US Videogame Sales Have Biggest Drop In 9 Years 310
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."
No good games (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No good games (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, after reading the summary I though, If the video game industry needs sales of crap in order to be profitable, maybe the lesson should be make better games.
Also, they should look further than the current economic situation. It is getting too easy for people to site that as the cause for decline.
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If the video game industry needs sales of crap in order to be profitable, maybe the lesson should be make better games.
Actually, the good games don't sell that well. Hence the pile of crap on the market.
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Not only do they not necessarily sell as well, they cost more to make, too.
Remember, you COULD work on an artistic, original game that blends genres, hire GOOD voice actors, take your time developing it and testing it thoroughly, or you can make a knockoff of a movie in 6 months, period. And it will likely sell better.
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But while your developers, artists, voice actors etc. will all make good money and feed their family, your investors will have to scrape by on a lousy 8%, which is not how we do things here.
Would you risk a large amount of capital for the prospect of an 8% return?
No, you wouldn't. Thats why blackjack pays 100% ROI every hand you beat the dealer, and 150% when dealt a winning blackjack.
No one would play if the possible outcomes were: lose everything, or get 8% ROI.
Venture capital is another form of [legalized] gambling. And they lose far more often than they win. So wins need to cover all their losses, and a decent compensation for their risk.
Re:No good games (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No good games (Score:5, Insightful)
They must account for the games released during that time.
Precisely. And what was released on June 12, 2008? Metal Gear Solid 4.
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And on June 29th, 2008 was Guitar Hero: Aerosmith....
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Same-month sales in videogames is a useless statistic.
True. Good statistical analysis has in large part - at least in popular media - yielded to sensational headlines and talking heads.
An interesting study would be to compare video game release and sales figures (FPS, RPG, online, 'thinking games' like Portal, etc.) with the development of image rendering techniques, hardware advances, and anything else with a supposed effect on video game production or sales.
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You new around here?
Ya (Score:5, Insightful)
I've never gotten why people like that comparison metric. I mean I understand wanting to compare to how you did last year but at least to a 6 month rolling average. Games do not come out on rigid schedules, it isn't like "On the 4th day of June each year a massively popular game WILL be released." No, they come out when they are done, particularly in the case of better games. So you have to look at the sales over a period of time, like 6-12 months. If less games are sold for the whole year of 2009 than 2008 then yes, clearly there is a problem for the game industry. However if one month is down, so what? Maybe it just means that something people really want slid a month.
I know as a gamer I don't go around saying "Ok, it is time to buy my May game," I buy games when one I want comes out and I've got time to play it. That could mean I buy 3 games in a month, or that I buy no games for 3 months. It all depends on what is coming out when, and how my time is looking. Currently, I'm having to hold off on purchasing more games because I have too many, I've got a backlog. I bought games that I haven't yet got around to playing. Did that with Fallout 3. Picked it up not long after release since I love Fallout and it was on special. However, other than playing the intro, I haven't got around to it. Not because I wasn't enjoying it, just because I've been playing other things. However I want to play it, and I will, it is just an issue of time.
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Careful what you wish for (Score:3, Insightful)
Looking further would invariably produce "it's the pesky pirates".
It's a very human trait to look for the culprit outside of oneself. I.e. it's pirates. Not that I make sequels of games nobody wanted in the first place or that customers don't accept the rental system (aka SecuRom) DRM.
Produce games that people want and stop including crippling DRM that people loathe and they will buy. I just recently bought a few old games for a total of less than 50 bucks. Yes, on Steam, and yes, it's a bit hypocritical to
Re:No good games (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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Also, they should look further than the current economic situation. It is getting too easy for people to site that as the cause for decline.
Except for the people who are highly unemployed are in their core demographic? I and the middle-aged lifer with a family is probably buying fewer games, too.
So I don't know. Sure, to be successful in business, you have to work to get your sales regardless, but you also have to be conscious of the context that your operating in.
