Video game sales rise 28 percent in July
SEATTLE (Reuters) - U.S. video game sales rose 28 percent in July from a year earlier, boosted by continued strong demand for Nintendo Co Ltd's (7974.OS) Wii console, according to data from research firm NPD on Thursday.
U.S. sales of video game hardware, software and accessories totaled $1.19 billion in July, with software sales growing 41 percent and hardware sales rising 17 percent, NPD said.
Helped by a steady flow of blockbuster titles, the video game industry has proved resilient to the economic hardships hitting other industries. A Nintendo representative said the company was seeing no impact from a slowdown in U.S. consumer spending.
Sony Corp's (6758.T) PlayStation 3 outsold Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) Xbox 360 game console in July, selling 224,900 PS3 versus 204,800 Xbox 360 machines in the United States. The Wii outsold both systems combined, tallying 555,000 units sold during the month.
Among the handhelds, Nintendo's DS sold 608,400 units in the United States in July, compared with 221,700 units for Sony's PlayStation Portable.
The top selling game in July was Electronic Arts' (ERTS.O) "NCAA Football 09," which debuted during the month. It sold nearly 400,000 units in the United States.
Nintendo's "Wii Fit" exercise game, which comes with a "balance board" that senses tiny shifts in a person's posture and is used to control a cartoonish character on the screen, came in second with 369,600 units.
Activision Blizzard's (ATVI.O) "Guitar Hero" game for the Nintendo DS, Nintendo's "Wii Play" and EA's "NCAA Football 09" for the PS3 rounded out the top five best-selling games.
(Reporting by Daisuke Wakabayashi, editing by Richard Chang)
