Sales of Video Games and Accessories Fell in January Retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the United States fell 34 percent in January, to $751 million, compared with a year earlier because of a lack of new games, the market researcher NPD Group said Friday. An NPD analyst, Liam Callahan, said the dearth of new games most likely resulted in fewer people going to stores and buying other recent releases on impulse. "Shoppers were not drawn to stores due to new launch activity," he said. Mr. Callahan said sales of games released before the holidays were down 31 percent in January compared with a year ago. Sales of console and portable software - the video games themselves - fell 38 percent, to $356 million. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 from Activision was the top seller for the third consecutive month after its release in early November. Hardware sales fell 38 percent, to $200 million, while accessories sales were down 18 percent at $195 million.