In 2008, titles like “Grand Theft Auto IV” (5 million copies) and Wii Fit (4.5 million) helped the game industry reach $21 billion in sales. But with the recession, gaming may struggle to stay on top in 2009. So how will the big three game-makers fare?

Nintendo

The Nintendo Wii will continue to dominate console sales this year, as evidenced by a record-breaking holiday season — the company’s strategy of innovative controls coupled with casual games marketed to the mainstream proved successful. “It’s possible Wii sales will decline this year,” says Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter. “But even if it goes from 29 to 22 million, it will still outsell the others.” The Wii will also benefit from the improved controls found with the Wii Motion Plus, which increases the precision of motion-detection — resulting in more natural character movements on screen. Nintendo will also continue to lead the portable field. The Nintendo DSi, which features a camera and memory card slot and is already available in Japan, is expected to be released in the U.S. in the second quarter of 2009.

Read the full article at Fast Company.