Recently, an oft-cited New York Times article predicted 2007 would be a banner year for PC game sales. Strangely, though, it didn't mention World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which had sold 1.6 million copies and generated $62.1 million in revenue in the US as of February 28--making it by far the year's top PC title.

　　The Times' rosy forecast was based on an NPD Funworld report of a 48 percent increase in PC game sales during the months of February and January. However, during March, sales for the platform took a sharp downturn, according to the industry research firm. The month saw just $81.9 million worth of boxed PC games sold at retail, a decline of 23 percent when compared to March 2006.

　　While, like Julius Caesar, the Ides of March didn't bode well for the platform, PC gaming remains up overall for the year. During the first quarter of 2007, some $285.2 million worth of PC games were sold at retail, an increase of 17 percent over the year before.

　　And, as always, NPD's PC game sales figures do not include revenue from online transactions such as digital downloads, meaning it overlooks significant revenue streams in the PC space.