U.S. Video Games Sales see Eighth Straight Month of Decline – EA, ATVI,

Sales of new video games fell 27 percent on year in the United States in July as customer kept away from stores with no new gaming software to attract them.

This is the eighth straight moth that the segment is seeing fall in sales. Data from market tracker NPD showed that $548 million worth of new video games was were sold in the month. This figure includes hardware, software and accessories but excludes used video games, rentals, digital downloads and games played on social networking sites.

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"These sales figures represent new physical retail sales of hardware, software and accessories, which account for roughly 50% of the total consumer spend on games," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said.

On a gross basis U.S. consumers are estimated to have spent $1.1 billion in July with used games and rentals contributing about $117 million and another $439 million coming from digital downloads and social networks, NPD said.

August might be a better month in terms of new sales with the launch of Nintendo's 3DS XL handheld, that is being released after a long time. It is also launching "New Super Mario Bros 2' a new version of its iconic game.

Electronic Arts will soon launch its "Madden NFL 13" based on soccer while consumers are eagerly awaiting Square Enix's "Sleeping Dogs" crime drama.

July saw continued strong sales of accessories, which rose 8 percent to $137 million, boosted by character packs for Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) "Skylanders" game.

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EA's "NCAA Football 13," was the top-selling video game in July followed by "Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes" from Warner Bros. Interactive and "The Amazing Spider-Man" from Activision.