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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[The Economist examines 'recession-proof' games industry]]></title><link>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/18/the-economist-examines-recession-proof-games-industry/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/18/the-economist-examines-recession-proof-games-industry/</guid><comments>http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/18/the-economist-examines-recession-proof-games-industry/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/category/culture/" rel="tag">Culture</a>, <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/category/business/" rel="tag">Business</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12815694#top"><img width="490" vspace="4" hspace="0" height="243" border="0" align="top" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/12/gamesalesprojected.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
Although much of the information contained could be classified as "duh" (or in few cases: "wha?") to our loyal readers, <a href="http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12815694#top">The Economist</a> has a piece about how "recession-proof" the video game industry is. Clearly, The Economist is looking at a very macro level when it calls the industry "recession proof," because <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/rumor-factor-5-cuts-37-jobs/">given</a> <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/rumor-around-160-employees-laid-off-by-midway/">recent</a> <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/18/rumor-free-radical-closes-shop/">events</a> we'd be more comfortable if the industry had been classified as "<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/10/pachter-october-hardware-sales-to-indicate-industrys-recession/">recession resistant</a>."<br /><br />The magazine notes that the global sales of console hardware and software are expected to reach $50 billion this year. Regurgitating <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/tag/npd">NPD</a> data from October, the mag points out that sales in the US totaled $697 million, which is a 35% increase from the previous year (November wasn't <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/11/november-npd-wii-breaks-2m-gears-2-breaks-1-5m-what-recess/">too bad either</a>). The question, of course, is whether the industry can keep it up if things get worse.<br /><br /><strong>Update</strong>: We contacted NPD to find out the specific increase in November. The group let us know that software sales were $1.45 billion during the month, up 11% from the prior November.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.joystiq.com"><img src="http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Joystiq" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/18/the-economist-examines-recession-proof-games-industry/">The Economist examines 'recession-proof' games industry</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.joystiq.com">Joystiq</a> on Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:15:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12815694#top>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/18/the-economist-examines-recession-proof-games-industry/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/forward/1405858/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2008/12/18/the-economist-examines-recession-proof-games-industry/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>recession-proof</category><category>recession-resistant</category><category>the-economist</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Alexander Sliwinski]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Dec 2008 18:15:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>