Newsgroup: it.comp.giochi.action
Titolo: US retail PC game sales down $210 million in '08

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6203825.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1
"NPD reports store-bought computer-game sales decreased 23 percent to $701 
million; ESA plays up overall game-industry total of $22 billion.
The PC gaming market is currently in flux, with digital distribution and 
subscription-based gameplay making it harder and harder to judge exactly how 
big--and how healthy--it is. On one hand, World of Warcraft is among the 
most profitable PC games of all time, with nearly 12 million people shelling 
out each month to explore the massively multiplayer game's realms. Valve 
Software's Steam service is also on the rise, with its roster of download PC 
games past and present expanding daily.
On the other hand, sales of PC games at brick-and-mortar stores are 
down--way down, in fact. One week after announcing a recession-bucking $21.3 
billion in non-PC game industry sales, the NPD Group revealed that US PC 
software sales had plummeted 23 percent to $701.1 million dollars at retail. 
The drop to 29.1 million units was pronounced, given the trend of the 
previous several years: In 2007, the figure was $911 million, down $59 
million from 2006's $970 million haul, which was itself a 2 percent increase 
from the year prior. Thanks in large part to WOW's launch, US PC game sales 
hit an all-time high of $1.1 billion in 2004.
The selection of PC games may have had something to do with 2008's decline. 
Two of the year's highest-profile offerings were expansions: World of 
Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and Crysis Warhead. Lich King required 
players to own 2007's Burning Crusade expansion--which itself needed the 
original WOW to play. Crysis Warhead could be played as a stand-alone game, 
but its entire story is based on the events of the original Crysis, also 
released in 2007.
Will Wright's highly anticipated Spore also hit stores in 2008, although 
sales have thus far not measured up to the famed developer's previous 
phenomenon, The Sims. After racking up 1 million in worldwide sales during 
its first week on the market, the game went on to sell more than 2 million 
units worldwide. By year's end, the game had moved more than 720,000 units 
at US retailers.
Interestingly, the NPD Group did not issue its own year-end PC total, as it 
has in previous years. Instead, the information was disseminated via an 
Entertainment Software Association announcement touting 2008's combined game 
sales, which total $22 billion when PC revenues are included.
"Even in difficult economic times, the video game industry continues to 
support our country's local, state and national economies with 
record-breaking sales figures and rapid technological innovation," declared 
ESA president Michel Gallagher in a statement. "Our industry's exceptional 
creators, artists, and storytellers, coupled with a commitment to providing 
unparalleled entertainment, have fueled high-octane growth, turning video 
games into the most sought-after medium on the market today." 


Ecco i cazzi che arrivano.
Consiglio tutti di farsi una bella biblioteca di libri.. non credo
passeranno anni prima che dobbiamo trovare un modo diverso per
investire il tempo libero.