So far or what seems like forever (since WWII) American housing prices have risen. Sure there was the collapse of  property in the 1980’s and 1970’s but it was a mere dip downwards in the steadily rising  progression of housing prices. How does the sudden turn of the housing market affect games in general you may ask. Will it result in less breast physics, less explosive barrels, less gratuitous swearing? No. But it may result in  the amount of new ideas in the world of videogames. A lot has been made of the casual gamer as a massive market force, which it is.  Simply look at DS,Wii, and movie game sales and it is obvious that the “casual” gamer has been incredibly important in creating the multibillion dollar entity which is the videogame business. This brings us back to the housing market. With housing prices crashing, FannieMay and Freddiemac literally bankrupted and oil prices steadily rising the “casual” gamer like everyone else is being squeezed for cash and hard. But the main question is will people still buy games and the answer is of course, but they will buy much less. Everyone from the “hardcore” gamer to the “casual” gamer will be cutting back on unnecessary expenses which any form of entertainment is. We need sleep,food,water and gas(it seems) to live not entertainment. Batman’s grossing 150 million opening weekend is not a sign of better times for the entertainment industry but of very different times. In affect the sinking economy and free income of the casual gamer will be a selective pressure on the game industry. Only the strong franchises with loyal fan bases will survive while new endeavors will be literally swept under the rug. It seems that the famous marketing phrase “if you only do one thing this year do x” will apply to videogames. If  people are only going to be able to afford one game a quarter the holiday season is going to be a major make or break for numerous video game companies. Clearly there will be games that make a solid amount of money this year like Gears 2, Fallout 3, Starcraft 2, and RE5. Yet as you have no doubt already noticed new IP’s will struggle because when the casual gamer is forced to choose how to spend his/her limited money he/she will always choose the sure thing the solid franchise. Furthermore superfluous purchases of movie games will drop off reducing the revenue supplies of companies like Vevendi who in turn will have less money to risk on creative projects. The playing field of the videogame world will belong solely to the titan franchises and game developers. It is in their hands to wring out of this economic vice creativity and to maintain a desire for quality not cash which is difficult especially when the bottom line is always staring you in the face.