Global markets report: Video games industry down 8 percent

The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, Inc. combined video game sales figures for Japan, the United Kingdom, and North America for the year 2009 and found that overall the industry experienced an 8 percent decline.

In Japan, things weren't so bad with only a 2 percent decline in software sales. The US suffered a bit more of a loss with a 7 percent decline and the UK really took a hit with a 14 percent decline.

Here's how the pundits weigh in on their respective markets:

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The NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Limited and Enterbrain, Inc. combined video game sales figures for Japan, the United Kingdom, and North America for the year 2009 and found that overall the industry experienced an 8 percent decline.

In Japan, things weren't so bad with only a 2 percent decline in software sales. The US suffered a bit more of a loss with a 7 percent decline and the UK really took a hit with a 14 percent decline.

Here's how the pundits weigh in on their respective markets:

Japan

"Japan's 2009 game software market was blessed with a string of Nintendo DS software hits during the period, including the trio of double-million-plus sellers, Dragon Quest IX: Hoshizora no Mamoribito, Pocket Monster Heart Gold/Soul Silver, and the year's most successful non-sequel, Tomodachi Collection, which sold 2 million units," said Mitsunobu Uwatoko, manager of global marketing, Enterbrain, Inc. "Moreover, Final Fantasy XIII, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Fit Plus, sold over a million each on top of the long-awaited New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which sold over 2.4 million during its first month at retail.

"However, these titles could not manage to recover the losses experienced during the first half of the year, thus the annual total sales was slightly down."

United States

"Looking at software sales performance, video game software unit sales declined seven percent for all of 2009. Still, while year-over-year comparisons show declines, the industry is still boasting significant volumes that were unseen before 2008," said Anita Frazier, industry analyst, The NPD Group. "With the huge investment needed to produce software for this generation's consoles, many publishers talk about releasing fewer titles each year, which will allow their teams to better focus on maximizing the success of each title. The theory is that this will produce more high-quality games resulting in better sales. However, the year-end data from 2009 shows us that the number of titles entering the market is still growing with 778 new titles released in 2009, up from the 764 in 2008.

"So, while there has been no noticeable slow down in the number of titles launched each year, we do see some evidence of a converse relationship between the number of titles launched and the average unit sales of a title. When looking back at the past seven years, we see that 2004 had the lowest number of titles launched, yet the highest average unit sales. On the other hand, 2009 had the most titles launched and average unit sales were lower than they've been since 2005."

The United Kingdom

"For the UK videogame home console software market it is clear that current generation systems suffered slight negative growth overall in 2009, even though PS3 and 360 both enjoyed record volume (and value) software sales for the year, and were the only formats to exhibit positive growth over 2008," said Dorian Bloch, Business Group Director, GfK Chart-Track Limited. "Growth on these platforms did not manage to offset the steep decline in PS2 software units (-67%), which in real terms was close to a decline of 4 million units. Also, the incredible performance exhibited by Nintendo's Wii in 2008 meant that Wii units fell back 10 percent, although remained the number one format in terms of units sold in 2009.