It has been two years since the video 
game industry has seen positive growth — and from the looks of things, it may not see it in 2011, either.
Game software sales were down 5 percent last month as compared to the same period in 2010, according to figures released today by the NPD Group. Hardware sales were even worse, slumping 8 percent.
2011 isn’t looking much better 
than 2010 or 2009 for retail sales of video games.
Despite comparing with weak numbers from a year ago, game software sales were down 5 percent last month versus 12 months earlier, coming in at $576 million, according to NPD Group, which tracks the industry. Overall, the industry was down 6 percent, dragged lower by continued weakness in the hardware category.
The bad news is video game sales 
continued on their downward trajectory in January. The good news is it was nowhere near as bad as analysts were expecting.
Game sales fell 5 percent last month as compared to the same period in 2010, according to the NPD Group. That’s considerably better than the 11 percent some industry observers had predicted.
While the year’s barely underway, Dead Space 2 
is already standing out as one of the must-have titles for 2011. But some players, like Gareth Garratt, have found themselves left out of the action.
Garratt, who has cerebral palsy, tried the game on his PC but was unable to customize the controls enough to play. The frustration led him to post about his experience on a U.K. gaming board.
Dead Space for iPad isn’t a game for everybody – 
and certainly isn’t one for children – but as a survival horror game, it’s masterfully done. Rather than retelling a tale from an older game in the series (or cramming the plot of the just-released Dead Space 2, which this is meant to promote, into an app), this is a completely new adventure. The story is a fun ride for those who have the stomach for the gore — well-paced and packed with jump-out-of-your-seat moments. The game is best played with headphones, instead of the iPhone or iPad’s speaker, as they make it a much more immersive experience. Graphically, Dead Space is superb and it’s one of the few iDevice titles that really feels like a console experience.
Chris Morris: Journalist 