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TheLastStarFighter on 21 May 2013
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spurgeonryan said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
The "crash" is dramatically, completely over-exhaturated by history. In reality, it was basically a bad year. Kinda like 2011-12 so to speak. The reason it is called a "crash", is because video games were new at the time. Atari's were bascially the only system, so when consumers began to lose interest in it, a lot of casual, non-gamer observers felt that was the end of video games. It was really just the end of Atari. The "crash" happened in 1983, but I can still remember in 1984 enjoying my family's Colecovision and trips to the arcade to drop quarters in machines. Then in 1985 the NES was launched, and talk of exciting new systems began to reach my town. So basically it was a "down year", not a "crash". Most consumers didn't even notice it, not any more than we might notice the drop off of Wii games in 2011 as Nintendo switched focus to Wii U. The difference today is the industry is much more diverse, large and established. Sony and MS didn't transition at the same time as Nintendo and the games keep coming, even if sales are down.

So in essence, we have had many crashes over the years. Until the PS really picked up , the Saturn and N64 were kind of a crash, then the Dreamcast and GC and even Xbox were not that good.

Then recently, as the DS and Wii and PSP faded into history, we had the PS3 and 360 reaching saturation, the Wii U failing, 3DS doing sub par, and the Vita.

 

About right?

Yeah, pretty much.  Essentially, there was never a "crash".  It was called a crash because people thought that was the end of video games when a system reached its end.  Now we know that the video game industry is cyclical and people just get bored with an old machine and want a new one.  There are lots of highs and lows, and the "crash" was just the first low.  People didn't stop liking video games.

Now, that said, the "crash" did represent a dramatic drop in revenues over a couple years, but it was simply because of the nature of the fledgling industry.  In 2013 we're seeing drops of 30-40% year on year for XBox and PS3, but we also know that new systems are coming.  Back in '84 people didn't know NES and the fresh new Super Mario Bros. was on its way the following year.