NCAA Football 2011
Source: Electronic Arts
A market research firm says that U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories dropped 20 percent in July to $707.7 million, compared with the same month a year earlier.
The NPD Group said in its monthly report Thursday that sales of video game hardware sank 29 percent to $223 million. This includes hand-held game systems and gaming consoles like the Wii. Microsoft says its Xbox 360 was the top-selling console during the month.
Sales of software, or the video games themselves, fell 17 percent to $336.2 million.
Sales of game accessories slid 8 percent to $127.8 million.
Among the month's best-selling games were "NCAA Football 12" from Electronic Arts and "Cars 2" from Disney .