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Just June? My GameFly queue was empty for about 4 months. June is when they started releasing games I'd play again!
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I was just thinking lately, I worry about the future of consoles. With PC DRM, the general consensus is that PCs can't play games years later because most likely the DRM servers are unavailable. It made me wonder--and now I worry about the console even more. When MS/Sony decide to pull the plug on patch support for games on XBOX Live/PSN, we're screwed. I can still play FF 1 or Dragon Warrior on my NES almost 3 decades later. And one can still find patches or a patched PC game *somewhere*. But Oblivion or G
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Sorry Games Industry, but I'm all set right now. I've got a list of games I'm waiting on, but the only thing released recently that I want is Ghostbusters (and it's not a "must-have on launch day" purchase).
* Ghostbusters (Not worth the full price to me right now)
* TIger Woods 10 for Wii (weather is nice, I'm playing real golf, thanks)
...and I'm waiting on
* Rock Band Beatles
* Metroid Prime Trilogy special edition (Yes, I'll gladly rebuy games I already own with the Wii controls)
* Scribblenauts DS (This, I'l
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Surprisingly Level Headed Analysis (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Surprisingly Level Headed Analysis (Score:5, Funny)
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.
What a Game! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:What a Game! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Surprisingly Level Headed Analysis (Score:5, Funny)
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
You know that the average geek would find that scenario quite cool, if you tried to convince people to stay away from copying, I think this isn't how you should describe it. Maybe say something like "And if you continue copying, you'll soon live with a wife and kids in a suburb and have no time for computers anymore".
That should scare the pants off them!
Queue "Piracy" reasoning (Score:4, Insightful)
Watch.. this will turn into a big "See? Piracy is ruining the gaming business" blamefest... It's easier to blame piracy rather than crappy game design.. Of course, I'm sure the economy is playing a part as well. Although, from what I've read, people are reluctant to give up their hobbies, even in the face of a bad economy.
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And?
I mean really, so what? Let them do it. Lately, I've stopped paying big bucks for crippled games. I've been burned enough by shitty and crippled and broken games that my price-point is $20. If it's $20 or less, I can justify the gamble that it's good. If it's more than $20, then it's off my list.
This does mean that I'm not playing the "OMG JUST RELEASED MUST GET IT!@!!!!!" games. But damn...how many games were released in the last 5 years? What percentage did I play?
In the last
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I completely agree, thus my post.. Typically these types of reports turn into blamefests about piracy and those damn kids and whatnot.. In reality, the economy sucks and there just aren't that many truly decent games coming out.
I miss the days of shareware when you could try a game before buying it. Nowadays, you spend $40-$60 on a new game for your shiny console and if you hate it, you're pretty much screwed. Most places have a no exchange policy, so the only real alternative is to sell it used. GameS
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I rent games before I buy them. My library has an extensive collection that loans out games for free.
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Stop trying so hard. The word with the obvious spelling is the right choice.
captcha: souped
Sorry to offend your sensibilities. I blame way too much network tuning and programming.
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Stop trying so hard. The word with the obvious spelling is the right choice.
captcha: souped
Nah, there are just so many idiots making the "Piracy is killing our bottom line" excuse that we've decided to make them stand in line.
Old games FTW (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Old games FTW (Score:5, Informative)
Offtopic, but "cue" and "queue" are, in fact, homophones.
yeah... (Score:5, Insightful)
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)
Re:yeah... (Score:5, Insightful)
I used to regularly grab the must-have new release the day it hit shelves. Once they started passing my self imposed $50 mental barrier, I stopped.
I just can not physically bring myself to spend so much. I'd rather grab 4 used games from last year for the same total price.
I mean really, at the end of the day, they are just pushing gamers to Half.com, eBay, Gamestop, Amazon, and other used game outlets.
Where the publisher could potentially sell two copies at release for a slightly lower price ($39.99-$49.99 is a lot more attractive than $59.99+), they only sell one copy and then the re-seller retail stores take the profits from there for many years to come.
