Video Game Sales Grow 6% in March
(Video game sales article updated with GameStop upgrade.)
NEW YORK (
) -- Video game sales grew 6% in March, following two months of double-digit declines.
According to the NPD Group, sales hit $1.52 billion, boosted by
Nintendo's
gaming systems, new "Pokemon" games and
Sony's
God of War III
.
Software sales jumped 10% to $875.3 million, significantly better than the 3% gain analysts predicted. Hardware sales, however, fell 4% to $440.5 million, as prices of consoles were down 16% compared with last year.
Nintendo's Wii continued to be the best-seller, with 557,500 units purchased.
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report
sold 338,400 units of its Xbox 360, while Sony's PlayStation 3 saw 313,900 units purchased.
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The video industry has been receiving some upbeat news. On Thursday,
Activision Blizzard
(ATVI) - Get Activision Blizzard, Inc. Report
upped its full-year earnings, citing strong demand for games like
World of Warcraft
and
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
.
The company now expects to earn 72 cents a share for the year, up from its prior forecast of 70 cents.
Shares of Activision are rising 1.6% to $11.85 in morning trading.
GameStop
(GME) - Get GameStop Corp. Class A Report
was also upgraded to buy at BB&T Capital. Shares of the video game retailer are gaining 2.1% to $24.94 in morning trading, even as the rest of the retail sector takes a hit.
-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York.
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