Just 2 points :

- We are suppose to be in recession since about 1 year, but despite this, last Xmas sales were AMAZING.

- Since 3 months, it seems recession has been stronger and all doubters, including me, begin to see recession is real
BUT
console hardware/software sales are still STELLAR !!!

I must say I m wondering if recession is as strong/real as they say.

I only ever pay for things with money I have, as a rule.

On a related note, I'm living in my girlfriend's condo. It's not a bad deal!

I wonder i this will affect our 360 purchase this holiday...

OH MAN 700 points! This is nuts... its a good thing I pulled all my stocks and mutual funds out of the stock market before this summer. Still I'm going to have to cut back in other ways...

A new car this year is looking less likely :(
As for my favorite past time (video games) I was planning on buying a lot this winter... but with the recession getting worse I feel I should save my money and use Gamefly more instead.

Now how are we to boost the economy back up if everyone pulls there money out of the market (which its looking like now) or cuts back severely on spending? Like someone said above, entertainment such as videogames is a much cheaper form of entertainment over football tickets, traveling or expensive dinners. I also believe video games will still do good in a recession b/c people look to entertainment to have fun, escape reality or forget about their troubles during bad times. In the 1930's, during the Great Depression people went to the movies a lot to escape. As for me I'm craving watching comedies more than ever right now.

So instead of planning a big trip, parents will probably choose to save money and buy a game to keep their family entertained. But obviously video games will sell nowhere near their potential compared to good economic times. A $400 PS3 will be a very tough sell to those that don't already have it. Xbox 360 will likely do a lot better at half the price.

I'm certainly hoping for a big change on November 4th and I hope everyone here that can vote, will vote.

@libellule

Entertainment industry is almost not affected in a recession.

I'm not good at economics but maybe the cosumer confidence in the economy or lack of anticipation/understanding of economic decline is keeping retail spending constant or at least at a healthy level . Possibly continued spending will keep more people in their jobs , enable more people to spend and consequently lessen the effects of the crunch.

alchohol industry will also be in good shape once the recession is thoroughly under way.

Here's to change. Clink

@million
It's funny actually, the less people that are aware of the crisis, the better off the market is. Speculation is more dangerous than terrorism; Banks, more dangerous than standing armies.

I don't think that is an accurate characterization of what happened ... The mortgage and credit markets (along with the housing market) were dramatically changed in the 1990s in order to help low-income people buy homes. The problem is that the changes that were made to help poor people access credit were also taken advantage of by speculators and traditional home buyers which drove the price of homes up; eventually, a large portion of people (poor and middle class) needed the highest risk mortgages (ARMs) in order to buy any home and when the market began to fall it collapsed under its own weight.

All is not negative though.
For most people aged under 40 this is actually not a bad thing as we still have most of our retirement savings yet to happen and a stock market hitting rock bottom means great opportunities for it to rise in the next years........

At least that's what I tell myself each time I look at my 401k :P
Stupid thing already cost me 10k $ though as I had stock options expiring in 2 months I hadn't exercised yet and now they are cheaper than the option price.............

*sigh* Why so many huge drops today? I was hoping for a good day on Wall Street. It probably will effect game sales but entertainment IE video games, movies, and TV are industries that usually thrive in a recession, though most of the time companies have to make things on a lower budget in those times.