The spring/summer months are typically slow for retail releases,

You would think that Digital Distribution would pickup this time of year.

Why do you think it is slowing down ?

For the same reason retail releases go down? Meaning that publishers see this as a slow period, and think they should delay their titles?

No, DD sales aren't seasonal, NJ5.

People, keep this in mind: this is not saying that people are buying less games online, nor is it saying that the downloadable games are worse than they used to be in terms of entertainment value. It is simply stating that the total number of games released is down year over year.

I think the reason for this is obvious: these games have much longer shelf lives than retail games. As such, releasing a lot of them drastically cuts in to the sales of each individual game, and given that the entire distribution system is still in its nascent stages, they need each game to get all the attention it can.

Releasing twice as many games at this stage in the game, for example, does little more than half the total sales of each of particular games.

I blame gas prices. Less money to buy things. *shrug*

Most likely because the Wii doesn't release the same # of VC titles per month like they used to?

At any rate, PSN and XBLA titles are up versus the 1st half of last year...And thats the noteworthy thing...The frequency of titles released is higher in the 2nd half of the year.

So the only valid comparison is H1 2007 vs. H1 2008.

lol ...

Maybe its because putting heaps of bad games online results is lower sales all round. While a smart release plan can allow the good games to make a name for themselves -- once they make a name for themselves they will sell...

because microsoft puts up games like "roogoo" and people say "wtf" and then go outside because the weather is nice

Could it be the worsening economy and smaller amounts of spending money?

No. Again, DLC has not proven to be seasonal thus far.

The 360 saw more releases in the second half of 06 than it did in the first; then that figure increased further in the first half of 07; then it increased again in the latter half of 07; then, it decreased in the first half of 08.

We saw 3 straight halves (1 1/2 years) of increasing totals on the 360. Why the drop now? Again, I think it's because the digidal distribution system can not sustain sales for enough games yet. As DD grows, so will the number of games released per week.

Mr. Stickball appears to have hit it on the nose.

The Wii is not releasing as much because of (a) the initial launch fury of its VC is over and (b) the slow roll out of WiiWare. Basically, until there is a storage solution, Nintendo can't release much more because no one will be able to buy them. Once that happens, the floodgates could open.

Mike from Morgantown

PS -- I would think DD games would fare well in a worsening economy because they are lower priced and there is no cost of acquisition (you don't have to go buy them).