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It also seems to depend on the popularity of the game. GS always had a ton of copies of Gears of War, but I didn't see their used copies drop below $50 until the month GoW2 came out (which is foolish, really, because at that point I just bought GoW2 instead, which is a smaller profit margin for GS).
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It took gta like 6 months before the used price in GS was cheaper than I could get it at Costco. You'll start to see this trend continue and extend.
Continue, extend, and reverse. Either gamestop will have to eat a hit against their 500% margin on used games and offer more, or go kablooey.
As less and less people buy games at $60, waiting for price drops, they will probably push back against said price drops, keeping the game at brand-spanking-new prices longer. If enough people don't get tired of waiting, they'll just sell even fewer games. The obvious conclusions are that they'll either drop new release prices, or slowly bleed to death.
Since they haven
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Heh, I wait till Newegg or GoGamer has them for $25 or less or if Impuse has a good sale..
Re:yeah... (Score:4, Insightful)
I browse the Steam weekend deals. Usually once a month there's something worth buying for $10-$20 and I never have to worry about losing the disc (Half-Life 1 + Blue Shift - where hath you gone?) as long as the Steam servers don't roll over one day.
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Re:yeah... (Score:4, Insightful)
I have a friend who uses this logic. I don't understand it myself.
He bought Ghostbusters at launch. Both he and his fiancée beat it inside a week, then they sold it to Gamestop for about 25 bucks.
So he essentially rented it for 4-5x the going rental rate.
Steam (Score:2)
I've started buying all my games off Steam for precisely this reason. I've picked up:
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Well only console games are priced so high, pc games cost less!
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Just this week Steam offered a package of old/ancient games for 50 bucks. In the fold things like Bioshock, Prey, CivCity, Railroad Tycoon 2 and 3, the XCom series, Pirates, Civ III and IV and a few more. Each and every single game a gem. An aged gem, granted, but they're still a hell lot of fun and they still provide a lot of enjoyment and entertainment.
50 bucks bought me about 20 games. At least 10 of them games that I'd prefer over many of the current releases any time, and certainly providing me with mo
DNAS Error -103 (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm sick of seeing games priced at $59.99. I can wait until they hit ~$30 and buy them then.
How do you work around "DNAS Error -103: This software title is not in service" once the publisher has pulled the plug on, say, a PS2 game's matchmaking servers after a year or two? Or do you stick to single-player or sofa multiplayer? And how long do you expect to wait for Nintendo's Earthbound to become affordable again?
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Buying used games? (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't believe NPD keeps track of used game sales, and a lot of gamers will be turning to Gamestop, Ebay, and Amazon to pick up used games there instead of buying them new. I've personally been buying more used and even selling a bit of my collection as there seems to be a lot of buyers out there (and of course, more sellers).
Games are too expensive to keep buying new. I let the suckers do that for me.
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Perhaps everyone has been playing the oldest MMO for free with no subscription called Outside?
Re:Buying used games? (Score:5, Insightful)
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 [sfgate.com].
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Your comment, by the way, was completely irrelevant and douchey for no good reason.
Why I don't buy video games (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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TF2
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Yeah, you can. The game is lag compensated so even if your ping is 130 you're still competitive. I've seen people play spy on laggy computers with a terrible connection and still get kills. They weren't at the top of the scoreboard, but we were all having fun (it's hard to not have fun playing TF2)
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Horde in GOW2 is a lot of fun online. 50 waves of enemies against you and a few buddies. If you get a good team it's great.
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I like Knights in a Nightmare (KiaN), although it's not for everyone.
Other than that, crap has and will always be released.
Well, I just bought a Nintendo DSi after not playing games for years since the original Game Boy/PS1 - Metal Gear Solid 1 being the last game I played. I'm happy
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I would have recommended Left 4 Dead, an absolutely terriffic 'zombie horror movie' game focused on co-op/multiplayer. Of course, since Left 4 Dead 2 was announced, I'd wait for that, but it's sure to be better than the original.
