Anybody want to start talking about my personal dictatorship yet? I could fix things. Really. Free health care and education for everybody. And a DS in every hand. Or a PSP. Who said you can't have choice under a socialized economy?

Anarchist_Gamer

Hopefully all my porn stocks are still holding value.

B

@Knoxximus (XBL/PSN):

Don't blame the bankers fully, it was the government who started this whole housing crisis and eventually, the credit crisis.

Years ago, during Clinton's term no less, the government passed a bill requiring bankers and lenders to loosen the restrictions on how accessible a loan was for people with bad credit.

Now suddenly you have a family who makes $20K a year at best, given a 300K loan for a house they have no business getting into. Add the skyrocketing interest rates after the first few years and people can no longer afford their homes. They go belly up, the house goes into foreclosure and the "investment" in the house is gone.

Now imagine this 400,000 times and you understand the magnitude of the problem America is facing. You have thousands upon thousands of homes, overvalued with nobody around willing to pay those prices, or even reduced prices.

The government is fooling itself if it thinks housing will suddenly rebound and your "equity" will become relevant. America has been living an incredibly selfish lifestyle for many years, you reap what you sow.

America is living a recession whether you want to believe it or not. Homes need to fall, values need to sink before anyone with real money is willing to part with it. Housing will eventually rebound, but this is a very hard lesson for everyone to learn. You give people a chance to live beyond their means, they'll take it and have no second glance knowing they'll never truly own it.

Give it a few years, allow America to stabilize itself. Cut out this housing law bullshit that got you here in the first place. Nevermind that, the government is trying to convince you a mass economic chaos is coming, which simply isn't possible. The only result of a non bailout is making credit harder to get.

In other words, credit would only go to those people who actually qualify for it. I'm all for a non bailout, I'm tired of America bailing out corporate idiots to cover their own tracks.

Ironically this doesn't even touch on even broader problems, outsourcing your jobs to foreign countries, buying foreign over domestic automobiles, no new jobs and a general lax in society and it's attitudes.

Truly, this is dark times. Be brave America.

Thunder-1

@JemimaHare: The nerve of Kotaku to talk about the gaming industry on their gaming blog website!

Mister_Jack

to the death of capitalism.
to the death of large corporations and the lobbyists that control our laws. to freedom, life, and the persuit of happyness. something that hasn't existed for a 100 years.

feartheraven

@NKato: That's a nice analogy you got there.

Mister_Jack

@Knoxximus (XBL/PSN): Activision stock is 14.12 right now...Still seems kinda pricey to me unless you're one of those grandparents who buys little Billy one share of stock every year so he can immediately sell it when he figures out what all those disappointing envelopes with no cash in them he keeps getting actually are.

Mister_Jack

I am indeed American, and I was not born on American soil, yet I was born to American parents. Who knew?

Yet, I think the bailout should not go through. The private investors can clean up their own messes by simply chucking their salaries into the betting pool to clean up the bad loans.

Not so hard, is it?

Oh wait, we're talking about the big white elephants that just don't know when to get their fucking nose out of the bowl of peanuts.

NKato

@d3ath_fly: Kind of ironic your name is Death Fly.

Mister_Jack

@etchasketchist: On the plus side, I've heard that the soup in those bread lines is pretty good.

Mister_Jack

Personally, I'm glad this bill didn't get passed. Those idiots will NEVER learn their lesson if they just get bailed out whenever they hit a rough spot.

This is finally gonna be a time where if you were prudent, lived responsibly, saved your money, and only bought what you could afford, you are gonna have the time of your life with all of the sales and being able to get into the stock market while the blood is on the streets...THIS is where the American Dream FINALLY becomes accessible to us normal, sensible folk.

All of this whiny ass, "I'm-entitled-to-everything" ass Americans are gonna get what's coming to them.

Full Disclosure: I am indeed American.

Knoxximus (XBL/PSN)

There's a difference between "recession proof" and "Great Depression proof". This is just another sign that this financial crisis is a bigger deal than just your typical dip in GDP growth.

etchasketchist

Finally the game business can be taken seriously because it has terrible stock crashes just like all the other businesses!

