People are busy. It's easy to spend an hour or two watching TV than get into a game.

I personally won't buy new games until I have read some reviews and had personal friends tell me they liked it. I have paid 60 bucks to find the game lasted 5 hours or so. Screw that. If they want to release games with almost no single player, they can expect people such as myself to not buy them. I could care less about multiplayer, on most games I'm buying it to kill time and not deal with stupid people. If I want to play online I have MMOs and a bevy of FPS games already.

Which brings me to my next point, a lot of games are basically the same thing over and over. Why buy new Call of Duty games when you could buy one for 10 bucks used and have the same game? If they want people to buy games they need to give us reasons to. I can find cheap older games that I missed on a download service like Steam or Direct2drive and have more fun than a majority of the new 60 dollar games. I'm sure piracy also plays a part but I think people use piracy as a way to see if the game has anything worth paying for or they just can't afford it anyway. Regardless you won't see the money. All of us have been burned so many times we are afraid to commit the money to find that we should have bought Game A instead of Over-hyped Game B.

the economy, lack of innovative game releases and fishing on WoW for hat, boots, and rod probably contributed to lower sales

Most games now days are all FLASH no SUBSTANCE.  Nuff' said.

Originally posted by MrJigglypuff

People are busy. It's easy to spend an hour or two watching TV than get into a game.

If the games were fun then they could easily "get into" them.

I don't know what it was like anywhere else during the last year, but in Canada it was reported here that eating out, hobby stores, theatre sales and especially reported that the gaming industry had a gigantic record boost in sales/revenue because even though significant job losses and the economy going down the crapper, people here were actually spending more because there was just nothing else to do.

The gaming industry as a whole fairs better during a recession then other entertainment industries.  Its cheaper to buy a subscription to an mmo then it is to take the family to a theme park for a day.  The mmo also provides a longer amount of entertainment then a theme park.  I don't really think its a tanking in the game industry, I think its a tanking of instore sales.  More games are being downloaded today then ever before and year over year digital distribution games have been increasing in revenue.

There were a few good games in 2009, the same is holding true with 2010.  There seems to be some companies that flood the market with games, and they aren't doing too hot.  But the gems I imagine stand out more in the field of crap EA, Activision, Square-Enix-Eidos, and Ubisoft are trying to leave us with.

Same thing in Sweden GameFarmer, in all but the gaming industry. But it is nearly the number-one-country for piracy as well as (sadly) it's widely accepted here (yes, it pisses me off).

Personally, I do spend alot of cash on games and DLC (and I do have to say I loved DA:O), and from reading reports from game-companies - there's also a fair few of them moving away from the PC-market because of the prevalent piracy, switching (or considering to) switch) to console full-time. Which is sad in my opinion. Also, as several others have said - DLC are not included in the sales-reports which skews it quite a bit.

Originally posted by GameFarmer

I don't know what it was like anywhere else during the last year, but in Canada it was reported here that eating out, hobby stores, theatre sales and especially reported that the gaming industry had a gigantic record boost in sales/revenue because even though significant job losses and the economy going down the crapper, people here were actually spending more because there was just nothing else to do.

Originally posted by elusivex

Originally posted by Rockgod99

 

With the economy more people are saving cash on their game hobbies by buying Used games through gamestop or even second hand through Ebay also direct download is often cheaper and those dont get counted.

I know I purchased exactly 24 titles since August 09. Only 5 of those were new titles.

My other friends wont buy a game until its dropped to 39.99 atleast.

If a higher percentage of games came out the gate kicking ass and taking names like they use to, we wouldn't be so cautious with our disposable income. The issue now is we have all/or at least most been screwed on a 60$ game now. I know a huge majority of us have rushed out bought a game for a console or PC format at a 50$ price tag or more. Gotten home and felt duped. They feel cheap un-polished and rushed. So I think we as gamers are getting smarter with what we choose to Buy which may in the long run lead company's back to the path of making good games again.

