Australian gaming rises in 2006

Oz game sales top A$925 million ($727.8 million) last year; hardware sales rise 18 percent, software numbers slightly down.

The introduction of two new consoles helped spur the Australian games industry to new highs in 2006, with overall sales clocking in at A$925 million ($727.8 million) for the year.

Figures released today by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) and compiled by industry trackers GFK Australia show that 2006 game sales down under rose by 7 percent from 2005. Most of the growth can be attributed to hardware, which grew by 18 percent in 2006 to account for A$329 million in sales. Two next-generation consoles--the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii--debuted in Australia last year.

Game software accounted for A$596 million worth of sales last year, a marginal rise of only 1 percent from 2005 figures. Christmas was the busiest time of year once again, with 23 percent of all games sold (A$211 million) in December 2006. While the value was slightly up, the overall number of games sold experienced a dip--12.5 million games were sold in Australia in 2006 compared to 12.6 million in 2005.

Hardware sales figures for the last quarter of 2006 show that while Sony's PlayStation 2 still dominates the home console sector, the Nintendo DS is the undisputed leader when all game hardware is taken into account. Nintendo sold 151,922 DS units between October and December 2006, compared to 122,639 PS2s. The PSP sold 55,850 units in the same period.

The two next-generation consoles released in Australia also had strong final quarter sales. The Nintendo Wii sold 51,744 units--an impressive number considering the console only made its Aussie debut on December 7, 2006. The Xbox 360 sold 45,036 units in the last three months of 2006. While GfK Australia did not disclose full-year hardware sales figures, Microsoft stated in October that more than 100,000 360s had been sold in Australia since its March 2006 launch.

In a statement, IEAA CEO Chris Hanlon forecasted that the Australian games industry would continue its strong growth in 2007. "2007 will be a considerable year for hardware sales and the Australian interactive games industry will comfortably exceed the A$1 billion mark," Hanlon said.

37 Comments

  • wolfmother99

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 2:13 am PT

    why do you ppl think that if the ps3 hadn't been delayed Australia would have spent heaps of money on games i mean i know its $1000.00 but ps3's arnt that great and the cost way too much money for a new console. GO AUSSIE

  • cameron06

    Posted Jan 21, 2007 1:06 am PT

    ha with vista + ps3 they will be vomiting up cash

  • nader08

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 7:37 am PT

    who care want my ps3

  • d-suhiti

    Posted Jan 20, 2007 3:18 am PT

    Goooooo AUSSIE !!!

    Good to see the gaming market getting larger here.

  • TheWhippet

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 5:06 pm PT

    Part of the South Pole belongs to us though!
    And other parts belong to other countries... I think the French bit is right next to the Australian bit... Well will this mean that us Aussies will start getting games more on time? Or cheaper? Pleeeease?

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Jan 19, 2007 10:23 am PT

    I really feel sorry that so many Aborigines were slaughtered by the British people a long time ago in Australia, as that shouldn't have happened. Of course, the Aborigines are now very well-respected.

    But... imagine if some Asian countries had colonized Australia, then there's a really, extremely high chance that the majority of the people in Australia could have been as poor as others from most of the South-East Asian countries. Also, especially thanks to too-fast growing population, instead of teaching people sex education & condoms, and all, lol. Yeah, the citizens of Australia, including me, would rather choose the Britons over them any day. Please don't be so unnecessarily offended by this. Think about it. It's a very lucky country. Though, it is a bit too materialistic. Also, I guess Australia suits as a very good counter-balance to certain dodgy politics in other countries, including Indonedia (but there's some some bad security agreement between them both last year), and some islands, where even there have been recent illegal government takeovers & some tiny civil war, which Australia has for the most part fixed by sending over the police officers there, along with support by the navy force.

  • selbie

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 9:17 pm PT

    Indeed it will Hanlon. With the new wave of console games and Vista games, 2007 looks like it will be a big year for gaming.

  • cenz_is

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 5:37 pm PT

    imagine what it would have been like if the PS3 wasnt delayed

  • 3leMenT

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 5:12 pm PT

    YAY lets waste money, i only buy like a few games now, i'm sick on buying bad games.....

  • jjr10

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 3:45 pm PT

    I hope this will mean Australia will get games on time... The first pheonix wright is coming here in march and the first truama centre just arrived.

