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In 1983, North America experienced a massive recession in the video game industry, now known as the video game crash. The crash had devastating effects, bankrup

In 1983, North America experienced a massive recession in the video game industry, now known as the video game crash. The crash had devastating effects, bankrupting game company after game company. At its peak, the revenues for video games in the U.S. sat at $3.2 billion in 1983. By 1985, revenues fell a whopping 97 percent to approximately $100 million. There are many factors behind the crash. The key factor is that by 1983, the video game market was saturated with low-quality games, which resulted in a loss of consumer confidence. Anyone who could make a game was making a game, and there was little to no regulation on the part of the console makers. Players got burnt. Retailers got burnt. People stopped buying video games. The crash marked what many believed to be the end of the video game industry. Sounds like today's "casual gaming" market.

nwh 13y ago
More than that, it's things like "free to play" also sucking the will out of the consumer.
Fomite 13y ago
That was my thought exactly.
Jare 13y ago
Appearances can deceive. The current casual gaming market is also flooded with fantastic games, and with games that, despite being accused of low quality under certain criteria, have millions of fans and regular players that love them. There's a great game waiting for anyone who may want to play something. Low prices, Steam/etc sales, and free-to-play games mean that getting the wrong game is not painful to the consumer, and remove the problem where consumers stop buying games. The games industry (including casual and hardcore) has many problems and pitfalls for individual studios or teams. But in terms of market size, it is pretty healthy and likely to stay that way.
anonymousab 13y ago
The crucial bit is that the public had almost no way of knowing if a game was even playable before buying. Complete opposite today, except for people who preorder every big name game and are likely satisfied regardless. I can see some resemblance in the freemium market - consumer awareness and protections have not caught up with how bad everyone is getting gypped.
- mogrim 13y ago
  > The crucial bit is that the public had almost no way of knowing if a game was even playable before buying. I don't agree: computer games magazines were huge back then, I remember reading and re-reading the reviews at school with my mates, even without the internet it wasn't hard to find out if a game was any good or not.
exelius 13y ago
The "casual gaming" market of today is a lot healthier than the console market of the early 80s. In 1983, the world was enchanted by the potential of video games but the technology just wasn't ready yet. If anything, the great gaming crash scared off the companies that jumped in because it was popular but weren't ready to innovate and paved the way for the real innovators like Nintendo and Sega. The casual gaming market is nothing like that. It's really just the long tail of the larger $70 billion gaming industry. Add to that the fact that smartphone penetration ramping up in emerging markets that never really saw significant console sales and you've got access to a lot more consumers.
yxhuvud 13y ago
What? No, it sounds a whole lot more like todays blockbuster market with crap titles that cost way too much to produce.

nwh 13y ago

More than that, it's things like "free to play" also sucking the will out of the consumer.

Fomite 13y ago

That was my thought exactly.

Jare 13y ago

Appearances can deceive. The current casual gaming market is also flooded with fantastic games, and with games that, despite being accused of low quality under certain criteria, have millions of fans and regular players that love them. There's a great game waiting for anyone who may want to play something. Low prices, Steam/etc sales, and free-to-play games mean that getting the wrong game is not painful to the consumer, and remove the problem where consumers stop buying games. The games industry (including casual and hardcore) has many problems and pitfalls for individual studios or teams. But in terms of market size, it is pretty healthy and likely to stay that way.

anonymousab 13y ago

The crucial bit is that the public had almost no way of knowing if a game was even playable before buying. Complete opposite today, except for people who preorder every big name game and are likely satisfied regardless. I can see some resemblance in the freemium market - consumer awareness and protections have not caught up with how bad everyone is getting gypped.

mogrim 13y ago
> The crucial bit is that the public had almost no way of knowing if a game was even playable before buying. I don't agree: computer games magazines were huge back then, I remember reading and re-reading the reviews at school with my mates, even without the internet it wasn't hard to find out if a game was any good or not.

exelius 13y ago

The "casual gaming" market of today is a lot healthier than the console market of the early 80s. In 1983, the world was enchanted by the potential of video games but the technology just wasn't ready yet. If anything, the great gaming crash scared off the companies that jumped in because it was popular but weren't ready to innovate and paved the way for the real innovators like Nintendo and Sega. The casual gaming market is nothing like that. It's really just the long tail of the larger $70 billion gaming industry. Add to that the fact that smartphone penetration ramping up in emerging markets that never really saw significant console sales and you've got access to a lot more consumers.

yxhuvud 13y ago

What? No, it sounds a whole lot more like todays blockbuster market with crap titles that cost way too much to produce.