Tag Archives: ntdoy

Warner Bros., Nintendo lead quiet May video game sales

The video game industry hit a soft spot in May, with sales falling 13% year over year. The NPD Group reported late Thursday that U.S. retail sales of new video game products totaled $507.6 million last month, compared with $584.9 million in May 2014. Sales of accessories, such as interactive gaming toys, game pads and headsets, rose 20% to $149.3 million. Nintendo’s (NTDOY) Amiibo toys led the category. But sales of video game hardware and software fell. Game hardware sales dropped 18% to $153.6 million, because of lower prices for consoles. Unit sales of eighth-generation consoles, includingMicrosoft’s (MSFT) Xbox One and Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 4, were stable in May, NPD analyst Liam Callahan said in a statement. Sales of video game software on physical media fell 25% to $204.7 million. Software sales faced poor comparisons to a strong release slate in May 2014, which included the…

Look out, Mickey, it’s Mario time

Walt Disney’s (DIS) theme parks have Mickey Mouse and his friends to entertain youngsters, and now Comcast ‘s (CMCSA) Universal theme parks have Nintendo’s Mario Bros. and company to do the same. Nintendo (NTDOY) and Universal Parks & Resorts on Thursday announced plans “to bring the world of Nintendo to life at Universal theme parks — creating spectacular, dedicated experiences based on Nintendo’s wildly popular games, characters and worlds.” The two companies didn’t provide details about what the partnership will involve. But one can imagine rides based on family friendly games like “Mario Kart” and “Donkey Kong Country” as well as costumed characters roaming the parks for photo ops.

Video game business a ‘Battlefield’ in March

Cops-and-robbers video game “Battlefield Hardline” from Electronic Arts (EA) shot up the competition last month in what was an overall down month for the video game sector. “Battlefield Hardline” was the No. 1 best-selling video game at U.S. retail in March, the NPD Group reported late Thursday. Sony ‘s (SNE) “Bloodborne” came in second place for sales, followed by Take-Two Interactive Software ‘s (TTWO) “Grand Theft Auto 5” and Nintendo ‘s (NTDOY) “Mario Party 10.” Overall sales of new video game products fell 6% year over year to $964 million in March, NPD said. Game hardware suffered the biggest drop, down 21% to $311 million. Game software sales dipped 3% to $395 million. Game accessory sales rose 15% to $257 million.