US games market down again

The US video games market suffered yet another month of decline in September, according to the latest data from NPD.

Its overall value fell six per cent year-on-year to $1.16bn.

Console hardware suffered a nine per cent drop to $349m. Microsoft once again bossed the market selling 438k Xbox 360 consoles. That’s the seventh month in a row that the console has claimed 40 per cent or more of the overall market.

Sony said PS3 sales rose 20 per cent, meaning estimated unit sales of 370k. 3DS came third (260k) followed by Wii (240k) and DS (145k).

Accessory sales fell 14 per cent to $154.8m

Software sales, however, were up three per cent year-on-year at $630.2m, with EA’s Madden NFL 12 driving the sector.