We can only hope for that anyway. With G4-TV reviewing games, magazines reviewing games this very website for a good example. We have a plethora of things to consider before buying a product. Less impulse buying is a good thing both for us as the consumers and it will only help the company's learn releasing bad games won't make them as much money over the long haul. Short term gains are nothing anymore.

 

I won't go out as an adult and buy a game just because I saw an Ad on TV. I'll wait read the tech reviews, look on sites like this for fellow gamers I've seen posting for years and trust for gaming opinions. I'll see if people are bitching about the game and if the gripes are reasonable. Guild Wars 2 for example hey it looks great tons of people are worshiping it as the next Killer mmorpg. I won't buy it at release I'll wait 3 months ish see if people are playing it for very long, if its got lasting fun and enjoyment potential. The game might be free monthly but if you get sucked in you WILL probably buy multiple expansions.

If the newer generation Was the same way which I honestly think they are catching on, we won't have to wait much longer for company's/developers/publishers to really understand the market in which they make money.

 

 

Just my 2 cents~

Personally, If I can't find  a downloadable Demo for it - chances are I won't buy it, as I want to know what to expect from the game (or in MMO's - a free X-days trial before you purchase the game).

Also, I believe the market needs a change to cater more to adults - especially MMO's (let's face it, the gamer-generation has grown up quite a while ago).

I haven't spent money on games in a while because nothing looks good.  Last thing I bought was Mass Effect 2 which I still hop on and play now and again.  Everything out there looks shallow and generic and that goes doubly for MMOs.   Seems lately that most mmos aren't about fun and adventure but are specifically designed to make me play them 8 hours a day and become addicted and keep paying my monthly fee.   Instead of gaming I've been working on my yard and damn does my grass look good.  Thanks shitty games!  My wife thanks you too.

Originally posted by brostyn

Sales were worse than even 2009, when we were dead center in the eye of the shit storm.

Is this something so simple as people not having disposable income, or something more?

Personally, I quit buying games long ago. I buy about one or two a year. I'm always disappointed. I haven't played a game I liked since Dawn of War. I try all the new hot RPGs and RTSs. They are just old rehashes of games I've already played. Fallout 3 and Oblivion were far too much like Morrowind, which I played the crap out of. NWN2 was a UI mess. Dragon Age was too tedious. DoW2 was DoW. I fell out of love with Final Fantasy long ago when it became all emo. Are gamers finally get fed up with all the copy and paste gameplay? I hope so. However, more than likely, its just money problems.

 

What are your thoughts?

I found DoW2 to be highly disappointing in comparison to DoW.  I remember I used to joke that the one good thing about MMORPGs was that the $15 a month was cheaper than wasting money on single player games that did not last a weekend.  Stupidly after once again realizing there was no point to WoW, I saw that Steam had DoW2 Gold on sale for Memorial Weekend.  I figured instead of subbing to another MMORPG, I would go ahead and get DoW2 thinking about how much I enjoyed DoW.  Well sure enough, DoW2 Gold (original/expansion) did not even last the weekend and had almost no replay value.

I saw a review of the expansion stating that $30 was a fair price for 10 hours of additional play.  I suppose if you look at it as $3 per hour of entertainment, it is cheaper than buying a new movie or going to the movies and around the price of those $5 + tax movies out of the bin at a Wal-Mart.  Still, I had to laugh - thinking back to what we paid for games and how long we played them.

I think it is a combination of people not thinking the games are worth the money and simply not having as much disposable income.  I'm glad I only spent $19.99 for DoW2 Gold... I would have hated to have paid full price for the original game and the expansion for how little play I got out of it.

Originally posted by VirusDancer

I think it is a combination of people not thinking the games are worth the money and simply not having as much disposable income.  I'm glad I only spent $19.99 for DoW2 Gold... I would have hated to have paid full price for the original game and the expansion for how little play I got out of it.