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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.
Every console except perhaps the PS3 (too expensive initial price so I really haven't looked into it much) does too and the 360 is worse than the Wii. By the time you invest $100 into a HD, $100 into a Wi-Fi adapter plus an extra $50 for all the accessories needed to play an online game (not to mention the XBL Gold subscription itself) you have a very, very, very expensive console.
Games are obviously too cheap (Score:5, Funny)
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Well, to be fair I remember paying $50 or $60 for new SNES games, and that was 15 years ago. If prices had kept up with general inflation, games would be costing $80-90 a pop today. I certainly don't complain about $60 for a game that I genuinely want, and if I'm not sure then I wait for the price to drop or rent/borrow/demo it first.
Re:Games are obviously too cheap (Score:4, Insightful)
Yes, but the industry dropped prices with to move to optical media...and then promptly raised prices again because they added so much more content! I think the industry needs to realize that games don't all have to be 80-hour works of art with 20 different endings, all packed into that $59.95 wrapper. Give us games in the $30-50 range that have maybe 10-15 hours of game play, and I think players will flock.
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10 years ago the price was $70-80 for a game if not more. If I hadn't tossed the boxes for some of the games I had from back then I'd scan them. Some games like like Independence War, MechWarrior(1-4), BG/BG2 PS:Torment and the like you'd see a sticker price of $69.99-78.99
That's easy.... (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:That's easy.... (Score:5, Insightful)
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'd like to disagree - but I can't. I definitely consider myself a gamer, but many of the games that have come out recently just aren't that compelling.
The games I'm really waiting for are the next Ratchet & Clank and the next Uncharted.
Honestly, I'm having more fun with PlayStation Network titles. The price point is certainly lower, but I also don't expect as much out of a $10 or $15 game - compared to the punch a $55 game should bring. As a result, I'm not that disappointed if a cheap PSN game doesn't turn out that great. So I'm willing to take more of a risk for a PSN title than a $55 retail title.
I get a little tired of this one (Score:3, Insightful)
To me, when someone says this, it implies that they either are unreasonable picky, have a very narrow taste in games, or just haven't done any looking around. If you are the first, well then there's nothing I can do for you. If you are one of those people who has decided that anything less than perfection is failure then you will be continually disappointed in life. That is just how it goes. If you are one of the second people that is fine, but then don't whine about it. If you only like like a narrow selec
Recession (Score:3, Informative)
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I just think it is a problem with blockbuster game spacing.
It seems like every year, until this one, there have been some really amazing games that get pushed past there Christmas season schedule. This means that people buy some games around Christmas, and they have some choices for great games in the Spring and Summer. This year, nothing worth paying full price for is coming out until fall/winter.
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Depends on your taste, this year for me so far has been great with two monkey island games having come out and Wallace and Grommit as adventure game. Btw. it is really amazing how many adventure games generally have come out lately.
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Ah and add to that Trine one of the best jump and run games in the last years which also came out a few weeks ago.
wtf (Score:2)
Going back to old games (Score:2)
With the lack of decent games (especially those that are playable under linux or wine) recently, I found myself digging out Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 to play.
Waiting on Diablo 3 and the new Monkey Island though
Re:Going back to old games (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re:Going back to old games (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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With the lack of decent games (especially those that are playable under linux or wine) recently, I found myself digging out Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 to play.
Waiting on Diablo 3 and the new Monkey Island though
Yep, I dug out Diablo II again the other day and even bought the digital download for the LoD expansion since I can't seem to find my damn jewel case and key anywhere (even though I have several of the actual CDs.. Blizzard jewel cases are always the ones that disappear for some reason).
On a side note, I probably would not have bought that copy of LoD if the new battlenet account and purchasing system wasn't in place. Valve and Blizzard are my heroes right now for Steam and Battlenet, respectively, and for
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With the lack of decent games (especially those that are playable under linux or wine) recently, I found myself digging out Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2 to play.
