Videogame sales hit record $12.5 billion in 2006
Consumers spent $3.7 billion on video game software and hardware during the month of December, up 28 percent. Sony Corp. plagued by supply issues, sold 490,700 PlayStation 3 game consoles in the United States according to NPD Group. That means Sony sold about 687,700 PS3s from the Nov. 17 U.S. launch to the end of the year. Microsoft Corp. sold 1.1 million Xbox 360 consoles in December, while Nintendo Co. sold 604,200 units of its new Wii system. Sony sold 1.4 million units of its older, cheaper PS2. The most popular game sold was Microsoft’s Gears of War.