The Impact Of Platform On Global Video Game Sales

Abstract

This paper examines video game sales by platform in the global market from a period spanning 2006 through 2011. As the home video game industry has rapidly matured and become established as a forefront facet of interactive entertainment in the home, we seek to determine what aspects of the video game market have the greatest impact on sales. This question is particularly poignant, as the maturation of the video game industry has witnessed efforts at both vertical integration and horizontal expansion on the part of the top game publishers and developers in hopes of solidly grounding the industry. This study employs a Kruskal-Wallis test to compare eight different gaming platforms. The results indicate Nintendo’s Wii was the top selling global platform; Nintendo DS was the second tier; Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, and the personal computer (PC) are in the third tier; the fourth tier consists of Sony PlayStation 2 and Sony PSP; and the retired sixth generation Nintendo GameCube is the lowest sales tier.