Video-game sales may have been sluggish in November but Canadian cash registers keep ringing.
Over
the first 11 months of 2005, Canadians spent $554.3 million on
video-game hardware, software and accessories, according to the NPD
Group Canada, which tracks the industry. And that's before the bumper
holiday period spending.
Canadians rang up sales of $217 million
last December in the video game field. If they match that outlay this
month, total sales figures for 2005 could come close to equalling the
$776 million spent on video gaming last year.
That may be hard to
pull off, given the current shortage of Xbox 360 consoles and the lack
of blockbuster game titles that drew shoppers like magnets in November
and December 2004. Plus some consumers may be holding off purchases,
knowing that PlayStation and Nintendo are getting ready to roll out
their own next-generation consoles in 2006.
November sales were
down on both sides of the border compared with 2004. And industry giant
Electronic Arts sounded an alarm earlier this week, warning that sales
of video games in the holiday quarter have fallen far below
expectations.
In the U.S., video-game software sales plunged 18 per
cent in November and total industry sales slid nine per cent compared
to November 2004.
In Canada, total sales in the video-game market
were down in November -- about 14 per cent in terms of revenue.
Canadian software sales also went south for the month, from $61 million
in November 2004 to $47 million this year.
But comparisons to
last year are skewed by the fact that Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San
Andreas drove sales through the roof in 2004.
Look for a boost
this month. Canadians spent $120 million on video game software last
December, 27 per cent of the total for the year.
Hardware sales
have been boosted by the handheld PSP and DS systems and the 360
launch. Plus Canadians spent some $15 million on the Xbox 360 console
alone in just nine days in November.
"Those other generation products are showing some soft sales overall," said Ryce.
"Up
until the 360 was launched, it was all about portability in terms of
the DS and PSP doing very very well in the market," he added. "And
getting obviously a higher price point within that space."
The NPD numbers do not include computer game sales.