UK console figures double in a year
Wednesday, 01 Oct 2008 11:09
The Nintendo DS is now owned by more than seven million people in the UK
The Entertainment Leisure and Software Publishers' Association (ELSPA to you and me) has revealed today sales of consoles in the UK had doubled in the past year.
The installed base of consoles in the UK rose from 8.8 million in September 2007 to 17.3 million in September 2008.
By the end of the year, ELSPA believes figures will rise significantly again.
The figures do not include sales for older machines, like the PS2, and the vast numbers of people who have games-capable PCs.
Nintendo has been by far the biggest seller, managing 2.5 million Wii and 3.3 DS sales, while Sony and Microsoft added a million each.
Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA, said: "There can be little doubt that video games are now one of the major forms of entertainment in the UK.
"Not only that, our industry is proving to be remarkably recession-proof when even major banks are failing. The reason is very simple - games can offer terrific value for money.
"I appreciate that it is only violent or controversial games that tend to garner tabloid headlines but the truth is that the overwhelming majority of games sold in this country are for all players of all ages - and that is why the Wii with games such as Wii Sports and Wii Fit are proving to be amongst the nation's enduring favourites."