On Friday, Reuters posted a faintly alarmist news story on the US videogame business, pointing out that sales were up by six percent to $10.5 billion in 2005, but that a decent performance by handheld platforms had cleverly masked disappointing figures in the console sector:
"Console dollar sales were down 3 percent in 2005, while console game dollar sales dropped 12 percent."
Blah, blah, blah... Anyway, there are a few more figures and year-on-year comparisons for you to gawp at if you wish to, but the only reason I'm referencing this article is the staggering piece of punditry featured inconspicuously about halfway through. Faced with having to give his opinion on an industry seemingly stuck in some kind of amnesiac five year cycle of boom and decline, an industry once again sinking slowly to its knees grasping at its neck and squawking breathlessly for the next-generation to arrive, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter told Reuters (drumroll)...
"You need people to buy more stuff. This is a bad downturn"
And with that he seemingly fell silent, perhaps returning to a zen-like state of contemplation, secure in the knowledge that the fortunes of a billion dollar industry had been adequately analysed and dissected.
I want "This is a bad downturn" printed on a t-shirt. I'll wear it to E3.
