January Game Sales Down 5%

It may be 3D, but the sales line is still pointing down.

Some NPD figures for January are in, and after the boosted November and December numbers (thanks to Kinect and Move, primarily) the traditional console game business is back where it's been the past couple of years: the basement. Overall sales are down 5% over last year, with hardware down 8% and software down 5%... accessory sales were strong enough to make the overall decline only 5%.

Of course, NPD tries to polish up this news by referring to the sales they don't track (digital distribution, used games, subscriptions, mobile, in-game purchasing) and inferring that there may be positive news there. True enough, but that doesn't help the traditional publishers who aren't investing in those areas.

As more and more of the industry revenue heads off the radar, it will be interesting to see how these data-gathering firms respond. Are they trying to get private companies to disclose revenue numbers for various categories? I wish them luck in that. All of us would sure like to know more about sales numbers for games, especially the newer types where there's little sales history to draw on.