.....

:(

Mister_Jack

@FunkyJ: I've made it this far in life with the karate I've learned on the internet.

Aflack: Likes slushies

@Katorok: Yeah, watch out for people commiting suicide is a honest tip.

Aflack: Likes slushies

@Jedi924: Cheep! Cheep! Mario on the brain?

Aflack: Likes slushies

@d3ath_fly: Made me laugh. Well not literally, of course. I'm not some crazy person who laughs at their computer screen. Nope. Not me.

dowingba

@d3ath_fly: Agreed.

PatMan33

@d3ath_fly: -.- It seemed like an honest tip to me O.o..

Katorok

ITS RAINING INVESTMENT BANKERS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

gessyca

@Jedi924:

dangit! I meant "cheap" not "cheep"

Jedi924

the whole US is crashing and your talking about the VG industry? BOOOO!!!

JemimaHare

well it's a good thing I've been playing all these videogames, so when shit hits the fan and people start rioting I'll be a trained killer, able to protect myself with my excellent martial arts skills and gun shooting ability...

FunkyJ

Really? I don't think that last line was very tasteful or funny.

d3ath_fly

Now is the time to buy activision blizzard stock. With wow wrath of the lich king, guitar hero, and cod Waw coming out the stock will only rise this holiday season.

SuchetaVibius

Hmm, now might be a good time to pick up some cheep stocks. I'm sure ActiBlizzard's stock will go back up in time.

Jedi924

Welcome to the 1930's where the dollar is worthless and People fall out of the sky onto Wall Street!

DancingCorpse

I'm still buying:

Dead Space
Fable 2
Gears 2
FarCry 2
Banjo 3
Fallout 3

That's right folks... I'm going to play games like it's 2008 and not think about whether or not I'm going to have a Job the next week. This is my coping method.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

@d3ath_fly: Welcome to the 1930's!

DancingCorpse

@Hamsfork: What is the difference between a man and a parasite? A parasite expects the government to pander to him. A man says "fuck that" and builds a huge underwater city with what is seriously the best heroin ever. I mean, it gives you superpowers! I mean, sure, your sanity is gonna go down the shitter in a couple of years, but it's finally your chance to punish people you don't like with FIRE. Or light a cigarette if you're too damn lazy to reach into your pocket for a match, in which case you have no business being in Rapture in the first place. Get the hell out of here, you slacker!

What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, stop drawing Little Sister porn! That's disturbing on an untold number of levels!

Mister_Jack

What would Andrew Ryan say about this bailout?

Hamsfork

@Thunder-1: Great, great summation. Couldn't have said it better myself.

cZEAL

@d3ath_fly:
Relax, 1980's Michael Douglas looks pretty confident.

I did watch that today though. The DOW dropped faster than the collective self-respect of attendees at a cosplay convention. Zing!

FireflyPunk

@Thunder-1: We are on the same page, brother. Good read.

Knoxximus (XBL/PSN)

@Mister_Jack: I bought Ninty stock (NTDOY) in Aug' 06 for $22 and sold it earlier this year for $70....if you know what you're looking at/for and have done your homework, nothing is really too pricey per se. Depending on ActiBlizz holiday lineup, $14.12 might just be a steal.

Wanna know what the real steal is though? AIG. It's like 3-4 bucks a share and has already been bailed out. Wanna be like Warren Buffet in 20 years? Buy an assload of AIG SOON.

Knoxximus (XBL/PSN)

@d3ath_fly: Oh, really now, have a sense of humor.

PyramidThing

@B: If Avenue Q taught me anything, and it did, it's that porn is the only stable investment.

Mister_Jack

@Mister_Jack: what are you talking about. only stupid people buy porn and porn stocks.

Free Porn 4Lyfe. :)

d4rlp3nc1l

@JemimaHare: who is the US crashing with, Canada, Mexico, i don't know, can someone tell me who, so i can make a giant balloon, so then i don't feel the shock waves.

d4rlp3nc1l

This is really odd, considering articles like [kotaku.com] <-- this a couple of weeks ago and [kotaku.com]<-- that 6 months ago. At least it shows where priorities are, I guess. Maybe buying 5 games in one month isn't a good idea when you can barely pay gas....?

