Market research company NPD is reporting that the video game market saw a harsh drop in sales during the Easter period (a surprisingly busy time for retailers), with an overall reduction of 17 per cent over the same period in 2008.

Nintendo was hit particularly hard, with one of its worst months in hardware sales for a long time, while games such as GTA: Chinatown apparently under performed in all markets.

Its sales saw a 7 per cent drop in response to the news, and analysts are now predicting Nintendo may well attempt a hardware price cut if the sales slummp spreads from Japan to other territories.