Game Sales Drop Nearly 8 Percent in November

[lost]

The Q4 period is usually a time for publishers to line their pockets. While not quite filing for bankruptcy it seems that it hasn't been quite as fruitful so far this year with November and October games sales dropping significantly.

NEW YORK - Americans reached into their pockets - though not as deep as last year - to spend $2.7 billion on video games in November, according to figures reported last week by market researcher NPD Group.

That's a nearly 8 percent decline from November 2008, and further sign the industry won't do as well in 2009 as it did last year, when it set a sales record of more than $21 billion. In October, total sales of video game hardware, software and accessories fell 19 percent from the same month last year.

NPD analyst Anita Frazier said she expects this year's sales to hit $20 billion. Better economic news, combined with "frugal fatigue" could boost sales during these last weeks of the holiday season, she said.

Lots more interesting analysis at pressofAtlanticCity.com (http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/article_b14e1257-e654-5de5-b4d8-3dc6f8268518.html)

The Curse of Modern Warfare 2! Coming to a theater near you...

[AspectVoid]

I can't say I'm surprised. Things are tight for most people this year. My father finally got a job this past November after being out of work for almost a year. Things are getting better, but people are still playing it tight just in case.

[Dag-Sabot]

I didn't see anything worth buying in November. Sorry.

[pwnophobia]

I didn't see anything worth buying in November. Sorry.

Really? That surprises me as Assassin's Creed 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Modern Warfare 2, New Super Mario Brothers Wii all come to mind.

[Johan]

I'm surprised sales didn't drop even more, actually. Times are tight. :(

U6 unemployment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment) is at 17.5%!!!!! (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/business/economy/07econ.html)

What is U6 unemployment? From the link:

* U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
* U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
* U3: Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
* U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
* U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
* U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons.


U6 includes all of those (basically those out of work, those who have given up looking, and those who are underemployed in part-time or lesser-paying jobs than previously) and is a better measure of the employment situation than the simple "10% unemployed" number tossed around.

People are hurting badly. Very badly.

[Demo_Boy]

Noone knew Assassins Creed 2 was hot until recently.

[modeps]

Noone knew Assassins Creed 2 was hot until recently.

I don't know if you realize this but despite its flaws, Assassin's Creed 1 sold like hotcakes... why wouldn't the second? Who didn't know that it would sell?

[Dag-Sabot]

Really? That surprises me as Assassin's Creed 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Modern Warfare 2, New Super Mario Brothers Wii all come to mind.Honestly, none of those appeal to me. I'll rent AC one of these days. Zombies are lame, (I go to crack-town if i want to see those), Everything else seemed like hype-fueled shovel ware.
I did buy TBOGT, but that was in October.

[automaton]

Drop the price of games and I'll buy more. When games got to the $40 price point last gen, I bought games all the time. I'm just not doing that this generation.

[surj0]

Drop the price of games and I'll buy more. When games got to the $40 price point last gen, I bought games all the time. I'm just not doing that this generation.

Seriously....I don't care if they make the crap HD and it takes them longer, it's still crap. There are no impulse buys at $60+ US anymore, it's solid grade A titles or nothing.

[bean19]

I wonder if this could have anything to do with more than half the season's big releases being pushed off to Q1.

[greenapple]

Drop the price of games and I'll buy more. When games got to the $40 price point last gen, I bought games all the time. I'm just not doing that this generation.

Game pricing was the same Nov. 08 as it was now. The pricing issue is completely unrelated to the story at hand.

[Froggy]

Game pricing was the same Nov. 08 as it was now. The pricing issue is completely unrelated to the story at hand.

Humbug. I think we all would buy more games if the price point was lower. I might be wrong, but isn't the article about a downward trend?

Now this is completely unrelated:

I wonder if Chihuahuas and Great Danes were on the Arc...

[brandonjclark]

Game pricing was the same Nov. 08 as it was now. The pricing issue is completely unrelated to the story at hand.


I just read in an article in PC gamer that, strangely, the prices of videogames have gotten CHEAPER over the years.

A $50 game(pc game) in 1999 would cost over $62 in today's inflated costs.

We've been actually blessed considering all other forms of e-entertainment have gone up (movies, rentals, cable costs, etc.)

[TeeCakes]

No surprise, the Wii pushed over 2M units last year, and this year sold half that at a slightly lowered price. When the gaming industry's success is based on a fad, the bubble bursts a lot faster.

[oldjadedgamer]

Noone knew Assassins Creed 2 was hot until recently.

The biggest flaw in Assassin's Creed II is that the first one exists. I think a lot of people bought the first one and assumed the second one would be crappy too. I've beaten both games and it's too bad cause AssCree2 is one of the best games I played but it has to deal with the stain that was AssCreed1.

Really? That surprises me as Assassin's Creed 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Modern Warfare 2, New Super Mario Brothers Wii all come to mind.

I only bought one of those and rented the rest.

[Froggy]

I just read in an article in PC gamer that, strangely, the prices of videogames have gotten CHEAPER over the years.

A $50 game(pc game) in 1999 would cost over $62 in today's inflated costs.

We've been actually blessed considering all other forms of e-entertainment have gone up (movies, rentals, cable costs, etc.)

Touche. I rescind my humbug. That's interesting.

[Venkman]

Drop the price of games and I'll buy more. When games got to the $40 price point last gen, I bought games all the time. I'm just not doing that this generation.

Remember when SNES RPG's would go for $70? Ouch!

[oldjadedgamer]

Remember when SNES RPG's would go for $70? Ouch!

I remember that too. I also remember that it cost $40 just for the cartridge alone before they even put a game on it... and I remember now that each blank DVD that my games come on cost $0.20 now in contrast.

[TeeCakes]

I remember that too. I also remember that it cost $40 just for the cartridge alone before they even put a game on it... and I remember now that each blank DVD that my games come on cost $0.20 now in contrast.

That's why I follow the Johan School of Games Buying. After the holidays I'll be able to pick up Fallout 3 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000UU7VUC/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new) for under $25!! :D

[bean19]

I remember that too. I also remember that it cost $40 just for the cartridge alone before they even put a game on it...

Did you mean $4?

This intrigued me and I did a search on this to find out if I could find the actual price. The idea that they were spending $40 to manufacture cartridges seems ridiculous as there are always a large number of games that don't sell as well as those that are defective. At $40, games would very quickly become not profitable.

Old SNEScartridges were basically very cheap sticks of RAM that sometimes had batteries and small chips to save data. As they were mass produced, I'd expect their cost to be around $4-10, but that's just me spitballing.