Economy in the dumps? Not for GameStop

[Tulkas]

Looks like gaming is strong and alive! GameStop executives thinks the Grand Theft Auto IV release could net them $100 million in one week. Check It Out

Quote:

The uncertainty that confronts consumers and investors in the U.S. is staggering. There's the price of gasoline, which creeps higher almost daily; a housing market that month after month gets gloomier and gloomier; and the conflict in Iraq that has cost the U.S. an estimated $3 trillion.

Is it any wonder that the Consumer Confidence Index--maybe the most telling measure of how rank-and-file consumers view their economic health both present and future--is at a five-year low?

Shift for a second from the very real world of kids, homes, global conflict, and cars to the make-believe world of video games.

There, at least for some, the economy that is breeding so much concern and trepidation seems a distant factor.

Times are good, with double digit growth expected for sales of games this calendar year as well as for the hardware that's used to play those games.

But even among the winners in the game sector there is one that stands to gain the most--the nation's biggest specialty retailer of games and game-playing consoles, GameStop.

In a perfect storm of technology, demographic shift, and pricing, the retailer is bucking the general trends in the broader economy and stands to profit like it has never before.

"As we analyze our sales deployment, we can't find evidence of the economy affecting our business," company officials said recently. "In fact, like we did after 9/11, we're seeing [comparable] store growth as consumers travel less and stay at home more, as well as trade in more games on new game purchases."

[Teck]

$100,000,000 in one week would be crazy...

[Tulkas]

Yeah, but it's not all profit...I am sure they are also including selling games people are gonna trade in, and anything else people will buy when in the store. They are also probably basing it off of the GTA:III

[Craig]

This game is going to give halo 3 a run for its record sales weekend.

[useful_idiot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

This game is going to give halo 3 a run for its record sales weekend.

What the hell is Halo 3?

[Tulkas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by useful_idiot

What the hell is Halo 3?

Jesus' third backup

[akabaloo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by useful_idiot

What the hell is Halo 3?

I think they renamed it Call of Duty 4

But I'd guess that about half the people with either a 360 or ps3 will buy this game, so yeah, thats a lot of people imo

[CoffeeShark]

pssst... the economy at the personal level is about the same as it was 2 years ago, it's the housing and credit markets that are bad.

No one's buying $50 games during a recession.

[akabaloo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoffeeShark

No one's buying $50 games during a recession.

I have and I will continue to. What else am I going to do while waiting for a job? look for more jobs? Pshhh I'm playing video games. New ones at that

[Craig]

certain segments of the US market are recession proof. Gaming has always done well no matter what the situations at any exchange.