Canada enjoys sales boom
Canada enjoyed a videogame boom last year, with sales rising 22 per cent over 2005, to a total of CAD $933 million (EUR 613m), according to data from the NPD Group.
Canada enjoyed a videogame boom last year, with sales rising 22 per cent over 2005, to a total of CAD $933 million (EUR 613m), according to data from the NPD Group.
Sales of hardware, including the recently released Wii and PS3, accounted for CAD $349 million (EUR 229m), up 43 per cent since 2005.
The DS was the best-selling platform in Canada, shifting 374,000 units, while Sony's PlayStation 2 managed 327,000 units sold.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 performed well in the country, selling 252,000 units, with the Game Boy Advance out-selling the PSP, shifting 237,000 and 176,500 units respectively.
Nintendo's GameCube sold 89,000 units, five thousand more than the Wii (84,000) and the PlayStation 3 sold 45,000, with the original Xbox shifting 32,000 units.
In total, 1.62 million videogame systems were sold in 2006, compared to 1.35 million in 2005.
Software accounted for CAD $481 million (EUR 316m) in revenue for the year, up ten per cent from CAD $436 (EUR 286m) million the year before.
The top-selling game was EA's NHL 07, developed in Burnaby, Canada.