The Australian video games industry netted $1.5 billion in 2011, excluding the revenue from digital sales, reports the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association.

The figure includes revenue generated from "console hardware, games software and gaming peripherals sold through retail".

However, it's a 12.8 percent contraction compared to 2010, as more consumers look to digital services over retail.

As Australians continue to access video games through a host of different channels, it’s becoming more challenging to aggregate sales data through a single source," said Curry. "Whilst the NPD data has revealed a dip in ‘traditional retail’ sales, which according to our latest Digital Australia report still represents the lion’s share of the games industry, other research has pointed to the growth in digital downloads, multi-player online games, in game purchases and online subscriptions."

Unfortunately it's still too hard to collect digital sales figures in Australia.