Benjammn

umm Activision Blizzard's stock is going to skyrocket with Wotlk and CoD:World at War

TheNocturnalSun

I wish I had enough money to take advantage of some of these prices that are falling, it may take a year or so but by the time the dust settles a lot of people could be very rich(or even more rich than they already are/were)

Makidian

@DancingCorpse: Actually, thanks to the bailout NOT going through, the dollar isn't as worthless as it WOULD have been.

Knoxximus (XBL/PSN)

@Benjammn:
BTW, I didn't know when writing that Congress dropped the bill and the DOWIJ dropped 777 points. That made a bit more sense, as everything that wasn't essential (i.e. food stores/gas) should have went down. XD Silly me.
On that note....sucks for people with investments. Glad I don't have to be worried about that stuff (yet). College is great...:)

Benjammn

Even if you assume the gaming industry is "recession proof" this makes some sense since the current situation effects everyone. The problem is in the banking industry and specifically the money available for banks to lend.

These stock aren't going down because they think games won't sell, they're going down because of worries about how future products will be financed. Even with a profitable business model, pretty much all companies rely heavily of lines of credit to finance things, and that credit is drying up fast.

slacker164

All this means is that there will be a huge opportunity once we hit rock bottom. Sure, many people are going to hurt all over if this bailout doesn't go for another vote fast (retirement gone and lost jobs), but people with some cash on hand can get very rich from buying dirt cheap stock.

I'm personally split on how I feel about the bailout. We're screwed if we do it and we take it in the backside if we don't. The question is who should suffer.

Should we teach the wizards at Wall Street what it means to truly play in a free market with no government intervention? They wanted no regulation to do as they wanted and they got very rich, but when their irresponsible risks come to bite them in the ass they come crying to the gov to make it all better.

Or do we protect our financial systems (seems Europe felt it today too) and show the investors that there is no consequence in taking on an enormous amount of risk?

Either way, many people are going to have to suffer for Wall Street's irresponsibility.

golguin

@Mister_Jack: yea very true, i just noticed that on the news, really havent followed anything other than the bailout, and the debate.

@BigWeather: ha ha.

d4rlp3nc1l

@Mister_Jack:
Tell me about it. I'm driving from Raleigh to Kentucky on Thursday and having to take the northern route through VA and WV where there's gas as opposed to western NC and TN where there is little. Interesting times, indeed.

BigWeather

@Benjammn:
I read that as "when you can barely pass gas". I immediately thought, ha, no, no problem there. That's what Mexican'll do to ya.

BigWeather

@Benjammn: Pay gas? Depending on where you are right now, you'll be lucky to FIND gas.

Mister_Jack

@Benjammn: well i can solve your problem. walk to the game stores so then you save gas and money on gas, but you can still also buy your 5 videogames.

d4rlp3nc1l

@d3ath_fly: *ahem* You seem to...uh...have gotten a stick up your ass. Might wanna do something 'bout that. Just sayin'.

TheGuilty1

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): yep, all we need is for someone to create a small generator that works off of wind and solar power, and can recharge its self, so we can power our 360's and tv's.

d4rlp3nc1l

haha excellent article pic ;)

F22

@golguin: They could always give me some money and not some rich assholes who effed people over and cut corners for years.

Grumpz®

@Thunder-1: Also remember the report that surfaced alleging discrimination in the housing markets back in 1993. Report gets out, gains steam in the press. Another report comes out debunking the numbers in the previous report, but its too late. The Clinton Administration eases on restrictions on housing, effectively saying everyone deserves to own a house. Which brings us to today where we find, ah, not everyone deserves a house do they.

deadpanwalking

Remember,

Blame the poor people that defaulted on their mortgages, it's all their fault.

Tyrannical

@SuchetaVibius: yeah! invest in the sinking ship of an economy we have.

Grumpz®

I, for one, welcome our money-eating overlords.

