Video game titles, consoles see sales fall 10% in August

Sales of video games and consoles fell 10% in August, dropping to the lowest level in four years, as recession-weary consumers, coupled with seasonal summer doldrums, curtailed spending.

Players spent $818.9 million last month on games and the accompanying hardware to play them, down from $910.3 million a year earlier, according to NPD Group Inc., a market research firm. It was the lowest monthly sales for August since 2006, said Anita Frazier, NPD’s game analyst.

Sales of game software dropped a punishing 14%, to $403.5 million, while sales of hardware consoles and accessories fell 5% to $415.3 million.

Despite the lackluster sales, Madden NFL 11, published by Electronic Arts Inc., scored a touchdown. The football title, released Aug. 10, snagged the top two spots on the list of bestselling titles. The franchise has sold more than 85 million copies since the series began in 1988, not including the 1.8million copies sold last month.

Because Madden NFL comes out every August, its developers struggle to grow the audience while giving existing customers reasons to repurchase the title year after year. This year, that didn’t seem to be an issue as sales of Madden NFL 11 were up 6% from last year.

Frazier attributes all of the gains on sales of the game for Sony Corp.’s Play-Station 3, which has steadily gained momentum since a big price cut last year that put the console under $300. Including August, the PS3 has clocked 13 consecutive months of sales increases.

The news was not as good for Nintendo Co.’s Wii, which posted its lowest ever monthly unit sales since the console went on sale November 2006, according to NPD.

Once a hot commodity that was out of stock practically year-round, the Wii is beginning to show signs of becoming more of a holiday-driven product, with sales spikes around Christmas and troughs in the summer.

alex.pham@latimes.com