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Businesses The Almighty Buck Entertainment Games

Video Game Sales Up 32% in March 28

Posted by Zonk from the based-on-sales-of-what,-again? dept.
Reuters is reporting that video game sales were up 32% in March. The story attributes the increase in sales to improved console supplies, Gran Turismo 4, and some handheld Sony is hawking. From the article: "Citing figures from market researchers NPD Group, analysts also said Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation Portable handheld gaming unit sold 620,000 units of hardware in the month and 1.1 million pieces of software. The PSP was released on March 24."
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Video Game Sales Up 32% in March More

Video Game Sales Up 32% in March

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  • End the Q4 release cycle! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @01:30AM (#12253046) Homepage
    Maybe with the fact that launching things which are promoted seems to be the key to sales, not just being released around Q4, we'll start to see fewer pump-and-dump games coming out just in time for gift shoppers to buy...

    One can hope :/
  • Microsoft has acknowledged the Xbox is in short supply, which some retailers fear may continue through the year as the company prepares to launch its next-generation console, most likely around the holidays.

    A friend of mine insists that the XBOX will never die because games on XBOX 2 aren't backwards-compatible. While I'm sure it will at least end up like the N64 lives on today, does anyone think it will outlast the XBOX 2 longer?

    I personally don't see it lasting forever once the next generations come ou

    • Re:XBOX (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Who the hell cares?
  • analysts also said Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation Portable handheld gaming unit sold 620,000 units of hardware in the month and 1.1 million pieces of software

    If those numbers are right, that means people only bought one or two games to go with their PSP...

    Keep in mind it was/is nearly/completely impossible to buy a PSP without the bundle so you're really looking at about 50% of the people either picking up the PSP as 'early adopters' and probably not using it much due to the sheer lack of use so far (1 game

    • Confessions of a nintendo fanboy:

      I bought a PSP the day they came out... and 7 games. I play constantly, and when I'm not my brother is using it, and waiting for EB Games or Gamestop to get more in stock so he can make some trades to subsidize his own purchase.

      I also own a DS, and love that too. Owning both, I don't think that "x is a y killer" or that "y is an x killer" They are both fantastic consoles, only at this point the DS needs more A-list games, and the PSP needs more compelling content to match t

    • Re:Am I the only one reading this the other way? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      "Keep in mind it was/is nearly/completely impossible to buy a PSP without the bundle"

      Um, I can't recalling a single physical store (including EB, Gamestop, Target, Wal-Mart, Bad Buy, etc.) forcing customers to buy a bundle. In each of those cases, you could just buy the PSP (which, yes, is in Sony's "bundle", which is the only way it was released in the US) without being forced to buy a number of games or accessories.

      The same can't be said of many online retailers though...
      • Thinking about Sony's official "bundle", the only really superfluous bits that came with it were the movie and maybe the headphones, though the little inline remote can be handy but could be sold as an official accessory. The slipcover and screen cloth are invaluable and should be included with even a barebones bundle, and the memory stick is necessary, though I guess the Playstation/PS2's memory cards prove that you can get away with charging people $25 extra for something completely needed by modern games
        • The bundles that were referred to were made up by retailers, not Sony. Some had stupid restrictions like "you need to buy two games and an additional accessory but not any two games, no, one 'A' list and one 'B' list game!". They probably felt pretty stupid when only three people bought their PSPs...

    • Re:Am I the only one reading this the other way? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      yes, you are

      >If those numbers are right, that means people only bought one or two games to go with their PSP..

      this ign article http://psp.ign.com/articles/604/604548p1.html [ign.com] says that 30% of DS buyers on launch day DIDN'T EVEN BUY A GAME. psp's 1.77 games/system ratio on launch day absolutely kills DS's .7 games/system (on launch day)

  • seems like (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sv-Manowar ( 772313 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @06:23AM (#12253914) Homepage Journal
    it seems like these few months will be the last surge before a drop leading up to the release of the new generation consoles

    Of course the PSP sales will stay steady when the PS2 and Xbox sales start dropping to make way for the new releases.

  • End of the Warcraft effect? (Score:4, Funny)

    by supabeast! ( 84658 ) on Saturday April 16, 2005 @09:40AM (#12254736)
    My hypothesis is that this is directly due to the majority of early World of Warcraft adopters hitting level 60, getting bored, and moving on to other games. I certainly have.
  • yeah, i got a raise in march, also, it was my birthday. seeing as how i have no life at all, and dump most of my expendable income into gaming (and have friends who did the same, as birthday presents)... yeah, thats gotta explain the increase.

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