Video Games in today's economy

With the current recession that the US / World economy seems to be in, and with many places of business hurting, etc., how do you think the video game industry is holding up during it all? Will the recession hit the gaming industry too or will Video Games hold their own, thrive and possibly even prosper during this Christmas season and the time ahead?

Are you buying or planning to receive Video Games / Video Game Systems / etc., for Christmas gifts this year???

Here's an interesting article on this subject:

http://tech.msn.com/news/articlecnet.as ... &GT1=40000

I would be surprised if the game industry doesn't take a hit on this, too. Console sales would be down more than game sales I think, though. There's not a major console launch this year and a lot of people have at least one of the latest consoles already. But like that article said, $50 is $50. If it comes down to $50 for a game or $50 for food, well, that's not a hard choice.

At least gas prices have dropped from what they were in the summer. Those prices would have really made things bad this holiday season.

Yeah, I'm sure there are many families who may not even be able to afford $50.00 for a video game this year, let alone a more expensive game system. I think a lot of people will be hitting the rent to buy stores or games previously played, etc., and stuff like that to try and get stuff cheaper.

Most kids today are going to want video games, though, because they play them constantly. Well, it's not just kids. I know a lot of adults who play the games too and will probably get the games before any other Christmas goodies. If some folks had to choose between video games and other presents, many would choose the games because they spend more time with them, etc., I think.

I really don't look for the video game industry to be hurt much during this time. In fact, I think it may be one of the things that does well or prospers to some degree. I could be wrong though.

Well, it looks like the industry is about to start taking those hits. In this Gamespot article, it's revealed that Midway, the company behind Mortal Kombat and a great many arcade games, owes more debt than the company's total assets are worth. If those debts are called in, Midway is finished.

Sorry to hear that about Midway. Hope they manage to work things out during and after the holidays.

It looks like three more game companies are going under. One is Free Radical, who made the TimeSplitters series, Haze, Second Sight, Goldeneye 007, and Perfect Dark. They were working on Star Wars: Battlefront III and TimeSplitters 4. Another is Ensemble Studios, who made Age of Empires.

The third is just a rumor right now. It hasn't been announced officially, but it seems Factor 5 is closing shop. They were working on Kid Icarus for the Wii, which likely would have done very well after Pit's strong showing in Smash Bros. Brawl.

Thoul wrote:

They were working on Kid Icarus for the Wii, which likely would have done very well after Pit's strong showing in Smash Bros. Brawl.

That's also still an unconfirmed rumor. I've been checking up on that one a lot. The rumor's been out there much of the year and remains only that, as far as I know. Regardless, though, it's too bad that they may be going under...along with the other ones. Seems no one's totally safe from this recession.

Ah... well, maybe that part's not true and Nintendo has something else in mind for Kid Icarus. It is hard to believe that a company working on such a potentially high profile title would be allowed to go under.

Well, the rumor about a Wii Kid Icarus has been neither confirmed nor denied outright by Nintendo. But the speculation was that Factor 5 was developing it. If Factor 5 goes under and Nintendo still wants a Kid Icarus for the Wii, it could let Retro develop it. And I would trust Retro with that, seeing as how they did an AWESOME job translating KI's so-called "sister" franchise, Metroid, into 3-D with the Metroid Prime series.

Retro could definitely do a great job. I can easily see a lot of the mechanics used in the Metroid Prime series fitting right in with Kid Icarus.