Are Games Becoming Less Popular?

Submitted by UnashamedVandal; May 27, 2012

Games are spoken about constantly and are always hyped up. Take the recent news about Halo 4 for example; its become one of the top talking points of the week...yet according to statistics, video games are becoming less popular. Why is that? Thats right! According to recent statistics that have been gathered, consumers spent 42% less on video games this April than they did during the same time period last year. Obviously this could be down to several factors; perhaps the selection of games has been poor recently, or maybe its just coincidence. Yet April gave us Prototype 2, which was exceptionally popular and received the top sales award for the month. Are video games really dropping in sales as a result of popularity? Heres me thinking games are just getting more and more popular, yet statistics tell me otherwise...however I do find this hard to believe, not the statistic...the situation itself. What do you guys think? My YouTube Channel - Check it! My Twitter - Check it! My Dashhacks Articles - Check em! Let me know your thoughts.

Tags: April Game Sales, Game Popularity, Games Sales, PlayStation Games, Popular Games, Prototype 2, UnashamedVandal, Video Game Popularity, Video Game Sales

Games have just become more expensive and less accessible. Coupling this with the economic downturn, and no one is really in the market to spend hundreds of dollars on gaming right now. Even the 3DS is far too expensive for the same kind of market that the original DS got swept up in, and the Wii U will probably not be nearly as successful as the Wii because it will be more expensive. Not everyone is a "gamer". I don't think the percentage of people in the world who are gamers has risen significantly over the years - but that's not stopped the gaming industry from (falsely) expecting it to.

# Guest 2012-05-27 11:27

Games made today are boring and repetitive . On top of not being worth anyone's time to sit down and play them they cost dramatically more than they used to. The gaming industry tries to milk everything they possibly can from any said game with DLC and now DLC is coming on the 92be67d8aecda84 ee0d4f892a26ab9 c9_disc:0" class="GRcorrect">disc when they are released which is ridiculous. I think many people are just tired of the same old shit. I can believe it if people aren’t buying video games as often as they used to.

# Guest 2012-05-27 11:52

I think accessability is less of an issue - the steep rise of casual gaming has affected all platforms and outlets. Really, it has become the cost, particularly of console and PC gaming that has strained the industry and it's consumers. When you walk into Gamestop, see this weeks AAA title at 60 - 70 and last years that you haven't played at 20 - 30 - is it really a comparison? As a consumer, it's easy for me to say lower prices, but i understand the business end must get it's side. really, the two need to meet in the middle. the unfortunate fac is that the consumer is far more willing to meet in the middle than the publishers. Studios are crumbling, falling apart - even after having released good games! Take Kingdoms of Amalur. 38 studios is now pretty much in the ground. the onus is on the studios, devs and publishers to make quality product AFFORDABLE to it's consumer base - or it will die.

# Guest 2012-05-27 11:55

I may have to agree with wohdin about why games aren't that popular. Not to mention, now it more worries about debts, foreclosures, loss of employment, and even worst is the constant relocation.

However, the other possible factor to contribute to this would be that we now are looking forward to another "online game" than we are looking forward to offline. How many games that came out that are more focus on replay values of the game and the offline mode?

If you were to look at the recent game's tread, a lot of the games are more focus on multiplayer than single player campiagn. Battlefield 3 has the same plots as Call of Duty: Black Ops in which you're retelling the events that occured. The only thing that keeps a multiplayer game going is additional maps pack, modes or tournments.

Then not to mention, we also have a growing tread of companies going the same route as EA, with the "Online Pass" that makes used games pointless to purchase nowaday.

Then, there are also the pointless issues that a lot of PC games going "online mode" only or purchasing a pass. Seem kinda pointless, yah?

# Guest 2012-05-27 12:01

I dunno .. I feel a little bit burnt out there's nothin' new outhere . All the same. You know that " been there, done that" feeling.I began to play that old nes games which are still entertaining.(donkey kong, galaxian, galaga etc.) and turn to cooperative games what i can

Play with someone else(fifa, tekken, mortal kombat, chess, etc.) other titles simple not even the AA titles hype me up I think the game industy should come up with something really revolutionary, otherwise this type of entertaining will fade the hard core game.

