http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/021118/tech_videogames_sales_1.html
Reuters
October game sales strong, “Vice City” dominates
Monday November 18, 4:44 pm ET
LOS ANGELES, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Video game software sales were up sharply in October, financial analysts said on Monday, as the hotly-anticipated criminal adventure game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” made a smash-hit debut.
Software sales were up 73 percent in October and are up 31 percent for the year, Gerard Klauer Mattison analyst Edward Williams said in a research note issued on Monday, citing data released by market research service NPDFunworld last week.
The top story of the month, though, was Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:TTWO - News) “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City,” which sold 1.4 million units between its Oct. 29 launch and Nov. 2, at an average price of $48 each, generating more than $68 million in projected revenue.
“Vice City,” widely expected by analysts to be the best-selling game of 2002 and perhaps one of the top sellers of all time, is the follow-on to “Grand Theft Auto 3,” which was the best-selling game of 2001 and has sold more than 7 million units to date.
In late October, the chief executive of specialty games retailer Electronics Boutique Holdings Corp. (NasdaqNM:ELBO - News) said at an investment conference that the game had sold “closer to a million than half a million” units in its first day.
In comparison, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, in a research note last week, said the No. 2 game for the month, Electronic Arts Inc.'s (NasdaqNM:ERTS - News) “NBA Live 2003,” sold just over 260,000 units, generating just north of $13 million.
“The strong October retail sell through increases our confidence that we will see significant increases in monthly retail sales figures for the balance of the year, as most publishers gear up for the holiday season with strong product releases,” Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter said in a research note last Friday.
Pachter noted that 12 games sold more than 100,000 units in October, and he said he expected more than 30 games to top that mark in November and more than 100 to do so in December.