Game Sales Peak in 2008, Slide Thereafter

The 2008 lineup for all systems looks pretty healthy now, but don't get used to it, says Japanese publishing giant Enterbrain Inc. After this year concludes with a fiery show of Gears of War 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 and, yes, even Wii Fit, it's all going to be downhill from there.

Sound a little far-fetched? You aren't alone on that one. Nevertheless, Enterbrain read the tea leaves and went out on a limb Monday, saying that sales of video game consoles and software will peak at 710.4 billion yen in 2008 and to fall to 671.1 billion yen by 2010.

"The market is likely to contract as brisk demand for games consoles, such as the Wii from Nintendo Co and the PlayStation 3 from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, will run its course," Enterbrain Inc said in a statement to Kyodo News.

Filling the void will be online games, which Enterbrain expects to grow to 320.5 billion yen in 2010. Impressive, but not quite as impressive as the nearly one trillion yen the entire industry will command by that time.

That's a lot of yen, but Enterbrain still felt it necessary to rain on the parade and predict a slide beginning next year. After MSG4, Grand Theft Auto 4 and whatever Nintendo has planned for E3 launches this year, do you agree that there's going to be nothing but rough sailing afterwards?