2010 was another ugly year for video game retailers. Overall sales of video games were down 6 percent compared to the 2009 numbers – coming in at $18.58 billion. But there was some room for optimism.

Adding in other income streams, including digital downloads, used game sales, game rentals, subscriptions, social network games and mobile game apps, the NPD Group, which tallies the numbers, estimates preliminary software sales in 2010 were between $15.4 to $15.6 billion – which represented relatively flat growth compared to 2009 (though perhaps down by 1 percent).

Read more at Variety’s Technotainment blog