US spent record $5 billion on games in December
Wii and DS lead sales, Microsoft notches up another 1.4m consoles, PlayStation 3 sales drop compared to previous year
US consumers spent USD 5 billion on games, hardware and associated peripherals in December, according to the latest data from NPD.
The month recorded the highest revenues of any other month in videogame history, up 9 per cent year-on-year. Sales for 2008 overall were up 19 per cent, to USD 21.33 billion.
Nintendo products were once again the most popular on the market – 3.04 million DS handhelds were sold during the month, along with 2.15 million Wii consoles.
Microsoft sold 1.44 million Xbox 360's in the region during December, up from the 1.26 million units sold during December 2007.
Sony's PlayStation 3 sold 726,000 units, a decline compared to the same period last year, when it moved 798,000 consoles.
The PlayStation Portable is Sony's strongest hardware, with 1.02 million units sold in December, while the PlayStation 2 sold a further 410,000 units.
- Nintendo DS - 3.04 million
- Wii - 2.15 million
- Xbox 360 - 1.44 million
- PSP - 1.02 million
- PlayStation 3 - 726,000
- PlayStation 2 - 410,000