Waiting on Diablo 3 and the new Monkey Island though
You know the first chapter of the new Monkey Island is out already, right?
Still Catching Up (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm re-playing FEAR 2. I'm playing FAR CRY 2 for the first time. Need to start and finish DAMNATION. Need to finish the LOST: VIA DOMUS crap-heap. Recently beat PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES. All whilst still playing TEAM FORTRESS 2.
My laundry list for games to buy is long, but I'm waiting until I finish these! I want to play TRINE, I want to buy and re-play all those LUCASARTS games that just came out again on Steam, I want to start another MMO like the new Star Trek Online or Knight of the Old Republic MMO.
This is actually a great time for games, for me personally.
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Yeah, I'm with you. I spend maybe four hours a week on games, so they take me a loooong time to finish. I only just got around to playing Call of Duty 4! So I have a huge backlog of great games to play yet.
I actually find games to be good value compared to going to a first-run movie ($12 for two hours) or even buying a novel (around $15), particularly since the resale values are so high. I sold Killzone 2 recently for $40 after buying it for $60. That's pretty good value, I'd say.
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My laundry list for games to buy is long, but I'm waiting until I finish these! I want to play TRINE, I want to buy and re-play all those LUCASARTS games that just came out again on Steam, I want to start another MMO like the new Star Trek Online or Knight of the Old Republic MMO.
This is actually a great time for games, for me personally.
I've been on a Virtual Console buying spree, in fact. I'd never played Majora's Mask before so I grabbed that. I'm completely stumped by the Bit.Trip series (so simple and yet so HARD). And I love that Monkey Island and other Lucasarts games are back.
New games on a disk in shrinkwrap... not so much lately.
Rent (Score:4, Insightful)
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I did, about 3-4 years ago now. After I bought 2 $60 pieces of crap in a row, I decided enough was enough. Now I spend $15-$35 a month on rentals (depending on how many good games are out there that I want to play) and probably save $30-200 a month on games. If it's really, really good I might buy it immediately. If it's just good, I might buy it later when I see it really cheap. All the rest just go back.
So yeah, the game industry really shot themselves in the foot. Too many crap games, especially on
Innovation? (Score:3, Insightful)
seriously ... I'm not surprised. What happened to innovation? Most games now are all sequels to previous games with better graphics or newer engines than the previous release and the principal is still the same. Where is the cutting edge ? Something new that hasn't been done before ? A must have, giving the player full control of the virtual world . I think back on earlier rpg's for e.g. The player was actually allowed to input text instead of choosing from some stupid presets. Think of this with today's technology. In the end its not really the development studios its the damn publishers and other companies funding development studios so they can have their ads on startup screens and rape the profits.
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Newsflash: Games have matured. When video games were new, everything was innovative. As hardware evolved, and controls changed, things were innovative. There were a few ideas that made new genres... But most games these days can't be innovative because it's all be done before.
The Wii was supposed to be 'innovative', but ended up lackluster. Natal... I'm betting on more of the same.
And it's not that there aren't 'innovative' games... Every new innovative game in the 'casual' game industry creates a
No good games! (Score:2)
Maybe rather than blaming everything on the economy they should compare what came out this time last year to what has come out this year. I spen
Are they seriously using (Score:3, Insightful)
Not just the recession (Score:2)
The problems discussed in TFA aren't being felt across the entire home entertainment industry [homemediamagazine.com]. Overall sales of DVD, Blu-ray and digital content fell just 3.9% in the first half of 2009, though sales of physical media fell more. Rentals are up over eight percent in the same period.
High prices and the recent lack of diversity in titles have kept us out of the market for videogames. We own a PS3, but no PS3 games. We use it to play DVDs and Blu-rays, and to play our collection of PS2 games. Every so ofte
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There are lots and lots of great, cheap PS3 games. I think I saw Dead Space the other day for $20. I picked up Rainbow Six Vegas for $20 also. Even Metal Gear Solid 4 is only $30-$40 now.
not the recession (Score:2)
I'm sure that folks are being more careful spending their dollars these days. If the economy goes to hell and you've got less money to spend you won't be throwing it away on crap. But the problem isn't really that the economy has gone to hell, it's that there's just a glut of crap to buy.
