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With the economy in shambles, video game sales continue to soar in January

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 6:14PM EST
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In this day and age it is extremely rare to see a tech company thrive, let alone an entire industry. People still manage to dig up enough cash between the couch cushions for video games however, and Reuters is reporting a hell of a January for the big three of the console world. Nintendo continued to show that reaching beyond hardcore gamers and into the houses of the masses is the way to go, dropping 680,000 Wii consoles and 510,000 Nintendo DS units according to the NPD Group. Microsoft maintained the second spot, as usual, selling 309,000 Xbox 360s and Sony managed to push 203,000 PS3 consoles into new homes. Nintendo also held the top three game sales slots with Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii, while EA’s Left 4 Dead and Activision Blizzard’s Call of Duty: World at War rounded out the top five. All in all, total industry sales rang up at $1.33 billion – up a substantial 13 percent year over year. Wow. Double-digit growth in what is historically a slow month across most industries is pretty mind-boggling, but the gaming industry continues to defy logic thanks to the Nintendo Wii and DS – aka Nintendo’s licenses to print money.

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Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 15 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.