Las Vegas - After a 22% increase in 2007, U.S. video game industry sales growth is expected to slow in 2008, rising just 13% to $17.9 billion, according to projections from the Consumer Electronics Association.

The slowdown will be attributed to fewer hardware sales, as many consumers will have already purchased the latest generation of consoles from Sony (NYSE: SNE), Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) and Nintendo.

While hardware sales rocketed 50% in 2007, to $6.6 billion, they are expected to fall to $6.4 billion this year.

Meanwhile, as consumers purchase additional games for the new game devices, software sales are expected to climb 26% this year, to $11.5 billion, compared with a 7.6% increase during 2007.

Related Links:
http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=11434

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN0526213620080106