September US video game industry slightly warmer than analysts expected

According to foreign media reports, the U.S. video game industry after 6 consecutive months of decline, the September finally warmed up. But the economic crisis has deeply affected consumer spending on entertainment, a trend still far below analysts ' expectations. 　　Even with the recent price cuts on major mainframe platforms, hardware sales have not exceeded the same level as last year's. Monday data from NPD showed that sales of hardware, software and accessories for video games in September Rose 1% to 1.28 billion dollars over the same period last year. 　　Cumulative sales fell 13% this year. Hardware sales fell 6% to 472.3 million dollars. 　　Sony PS3 sales overtook the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360 for the first time in three years. "This reflects a strong response from consumers to the PS3 price cuts, which have achieved year-on-year growth of more than 70% per cent in August and September," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "In August this year, Sony PS3 the price of 100 U.S. dollars, Microsoft's Xbox 360 cut 100 dollars, and then Nintendo also cut the price of 50 dollars." 　　The average price for hardware platforms is down 8% from last September. 　　In addition, the September best-selling platform is still Nintendo's DS, the product has been selling for 6 consecutive months. At present, Microsoft "Halo 3:ODST" is the best-selling game. The game also boosted sales of gaming software by 5% to $649.3 million. 　　But that trend is still lower than many analysts expect. 　　SunTrust Robinson Humphrey analyst David Magee had expected growth to exceed 10%,wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, which was expected to grow 21% per cent earlier. "The Beatles: Rock band" and "Guitar Hero 5" are among the top ten best-selling games. The top ten best-selling games also include Nintendo's "Wii sports Mecca" and the Xbox 360 version of "Crazy Rugby 10".