PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. -- The three video game platform manufacturers have all reported strong results for 1999, with total hardware and software sales for the category reaching $7.2 billion for the year, according to the NPD Group based here.
s of three million units from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31, PlayStation outsold its competitors by an average of two to one, the company said. PlayStation now has 25 million units in American homes and a 55% market share.
PlayStation had 64.4% of the game software market in December, he said, quoting research from NPD.
Meanwhile, Nintendo of America, Redmond, Wash., also citing NPD research, noted that Game Boy hardware and software sales increased the portable game segment from 8% of all game market sales in 1998 to 19% last year. Nintendo had introduced Color Game Boy last year, which was in hot demand and shortage situations during the holiday selling season, and had the top six selling games for the year, and seven total in the top 10. Game Boy hardware sales were up 142% over 1998, with software sales up 153%.
Sega of America, San Francisco, has reported that as of the end of 1999, its new Dreamcast game system has sold more than 1.5 million units in North America since its launch on Sept. 9, 1999.
