April NPD - US sales 17% down for second month running

As predicted, American games sales were down 17 percent for April compared to the same month last year.

Total sales were at $1.03 billion, down from $1.24 billion in 2008.

Hardware was down 8 percent to $391.63 million, while software dropped a dramatic 23 percent $510.74 million. Tough comps indeed.

Peripherals were down 15 percent to $129.45 million.

"While April sales might appear soft on the surface, it's important to remember that April is being compared against a month (April 2008) that realized nearly 50 percent growth over April 2007," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

"This year's performance still represents the second-best performance for the industry in the month of April, besting April 2007, which is the previous second-place holder, by 26 percent.

"Given how strong the growth was in the industry last year, there are still some months ahead where year-over-year comparisons may be difficult, but May should be an easier comparison than the last two months have been."