The seemingly recession-proof video game industry has been at the receiving end of the downturn blows for the past couple of months - and the situation apparently is going 'from bad to worse'!

Going by the recent statistics revealed by industry analyst, the NPD Group, video game sales in July plunged for the fifth consecutive week, with a drastic 29 percent decline in the year-on-year sales' figures - from $1.1 billion of $848.9 million. With the year-to-date sales falling 14 percent to $8.16 billion, the July sales also happened to be 27.4 percent lower than the June figures.

The NPD Group noted that while the July sales of gaming software and accessories marked a respective 26 percent and 12 percent fall, it was the hardware sales that were affected the maximum - dropping a significant 37 percent, from $447.71 million to $280.94 million.

Commenting on the rather alarming situation, with video game sales apparently in a 'free fall', NPD analyst Anita Frazier said the remaining part of 2009 would be more challenging for video game industry.

Frazier remarked: "In order for the industry to come in flat or slightly up for the total year, the back five months of the year have to come in 11 percent, or more, higher than the last five months of last year." And, that appears a real uphill task, given the recent trend!