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US Videogame Sales Have Biggest Drop In 9 Years
alphadogg writes "The recession appears to have finally caught up with the video game market. Sales of video game hardware and software were down by around one-third in June compared to the same month last year. After initially showing positive growth as the US slid into recession, the latest figures mark the fourth month of declines and the largest year-on-year decline in almost 9 years. 'The first half of the year has been tough largely due to comparisons against a stellar first half performance last year, but still, this level of decline is certainly going to cause some pain and reflection in the industry,' said Anita Frazier, a games analyst with NPD Group. She added, 'The size of the decline could also point to consumers deferring limited discretionary spending until a big event (must-have new title, hardware price cut) compels them to spend.' The entire video game market in the US was worth $1.2 billion in June, down 31 percent from the same period last year, according to NPD Group."
I realize that the issues are probably mostly economic (lack of capital both to produce and buy games), but here's my spiel: I just don't see the point. First of all, the games shouldn't be that expensive to produce. At >$50 a pop, if I find that I don't like it, it's just a waste of money. Maybe if prices came down, I'd experiment more. But now, I'm more than happy to buy games that are a few years old to save $20 when I know that I'm only going to play it for a month or so.
Second of all, what good games have come out recently? I realize that it's a hugely subjective topic (I recall a topic on Slashdot a few weeks ago on graphics and video games), but honestly, all I want in a game is good gameplay and a nice multiplayer environment. And all my friends play nothing but Melee, I don't see why I'd bother playing anything else. That's how it usually ends up anyways; no matter how many games I have, Ijust end up playing one over and over again while the others gather dust. So why bother buying?
And to add to the cost, so many consoles (especially the Wii) require buying extra peripherals, which will also end up going to the wayside. It's just not worth it anymore.
I have left slashdot and am now on Soylent News. FUCK YOU DICE.
They should make a game of your post.
I would totally agree with this. I mean I fit the demographic, I am male, in my 30's now own my own home, car, and I am employed with job security. What is keeping me from buying games.
Simply 2 things.
1. There are no new games out that sound any fun.
2. Game that are out that I want are DRM loaded and I am waiting for them to come to their senses.
That's it. Its that simple. There are games I want to buy and play but the DRM keeps me away from buying them they can thank Sony for me not wanting to install DRM crap to screw up my computer. So if you put DRM in it, to prevent piracy, you keep the honest person away not wanting the extra crap. The latest Grand Theft Auto was the first one of the GTA series I never bought. I wanted to buy it and I hate to leave that line behind but DRM, bleh.
I did buy 2 games in the month of June, they were older out of print games put up on Ebay. Why because I wanted to play those games when they came out but at that time something else was going on in my life and I have so far enjoyed those games.
Also games are becoming less fun and more just wow graphics. I still to this day play the first Age of Empires. It was very strategic and well thought out, the graphics sucked but I wasn't in it for the graphics and some of the games would take 8-10 hours to complete you had the ability to go in create new terrains and random maps was never the same terrain twice, ever, after all these years. The new AOE games, pale in comparison. They have funky cool 3d graphics but the same lands and terrains over and over again. Once you learn a terrain there is no challenge anymore. AOE 1 In the most difficult modes I can still get my ass kicked by the computer once in a while. The new AOE, within a month it is mastered and of no use, so I quit buying those lines. Supposedly there is a new Thief game coming out, and I always loved the Thief lines, this is one of my favorite lines ever. But if they put DRM in it I will not buy it.
Sequels were developed differently back then, typically by nearly the exact same team that worked on the first. Now we have sequels being outsourced to other developers, see the Call of Duty series for a prime example, and BioShock 2 for an upcoming one.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
All of the gamers I know play games as much as ever, and while the economy has affected many of us, gaming for the most part isn't a very expensive hobby, so very few of us are spending less for that reason. What we ARE doing is spending it in different places.
The numbers can be explained by:
1. The huge popularity of MMOs. Most people are active in an MMO put around half of their gaming time into it, at ~15 bucks/month. That means for the other half, you're more choosy as to what you're willing to buy - and it does also mean you're spending less over all. Very few $50 games are played for more than 1-2 months, but MMOs are usually good for several... a few years in some cases.
2. Webgames and Flash games becoming popular. These ARE profitable games, but there's no buying involved, as they're usually ad-supported instead. Time spent on these games is time when SALES are down, but PROFITS are not.
3. The fact that "US" is in the title. I've been seeing a lot of innovation from KOREAN MMO developers, but basically none from US ones - everything over here is yet another WoW clone, which means I've spent a grand total of 0 on US online gaming this year, and a good amount on Korean. Regular games are slightly better off, but even there, Japan seems to be making most of the games people are actually playing.
4. The fact that It's no secret that EA destroyed most of the US gaming industry, and it never really fully recovered. People were buying mediocre crap when there wasn't anything else to buy, but as translations get better and better, we're simply taking our money elsewhere. (See also: US car industry)
5. Indie gaming has become a significant part of the market... and likely not a part that's being polled for this article's numbers. Again, when the overwhelming majority of the big gaming companies suck, we don't stop gaming, we just take our business elsewhere.
The industry is doing fine, it's just a few crappy US companies that happen to be 1)Huge and 2)Failing. No one will miss them if they finally collapse, and once they do, new companies will replace them - ones that actually produce games we want to play. In the meantime, the rest of the world is supplying us just fine - as well as the US through indie and other side channels.