Video: EA’s ‘Madden NFL 15’ sacks competition in August
Video game sales at U.S. retail rose for the seventh straight month on a year-over-year basis in August, led by new consoles and the pro football game “Madden NFL 15” from Electronic Arts (EA). Retail tracker NPD Group reported late Thursday that sales of new video game hardware, software and accessories at U.S. retail stores rose 8% in August, vs. August 2013, to $561 million. Sales of new video game products at brick-and-mortar stores represent half of total consumer spending on video games, NPD says. The other half is generated by used game sales and rentals and digital-format sales, downloads and subscriptions. Retail sales were fueled by spending on new game consoles, including Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox One, Nintendo’s (NTDOY) Wii U and Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 4, NPD analyst Liam Callahan said. Game hardware sales rose 116% year over year in August to $196 million. Accessories sales dipped 2% to…