news.cnet.com — It would be tempting for those in the video games business to take news like the fact that that October sales were through the roof or that the latest World of Warcraft expansion broke the all-time record for single-day PC game sales as proof that their industry may be immune from the deep despair confronting the global economy.
Nov 25, 2008 View in Crawl 4
namcoNov 25, 2008
Don't you think that most quarters preceding a bunch of major game releases would include a s**t-ton of production and selling expenses? It ain't cheap to have 5 million copies of Madden pressed and shipped from China, and those developers don't work overtime for free.
mythicfluxNov 25, 2008
Do you expect people to blow $60 every couple of months for games that they can get for $45 (or less) at Gamestop used?By using Gamestop, consumers will be able to buy 3 used games ($135) for nearly the price of 2 ($120). Don't get me wrong, spreading out releases may help. But the simple fact is that in economic downturns people look for cheaper forms of entertainment and better ways to stretch their dollar. The only way that spreading out releases will help is if publishers also lower their prices. Something that will hurt publishers even more than Gamestop. And Gamestop will always be their to sell used games for less than a new game.Ultimately it's a lose lose situation for console games publishers. Either they cut costs and lose money or do nothing and lose money because people won't buy their product new. The only companies that will probably ride this downturn out are the MMO's (Blizzard, etc) and digital distribution companies (Valve). This is because subscription services like WoW are a fraction of the price of buying a new game every month but they include hours and hours of playtime and entertainment. Companies like Valve force people to have legitimate copies to play on their systems along with their friends. While consoles also require legitimate copies, those copies can be bought cheaper at Gamestop's. Thus, back to my point, people forget about Gamestop.
deadjoeNov 25, 2008
Record Unemployment in October = Record MMORPG Sales in November
thornharvestarNov 25, 2008
Activision/Blizzard: ATVI on NASDAQ<a class="user" href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=ATVI">http://finance.google.com/finance?q=ATVI</a>
jones82Nov 26, 2008
I think it's safe to assume that the games are already priced at the best profit point for the companies
billtooleFeb 11, 2009
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