Apocalypse '08!

brightcrazystar

@feartheraven: That's not the answer, and that's not how you spell "pursuit of happiness".

Spartan1308™

@d4rlp3nc1l:
I am working on a power generator that generates power from pushing buttons on my xbox360 controller. I was hoping to generate enough power to power my refridgerator but unfortunately I have only been able to generate enough power to overheat my xbox and generate the red rings of death.

onepoker

@feartheraven:
Without corporations you wont have a lot of basic items like life saving medication, Canned food, Cable tv. Its a dark abyss your hoping for.

onepoker

@Mister_Jack:
One of the most successful companies during the depression was the Marx toy company- they made toy trains, board games, and army men.

Sounds like a 1930's cross of Sid Meier and activision.

onepoker

@Knoxximus (XBL/PSN):
I already bought and sold that duck. Don't forget AIG has to pay the government 85 billion at 11% interest in 2 years and the government owns 80% of the company. So it may be overpriced at 3 bucks.

onepoker

Hey guys I make my living buying and selling stock and this might be the best opportunity you will ever see to get into a hot industry just before freaking christmas at bargain prices. ATVI-activision took a big hit today.

TTWO- take two can now be purchased for under 16 dollars a share that is less than it was pre- gta4 launch in fact that price was when they didn't even know if it would be successful. TTWO is sitting on 4 dollars a share cash so technically you are getting it for 12 bucks a share. Bioshock and Midnight club are both out this month. And don't forget borderlands early next year.

midway is cheap also but that is because it could go out of business it has very little cash. Will MK vs dc be a hit? How about blitz the leaue?

thqi has Saints row II coming out and it just released da blob and Baja. Thqi is under 12 bucks.

Your window on these bargains will probably last a few days but it takes a bit to set up an account online it will take atleast a week to fund. The games won't go up until after the financials are settled which will take atleast a week before congress figures out what's going on.

onepoker

@d3ath_fly:

Yeah, guys! Don't try to make light of a situation that will only get worse from here on out! It's not right, so get some class or refrain from the jokes altogether!

P.S. - Get a sense of humor, you plank.

Specter

@Tyrannical: Unfortunately (And not trying to be callous) it is...

I don't approve of unregulated and indiscriminate lending either since that's basically flooding the market with money that will have a lessened value but no one put a gun to those people's head saying "You either ask for more than you can pay or you won't get the loan"

zoesch

Just goes to show how manipulated the stock market is. What do video games have to do with mortgage backed securities? If a company is doing well and is profitable, why would its value plummet for no valid reason?

peacefuloutrage

i dont know shit about stocks. i all know is that i wants me games

dipsetboy17

As my 401k takes a dip in the toilet, I have to wonder what anything is really worth nowadays. Does all the machinery and manpower to suck oil out of the ground actually cost $5 a gallon? Why do we pay so much for a diamond? Does a 13% drop in a publisher's stock really affect how good a title will be?

Sure, people have lost a lot of money, but you have to wonder what that money was put into in the first place. Were people buying something of worth to them personally, or were they buying something they thought was of worth to someone else? I don't have a lot of sympathy for the latter.

I still believe the industry is recession proof. Although it may not garner the profits it once did, it's still entertainment that people will pay hard-earned money for.

boopadoo

@slacker164: @slacker164: Take Two is sitting on 300 million in cash they wont need credit for 6 years just based on current funds. buy that company.

onepoker

@TheGuilty1: It won't be very funny if it actually happens, would it?

Spoony Bard

@onepoker: Haha yeah I was upset I didn't get in when it was 2 then sell for 6 like I did Bear Sterns earlier this year. That was GREAT.

Knoxximus (XBL/PSN)

@onepoker: haha, you sir get a point!

TheFamous1

Shouldn't citizens get a bailout before crooked cooperations? :x

Just a friendly thought.

orentholjames

@DancingCorpse: Does this mean we can have sprawling Hooverville cities made out of cardboard and metal scraps?

DoctorCello

@Mister_Jack: Comment of the week.

