While the retail end of the gaming industry is suffering from a decline in sales, as latest by the latest batch of NPD figures, the digital market is booming. Valve says Steam sales went up 97 percent on a year-over-year basis. Direct2Drive, which is run by IGN Entertainment, has also seen a boost in sales, recording a 56 percent increase over the same timeframe. Meanwhile, Microsoft says paid downloads on Xbox Live have netted a 73 percent increase over the past six months.

No yearly figures were obtained by IGN for Sony’s PSN service, but from what we’ve heard from official channels, sales are on the up. And with over 9.8 million PSN users accounted for, it’s no surprise. Nintendo, on the other hand, has been extremely coy in releasing sales data for its WiiWare and VC service, so it is anyone’s guess as to what the numbers are like on that front. We’d assume they’re doing alright, though.

Despite this impressive surge in sales, analyst Michael Pachter believes the day when digital sales begin to overtake retail is still far off, with current figures only representing 5 percent of the overall market.

Online Sales Surge During Industry Downturn [IGN]

Speaking in a recent interview with UK-based Official Nintendo Magazine, GoldenEye 007 designer Martin Hollis admitted that while he would love to see a re-release of the Rare developed FPS classic on Virtual Console, a muddle of licensing issues are waiting to be resolved before it can happen. Seeing as the parties involved have been unable to reach agreeable terms, there is little hope for such blockades to be lifted in the future:

There’s always someone with some exclusivity agreement, so there’s lots of lawyers… I’m not going to hold my breath. I’d love it to happen, but I can’t see it.

It’s unfortunate for us gamers when business entanglements from the legal side get in the way of things, but that’s the reality of it. Time to dust off that N64 if you want to relive the experience of playing what is often considered as a - if not the - defining title for the console first-person shooter market.