With the economy in shambles, video game sales continue to soar in January

Game consoles are overated I get more performance out of my SLI gaming rig

Amd 64 x2 3.0ghz
8 gigs of ram
2 9600 GSO 512meg vid cards in sli FTW!!!

Wow this is surprising but good news.

Zach do you know what the top selling games were for the Xbox 360 and PS3 ?

Nice system there Bag,

I’d rather spend $250 than $2000 for my entertainment needs

crack has an SLI gaming rig and is using a monochrome monitor…

@Mike Here you go:

Xbox 360:

1. LEFT 4 DEAD ELECTRONIC ARTS
2. CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
3. SKATE 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
4. LORD OF THE RINGS: CONQUEST ELECTRONIC ARTS
5. GEARS OF WAR 2 MICROSOFT
6. FALLOUT 3 BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
7. ROCK BAND 2 MTV GAMES/ELECTRONIC ARTS
8. GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
9. NBA 2K9 TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE
10. FABLE II MICROSOFT

PS3:

1. CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
2. SKATE 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
3. LITTLE BIG PLANET SONY
4. MORTAL KOMBAT VS. DC UNIVERSE* MIDWAY
5. GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
6. LORD OF THE RINGS: CONQUEST ELECTRONIC ARTS
7. MADDEN NFL 09 ELECTRONIC ARTS
8. FALLOUT 3 BETHESDA SOFTWORKS
9. RESISTANCE 2 SONY
10. ROCK BAND 2 MTV GAMES/ELECTRONIC ARTS

Just like $.25 movies during the Hoover depression, quasi-adults resolve into escapism during this Bush depression.

@Backbeat

Bush isn’t president any more

^Neither was Hoover when FDR corrected his catastrophic fuck-ups.

Do you realize the top income under FDR was 79 percent. That during WW2 any income over 25000 was taxed 100 percent? That’s the kind of socialism that PROLONGED the depression. Even some of Obama’s economists recognized that the new deal lengthened time to recovery.
Back on topic …. A 60 dollar game lasts a lot longer than a 60 dollar meal. There is value in escapism.

Meant top income was taxed at 79 percent.

Do -you- realize it was Hoover who increased the top marginal personal income tax rates from 24% to 63%? Under FDR, the top marginal briefly hit 90% at one point during a real war where every man, woman, and child had skin in the game.

The same cannot be said for today’s circumstances, yet there is no free lunch. Ya play … You have no choice but to pay … Except in this case, if it were not for China financing US wars, you wouldn’t be posting on a blog. You’d be standing in line at a soup kitchen in between mile-long lines for menial labor.

One of the chief issues that created a deeper depression than necessary was Smoot-Hawley tariffs on imports. There is no such issue being considered during this current depression. Sorry to disappoint you and your revisionist history.

Do *you* -all- realize that nobody cares because you’re older than dirt and are making comments about dead Presidents instead of keeping it specific to the post? None of these consoles existed in the time period you’ve traveled to.

Better crank it back up to 88 MPH.

^Reality is -such- a buzz-kill, eh killer?

Escapism is just that. It’s not “bonding time” nor is it providing for one’s family. It’s a game for self-gratification’s sake, pure and simple. In a perfect world, there’s nothing wrong with that … Enjoy, kiddies.

Thanks Zach !

I’m sure for most people in this economy, it’s easier to justify a console purchase and a few games in contrast to spending at least that same $$$ amount in “going out” activities every month. It’s sad really, when you think about it. The less people spend in their local communities, the more likely people dependent on that money are going to lose their jobs. Which means they’re going to spend less, which means more people are going to lose jobs. It’s cyclic. And it’s a sad reality. Maybe this is the end of mass consumerism, and the start of a more fiscally responsible America less dependent on credit. It’s exciting to think of how the psychology of people is going to change based on these circumstances. To quote Eddie Vedder “it’s EVOLUTION BABY!”

@TRV$ who said: “Maybe this is the end of mass consumerism, and the start of a more fiscally responsible America less dependent on credit.”

You mean getting back to the healthy, organic way in which this country was once truly rich and powerful, beyond pomp-and-circumstance? Nah, that can’t be it! The military-industrial complex has grown too addicted to feeding itself from our tax dollars and using it to convert other nations to our approved method of liberty. What would they do without us?

Killzone 2 coming soon!

All I spent was 49 for an xtra 4 gigs of corsair 800mhz ram and 79 for another evga 9600 gso 512meg card the motherboard was free so was 9600 and the first 4 gigs of ram that came with it I already had an antec 300 case with and 850watt psu laying around lol

@backbeat

One would assume those countries would be able to figure it out on their own. I’m all for helping third world countries come into the 21st century, so long as they want the help. But yeah, we had our tea party, and we grew up to a big boy nation. The rest of the world can to. Given that America is (correct me if I’m wrong) the youngest nation in the world, I’d say on a whole, we’re doing fairly well. Especially now that we’re finally rid of that warmonger Bush, and have replaced him with someone who is actually working hard at his job to make this the best nation for all Americans.

What would really be great is if Nintendo would make a new Wii with the graphics up to the level of a 360 and even better motion contols. To me nothing beats the motion controls on Wii and the way you can use guns like the perfect shot for shooting games which makes it more realistic and arcade like. The graphics on Wii actually aren’t as bad as some say, namely computer gamers either. Could you imagine games like Halo using that approach instead of just mashing buttons? Also, Xbox has better online content but Wii’s is free.

Top Wii games (out or coming out, no particular order):
No More Heroes 1+2
Tenchu: Shadow Assassins
MadWorld
Mario Kart Wii
Call of Duty: World At War
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Madden 09 (for the gameplay not the graphics)
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
Wii Fit
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (you get to control the light saber with the wii remote)

@TRV$
The US is far from the youngest nation in the world, I believe that honour would go to Kosovo which has been recognized as independent for less than 1 year (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Kosovo_declaration_of_independence). The US isn’t even the youngest country in the G8, that would be Canada at almost 100 years younger than the US (or maybe Germany if you think of reunification as the creation of the current Germany.

@Taylor: I took TRV$ to mean among major world powers [not meaning to diminish the Canadians ], but I could be wrong.

As long as we can get our most precious Habeas Corpus rights fully restored which were removed over 2 years ago, the US can -begin- to consider itself civilized once again. Not until, however.

Start @ 2:40 – http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/15214437#15214437

Everything entertainment related is still doing strong in this economy. Movie sales are still strong and even CD sales have gone up slightly.