March video game sales slump more than expected
pNEW YORK (AP) — U.S. video game sales slumped more than expected in March and were flat in the first quarter when compared with a year earlier — hurt by the recession, a shift in the Easter calendar and fewer big game launches./p pMarch sales of hardware, software and accessories fell 17 percent to $1.43 billion when compared with the same month a year earlier, according to market researcher NPD Group. For the entire first quarter, sales were flat at $4.25 billion./p pWhile analysts widely expected game sales to slow, the month’s double-digit decline was larger than most estimates, which forecast software sales to come in flat to down slightly./p pAmericans bought fewer video games and fewer systems to play them on in March, a month that also saw overall retail sales fall unexpectedly. The Commerce Department said earlier this week that retail sales slid 1.1 percent during the month, well below the 0.3 percent increase that analysts expected./p pThe video games industry has grown accustomed to performing better than the overall market, but the latest results show it’s far from immune to the recession./p pHardware sales fell 18 percent to $455.6 million and software sales declined 17 percent to $792.8 million. Sales of accessories such as controllers and other add-ons slipped 15 percent to $185.7 million in March…
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