TheGreekDollmaker wrote:The economy is shittier then it was in 2006-7, all the sectors in the US (except Oil and Gas and government, are declining, unemployment and suicides are at Great Depression era levels, the place where I live in has at certain places 75% unemployment, the EU is in the deep red...
Sales are accumulated over the whole decade from launch (usually with some sales continuing even after that in developing markets). 2006/2007 might have been nice but after that were the crash and recession years. It is establishment orthodoxy that the economy will always return to a stable long term trend (with the careful guidance of our central bankers), so it is axiomatic (to mainstream analysts) that 2014 to 2024 will be similar in total to 2006 to 2016. The sales gains come from income growth particularly in developing countries, increased device capability and the cohort of consumers plugged into gaming and media devices steadily expanding. Also entertainment suffers less than other industries in recessions, because people want escapism (and likely have more free time).
This goes for all console btw. There is no way that in the middle of this depression that anybody, except the hardcore, will be willing to spent money on a new console.
I know plenty of people who autobuy the latest iPhone / iPad / iThing on release, regardless of cost. I think there's plenty of discretionary income around, just a question of can consoles still compete for gadget spend.
Why should I buy the Wii U, Xbox One or PS4 for a higher price and with virtually no games
That complaint has been made about every single console release in video game history. You are not an early adopter, we get it. Personally I bought an Xbox360 just so I could play Ace Combat 6, everything else was a bonus.