OXCGN writer David Hilyton looks at the new economic downturn and how it is affecting gamers, and the gaming industry.

A complete 180 on last year when governments were urging to NOT buy and temper the spending, now they are urging you to spend up big now!

Slip over and check his article out, they always make great reading and are thought provoking as usual.

What a fickle economic-driven society we live in! Exactly a year ago I wrote an article titled: Stop Buying Games: It’s In Australia’s “Interest”. At the time Australia was facing home interest rates of 10% and rising inflation (Today - Australia’s Central Bank now dropping the Interest rate to 03.25% - lowest in decades with a possible drop to 02.5%). The blame was being squarely leveled at consumers for “rampant spending on imported luxury goods”, which included (somewhat) video games.

Back then I joked: “I should have given up the Halo Special Edition…I have been contributing to inflation by buying all this on my trusty well worn credit card and my New Year’s resolution should have been to help to fight that inflation by committing to stop buying games. For my own benefit yes, but also for the good of the country.”

Of course nobody took my patriotic advice to stop buying games (neither did I) and 2008 saw sales of video games soar. But instead of the dreaded rise in interest rates, an economic domino fell somewhere else in the world and now we have the Reserve Bank desperately dropping the interest rate and the government handing out cash by the bucket-loads to those same naughty consumers to stimulate economic growth again!

XboxOZ360 via oxcgn.com »