unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,072|7195|PNW

NEW YORK: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc scored over $500 million in global sales of criminal action game "Grand Theft Auto 4" in its first week, marking what it called one of the most lucrative entertainment events in history. [...]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/New … 019494.cms
Wow, those soaring gas prices and the horrid mortgage industry [and the great international food shortage] must really be hitting big time. I'm speechless.

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2008-05-07 15:20:33)

IRONCHEF
Member
+385|6915|Northern California
So there's NO economic crisis in our country based on GTA selling well?
S.Lythberg
Mastermind
+429|6870|Chicago, IL
gas is $4.20 a gallon in Chicago.

but I wont need to drive IRL once I have GTA IV

the economy's not doing great though, i have to work this summer, cuz I ran out of money, because classes cost $2000 more than expected, because Illinois cut 150 million dollars out of its school budget.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,072|7195|PNW

IRONCHEF wrote:

So there's NO economic crisis in our country based on GTA selling well?
That's not what I said.

I'm sick of hearing about all the dry well moaning about the economy when people are still buying $50+ video games and paying to have their parking lots repainted. But if you're one of those people who had to gamble on a cruise ship because you couldn't afford another flight to Las Vegas, you may have my overwhelming sympathy.
IRONCHEF
Member
+385|6915|Northern California

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

IRONCHEF wrote:

So there's NO economic crisis in our country based on GTA selling well?
That's not what I said.

I'm sick of hearing about all the dry well moaning about the economy when people are still buying $50+ video games and paying to have their parking lots repainted. But if you're one of those people who had to gamble on a cruise ship because you couldn't afford another flight to Las Vegas, you may have my overwhelming sympathy.
Your sarcasm certainly suggests that complaining of the economic situation is unneeded because people can buy a fifty dollar video game.

I think a better gauge of the economic condition on people are what they plan to do with their stimulus checks, how they react to seeing the prices in supermarkets, the gas pump, and in their foreign investments.  Yes, things will have to get bad before kids/adults won't pay $50 for a game..but then, how many kids even have a clue about the economy when they don't even have jobs, or a mortgage, a family to support, etc.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,072|7195|PNW

IRONCHEF wrote:

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

IRONCHEF wrote:

So there's NO economic crisis in our country based on GTA selling well?
That's not what I said.

I'm sick of hearing about all the dry well moaning about the economy when people are still buying $50+ video games and paying to have their parking lots repainted. But if you're one of those people who had to gamble on a cruise ship because you couldn't afford another flight to Las Vegas, you may have my overwhelming sympathy.
Your sarcasm certainly suggests that complaining of the economic situation is unneeded because people can buy a fifty dollar video game.

I think a better gauge of the economic condition on people are what they plan to do with their stimulus checks, how they react to seeing the prices in supermarkets, the gas pump, and in their foreign investments.  Yes, things will have to get bad before kids/adults won't pay $50 for a game..but then, how many kids even have a clue about the economy when they don't even have jobs, or a mortgage, a family to support, etc.
Or spend $30,000 on a business maintenance project. As to your second point, I'm sure that with the maturing video game audience, plenty of people with jobs, a mortgage and a family to support have spent $50 on a game, not even counting the cost of all the gear required to play it as well as whatever library of movies and games they have in addition. I'm not saying that there isn't any trouble or that a single aspect of the market is a good benchmark for the whole economy (which should have been obvious to begin with), but that there is far less of it than the gloomy miasma emitted from the flatulent orifice of the media would have people believe.
IRONCHEF
Member
+385|6915|Northern California
Wow, you and George Bush are the only optimists I've seen painting the economy so well.

If the news is quoting numbers and facts, then it's not "media as usual."  If they're sensationalizing claims and other unvetted information without basis, then yes, I'd agree with you that the media is paint a bad picture.  BUt since they're not actually lying about our economic conditions, I'll side with the media and ATG and agree that we're in a doom n gloom economic crisis.  Just understanding that fuel prices are the way they are because of the devalued dollar, is enough for me to know we're in a uniquely bad, bad situation.
Spearhead
Gulf coast redneck hippy
+731|7114|Tampa Bay Florida
Dont understand the OP tbh

How is the overall economy relevant to a video games sales?  ......................................
ATG
Banned
+5,233|6953|Global Command
No worries. Things are great.

Tax payer bails out big mortgage companies. Gets screwed by big mortgage companies.

Ya, things are great.
Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6829|North Carolina
Just wait...  We'll see conservatives bellyaching about the economy if Obama gets the presidency.

