UK console sales down a third in 2012

Britain isn't buying as many consoles as it used to, according to findings collated by UKIE and GfK Chart-Track. It seems as if hardware sales are slowing as the next-generation looms on the horizon.

Compared to 2011, hardware sales fell by a total of 33.1% in 2012 - that's a drop of 31.3% for handhelds and 34.1% for home consoles.

On the handheld front, newcomers PS Vita and 3DS XL failed to ignite sales, while Wii U did little to ramp up home console sales. That's despite findings from earlier this week revealing that digital sales in 2012 generated some £552 million in the UK alone. The disparity between trends means that digital sales on PC and mobile could be coaxing gamers away from consoles.

Still, next-gen is on the way and with it a slew of potentially massive reveals this year. Check out my run-down of what games to expect in 2013 here.

Thanks MCV.