July video game sales show sharp decline

NEW YORK — Hurt by the recession and few hit game launches, U.S. retail sales of video games dropped sharply in July, market researcher NPD Group says.

Game hardware, software and accessory sales plunged 29 percent from the same period last year to $848.8 million, NPD said Thursday.

July marks the fifth straight month to show a sales decline this year. The drop also was steeper than what analysts were expecting.

NPD says hardware sales slowed considerably on every platform. Many customers are putting off buying gaming consoles because they are hoping for price cuts later in the year.