US Video Game Sales up 32% in March

[Lynch]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Video game sales rose 32 percent in the United States in March, analysts said on Friday, noting Sony Corp's top-selling "Gran Turismo 4" racing game as well as an improved supply of console hardware.



Citing figures from market researchers NPD Group, analysts also said Sony Corp.'s new PlayStation Portable handheld gaming unit sold 620,000 units of hardware in the month and 1.1 million pieces of software. The PSP was released on March 24.

By comparison, Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s DS dual-screen handheld has sold 428,000 units this year, analysts said, quoting NPD. The DS, which costs $100 less than the PSP, launched last year.

The supply of Sony's PlayStation 2 console continued to improve, analysts said, with 495,000 sold in the month, compared with 227,000 units of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox and 94,000 units of Nintendo's GameCube.

Microsoft has acknowledged the Xbox is in short supply, which some retailers fear may continue through the year as the company prepares to launch its next-generation console, most likely around the holidays.

"Gran Turismo 4" led game sales in the month, with more than 532,000 units sold, followed by the value-priced "MVP Baseball 2005" from Electronic Arts Inc. at just under 338,000 units. Most analysts expect U.S. software sales to grow about 5 percent in 2005, driven by growing sales for handheld devices like the PSP and DS.

[Lynch]

32%!??!?!

You know how huge that is!? No wonder half of america is fat, lazy and overweight. TV/Computers/Game consoles have replaced going outside and getting fresh air, being active, getting exercise, etc.

Not bad if you are Sony or MS though, eh?

[Impossibles]

32%!??!?!

You know how huge that is!? No wonder half of america is fat, lazy and overweight. TV/Computers/Game consoles have replaced going outside and getting fresh air, being active, getting exercise, etc.

Not bad if you are Sony or MS though, eh?

This attitude annoys me. It is possible to play video games and be active. Video games are to kids today as GI Joe, train sets, baseball cards, and board games were to kids 20-30 years ago.

Parents make fat and lazy kids, not video games.

[HollywoodLeo]

This attitude annoys me. It is possible to play video games and be active. Video games are to kids today as GI Joe, train sets, baseball cards, and board games were to kids 20-30 years ago.

Parents make fat and lazy kids, not video games.

I couldn't agree more

[Providence A's]

I play the playstation2 and ride my exercise bike at the same time

but seriously, you guys are getting into what the course I'm taking in my final semester of grad school is about: obesity: causes, treatment, and etc...

It's a combo of things, but 2 of the major reasons for the epidemic of obesity are 1) reliance on fast food / ready to serve food (both of which have extreme amounts of fat and sodium and not much healthy if anything) and 2) physical inactivity...people site all sorts of reasons for not being physically active...time being #1, money plays a factor, too...our reliance on cars and other technologies play a role in this, too...along with food! Because back in the early days you had to grow, catch, kill, and cook all of your own food or you didn't eat...end rant/

[777rak]

way to go Nintendo hopefully i can get a DS

[Kobe]

This attitude annoys me. It is possible to play video games and be active. Video games are to kids today as GI Joe, train sets, baseball cards, and board games were to kids 20-30 years ago.

Parents make fat and lazy kids, not video games.

Couldn't agree more.

But its more of doing a thing in moderation, kids can sit there and play games all day without going outside to exercise, etc.

But then again its really the parents fault for not laying down the law.

[Lynch]

Jeezus, talk about a VERY simple topic going right over the top of everyone's head.


I'll try to make this simple (cuz it's really not difficult). I'm not blaming KIDS (per se) so you kids that got all pissed off can calm down. I blame society in general for not stressing some of the more important things in life and I blame parents for not doing their jobs. All too often a VCR/DVD player is a baby sitter for kids just as much as the computer and Xbox/PS2/GC/whatever are.

This attitude annoys me.

Why does the attitude annoy you? Are you saying the statistics on fat/lazy/out of shape people in America are lying? Or is it that you just don't care to hear the results of the stats or care to hear any opinions on the reasons for such stats.