It's politics.  Bitch and moan when the other party has the power.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,072|7195|PNW

I suppose people expected sit down to a nice, cozy two-page diatribe about something else going down the tubes when they clicked on 'Economic Disaster,' and have been left with an empty feeling of unfulfillment. For that alone, I apologize. Someone pointed out sarcasm, but it is apparently forever lost, here.

Turquoise wrote:

Just wait...  We'll see conservatives bellyaching about the economy if Obama gets the presidency.

It's politics.  Bitch and moan when the other party has the power.
Which is why you see so many conservatives bitching and moaning about it now...

As long as I'm getting paid and not spending more than I make, it's pretty much business as usual. Look, people, I'm not throwing up a mission accomplished banner here (poo to the Bush comparison), nor do I support the shady business practices associated with the mortgage industry, for that matter <insert link to relevant thread that I was too lazy to search for>. I am actually in ill-favor the economic situation, but not to the point of packing up and heading to the hills to avoid impending cannibalism and the detritus hordes of the undead. After a day long of seeing thousands of cars, trucks and SUV's puttering along the highway at dangerous speeds, more than half filled with people who have undergone permanent cell phone implant surgery to the side of their head, I fail to be cowed by headlines of '$3.90 to $4.12 Gas Price Increase Forces Nevada Driver To Trade SUV For Car,' especially when so many Americans just keep buying more shit they don't need. It isn't just $50 for GTAIV, it's $~ for everything else.

Maybe we should just get a third term mandated for Bubba and get it over with.

---

Should we:

A. Reduce local, state and federal taxes to something approaching the facsimile of reason, at the cost of pretty city garden islands.
B. Raise taxes the rest of the way to 100% of citizen income and filter some back in the form of super-awesome rebate.

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2008-05-07 16:38:01)

Turquoise
O Canada
+1,596|6829|North Carolina

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

Which is why you see so many conservatives bitching and moaning about it now...
You still have the presidency.  Like I said, just wait.
Spearhead
Gulf coast redneck hippy
+731|7114|Tampa Bay Florida

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

I suppose people expected sit down to a nice, cozy two-page diatribe about something else going down the tubes when they clicked on 'Economic Disaster,' and have been left with an empty feeling of unfulfillment.
Uh.... what?  LOL

I stopped reading after that tbh... dude, wtf are you talking about?
ATG
Banned
+5,233|6953|Global Command

Spearhead wrote:

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

I suppose people expected sit down to a nice, cozy two-page diatribe about something else going down the tubes when they clicked on 'Economic Disaster,' and have been left with an empty feeling of unfulfillment.
Uh.... what?  LOL

I stopped reading after that tbh... dude, wtf are you talking about?
It was a good post.


I'll wager that less than 5% of the hordes buying GTA4 have mortgages or employee people.


This thread leaves me feeling empty inside.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,072|7195|PNW

Sorry guys, guess I was wrong about this entire thread. America ten years from now:

https://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y76/unnamednewbie13/oxcart.jpg

Please let me join your elite cadre of internet win.
ATG
Banned
+5,233|6953|Global Command
Don't get me wrong, I hope your right.

but, there is some real pain going right now.
CommieChipmunk
Member
+488|6994|Portland, OR, USA

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

NEW YORK: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc scored over $500 million in global sales of criminal action game "Grand Theft Auto 4" in its first week, marking what it called one of the most lucrative entertainment events in history. [...]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/New … 019494.cms
Wow, those soaring gas prices and the horrid mortgage industry [and the great international food shortage] must really be hitting big time. I'm speechless.
Even though your article clearly states 'global sales,' we'll assume that it was only bought in America, just for kicks.

$500,000,000  / $60 dollars per game = 8,333,333.33 people bought the game.

8,333,333.33 people who bought the game / ~300,000,000 People in America x 100 = ~ 2.78% of Americans bought the game.

So.. even though we all know it's a much lower percent, assuming that Americans accounted for all of the sales, that's not even 3% of the population.
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,072|7195|PNW

CommieChipmunk wrote:

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

NEW YORK: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc scored over $500 million in global sales of criminal action game "Grand Theft Auto 4" in its first week, marking what it called one of the most lucrative entertainment events in history. [...]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/New … 019494.cms
Wow, those soaring gas prices and the horrid mortgage industry [and the great international food shortage] must really be hitting big time. I'm speechless.
Even though your article clearly states 'global sales,' we'll assume that it was only bought in America, just for kicks.

$500,000,000  / $60 dollars per game = 8,333,333.33 people bought the game.

8,333,333.33 people who bought the game / ~300,000,000 People in America x 100 = ~ 2.78% of Americans bought the game.