I think Dawn of War 2 was made as a multiplayer game, for the 'replayability' factor, not that I enjoyed it.

I didn't like it much, though. I played as Orks in the first one - loved having hordes of guys stomping around the map, and the strange "WAAAUUUGH!" resource.

It seems they didn't care much for hordes of things with the second game - especially considering that you would usually go in with three-four squads, position up the seige/suppressing squad, get snipers in place, and have assault/marine squads taking the damage up front.

The game was met by myself with a yawn - multiplayer was interesting for like five minutes.

---

As for the video game industry, digital downloads. Enough said.

But let's say more!

I haven't played a new innovative game since Braid - and it was a platformer at heart, with some neat "time travel" functions to it. Cool! I haven't finished it yet, because it is somewhat difficult. Yay! By completing what I have so far, I have already 'felt smart', because it was challenging.

It was such a breath of fresh air, and was pretty fun (if a little slow paced, compared to my usual FPS high).

As for MMORPGs? Nothing. Nothing new at all, have I played, in terms of innovation. I can not wait for the day when someone goes "Hmm... do we have to tank, heal, and dps?" in the design room, and actually acts on it.

And I simply don't have the time for MMOs, 'cept EVE, because I don't actually have to play to progress. Woo!

I found this funny.

I decided to bring my son to toys r us the other day to get some action figure for him and I noticed all the new games were marked above 59.99.

They had RDR and Alan Wake at 64.99.

If retailers are going to keep raising prices can you blame us for waiting on mark downs and used games.

Wait six months and pick up that awesome game for 39.99/29.99.

Remember the old NES days my mom paid 80 bucks for Rescue... lol.

If games go that high ill officially quit playing.

Over time, the bar for video games got raised over and over again. Suddently it seems like starting around 2008 that more video game companies got greedy and tried pushing out games faster and with less quality, and it worked at first, but then people got burnt enough to learn to take a wait and see approach with most games.

Thing is, some companies never really gave in to this, and when those games are released, are considered a MUST BUY. Rockstar, Blizzard, and Bioware are just a few to mention.

Cant really compare a mmo like wow too a console game  mmos are a compeletly diffrent fan base for the most part especially when someone come out saying there no point too a mmo, sure there is its immersive make a character take on his role do as you will. mmos are just the soap operas of the video game industry.console games are like movies gotta go get yer fix on a great movie once in awhile. i dont think i made much sense but o hell whatever lol.

gaminng has been a big big step last couple years bought red dead loving it all the hell. dragonage and masseffect 2. the witcher 2 should be out sometime within the year frame looking great.

One of the main problems might be the lack of quality in many titles.

People will eventually get jaded of games that are barely worth renting and start thinking before buying. I'm not a big fan of metacritic, but if you check the recent games, most didn't do very well, and they also failed to live up to the expectations.

I just got an xbox 360. I haven't paid more than $15.00 on used games from Amazon. Usually I pay less than $10.00. My one exception..Red Dead Redemption....and it was worth it. I only play MMO's on PC. I paid for AOC and expansion. I have WOW and all expansions...SWG..COX. All others were digital downloads..FE(free through mmorpg..thanks again)...LOTRO...DDO..CO..STO..TCoS and don't seem to be reflected in this study.

Originally posted by gameguy369

Over time, the bar for video games got raised over and over again. Suddently it seems like starting around 2008 that more video game companies got greedy and tried pushing out games faster and with less quality, and it worked at first, but then people got burnt enough to learn to take a wait and see approach with most games.

My thoughts as well.  There used to be fewer games being released, but of higher quality.  Each generation saw a big increase in graphics and mechanics.  Nowadays we are bombarded with releases, which at best add very little, or more commonly are a cheap knock-off of what already exists.  Or we are given more of the same, but with a different IP.  The novelty of which is very short lived. 

Apologies for beating a dead horse.