Why do you think we have the obesity problem in America!? Obvioulsy, it's a combination of many many things, but sitting on one's fat ass doing nothing but staring at a television, playing video games, playing games on the PC, sitting on the internet for hours at a crack or anything similar are a factor in the cause of obesity.

It is possible to play video games and be active.

Did I say that you can't be active and have fun playing games? Nope. Of course my general statement in my second post was just that... GENERALLY speaking.

Ok, I'm going to date myself a bit here, but when I was a kid, it was nothing to see kids playing in the street, playing baseball, football, kickball, running around playing tag or other kids games. Kids were on bikes riding around all the time. Kids took their bikes everywhere and it was nothing to ride their bikes a couple miles to get where they wanted to go.

So, let's fast forward to present day and what I see in neighborhoods nowdays. Even though neighborhoods are full of kids, all you see kids doing is coming and going from the front door. Hardly ever running around the neighborhood playing with each other. Not going to the park to play a game of baseball or playing catch in the street. They are 'stuck' in the house doing who knows what, eating obnoxious loads of junk food and being entertained electronically all night long and all summer long. Again, this is a general statement and doesn't mean 100% of kids out there do this, but the majority of what I see fall into this category. The stats I've seen and the articles I've read don't contradict my opinion either.

Now, I'm not blaming kids for this, not completely. Yes, parents need to get off their own fat asses and get active with their kids. They are obviously a big part of the problem by continuing to feed the problem (figuratively speaking, no pun intended).

Video games are to kids today as GI Joe, train sets, baseball cards, and board games were to kids 20-30 years ago.

Again, this is wrong. Playing Xbox for 8 hours at a crack to beat the next 4 levels on whatever game someone is playing is NOT the same as sitting and watching a train go around in circles and figure 8's for 8 hours (cuz it didn't happen). Kids didn't sit and play with GI Joe for 6 hours at a time, stop to dog down a 6 pack of mt dew and a bag of Doritos only to go back and play another 4-6 hours of GI Joe, or monopoly or whatever. It's not the same at all. I know, because I lived it. I also know what I see now and it's pretty sad. When I was a kid, it was nothing to see dozens of kids at the library reading books, studying, etc. Summer or winter. Now, with the exception of moms with their 2.6 brats under the age of six make up the majority of the library cliental. Yes, I understand that a lot of info is available now that wasn't 20-30 years ago (via the internet) so the need for libraries isn't there as it used to be, so yes, I've taken that into account as well.



Does that all make sense!?

[Impossibles]

Rule # 1 of internet forums:

If you want anybody to read your post, keep it short.

[ATLien]

Yeah, I didn't read all that either.

I stopped playing video games when I was like 12 and starting paying more attention to smoking, drinking, and girls.

[HollywoodLeo]

Rule # 1 of internet forums:

If you want anybody to read your post, keep it short.

if someone doesn't have the patience to read a post just because it's not a snazzy one liner I don't want to debate/converse with him or her anyways

[Impossibles]

if someone doesn't have the patience to read a post just because it's not a snazzy one liner I don't want to debate/converse with him or her anyways

750 words isn't a post, its an essay.

When you make 20 points in a post, you stop all chances at a discussion because you can't single out one point and discuss.

[HollywoodLeo]

750 words isn't a post, its an essay.

When you make 20 points in a post, you stop all chances at a discussion because you can't single out one point and discuss.

you gotta love the quote feature. Some of my favorite discussions on internet message boards involved long posts that I had to cut apart to respond to various parts of at a time.

[awefullspellare]

One main factor was how amazing the releases were in March. Some huge games + PSP. It's not surprising that March was way up IMO. 32% is probably a bit above expected but I don't think the people in the industry were actually expecting March to be at the same level as last year.

[Lynch]

750 words isn't a post, its an essay.

When you make 20 points in a post, you stop all chances at a discussion because you can't single out one point and discuss.

Ok, I'll keep -this- response simple, just for you.


If you can't come up with a response, then I think we can all assume that my point(s) were made and you can't come up with a response that supports your own opinion. That's ok. It happens.