Video gaming has been losing its charm and attraction in the US market, with the country witnessing a 16 percent decline, for a sixth consecutive month, in the sales of video game equipment and related software in the month of August, primarily due to reduced spending by consumers under the impact of the global financial crisis.

The country witnessed 14 per cent decline in industry sales for the first eight months, with Nintendo's Wii getting the top slot despite 38 per cent decline in sales to 277,400 units. Microsoft's Xbox 360 stood at second position, followed by Sony's PlayStation 3.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier said: "The back four months of the year will have to be up 14% in aggregate for 2009 to come in flat in comparison to 2008 sales."

Both hardware and software sales declined 25 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, as per NPD. However, video game accessories did a little better, with only a 2 per cent increase in sales. There were also hopes of rise in sales in coming times, given the long-awaited console price cuts by Sony Corp and Microsoft.

Jesse Divnich, a market analyst with electronic industry, said: "Certainly the worst is behind us... the month of September does have a game for every demographic and that does create a perfect storm for sales, and we expect that momentum to continue for the holiday season."