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 10:38 am PT

    The_Weekend . I don't think so. Last time I checked the South Pole wasn't part of Australia.

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 9:59 am PT

    does that include game sales in the south pole as well?

  • renagadez187

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 5:18 am PT

    AUSSIE, AUSSIE, AUSSIE!

  • kai2demax

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 5:16 am PT

    Hurray for Australia and the Wii !!!!! Hope now they will always put Australia release dates everywhere and price for games and the like everywhere!

  • choasgod

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 3:20 am PT

    WoW just WoW ... Hopefully 2007 sales will force game publishers to plan releases in Australia closer to those in the US .... after all Australia is worth neary $1 billion AU ( $798 million US) thats about 2.5 percent of the entrie industry !

  • tgawn

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 1:41 am PT

    wow that proves that australia should be excluded from the gaming markets, what i mean is when other people say oh this just came in the US, Japan & Europe. hope that wasn't to confusing.

  • bubblepaul

    Posted Jan 18, 2007 1:14 am PT

    Yeah i think i wouldve clocked up a healthy 3-4 thousand dollars worth of games and hardware this year. Which im impressed about, shows how many quality games there were this year.

    Hopefully this improve will result in us getting games that we generally dont get.

    Go the Aussies!!!

  • Conor_220

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 11:23 pm PT

    Yeah 360 games usually go for more than 110 more like 120 bucks.

  • chicken_123_pie

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 10:48 pm PT

    $1000 worth of games was bought by me in AU. That's what I'm doing for MS. For this year, I've already spent another $700. Woohoo, go 360. There's so many games coming out this year. Must buy all. Gotta rise that GS.

  • volcus

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 10:23 pm PT

    Great news, hopefully one day we'll get games sonner like NA or europe. Video gaming is still really expensive in aus. Hardware is expensive and new 360 + wii (and soon ps3 games) games can go for A$110 when they first come out!

  • placebo_efect

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 9:51 pm PT

    Come on you fellow Aussie gamers lets pick up software buying as well so maybe we will become a more prominent area for them to release those games that take a sinister few months more then they should to get down here because hell i hate having to wait months after Europe have the game come on we are pal too please give it to us?

  • BaconBallz1337

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 9:28 pm PT

    Austalia is still the Ultimate in Casual. Seriously, I'm impressed, but extremly dissapointed also.

  • smoothn00dle

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 8:55 pm PT

    This game is a ripe from Konami's Guitar Arcade game. Do they have to pay royalty to Konami?

  • Payback7

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 8:37 pm PT

    AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!

    hehe, sorry couldn't help myself

  • DiscoJoy

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 8:32 pm PT

    Hopefully the larger sales in Australia will result in us being treated a little better as far as release dates and lack of certain products go.

    Even so, a boost like this is usually good for everyone.

  • Greg_888_v8

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 7:57 pm PT

    Australia becoming larger in gaming sales....i like

  • PCJ_Oz

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 7:54 pm PT

    Australia rocks.

  • Reetesh

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 7:34 pm PT

    Great!

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 7:04 pm PT

    neato

  • Re_ensurer

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 7:00 pm PT

    I would've guessed that.

  • the-very-best

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 6:06 pm PT

    Nice to see DS selling well. Now bring us the actual games hey?

  • TryMe01

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 6:05 pm PT

    looks like the DS is on top in the Aussie market

    too bad they didnt give yearly figures, it would have been interesting, very

  • _bl0cka

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:56 pm PT

    You can easily find a 360 premium for $600 AUD. Suggested retail however is $649. $649 less $59 sales tax which is included = $590
    $590 @ 79c exchange rate makes an AUS 360 = $466 US

    But as I said, you can easily get them for $600 AU, in some case even with a game, so not too far off comparatively.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:44 pm PT

    Even I noticed it, Australia is becoming a growing market. Enough to warrant it's own region announcements.

  • HyperMetaDragon

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:35 pm PT

    Second!

    Canadian sales = higher
    Australians = higher
    Videogame industry = getting more famous

  • cjnwo4life

    Posted Jan 17, 2007 5:10 pm PT

    What are the cost for each of these over there compared to the u.s. dollar. I was just interested.

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