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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."
June was a dry month for video gaming. Not many good games were released (except for Infamous).
Money's tight. And honestly, I'm sick of seeing games priced at $59.99. I can wait until they hit ~$30 and buy them then. I'm long past the time when I HAD to have a game as soon as it releases.
So yeah. Lower the price of the games at initial launch, you'll make more sales....IMNHAAO (in my not humble at all opinion)
Sent from your iPad.
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.
How long before they raise prices to $70-80 and up? I mean, it's obviously the best, no, the only way to make more money. Oh yes. The only way indeed.
I'd rather you rationally disagree than irrationally agree.
Most of the games that are coming out, suck.
Plain and simple. The problem with developers is that they are confusing great technology with great games. They can go hand in hand, but largely speaking -- games need story, innovation, depth. I played Defcon a few years back and was amazed at what innovation was put into such a small game.
Too bad the only thing developers do is give us some form of a shooter lately, and change the graphics and call it amazing. Bioshock had a good story, but that was like 2 years ago already.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
Diablo 2 ... Baldur's Gate 2 ... Diablo 3 ... the new Monkey Island
Ahh back to the golden age of gaming where every game wasn't a sequel or a remake of an older game.
Irrelevent to the article, which is the the game industry revenue is down.
It's actually extremely relevent. If the game companies are selling less total copies because gamers are turning to used game outlets due to the ridiculous price of new releases, they are going to see hits to their bottom line.
Is that the only reason for the sales decline? No. Of course not. But it is definitely a contributing factor and one of prime concern for game makers.
Movie and music piracy CAUSED the recession! Video game piracy is now contributing, and soon the entire economy will collapse and we'll all be reduced to cannibalism to survive and it's all YOUR fault, you filthy pirate! This is precisely why Congress needs to pass strong anti-piracy legislation, to include death as a punishment for severe cases and the chopping off of thumbs for less severe (5 or fewer minutes of copyrighted material stolen) cases.
Sure, you might not consider piracy to be that big of a deal, but you'll change your tune when you're sitting around the burnt out husk of your home surrounded by a post-apocalyptic hellscape, stomach rumbling like crazy because you finished off the last of Aunt Sally 3 days ago and the rest of the family was eaten by a roving band of zombie werewolves. Maybe then you'll recognize the error of your ways...but I doubt it.
Offtopic, but "cue" and "queue" are, in fact, homophones.
They should make a game of your post.