Did the Video Game Industry Finally Spring a Leak?
The video game industry has been on fire. For twenty seven months, a streak almost unfathomable in electronics retail, the U.S. marketplace returned double digit year over year percentage growth (via NPD). Every month had yielded a more than 10% gross sales improvement, every month until now. The August NPD retail report came out this week and it showed a surprise slowdown. In August, the industry grew only 9% year over year in the U.S. Many are questioning what happened and if it’s cause for concern. Gaming is one of those entertainment industries that is often called “Recession Resistant.” In tougher times, the theory goes, people need their escapism and fun more than ever. Even as they watch their spending, they’ll pay for a movie ticket, or a DVD, or a new game to suspend reality. But most anyone who has ever owned a water resistant watch will tell you, water resistance isn’t the same as waterproof. If you take that watch down deep enough underwater, it will let the water in. Reces
