Industri Video Game Kebal Krisis Ekonomi?

Setidaknya begitulah yang dikatakan salah satu artikel dari mingguan ekonomi internasional, The Economist. Bahkan ketika berbagai sektor ekonomi di Amerika mulai ambruk (misalnya perbankan dan otomotif), penjualan video game pada bulan Oktober kemarin (ketika gonjang-ganjing pasar saham mulai terasa) masih mengalami pertumbuhan 35 persen dibanding tahun sebelumnya.

Apa saja faktor yang membuat mereka relatif imun terhadap gejolak pasar? Salah satunya adalah video game justru menjadi alternatif hiburan murah ketika media hiburan lainnya menjadi semakin mahal. Daripada menghabiskan uang banyak untuk liburan tiga hari atau nonton film di boskop selama dua jam, lebih murah untuk membeli beberapa video game yang bisa dinikmati berminggu-minggu.

clipped from www.economist.com As other industries collapse, sales of video games are racing away. Global sales of console hardware and games software are expected to hit a record $49.9 billion this year, says Screen Digest, a consulting firm (see chart). Games sales in America in October totalled $697m, 35% more than a year earlier, according to NPD, a market-research firm. It is often said that video games are recession-proof. Are they really? Video gaming is isolated from the wider economic cycle by having a cycle of its own. Every few years a new crop of consoles is launched, spurring a wave of sales as gamers upgrade. The industry has another layer of recession-proofing in that its biggest-spending customers are typically young men (the average gamer is around 30) with high disposable incomes who regard gaming as an important part of their lives, rather than a form of discretionary spending an extra reason: it offers a relatively cheap form of entertainment that can be consumed at home.

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