Video game sales down 20 due to the long lifecycles of consoles and gamers playing on tablets, smartphones..

The downward spiral continues for the US video game market as sales of software, hardware and accessories were down for the ninth consecutive month. Research firm NPD Group reports that overall sales dropped 20 percent in August to $515.6 million, down from $647.2 million last year – a seemingly accurate estimate seeing as the number of gamers dropped by nearly 12 millionsince the same time last year.


The hardware sector suffered the most, dropping 39 percent year over year to just $150.6 million. The long lifecycles of today’s consoles and the number of gamers opting to play on tablets, smartphones and social networking sites are the primary factors that led to declining sales, according to NPD Group analyst Anita Frazier.

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Black Ops II Leveling, Unlocks, and Create-a-Class Details

Treyarch has dished out a ton of new details regarding the Create-a-Class mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops II as well as offering some information on leveling unlocks.

Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar took to the official Black Ops II forums to shed some light on the game’s progression system and MP1st has handily condensed the details down into easy to understand chunks. According to VonderhaarBlack Ops II will have a level cap of 55 and the amount of experience required to reach it will be comparable with the original Black Ops.

At level 4 players will unlock the Create-a-Class option and are given the following items:
1 Assault Rifle
1 SMG
1 LMG
1 Shotgun
1 Sniper Rifle
1 Perk from each of the 3 perk categories
1 lethal grenade
1 tactical grenade/equipment
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Black Ops II Leveling, Unlocks, and Create-a-Class Details | EGMNOW