The Gaming Industry is Doing Well. I mean Badly. I mean... Crap.

I absolutely LOVE reading my daily Google alerts on the "video game industry." Its like reading a paper written by someone with multiple personality disorder. Or an identity crisis. One headline reads "EA forcasts another tough year for gaming..." while the next reads "video games are starting 2010 strong." This a hilarious daily occurrence for me.

What does this mean for gaming? Personally, I think folks are just freaking out that the bubble is going to burst, a la internet companies of the 90's. I can understand that trepidation; video games aren't cheap to make, and spend years in development surrounded by uncertainty as to whether that investment will ever be recouped (much less whether there will be a profit). However, I don't think the industry is even CLOSE to experiencing the cataclysmic shift that occurred in the music and film industry... because geeks are smarter than you and me. I mean that lovingly!

People are still craving video games, and a recession is the time for them to shine! People are not going out and spending money; they want to invest in something that will have lasting entertainment over days and months, and not merely hours. So you know what? Maybe 2010 won't be as great as 2007-2009 for video games. But the industry needs to keep in mind that it's doing substantial better than most other entertainment industries AND in a recession. As long as games continue to be innovative and push the envelope, there's no reason to panic. Be cautious? Yes. But you don't need to push the red button yet.