I’ve heard about claims that the video game industry, along with healthcare, is recession-proof. Well, these claims might be proven to be true, especially when you take into consideration the gaming industry’s February 2009 sales in the United States, which involved a double-digit growth year-on-year at a time when overall retail sales growth was sluggish. That is made even more special when you take note of the industry’s consistently growing sales for the past few months, while the rest of the world was experiencing recession blues.

Video game hardware and consoles sold 11% more in February 2009, reaching $532.7 million from $481.4 million a year earlier. Nintendo Wii has earned the biggest slice of the pie, with 753,000 units. Another Nintendo console, the Nintendo DS, holds the second spot with 588,000 units. The Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3 sold 391,000 units and 276,000 units, respectively.

Video games racked up another $733.5 million in sales, growing 9% from $673.3 million a year earlier. Again, Nintendo cornered this market with 644,000 copies of the Wii Fit sold. Capcom scored a win with its latest version of Street Fighter, selling 446,000 copies for the Xbox and 403,000 copies for PS3.

Home entertainment watchers have opined that the current recession has been forcing people to stay home instead of going up where they are more likely to spend more. But even so, people are not cross-stitching or just sleeping. They are entertaining themselves. Cable and satellite broadcasters, as well as movie rentals, food delivery services and video game companies have all reported better-than-average sales during the current recession because of this trend.

Also, the lower retail price for the games, which according to reports dropped by around 4% year-on-year, helped boost sales. Also, February 2009 saw a lot of new game titles as well as consoles being released into an already enthusiastic market. Generally, the video game industry is sheltered from the typical economic cycle by having a cycle of its own. Gamers look forward to new consoles launched every 2 to 3 years, which generates more sales because gamers upgrade their consoles. The industry also benefits as the average gamer grows older and richer, while also growing fonder of the games he or she plays.

What’s more, the industry is blessed to have every products met dream target demographic: young men who love their gadgets and have disposable income.

Historically, however, the video game industry has consistently beaten the odds. When Wall Street dropped 22% after the dotcom bubble burst in 2002, video games sold 43% more, a trend that continued for five years, until peaking in 2007, and then well into last year. And as the data suggest, 2009 is shaping up to follow, or even surpass, that trend.

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