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Forums - Sales - What effects will a recession have on the video game industry?

z64dan on 16 January 2008

I don't see there being any effect on the video game market, really. I mean, allegedly we were in a bad recession around 2001/2002 but hey, videogames were doing great back then right? Microsoft was even able to enter the market with no problem.



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thekitchensink on 16 January 2008

The movie industry was positively thriving during the Great Depression. There's no way the dollar will be going that low again, so games have nothing to worry about.



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Kasz216 on 16 January 2008

I think sales will go up.

Entertainment usually does well in times of economic crisis because people want to forget the crap that's happening.

Maybe more Wii games get bought by "the casuals" something they can play for a while instead of spending a similar amount on like 2-3 movies... etc.

MAYBE the HD systems will take a hit due to the relative cost of their product... but even then... those who already have the systems will probably end up buying MORE games.

If it looks like it will be prolongued, maybe the Wii will get some more titles, since as stated it will be harder to raise capital.  As will DS.



DOATS1 on 16 January 2008

i think there will be a change, but i dont think it will be significant enough to to say that it has made an effect on the gaming industry.




omgwtfbbq2 on 16 January 2008
z64dan said:
I don't see there being any effect on the video game market, really. I mean, allegedly we were in a bad recession around 2001/2002 but hey, videogames were doing great back then right? Microsoft was even able to enter the market with no problem.
If losing $5 billion is not classified as a problem, then yes.

 



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Nidan on 16 January 2008

Firstly people tend to buy what they want not what they need however i would say

  • Nintendo would gain the most due to lower development costs and lower sales cost ( lower sales but higher market share)
  • Games will sell less.
  • More quality games as developers need the game to sell
  • Not many exclusives as this is too risky


Predictions JAN 08

2008 PS3-19.5M(actual 19.5) XBOX360-23M(actual 27.5) Wii - 37M(actual 45.8M)

End of 2009 PS3-27 25M XBOX360-30 35M Wii - 48 63M (revised DEC 08)

Price Point
Mid 2008 Wii $250 Xbox360$249 Xbox360(HDD)$299 PS3 $399

Mid 2009 Wii $189 Xbox360$199 Xbox360(HDD)$249 PS3 $339

Mid 2010 Wii $ 149 Xbox360$159 Xbox360(HDD)$199 PS3 $289

Avinash_Tyagi on 16 January 2008

Nintendo will do great, MS and Sony might be hurting, especially since it will slow HD adoption



 

Predictions:Sales of Wii Fit will surpass the combined sales of the Grand Theft Auto franchiseLifetime sales of Wii will surpass the combined sales of the entire Playstation family of consoles by 12/31/2015 Wii hardware sales will surpass the total hardware sales of the PS2 by 12/31/2010 Wii will have 50% marketshare or more by the end of 2008 (I was wrong!!  It was a little over 48% only)Wii will surpass 45 Million in lifetime sales by the end of 2008 (I was wrong!!  Nintendo Financials showed it fell slightly short of 45 million shipped by end of 2008)Wii will surpass 80 Million in lifetime sales by the end of 2009 (I was wrong!! Wii didn't even get to 70 Million)

Just_Ben on 16 January 2008

Hardware should get cheaper (More production available, lower production cost through recission). That should effect lower consumer demand out, but software sales will most likely go down (because the price of software stays unaffected)



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ferret1603-2 on 17 January 2008

More piracy as some people who'd usually pay for their games lose their jobs and can't afford to buy.



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HappySqurriel on 17 January 2008

A downturn in the ecconomy tends to favour the videogame industry as a whole because people spend more money on inexpensive entertainment; as expensive as a console seems, in comparison to going to taking your family to a movie every couple of weeks it is cheap. At the same time people are going to cut back on unnecessary luxury purchases (like HDTVs and Blu-Ray players) ...

In my opinion the overall effect should be growth in the videogame market, centered around the Wii and Nintendo DS because they're highly affordable, highly desired, and match the technology that people currently have ...