So much for recession proof: U.S. video game sales take a 17 percent dip in March

http://venturebeat.com/2009/04/16/us-video-game-sales-take-a-17-percent-dip-in-march/

by peter123 • 17 years ago

7 9 17 years ago

Ehhh I think it'd be wise not to jump to conclusions. I'm a pretty avid gamer myself, and this year has seen an absolute drought of interesting games.

At any given point in a normal year I would have a want-to-buy game that's coming out shortly. So far in 2009 I have not bought a single game simply because none of them are that interesting. I was looking forward to both HAWX and Resident Evil 5, but playing the demos for them convinced me not to buy.

The movie industry has been through this before - prompting predictions of the end of cinema as we know it. Except then Hollywood started producing movies people wanted to watch, and last I checked the industry is thriving.

I'm sure the recession has something to do with it - but I don't think it explains all of the 17 percent drop.

fortunado• 17 years ago

As much as I hate it when video game folks claim their industry is recession-proof, I have to agree that it's probably mostly other factors at work here.

DannoHung2• 17 years ago

HAWX was awesome. The demo doesn't really give you enough of an idea of what the full game is actually like.

Let me paint you a picture: There are escort missions that are actually really fun.

potatolicious2• 17 years ago

I actually later managed to play the first 4 missions on a borrowed copy... I stand by my impression of the game :) It's decent fun if you have no other game to compare it with, but coming in as a fan of the genre (Ace Combat et al) it was a sore disappointment.

Aircraft handling felt sticky, and I found myself fighting it constantly just to point the plane in the right direction - which may do well in a realistic sim, but this is an arcade game. The "evasion vector" feature is also kind of pointless - if you relied on it to get an attack vector on every opponent you would never pass the missions, seeing as it takes a solid 30 seconds to lock onto your opponent.

Both art style and setting could use some work also. Ace Combat 6 (which is the only real same-gen same-platform comparable game) had the skies filled with hundreds upon hundreds of enemies, and it felt like a real battle (unrealistic as that may be). HAWX felt like miles of nothingness with a few bogeys (which is more realistic, but less fun).

electromagnetic2• 17 years ago

I worked as a reviewer, games and movies, for a few years and my personal opinion is that the quality of good games has remained the same, the problem is that there are so many games being released that for the average person it is very difficult to tell what is good and bad.

I got out of reviewing when I felt there was too much pressure to rate certain companies high. I got to play some genuinely great games, but some were flat out awful to the point that it was painful to play. When I felt like I couldn't tell people not to buy certain games (hello EA) and when it got to the point that review material was being embargoed to give certain companies the advantage (I presume for giving high reviews) I couldn't take it anymore.

I believe it may take major layoffs and some companies going bust before we see some improvement. I doubt it would get as bad as the '83 crash, but then perhaps it should. This does seem to cycle in that so many games come out and then companies start trying to sell the chaff as grain and people stop buying.

Like you said, this happens in the movie industry. No movie has hit quite as high as Titanic, however the fan following for Star Trek could help it along, not to mention that I know a lot of people (including my wife) want to go see this despite my doubting they'd ever want to go see it. My wife can be particularly annoying to convince to watch a DVD or TV series, so the fact that she actually told me she wants to go see it (seconds after the trailer finishing in the cinema) gives me the impression it could do huge. My wife is literally a fan waiting to happen, so if Abrams can pull it off I might have a free ride for the rest of the franchise's life. Then there's just Stargate left to get her fully converted on and I'll have the three Stars (Wars, Trek and -gate).

I would find it quite ironic if the release of Star Trek saved the economy by getting sales well beyond the $2 billion mark.

chaosmachine• 17 years ago

Video games are a cyclical market.

http://trends.google.com/trends?q=video+games%2C+santa+claus

wastedbrains• 17 years ago

I bought half life 2 this year, I am helping by buying really old games... hooray!

electromagnetic2• 17 years ago

Having worked as a reviewer for 3 years, my personal opinion is that it definitely didn't help that no truly good games came out this March.

The only actual new game (not a sequel) that appeared to be good to me was H.A.W.X.. However, from the demo I couldn't say higher than an 8/10.

Resident Evil has always done reasonably well, however I've never liked the series. Empire: Total War interests me, but I gave up on trying to follow PC games after the whole DX10 only games and now they're bringing out D3D11! That leaves GTA: Chinatown; I'd be interested in Pokemon Platinum, but these ones always feel like such a cheat.

This leaves the only games I'd have bought as H.A.W.X. (not at $70 for a game I don't trust to be amazing) and a DS game.

It doesn't help that prices of some of the big games haven't dropped in over 6 months from their original release price. Hopefully the recession and now this huge drop in games sales might get them to drop the prices of games to get their sales up. What seriously pissed me off was when the recession started, Fallout 3 went up in price.

So much for recession proof: U.S. video game sales take a 17 percent dip in March

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