14 DAY TRIAL // The holiday season is creeping about and it's almost at our door. Most people face the yearly enigma of what gift to buy for whom, but gamers, at least amongst themselves, don't really have that problem. Nothing brings more joy to the mouse or controller jokey like a nicely wrapped new game, so they're a relatively easy to please public. Still, this year, if you're expecting to receive a video game as a gift you might end up with a fat lip and a huge disappointment.
Game sales aren't really going to drop, it's just that we won't be receiving them as gifts. According to the NPD Group, they've put together 2000 peoples and made them undergo a survey. The results that came out are not so much of a disadvantage to the gaming industry as they are to people who expect free games by the end of the year. Out of the 2000 people only 20 percent found themselves flirting with the idea of offering video games as gifts. The drop since last year is of just 2 percent, but apparently that's something to be concerned about.
Among the 10 other items, only video games and toys were the ones that dropped in gift giving expectations. Food, books, electronics, and music are expected to rise in sales by 1 percent, while the most feared Christmas gift of all, clothes, is expected to remain unchanged. As an overall look, NPD saw that people intend to spend less money this Christmas than they did last year. Of all the people interviewed, 30 percent said that they planned on cutting back on expenses.
"I think consumers will be looking for the right gift, rather than the most extravagant or expensive one," said NPD chief industry analyst Marshal Cohen. "That combined with the soft numbers we are up against from holiday last year, and I think we will see growth, albeit a modest 0.5 to 1.5 percent." Game publishers are expecting sales to rise, as the more difficult period of the financial crisis passes. The verdict will be final tomorrow, when NPD will release their sales numbers.