Video game industry finally sees a rebound

For the first time in months, video game industry executives can exhale.

That's because, according to industry analyst The NPD Group, the video games business as a whole saw a 6 percent year-over-year increase in March, and turned in the third-best nonholiday period month on record. Industry sales had been down 14 percent and 13 percent, year-over-year, in February and January, respectively.

But not all the news was good. While revenues for video game software and accessories were up significantly in March, hardware revenues took a hit. For the month, the industry posted total sales of $1.52 billion, up 6 percent from $1.44 billion. On the software side, sales were $875.3 million, up 10 percent from $795 million a year earlier. But hardware sales came in at just $440.5 million, down 4 percent from $457.1 million in March, 2009.