When finances get tough, people tend to stay inside. An NPR report claimed that restaurant receipts are down, but sales of alcohol in liquor stores has gone up. The lesson? A recession makes people more likely to drink at home instead of going out, and 2008 video game sales seem to suggest consumers are having a game with their cocktail; gaming enjoyed record sales in 2008.
While people are traveling less and holding off on large purchases, games are proving to be a popular pass-time. Game sales, including both games and systems, reached $22 billion in 2008, a 22.9 percent jump over 2007. These numbers show a number of trends, as well as a rapidly growing industry: in December sales reached $5 billion for the first time in a single month. In 1997, the industry barely sold over $5 billion in the entire year.
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