From NPD (via Joystiq):

According toleading market research firm The NPD Group, Canadian first quarter retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories dipped nearly 8.5 per cent year-over-year.  The figures represent the first-ever decline in sales since NPD first began tracking the category in 2002.

The portable hardware and console hardware categories showed the strongest declines at 21 and 14.5 per cent respectively for the January 31 to March 31, 2009 period.  The portable software and console software categories saw more modest declines of 1.5 and 7.5 per cent, while the accessories category exhibited a slight growth of three per cent.

“It may be tempting to attribute the decline in sales to the current state of the economy,” said Matthew Tattle, Group Manager, The NPD Group.  “However, on closer inspection, the first quarter of 2009 lacked the number of blockbuster titles that drove sales during the same period last year.  Guitar Hero and Rock Band experienced very strong sales in early 2008 while the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl helped bolster overall first quarter sales for the category.”

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Tags: 2002, canada, industry, sales, video game

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