Comments on: Video game industry sales sink 23 percent in U.S.

May's lackluster also marks the first time since August 2007 that the industry's monthly sales dip below $1 billion, NPD says.

[fmcentire]

What games came out in May? ..... I've got nothin off the top of my head. Why is it a surprise then that sales are down as compared to last year when two of the best selling games of last year came out in May? No s*** Sherlock, mystery solved.

[Lolo-USA]

I agree...but at the same time, who can afford to buy any games at this time? With where the economy is going and gas prices rising again...I know I wont be buying any games for awhile. The games are just way too expensive.

[mik3cap]

Did anyone count iPhone in these gaming numbers? Because it's as rich a gaming platform as the DS or PSP, and will take up more and more of the gaming pie as time goes on.

[El_Segfaulto]

There's a substantial difference between a cheesy (albeit fun) wait at the DMV iPhone game, and a modern console game. I can sit in front of my HDTV and play for hours, can you do that on a 3" screen?

[Kwasiowusu]

@ mik3cap :"Did anyone count iPhone in these gaming numbers? Because it's as rich a gaming platform as the DS or PSP"

Not even close!
When the iPhone has games of the calibre of great DS games like Pokemon, Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Bros., PNot to mention Nintendo has already sold over 100 million DS's , which blows total iPhone sales out of the water. In April alone over one DS's were sold in the US alone.rofessor Layton, Brain Age etc, than you can talk.
Plus the iPhone is a phone, not a console/handheld. That's like asking NPD to count games sales on Windows Mobile smart phones, Nokia smart phones, Blackberries etc. Heck NPD doesn't even count PC games sales when counting console/handheld games sales, even though PC games sales totally smoke any games sales on the iPhone.
Plus the iPhone's App Store is the home of shovelware anyways.

[Kwasiowusu]

Not ot mention, the total worth of all downloads on the iPhone, have been estimated at a measely $20 to $45 million. That tiny figure wouldn't even make the slightest dent in NPD games sales. Even UFC Undsiputed sales on the 360 alone trump that figure.:

"Jeremy Liew, who works for Lightspeed Venture Partners, completed his own examination of the App Store?s worth, and came up with the number of twenty to forty-five million dollars. While this number is still substantial, it falls far short of the much touted one billion in profit."
http://www.techjackal.net/gadgets/2009/05/16/the-app-store-overrated/
The iPhone's App Store is vastly overrated.

My advice to increase sales by at least one is to stop coming out with clones of other games, which seems to be the trend over the last couple of years. I go every month to gaming sites and stores to find a new and original game to buy and play. As of yet I have been unable to find one in over a year.
As a previous 2-3 game a month purchaser, I am getting futher and futher away from taking the time and trouble to check for newer and non-clone games and in a short while will just stop looking at all and just restart playing the games I have. I don't buy a 1995 truck every year just because it looked good and drove well. I get a new vehicle because it is new and exciting with better looks and a better experiance to drive. Gaming companies seeen to have fallen into the same rut that the big three did. Producing a product that no one really wanted to buy. Killing bad guys is good, but I want more to do than just that. I want to biuld when I get tired of killing, I want my own place to call home and take off my armor, set my weapons down and put on some good clothes ans strut around town chatting with others and trading adventure stories. Bs it in space, or with swords, or rocket launchers I want it all in a game with a huge amount of land to explore and develop. Hard drive are bigger and better. Yet games have remained small. Give me more for the buck and I will buy again!

[Michichael]

Why make something great when something OK sells better?

[sythara]

So you want Fallout 3?

[yacahuma]

games are too expensive. I know they are expensive to make, but 70+ dollar games. WOW. The industry should shoot for 35.

[samkass]

On my iPhone I don't really buy any game that costs more than a few bucks. I wonder if expectations for lower game prices are being set by $99 iPhones running $1.99 (fun) games?

[sythara]

I phone is not a game platform. Enough with your iphone and games on it that were made 10 years ago.

[Thranx]

" boosted by the launch of popular software titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV" Might account for a few million of that.

There's jack this year in may...

[luke_marsh]

Next wave of creative females need then. I think we have all truly seen enough of gun runner games to last a few generations and Tetras is something a toddle can complete these days with online gaming story lines leaving much to be desired there sure is a place for a bigger creative female stake in games development world.
Sexist yes but would encouraging a new wave of females into the industry help that's the million dollar question It worked to rejuvenate the use of cars loads of times in the last century much to manufactures disbelief at first.
Go go Femsys it'll get there one day and yes many 3D cake printers will be bought Hewlett Packard.

[Sales-Skills]

Sales Sinking? Let me tell you why. It doesn't matter what industry it's in, salespeople need to learn to become hunters.

