VideoGames Market Reaches US Record $7.3 Billion News

The videogames industry showed every sign of continued growth, as today the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) confirmed that NPD Data for 2004 saw software sales accumulate $7.3 billion across the United States, setting an all-new record.

The success comes on top of the phenomenal accomplishment of Halo 2, whose $125 million opening far exceeded that of any movieâ??s first day of sales, namely Spider-Man 2 which stands at $40.4 million. In addition the success of the Nintendo DS across America played a part, with sales passing the 1 million mark before the end of 2004 â?“ a figure that took Appleâ??s iPod 19 months to achieve!

According to the data published by the NPD group, overall U.S videogame console software sales reached $5.2 billion representing 160.7 million units, whilst computer game sales stood at $1.1 billion equating to 45 million units and a record-breaking 42.3 million units of handheld software were recorded at an estimated $1.0 billion.

In terms of total sales, approximately 248 million computer and console videogames were sold throughout America in 2004, representing close to two games for every household in America according to ESA estimates. By way of comparison, 2003 figures stood at $4.9 billion for console software sales; computer game sales were $1.2 billion and portable software grossed $903 million; making a total of 293.3 million console and computer games sold throughout 2003.

Again records continued to be broken, with the confirmation that 12 titles had shifted more then 1 million units, with 9 of these falling under the â??Eâ? or â??Tâ? classifications â?“ dispelling the myth that only mature rated games shift in the millions. During the year 50 titles passed the 500,000 mark, whilst 197 exceeded the 250,000 unit barrier; in comparison videogame sales for the three milestones stood at 10, 57 and 163 respectively. Looking at computer games sales, 2 titles shifted more then 500,000 units and 18 bro9ke the 250,000 mark.

Continuing to highlight the fact that itâ??s not only the GTA series that sells and the â??disproportionate media attention paid to a few controversial titlesâ?, the ESA confirmed that only 16% of games sold throughout America last year were rated â??Mature (M),â? compared to 83% of games sold rated â??Everyone (E)â? or â??Teen (T)â?.

Looking at the breakdown of titles, the popularity of action and sports titles continues to grip the market, with 30.1% of all console games sold coming in the Action category, followed by 17.8% in the Sports genre and Shooters representing 9.6%. The remainder of the sales came from Children and Family Entertainment titles (9.5%), Racing titles (9.4%), RPGâ??s (9%) and Fighting games (5.4%).

Computer games saw a significantly different split, with Strategy games representing a 26.9% hold on the market; Children and Family Entertainment stood at 20.3%; Shooters at 16.3%, followed by RPGâ??s (10%), Adventure games (5.9%), Sports games (5.4%) and Action games (3.9%).

"In 2004, video games flew off the shelves as eight titles were sold per second per day throughout the year, evidence of the continuing vast popularity of games among consumers of all ages," said Douglas Lowenstein, president of the ESA, the U.S. association representing computer and video game software publishers. "This industry remains strong and poised for renewed double digit growth over the next five years as we enter a new cycle of video game console launches. The future could not be brighter."