U.S. Video Game Sales Growth Slowed in Augu

By Geoff Duncan September 12, 2008

U.S. Video Game Sales Growth Slowed in Augu

Research firm NPD has released its figures for U.S. video game sales during the month of August, finding that game sales grew by 9 percent compared to August of 2007 to a total of $1.08 billion for the month. That’s the good news: the perhaps not-so-good news is that means August of 2008 marked the smallest monthly increase in U.S. video game sales in over two years.

The top-selling title for the month with EA’s Madden NFL 09, which hit the market August 1 and has so far sold a million units on the Xbox 360, 643,000 units for the PS3, and almost 425,000 units for the PS2. Among consoles, the Nintendo Wii remained the big winner, selling 453,000 units in the United States during the month, compared to 195,200 Xbox 360s and 185,400 PS3s sold during the same period. Nintendo managed to sell over 518,000 Nintendo DS handheld units, and Sony moved 253,000 PlayStation Portables.

Despite August of 2008 being the first month in the last 27 months the video game industry has seen growth under 10 percent, NPD isn’t worried about the industry’s short term revenue: with the end-of-year holiday season set to start up and Microsoft cutting the price on the Xbox 360 (with one unit now cheaper than the Wii), September should be looking up.

Editors' Recommendations

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Computing

This Lenovo gaming PC with RTX 3050 and 16GB of RAM is on sale for $650

The Lenovo LOQ Tower Gaming Desktop on a white background.

You don't have to spend more than $1,000 for a powerful gaming PC because there are budget-friendly options like the Lenovo LOQ Tower gaming desktop, which is currently even cheaper from Best Buy due to a $250 discount. From an already affordable sticker price of $900, the machine is down to just $650 -- but we don't think this price is going to last long. There's a chance that the offer expires as soon as tomorrow, so if you don't want to miss out on the savings, it's highly recommended that you complete your purchase within the day.

Why you should buy the Lenovo LOQ Tower gaming desktop
The Lenovo LOQ Tower is much more affordable than the top-of-the-line models of the best gaming PCs, However, it won't make you feel that you're playing on a budget machine because it's pretty fast and smooth with the 13th-generation Intel Core i5 processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card, plus 16GB of RAM that our guide on how to buy a gaming desktop says will be enough for most gamers. The Lenovo LOQ Tower also comes with a 512GB SSD, for ample storage space for several AAA titles, and with Windows 11 Home pre-loaded, you can start installing the best PC games right after setting it up with its peripherals and power supply.

Gaming

Don’t miss this massive PS5 game sale — 68 games, from just $10

Malenia in Elden Ring putting her prosthetic arm on.

PlayStation 5 owners who are looking for the next game to play or are searching for titles to add to their collection should check out the offers in Best Buy's PS5 game sale. With games that span across all genres and prices that start at $10, you wouldn't want to miss the bargains here, and we've picked out our favorites to help you make a quick decision on what to buy. Feel free to browse through the dozens of PS5 games that are available in the sale, but you'll still have to act fast because there's no telling until when these discounts will stay online.

What to buy in Best Buy's PS5 game sale

Gaming

Amazon’s Fallout success reveals a big problem with the video game business

The cast of Fallout.

April's biggest video game isn't a new release like Tales of Kenzera: Zau or Stellar Blade. Instead, it's a series that hasn't gotten a new entry in years.

Fallout is currently enjoying a wave of mainstream attention thanks to its surprisingly fun Amazon TV adaptation. Returning players and newly-won-over fans alike are returning to classics like Fallout 4 and New Vegas to scratch their post-apocalyptic itches. It's the moment any video game publisher dreams of, but there's just one problem: Bethesda can't capitalize on the moment.