Squeezed by recession, video game sales see biggest drop since 2000

August 14th, 2009 July video game sales show sharp declineNEW YORK — Hurt by the recession and few hit game launches, U.S. retail sales of video games dropped sharply in July, showing an even bigger decline than what many analysts were expecting.

July 30th, 2009 Game makers pause, reload: Are price cuts next?Kathleen Byrnes and Justin Choi, a married couple attending medical school at Tulane University, say $40 is just too much to fork over for a Nintendo Wii game they might not enjoy. They haven't bought one since last fall, when they picked up "Star Wars: The Force Unleashed." Since then? "Nothing really interesting came out," said Byrnes, 23.

September 24th, 2009 Tokyo Game Show kicks off with turnaround hopesTOKYO — The Tokyo Game Show, billed as the world's largest computer entertainment fest, kicked off Thursday with hopes that depressed sales of game consoles will enjoy a holiday resurrection. Hurt by the global recession and few blockbuster releases, the video game industry has been in a slump for much of the year.

September 23rd, 2009 Engadget blog: Wii nears price cut by $50 to $200NEW YORK — A $50 price cut may be imminent for Nintendo's popular Wii gaming console. Tech blog Engadget said in a posting late Tuesday that the Wii, which has cost about $250 since its 2006 launch, will see its price drop to $200 beginning Sunday.

August 25th, 2009 YouTube's new sales pitch: join our ad programSAN FRANCISCO — YouTube hopes to convert more amateur videographers into capitalists as it strives to show more advertising on its Web site and reverse years of uninterrupted losses. The Internet's top video channel will try to widen participation in a 20-month-old advertising program by actively recruiting the makers of widely watched clips.

June 12th, 2009 US video game sales slide 23 pct in MayLOS ANGELES — U.S. video gamers spent less on games, hardware and accessories in May compared with a year ago, a sign that this year's release schedule couldn't compete with Take Two Interactive's "Grand Theft Auto IV" last spring.

September 23rd, 2009 Nintendo cutting Wii price by $50 to $200NEW YORK — Nintendo on Sunday will cut the price of its popular Wii console by $50, in a bid to broaden its appeal among potential new customers as it prepares to release the Wii Fit-Plus and New Super Mario Bros. games. The Wii, whose game control senses motions without having relying solely on buttons and levers, is the top selling console worldwide.

May 8th, 2009 Nintendo's annual profit rises 8.5 percent TOKYO — Nintendo's annual profit rose 8.5 percent, propelled by its hit Wii and DS game machines, but a forecast for lower sales shows even the resilient video game maker isn't totally immune to the global slump. Still, Nintendo is faring much better than other big name Japanese manufacturers like Toyota Motor Corp.

September 16th, 2009 Oracle net rises 4 pct, matching Street viewsSAN FRANCISCO — Oracle Corp. says its quarterly profit rose 4 percent despite a 5 percent drop in sales.

July 30th, 2009 Nintendo profit tumbles as game hits dwindleTOKYO — Boredom, not the recession, may be Nintendo's biggest villain. Sales of the once unstoppable Wii console have tumbled for the first time since its launch three years ago, sending the gaming giant's quarterly profit down 61 percent.

August 18th, 2009 PS3 price cut by $100; slimmer model to comeNEW YORK — After months of rumors and anticipation, Sony Corp. is slashing the price of the PlayStation 3 by $100 in hopes of boosting sales of the console ahead of the important holiday season.

August 31st, 2009 Beatles, Stones, Super Mario: big autumn for gamesNEW YORK — With a little help from the Beatles, Super Mario and price cuts from Sony and Microsoft, the slumping video game industry is hoping for a sales resurrection this fall. The season gets a late-summer start Tuesday, with the release of "Guitar Hero 5," a game featuring music from the Rolling Stones, Nirvana and other popular bands.

August 5th, 2009 EA 1Q loss widens but results surpass expectationsNEW YORK — Changes in accounting for deferred revenue drove Electronic Arts Inc. to report a larger loss and lower sales for its fiscal first quarter amid a seasonal slump for the industry.

April 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With major companies in the Silicon Valley suffering the biggest slump since the dot-com bust, some firms are eyeing India and China to recover from the effects of a global economic meltdown. The total market capitalisation of the leading technology hub's 150 biggest public companies plunged 32 percent to about $850 billion for the last 12 months ending March 31, the worst decline since 2002, according to an annual survey by the San Jose Mercury News.

March 22nd, 2006 Sony's president confirmed a November release for the PlayStation 3 and said the company is also committed to a simultaneous worldwide launch of the PS3 in Japan, the rest of Asia, North America, Europe and Australia. SCE President Phil Harrison told an audience at the Game Developers Conference here that Sony will produce about a million PS3s per month and capacity will ramp up quickly.