Phil Elliott 09:40 (BST)
17/03/2008

The simExchange analyst Jesse Divnich believes that the videogames industry could continue to perform well despite an ongoing downturn in global 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 same store sales growth for February and many economists warned that the United States economy is currently in a recession or on the verge of one," said Divnich.

"Irrespective to that, the videogame industry continues to post record growth and although no leisure/entertainment sector can be considered 'recession proof,' the videogame industry continues to prove to be one of the very few industries to have the least elasticity to the current economic environment."

Meanwhile Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter noted that "overall sales were much higher than our expectations" across the month, but that if the US economy isn't impacting sales, it is affecting the stock market.

"Share prices of the major publishers remain volatile, as concerns about consumer sentiment and the macroeconomic environment persist," he said.

"Shares of Activision have been supported by its impending merger with Vivendi Games, while shares of Take-Two appreciated dramatically due to the all cash acquisition proposal by Electronic Arts.

"We believe that the strong videogame software sales trends will continue for at least three more months, and we expect share prices to again rally once investor concerns are alleviated."

Call of Duty 4 was the top-selling game in the US in February selling 296,200 copies on the Xbox 360, while the Nintendo DS was the most popular piece of hardware, shifting 587,600 units.