The videogames industry seems to be able to ride the ups and downs of the global economy better than other forms of entertainment. But that’s not to say it isn't feeling the pinch this time around, as recently released figures from Sony and Nintendo show.

The Big N first, then, and the Japanese giant has announced that it has adjusted its year-end hardware sales target for the Wii down compared to its previous best guesstimate. We’re talking 26.5 million units for the financial year concluding March 31 instead of the 27.5 million they’d previously targeted. Granted that’s not an awful lot in the bigger scheme of things but it’s still a step in the wrong direction for the seemingly unstoppable console.

The DS is doing decent business, though, and Nintendo has revised its hardware sales target up from 30.5 to 31.5 million. If that seems like a faintly silver lining to a not particularly grey cloud Nintendo has still slashed its year-end profits forecast from the 345 billion yen it forecast late last year to 230 billion - a full 33% down. Ooyah!

And speaking of inclement weather Sony’s figures make for a similarly depressing read.

Total Playstation hardware sales (i.e. PS3, PS2 and PSP) for the third quarter of the current financial year stand at 12.06 million units, down from 16.06 million in the same period last year. At the same time software sales came in at 86 million units compared to 105 million 12 months earlier. It’s a bit of a shame, really, as the PS3 has been doing okay-ish - quarterly hardware sales are down by 9% but software sales for the format are up a healthy 50.7% to 40.8 million units.

All told, and on the back of crashing PS2 game sales and fluctuating exchange rates, Sony reckons it will sell a mere 250 million units of software for the full year. On the one hand that’s still loads, on the other they shifted 267.4 million in 2007. Oh dear…