Many salespeople call and keep calling. If they get through, they'll go right into making their presentation and include a few trial closes and manipulative techniques. They are driven to make so many presentations, because then there are better chances to close more deals. I'm serious, there must be millions of salespeople out there leaving their income to chance, winging it month after month.

Why can't companies see that these classic "data dumps" as described above are mediocre at best at increasing sales and building long-term loyal customers. Why? Because no relationship has been established. If you sell a $10,000 item, you better have a $10,000 relationship when you ask for the order.

Wake up people. "Data dumps" come from product training, not sales training. Manipulative tricks and tips come from technique training, not sales training. It's not about what you sell or who sells it, but how you sell it. Sometimes you can hire a true sales professional but more often than not, you have to work with who you've got. So stop focusing on the product first and start teaching them to sell by walking arm-n-arm with the customer as each buying decision is made. There are only five of them you know. As a sales manager, do you know them? You should. And your salespeople only need to know five skills. The critical selling skills that have the greatest impact on gaining customer commitment. Do they know how and when to use them or do they wing it? If they're calling on their prospects "just to see how it's going", then their winging it.

If your salespeople master these five critical skills, you'd see record breaking sales. Your salespeople would know how to sell value over price. That means they'd protect your margins. They'd know how to ask the best questions and your customers would stop shopping your competitors because a relationship has been established on value and trust. I've seen it consistently, over and over again.

What I'm talking about is the Action Selling Process. Google it if you're interested. If you find something better or a program that's easier to follow with the same results, by all means let me know. We all need to make the best at the fewer sales opportunities we have these days.

Regards

[sythara]

What?

A good sales person isnt going to make a poiece of $hit title game any better. It works with vacuum cleaners and cars, not games. Besides, many games are digitally distributed, how do you sell through that better? What, prettier ads?

[Kwasiowusu]

From the article: "Microsoft's Xbox 360 found 175,000 new customers, a gain of 22 percent from a year ago"

No.
360 May sales were actually down 6.22% from a year ago, when 186,600 360's were sold.

[Kwasiowusu]

Wii May sales were down 57% from 2008.
May was the the Wii's lowest sales month since January of 2008, when Nintendo was hamstrung by supply constraints.
The Wii's YTD is finally down from last year as a whole

Wii :
First 5 months of 2009 :2.66 million
First 5 months of 2008 :2.82 million
-160,000(-5.67%)

360 :
First 5 months of 2009 : 1.38 million
First 5 months of 2008 : 1.12 million
+258,800 +23%

PS3:
First 5 months of 2009 : 0.96 million
First 5 months of 2008 :1.41 million
-456,100(- 32%)

May 2009 Vs May 2008
Wii -57.12%
PSP -44.93%
PS3 -37.23%
PS2 -11.83%
360 -6.22%
NDS +39.97%
Only the DS increased year on year from May 2008 to May 2009.

May 2009 Vs April 2009
NDS -39.09%
PS2 -31.98%
Wii -14.85%
PSP -13.45%
360 +0.00%
PS3 +3.15%
Only the PS3 increased from April to May 2009.

For May:
HD consoles(PS3 + 360): 306,000
Wii : 289,500
The HD consoles outsold the Wii for the first time since December 2008, by 16,500

The Wii is going to end this year selling considerrably less than it did in 2008.
If the PS3 gets it's romoured price cut in August, I am gonna be expecting the PS3 to start outselling the Wii from August.
A 360/Halo 3 ODST bundle in Sepetmebr is also likely to send 360 sales over Wii sales.

[shycelticwitch]

Ya think perhaps the downside is happening because people are finally sick and tired of the flood of bloody, violent, crime-laced, sexist, redundantly themed games that have drowned the market for the last 10 years, screwing up the minds of our youth and teaching them to be anti social?

And you think adding females to the programming ranks will change this? What makes you think the more intelligent sex is going to want to be bothered with your make-believe world?

ROFLMAO

[betelgeuse68]

Probably just as well... clear all the dead weight game studios putting out garbage. For example, did "Vampire Rain" ever really need to be made?

And let's not forget the much maligned "Too Human" which got a lukewarm reception a couple of years ago at E3, yet Silicon Knights, its creator, decided to sue Epic claiming the "Unreal Engine" which it licensed to make "Too Human" didn't do what they wanted (create an awesome game people will like?). It all didn't seem to be sufficient feedback for Silicon Knights, as in, "your game sucks." No shock, I saw "Too Human" at the bargain bin at Fry's Electronics yesterday.

There's too much crap (especially on the Wii) chasing too few dollars.

-M