It seems to me that very few video games are actually worth their price these days. You pay >$50 for a game with good games have been released this year?
Plus you've got the vendor lock-in... Gotta buy your console fo
There are good games! (Score:2)
Three factors: (Score:2)
1. Drastic increase of DRM disruptiveness and intrusiveness. This makes playing inconvenient.
2. Gameplay did not progress at all. I would say it stagnated, which means, no incentive to buy new games. Maybe people are NOT that infatuated with pretty graphics, after all?
3. Weak economy.
These three factors don't just add up, but multiply each other.
Maybe...just maybe... (Score:2)
Take your pick (Score:2)
I realize that these are hard problems to fix, but the "silver bullet / soundbite" method appeals to the sheeple that follow the loudest voice that keeps its words small. So we're bound to hear from casual or
Enough with the correlationisnotcausation tag (Score:5, Insightful)
The phrase is a reminder that two events may not be linked, not proof positive that they're not. You don't measure below-average rainfall during a drought, and then say "Let's keep in mind, other factors could be at play than a drought!" A drought IS an extended period of reduced rainfall, by definition. Similarly, there is no question that low sales are linked to a recession, because they define a recession.
Statistics *groan* (Score:2)
Any drop/gain will be the biggest drop/gain in X $time_unit. Markets cannot expand indefinitely, eventually there is a saturation. They will also go up and down. Statistics are not inherently meaningful. Trends usually break. Do they count sales of monthly subscriptions as sales? People are buying some games over and over and over and over and over and over. The more MMOs there are, the less NEW games people will buy.
Wednesday i was older than i've ever been! Stop the presses! i've been getting olde
You know what might help? (Score:4, Insightful)
Here's a suggestion...
Try selling the fucking games for more than 45 minutes.
Seriously, instead of the normal price-dropping sequence, one thing I'm seeing a lot lately (mostly in niche games) is, after the really SHORT period where no one buys a game for $60, they just stop shipping it entirely!
A few months ago, I actually paid $65 for a USED copy of Ar Tonelico since I'd missed news of its release and no one had it! Not gamestop, not amazon... it's nuts.
Kinda funny (Score:3, Insightful)
While a lot of good points are made in this discussion, the central point is mostly missed. Reading headlines in the past few days, I've seen that manufacturing is down, sales are down, homes are being repossessed, people are out of work, hell, I am out of work. I've been working reduced hours since the new year, they finally laid be off 3 weeks ago, and no one knows when things are going back to normal. The wife has been working reduced hours since last thanksgiving. Money is tight, in my house, and in every house that I know of.
I'm quite certain that a lot of slashdotters have pretty secure jobs, and they can continue to purchase such trivial things as games. But, the economy really does suck.
There will be an article coming out in a few months, revisiting this same subject, but it will be "Game sales are down for the second half of 2009". Many of these same posts will be made, "Well, they haven't RELEASED anything in the last half year that's worth PLAYING!" But, a more people are going to put two and two together to make at least one (probably correct) conclusion: "The gaming industry has also been hit by the recession, they've had layoffs, fewer people are investing money in gaming, overpaid executives have been let go - people don't have the time or money to waste on gaming."
Those of you who haven't felt the recession in your wallet yet just MIGHT consider investing money in the economy, rather than wasting your money on some new game. Of course, it's your money - do with it as you please. But, when YOUR job is outsourced to China or India, you may wish that you had spent more wisely.
My two cents, anyway.
Me? I'm not dangling at the bottom of the food chain, yet. But, I seem to be slipping downward right along with most of America.
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Industry is fine, EA-style crap is finally dying (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
"The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression."
I don't think I've ever seen that web error.