It's a sad time in the world today, quite possibly the beginning of a new Depression.
No, the stock market hasn't crashed again, and businessmen aren't hurling themselves from the windows of their Wall Street firms. I'm talking about the depression of nerds all across the globe. Yes, the video game industry has seen sales slip 8% this year, and that's down more than $200 million from the year before.
Despite gaming sales reaching an all-time high in 2008--collecting $21.3 billion from geek pockets the world over--the industry is no match for the recession of 2010. Our government's debt is certainly taking its toll on the nations princesses (I'm talking Zelda and Peach, of course). Not even the cowboy heroes of Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption--whose May debut sold over 1.5 million copies--could set the industry slump out to pasture. With the first half of 2010 dropping gaming company stocks into the red, hope for future sales are bleak...
...then comes the second half of 2010, and its gaming lineup is looking mighty promising. We can expect a boost in sales from such anticipated titles as Fable III (due out October 26) and Assassins Creed: Brotherhood (November 16).
Beyond games themselves, Microsoft's Kinect and the Sony Move promise to change how we play them--even though the Nintendo Wii introduced motion-controlled gaming years ago, Kinect and Move will allow players to use their entire body as the controller. These accessories could be the gallant knight the industry has been waiting for all year. But even if they don't deliver (or, in the Kinect's case, even if they don't make money for the developer), expect sales figures to climb come Fall 2010. I'll bet you 100 rupees that they do.
Any takers?
--Chris
Photo from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.
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