# Guest 2012-05-27 13:48

Probably the same reason as all the other videogame crashes throughout history. The market is too oversaturated with generic FPS rehash games, etc

# bimp 2012-05-27 14:03

I don't think its too expensive as much as there is a serious lack of creativity in the industry right now. None of the big name publishers will give developers money for an idea that hasn't been proven to make money, and if it has already proven to make money then it can't be very original. Not to mention developers are seriously overworked and it shows in the games, there just isnt enough feeling of wonder in games. I remember playing NES, SNES, PS1, and N64 games and being filled with a sense of wonder that I don't get from modern games. For the most part modern games are sub-par experiences wrapped up in pretty graphics, one day people will stop buying into the fact that it looks pretty and we'll get back to seeing games with good gameplay.

# Guest 2012-05-27 14:12

If the game industry continue to do 8-9 hour of game play with lack of story it will collapse. We need good story good gameplay and more gamplay, who give a fu...k about the graphic. "personal opinion"

# Guest 2012-05-27 17:46

Well said.

# Guest 2012-05-28 01:27

I feel the same way dude. This is because of this reason I went back to retro gaming...because it was all about gameplay!!!

# Guest 2012-05-28 03:11

No, It was a simple suggestion.

"Here’s me thinking games are just getting more and more popular, yet statistics tell me otherwise...however I do find this hard to believe, not the statistic...the situation itself."

# Guest 2012-05-28 07:02

One game with out pretty graphics and I can play on end Minecraft!

Thats just me I bet there's thousands of others that play aswell.

But it's true I look at gameplay and hype trailers for upcoming games and I feel like the $60 price tag is not worth it knowing its going to bomb in 2 months. Like prototype 2 it's bull that game looked like it needed a lot of help seemed like the same shit over like proto 1 just with a different character. Now in my store it's down to $35 for the Radnet edition so it's like yea I'll buy ur game just not the same day I'll wait a couple of months

# Guest 2012-05-28 09:23

I Agree with you on that, when making a video game it should be more about the entertainment value more than the revenue that it would draw in. The market has changed from where it was about the entertainment to the amount of money they could make off of it. A good example would be the changes from the ps2 to ps3. Most of the games that were on the ps2 had a good to semi-good story and they were fun to play and were replayable. Particuarly, I wonder why Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 have yet to be put on the psn. Also, there was no patches or dlc for any of those titles on the ps2, so therefore when a game was released they would need to have made sure that the game was how they wanted it. Nowadays with the ps3 the game industry has lost its soul, and has become a money whore.

# Guest 2012-05-28 19:14

Yeah, all the games nowadays are redundant, i still play those old games like bomberman and battle city and i was like "fuck prototype 2, i'm sticking with this awesome shit."

# Guest 2012-05-30 13:12

The reason for this is obvious. Free to play models are most likely not in the statistic. Also the increasing popularity of mobile games is a reason for this. And DRM (hey, Diablo 3!) does the rest.

# Guest 2012-05-31 09:46

I would also like to add to this post that variety as gone way down in retail outlets for games. Anyone else remember when you could causually go into a wal-mart and get some thing random and new? Even places like Best Buy barely have much of a game section anymore. And if your a PC gamer.. might as well just laugh yourself out of stores like that because there is almost never anything beyond the 4-8 headlining tittles over the last 3-4 months.

Refresh comments list

Add comment

JComments


	CREATE ACCOUNT NOW TO POST COMMENTS! Why create an account on the Dashhacks network? Because being logged in has its privileges! • COMMENTS! Only logged in users comments go live without waiting for moderator approval! • No video! The video ad in the upper right doesn't interrupt you on all pages! • Customize your profile! Flaunt your xBox Live & PSN gamertags! • It's FREE and it's EASY! And one login works for all of the Dashhacks review sites! So what are you waiting for? Go to the TOP RIGHT of the page and LOGIN or click REGISTER!


	Would you like to get all the new buzz from Dashhacks in your email each day? Subscribe to our Daily Digest! Want to learn more about the team bringing the news to Dash Hacks? Click here to read about them

Are Games Becoming Less Popular?

Related Stories:

Comments

Add comment