What if another video game crash happens like it did back in 1983 ?

[Sarge034]

The simple answer is that a crash like '83 can't possibly happen again, the market is simply too diverse now. If a tipping point was reached because of micro transactions, bad will, what have you then those companies responsible would die. However, indie and proven A-AAA devs would fill the void. Even if consoles bit the dirt then the market would live on in PC until a PC dev became ambitious enough to inevitably start trying to make consoles again.

 

[Batou667]

The "crash" of the early 80s happened because the industry was a barely-regulated Wild West of inbreeding and bootlegging. Wouldn't happen nowadays because the industry is too established, and the lawyers have got the whole thing propped up pretty securely.

I suppose a similar crash might conceivably happen with the casual and mobile market - there's only so many Flappy Bird and Minecraft clones the system can sustain. Although I suspect the lawyers would pop up and control the situation if push came to shove.

 

[SmugFrog]

I think what's more likely is seeing one of our big console developers bow out of the console race. There was a time when I thought Sega and Nintendo would battle for eternity. Microsoft could just suddenly decide they don't want to go in on the next generation. I've been waiting for Nintendo to roll over for years - but I'm starting to think that no matter how bad things look for them, they'll just scale back and play it more cautiously.

Still - who thought they'd ever see Sonic on a Nintendo console? Can you guys imagine Mario and Zelda on an Xbox or Playstation?