Games industry can continue to grow with good performance

The simExchange analyst Jesse Divnich believes that the videogamesindustry could continue to perform well despite an ongoing downturn inglobal economic conditions.
NPD results for February show a 47 per cent year-on-year increase in sales in the US, despite bad news elsewhere.
"Today, retailers announced that they have posted negative samestore sales growth for February and many economists warned that theUnited States economy is currently in a recession or on the verge ofone," said Divnich.
"Irrespective to that, the videogame industry continues to postrecord growth and although no leisure/entertainment sector can beconsidered 'recession proof,' the videogame industry continues to proveto be one of the very few industries to have the least elasticity tothe current economic environment."
Meanwhile Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter noted that "overallsales were much higher than our expectations" across the month, butthat if the US economy isn't impacting sales, it is affecting the stockmarket.
"Share prices of the major publishers remain volatile, as concernsabout consumer sentiment and the macroeconomic environment persist," hesaid.
"Shares of Activision have been supported by its impending mergerwith Vivendi Games, while shares of Take-Two appreciated dramaticallydue to the all cash acquisition proposal by Electronic Arts.
"We believe that the strong videogame software sales trends willcontinue for at least three more months, and we expect share prices toagain rally once investor concerns are alleviated."
Call of Duty 4 was the top-selling game in the US in Februaryselling 296,200 copies on the Xbox 360, while the Nintendo DS was themost popular piece of hardware, shifting 587,600 units.