Console gaming market in Germany grows fast.

[SlorgNet]

Here's a complete English translation (my own version - I'm fluent in German):


"Boom continues for console gaming"
July 10 2008

The videogame market is definitely on a growth path. In the first half of 2008, 282 million euros of console games were sold - an increase of 38.7% compared to the same period last year. Software sales increased to 7.7 million units. This corresponds to an increase of 30.5% compared to the first half of 2007. Previously, 5.9 million games were sold. Media Control GFK announced this on the basis of weekly market sampling. Ulrike Altig, the head of Media Control GfK, noted: "Console games, whether for the living room or as mobiles, are an established part of today's consumer culture."

Among the winners, along with Nintendo's DS handheld, include the Nintendo Wii, the Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox360. Gamers acquired a total of 2.8 million games for handhelds in the first half of this year. In the same period last year, the number was 1.7 million.

The sales volume of Wii games rose year to year roughly fourfold. At the same time, the Wii's market share of software revenues rose from 5% to 14.6%. PS3 games achieved 10.9% market share in the first six months of 2008. In the previous year, it was 2.9%. Both home consoles rose to number three and four. Sony's PS2 remained in second place at 22%, while losing around 18% of market share.

The rise of the next-generation consoles is confirmed by a glance at the top ten list of bestselling games in the first half of the year. The top seller was "Mario Cart" for the Nintendo Wii. In second place was "Grand Theft Auto IV" for Sony's PS3. Rounding out the top three was "Dr. Kawashima: More Brain Exercises" for the Nintendo DS. All in all, the list of bestsellers was split five each between handhelds and next-gen offerings.

The three most popular genres were arcade, sports and simulations. Puzzle-solving games climbed from ninth last year to fifth place.