As the economy slowed in December, video game industry sales rose 9% in the U.S. sales during December, the NPD Group said Thursday.
For the year, sales of games, consoles and
accessories rose 19% to $21.33 billion from $17.98 billion in 2007. Growth slowed from 44% in 2007, but the sales rang up better than many expected.
Americans bought billion worth of
video games systems, software and accessories. Software sales jumped 15% in December to $2.75 billion, led by "Wii Play," a game launched in February 2007. For the year, software sales hit nearly $11
billion, up 26% from 2007. Hardware sales jumped 11% to $7.81 billion.--Laurie Sullivan