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Man! The Japanese know how celebrate a holiday!! |
The holidays are upon us, and for many of us that means spending time with family, treats and sweets, dinners with friends, gift giving and receiving, egg nog drinking, ugly sweater/bad mustache contests, and a bevy of other festive things. For the game industry though it means something else altogether: making money, and lots of it.
Say what you will, but it's how the industry works. Game companies know that with the holiday season comes a surge in purchases of nonessential goods (E.G. video games and Elmo dolls). Which results in many of the largest companies holding off their big releases until fall and winter. Which leaves prices high when most have little money to spend on themselves. However there are some advantages to this. As with most markets, many titles go down in price, or are put on clearance to make room for the newer, bigger, "better" things to come. This can be a blessing and a curse to the average gamer, and can lead to a lot of tough choices. It can also be a tough on those who are buying for gamers, yet may not have much experience with, or knowledge about, games. Purchasing a game as a parent, grandparent, spouse, or even just a friend, can be a harrowing experience. They may have only a rudimentary knowledge of what the person they're shopping for likes, if even that. Add to the fact they may be dealing with pushy, or uninformed, salesman, and purchasing a game as a gift can become a nightmare for some, and is a generally unpleasant experience for most.