Inflation suggests that revenues will always trend upwards - and this is worth taking into account. While this recession has largely affected the industry through the financial side, borrowing costs are up for example and naturally they are not accounted for by revenues.

The idea that videogames are recession-proof is quite frankly absurd.

Developers went under because the market was over saturated and they were too leveraged with debt, not because of the recession.

And Mirror's edge didn't sell well but Left 4 dead, Assassin's creed, Little Big Planet, Wii sport/play/fit, Gears, Resistance and so many other new IPs have sold extremely well this generation.

This article is poorly researched.

a new jet set radio i think would sell like crap

Video game revenues have been rising far faster than the pace of inflation. They've been running between 10% and 20% in recent years, including 13% last year in the US according to NPD, despite the looming recession.

"Recession-proof" might be a misleadingly strong term, but the sales data we've seen this year so far doesn't suggest that the games market is slowing, except perhaps in Japan. Some publishers are in trouble, and the you're right that the credit crunch is affecting how they deal with necessary restructuring, but the recession hasn't itself been the root cause of their problems.

SEGA!!!


Sega forever.

^

Also, I'd have to agree with everyone that pointed out the problem in blaming the masses for this. The market for games like Jet Grind Radio just isn't big, gamers need to accept that fact. People simply buy the games they like. While Mirror's Edge looks attractive to me, it seems to have too many problems to warrant my purchase (only worth a rent). I'm not going to buy it just to contribute to this "creativity toll."

Videogame inflation is probably much higher however, particularly considering that the average game is now a higher price than it was in 2007. It is likely that a significant proportion of the rise in revenues can be explained by increased sales of both Xbox 360 and PS3 games. Of its own, this isn't a bad development, afterall revenues are increasing at a faster pace than economy wide inflation. However, the price change is not an exogenous development - it came as a response to higher funding costs, which have continued to rise as financial conditions have deteriorated. We cannot say anything about the health of the videogame industry without looking at the cost side - particularly in this economic climate.

Well, i had a Sega megadrive and around 60 games for it

a Sega saturn and close to 40 games for it.

and a Sega dreamcast and over 60 games for it.

I tried Sega, i really did.

Its a shame that fantastic games like Shenmue and Jet set radio are now becoming distant memories

Ronster316 said: Well, i had a Sega megadrive and around 60 games for it a Sega saturn and close to 40 games for it. and a Sega dreamcast and over 60 games for it. I tried Sega, i really did. Its a shame that fantastic games like Shenmue and Jet set radio are now becoming distant memories

First I jsut want to say that other than when I discovered videogames in 1989, Dreamcast was the funnest time I had with videogames. Almost every game I got for it was a blast... I am guilty in taking that for granted, because it hasnt been the same since.

I think the true tragedy with the dreamcast is that some games just dissapeared without a trace. Atleast people still praise Shenmue and Jet set radio...but games like Headhunter, Gigawing 2, Cannon Spike, Toy Commander, Bangai-O...they almost dissapeared without history making any refference to them what so ever.

For example Headhunter is easily as good as metal gear solid 2 if not better when it comes to gameplay variety, humor and story... but will it ever get the praise? Not even close...

Ikaruga and Rez would be on the list too had we not seen Xbox live versions of those games.Ikaruga and Rez would be on the list too had we not seen Xbox live versions of those games.

I didn't buy a Dreamcast. I failed Sega. I am very sorry...