Handheld boom aids Japanese market growth

Annual figures from the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association have revealed a positive upturn for the Japanese gaming industry, bolstered by a massive surge in handheld titles for PSP and DS.

According to the report, partially translated by consumer website Gamespot, there has been a 13.9 per cent increase in combined hardware and software sales, which reached 496.5 billion Yen (3.4 billion Euro).

Software sakes alone totalled 314.1 billion Yen (2.1 billion Euro) and hardware sales reached 182.4 billion Yen (1.2 billion Euro), up by almost 52 per cent compared to 2004.

The upturn in the market has been almost entirely attributed to the portable gaming sector. During 2005, Nintendo sold 4.25 million DS units, while Sony shifted 2.61 million PSPs.

So far, figures for 2006 are indicating continued market growth - handheld hardware and software titles are helping to offset the natural decline in console sales as consumers await the launch of next-generation systems from Sony and Nintendo.