United States, with a decrease of overall sales of 20 percent over the same period of 2011 which has seen the overall value drop to 548.4 million dollars (446.1 million Euro).
Hardware has seen the biggest drop, of 32%, with the only console that has seen an increase being the Nintendo 3DS.
Microsoft stated that it has sold 203,000 units of the Xbox 360 to lead the hardware chart.
In the software chart for July, the bestselling game in North America was, quite naturally, NCAA Football 13, from EA Sports, which was delivered on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 and allows players to experience the collegiate American football experience.
Second place has gone to LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, which was available on many more devices, while the last place on the NPD Group podium has been occupied by another superhero-powered and movie-supported release The Amazing Spider-Man, from Activision.
The rest of the top ten is made up of: Just Dance 3, Batman Arkham City, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, NBA 2K12, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Dead Island.
The prevalence of titles launched during 2011 is a sign that publishers were not willing to spend resources in order to launch titles during July and are saving their best games for later in the year.
The NPD Group is hopeful when it comes to the future, estimating that the introduction of the new Nintendo 3DS XL hardware and the launched of New Super Mario Bros. 2 will see the overall performance of the industry increase during August.
Anita Frazier, who is an analyst for the NPD Group, stated, “Based on year to date sales, and taking into account the release slate for the back five months of the year as well as the anticipated launch of the Wii U, annual sales for the new physical channel should come in around $14.5 billion for the year.”