San Francisco US sales of video game hardware, software and accessories tumbled 25 per cent in March to $1.1 billion (Dh4 billion) from a year earlier, researcher NPD Group said in an emailed statement.
Retail sales totalled $1.47 billion a year earlier, when Nintendo introduced the 3DS hand-held game player in the US market.
Microsoft Corp, buoyed by its Kinect motion-sensing peripheral and entertainment partnerships with ESPN, HBO and other providers, has led console sales for 15 consecutive months, according to NPD, a research firm in New York.
Microsoft sold 371,000 Xbox 360 consoles, down from 433,000 a year ago, the company said in a separate emailed statement, citing NPD figures. It was the 13th consecutive month that the company has topped 40 per cent in market share, NPD said.
Video game makers voluntarily report their sales tallies. Nintendo and Sony Corp often don't report monthly figures, and they didn't for March.
Sharp fall
Nintendo probably sold 235,000 Wii consoles and 240,000 3DS handhelds, said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.
Sony sold 325,000 console units, down ten per cent from a year earlier, and about 125,000 of its new PlayStation Vita handheld model, Pachter said, citing checks of US sales outlets and company data.
Retail sales of packaged video games have fallen sharply for about two years as consumers purchase games for play on smartphones and social networks such as Facebook Inc, NPD reported.