So.. even though we all know it's a much lower percent, assuming that Americans accounted for all of the sales, that's not even 3% of the population.
*melodramatic sigh* Not the only game product out there, nor is it by any means through its sales life-cycle. Nor, for that matter, are video games the only cash sink (that is not in much danger of being abandoned) that Americans and the rest of the world has at our disposal. And, for the sake of your math, let's assume that 2.78% of Americans bought this game: you refer to percentiles over 1/100 when dealing with millions as not being particularly noteworthy.

However, if you scroll up, you'll find that I have joined the shambling ranks of the prophets of the apocalypse. There's a mule truck waiting for me in 2017 with my name on it. But that'll be nothing compared to what follows:

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2008-05-08 15:32:17)

Reciprocity
Member
+721|7004|the dank(super) side of Oregon

unnamednewbie13 wrote:

NEW YORK: Take-Two Interactive Software Inc scored over $500 million in global sales of criminal action game "Grand Theft Auto 4" in its first week, marking what it called one of the most lucrative entertainment events in history. [...]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/New … 019494.cms
Wow, those soaring gas prices and the horrid mortgage industry [and the great international food shortage] must really be hitting big time. I'm speechless.
and a $100m Iron Man opening.  We have plenty of disposable income, we just don't wanna spend it on something as disposable as gasoline.

Last edited by Reciprocity (2008-05-08 01:33:50)

Kmar
Truth is my Bitch
+5,695|7024|132 and Bush

GTA is a bargain.. at least we can pretend like we can afford to drive.
Xbone Stormsurgezz
B.Schuss
I'm back, baby... ( sort of )
+664|7265|Cologne, Germany

ATG wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I hope your right.

but, there is some real pain going right now.
true, but most of it is self-induced. The mortgage crisis, for example. I mean, no one forced the banks to hand out mortgage credits like they were becoming unpopular. That is simply bad decision-making on part of the banks.

Also, I have the impression that a lot of americans are really, really bad at managing their own finances. You know, buying lots of stuff they really don't need, with money they really don't have. And then they wonder why they owe so much money to the credit card companies.

I have seen reports detailing how people are basically paying off one credit card debt by simply using another credit card. 10+ credit cards per family, and so on...

sure, the economic situation in the US isn't really favourable at the moment, but what did you expect ? unlimited growth ?
Every economy has its ups and downs, that's simply part of the process. add to that bad decision-making in some private sectors, and risen prices for commodities, and there you have it.

the important thing is that everyone keeps his personal budget in order ( i.e. no excessive spending, don't spend money you don't have ), the rest comes naturally.
B.Schuss
I'm back, baby... ( sort of )
+664|7265|Cologne, Germany

Kmarion wrote:

GTA is a bargain.. at least we can pretend like we can afford to drive.
come on. we have had that before. Gas prices in the US are laughably low compared to most of the western world.

what kind of car do you drive, btw ?
oug
Calmer than you are.
+380|6943|Πάϊ

Kmarion wrote:

GTA is a bargain.. at least we can pretend like we can afford to drive.
lol a ps3 and the game cost about the same as 10 fillings of my gas tank. It is a bargain!

Last edited by oug (2008-05-08 03:37:38)

ƒ³
Dilbert_X
The X stands for
+1,822|6530|eXtreme to the maX
Also, I have the impression that a lot of americans are really, really bad at managing their own finances. You know, buying lots of stuff they really don't need, with money they really don't have. And then they wonder why they owe so much money to the credit card companies.
The US economy is dependent on high levels of personal spending.
Fuck Israel
djphetal
Go Ducks.
+346|6759|Oregon
An "Economic Disaster" doesn't exactly show itself for a while. The Global and National economy is at a point where if immediate attention isn't given, we could suffer dramatically, for a long time.
Personally, I'm doing alright financially, as are my parents. My neighbors look okay... Heck, my whole city is doing about as well as it always does!
That doesn't mean things will change. The reliable economic indicators which have been in place for many decades seem to be pointing to a potentially devastating economic collapse. When one card falls, so do the rest. Just because someone can buy a 50 dollar game, or even spend half a million on a yacht... just because some people have money to throw around doesn't mean we're not in trouble. If I wanted, I could buy myself a PS3 and probably not suffer much. Does that mean I'll be fine? No. If the economy falls, I fall with it. We all will... well, except for those few who have planned for it and been lucky enough to have the means by which to avoid it.

And about the changing of the president... Obama can't save us from this crisis... nobody can.
I hope it works out... and it could... but it's not looking particularly good right now.

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