PajMon Information Blog

Posts Tagged ‘playstation 3’

Compared to the prior year, 2008 was a big step forward in many sectors even while the global economic outlook proved extremely gloomy. Video games provide a longer entertainment experience for a similar investment meaning that other forms of entertainment are becoming too expensive for many people.

The Land Down Under Australia’s PC gaming sector had a break out year with a 4.2% increase selling $21.2M Australian in December alone. The gaming industry shot up from the previous year with a 47.8% increase coasting to a cool $1.96 billion in sales. Alone software accounted for around $1 billion, a 48.5 percent increase from 2007. Hardware unit sales saw an increase of 36 percent while software saw just over a 42 percent bump. Nintendo certainly led the charge as its hardware platforms boasted 66 percent of hardware sales and they also nailed the top four software slots with Wii Fit, Wii Play w/Remote in first and second. Mario Kart w/Wheel zoomed into third and Mario & Sonic at the Olympics just missed a medal finishing in fourth.

PC Gaming Worldwide The PC Gaming Alliance put out their report on the PC gaming industry for 2008 just in March. Their findings state that the PC gaming platform is alive and well and totals about $11 Billion US in worldwide revenue, more than any single platform from Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo. It’s an emerging platform of choice in Asia and Eastern Europe and took in a lion’s share of over $6B in North America and Europe. Broadband penetration helped to fuel online gaming as well as digital distribution systems like Steam, GamersGate, and more. Massive Multiplayer Online Games were leading the charge in revenue and profits with some games hauling in more than $100M per year while World of Warcraft is generating around $1B annually in revenue. Casual Gaming also took a lead in the PC Gaming realm and many portals are now generating well over $100 Million in annual revenue as well.

Japan Goes Under While they’re not exactly sliding into the ocean game sales weren’t all that spectacular in the country last year. Playstation 2 saw a massive drop off of 46% and even Nintendo’s DS Touch Generation software took a hit. Meanwhile the newer consoles – Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii ? saw some promising growth and make 2009 look like a good year.

The industry as a whole managed an 11 percent increase year-over-year which is nothing to sneeze at considering the size of the numbers. The US and the UK led the charge even though their economies were failing at the time.