DoctorCello

@feartheraven: So should we go the same route as the USSR? I'm sure having a massive government controlling each and every one of our actions is so much better.

DoctorCello

@Knoxximus (XBL/PSN): Your post made me proud.

Shhteve

The stock market dropped 777 points today; that is equivalent to 1.2 TRILLION dollars in lost equity. Many small businesses are relying on loans to keep their businesses solvent; money is so tight right now that they can't even get a loan to temporarily meet this month's payroll.

When some of the loans that have defaulted were initially made, it was minimal risk because the loanees had sufficient income to meet the payments and the economy was strong. When people started losing their jobs and the cost of living skyrocketed, they were forced to default on the loan. We aren't talking about the greed of the mythical "fat cats" of Wall Street, but ordinary citizens who ended up with some bad luck. So many pension, retirement plans, and 401K's are tied up with heavy investment in stocks. If you aren't near retirement, it is not a big deal because there is sufficient time for a new administration to help the economy recover, but if you are nearing retirement, this is an unplanned disaster.

This is not simply a 'country first' issue; the failure of our financial system will have severe repercussions throughout the world, because so many countries are financially intertwined. No one is "bailing out" Wall Street (which makes little sense) but rather are trying to insure that there is sufficient financial liquidity to keep our economy from completely collapsing, so that businesses can get the loans needed for expansion and for staying solvent.

But if you have the same type of mentality that the current administration had in the past (including McCain) then you see the world as only black or white, good or evil, right or wrong, instead of recognizing that nothing is black and white, but rather, a myriad of shades of gray.

Let's all strive to try to examine all sides of an issue and learn the details of the problem before we are so quick to offer our opinion, which might be influenced by erroneous information and impressions.

bornonce

@onepoker: I'd say the best bet is ATVI, what with GH: WT coming out for holiday 2008 and all.

TTWO is kinda niche outside of GTA, which has ran it's course.

Midway is pure crap. I was lucky to make 10 bucks a share off of them like 2 years ago...and it took about the whole year to do it!

THQ's lineup is good...but other than potentially Saints Row 2, the other two games are probably gonna be critically acclaimed retail flops, at best.

I just transferred some stacks to my TDAmeritrade to jump on ATVI though. Good call.

Knoxximus (XBL/PSN)

@Spoony Bard & @Specter: Except it HAS happened... All we have is our humor.

samaine

Am I incorrect or did Nintendo stock barely move at all?

Foxstar Sixtail

Hit hard? Sad as it is, 14% isn't such a hard hit compared to the drops suffered by financial companies' stocks. Videogame companies should consider themselves lucky if 14% is the worst that happens to them (how depressing is that, aye?).

@peacefuloutrage: Do you realize how huge the crisis is? How it will affect everything? When people say this is the worst crisis since 1929, they're not kidding. And it's not limited to the US, either.

Banks worldwide are in serious trouble, interest rates will skyrocket, people will start saving more and spending less, which will lead to a decrease in consumption, less tax revenue, more unemployment, business bankruptcies, etc. etc. etc.
That's bad for anyone hoping to sell anything, really.

You can't pay for gasoline and you may be out of a job at the end of the month, you don't know whether your life savings are safe anymore: would you go out and buy videogames?
There will always be some fucked up escapism at play (which helped somewhat shield the entertainment industry up until now), but now that the shit has really hit the fan, it would take a whole lot of denial and escapism to make up for it.

And even the people who don't (and won't) have major problems may not feel like playing videogames given the current atmosphere.

Antiterra

I heard the DOW dropped 777 points. You know what I say? Jackpot!

"Careful out there, kids. Watch out for falling investors." I'm shocked this hasn't happened yet. This is worse than what happened in the 80s, and people jumped out then...

Akin

If they gave the American people, over the age of 18, just the 85 billion they want to use for AIG, after taxes they would each receive $297,000. That might help the economy just little bit. . .

Lachoy

@Akin: Actually this is nowhere near what happened in the 80's. This was the highest "point" drop but it only accounted for a 5% decline. In '87 it was a 23% drop which is way worse.

Lachoy

@dipsetboy17:

Lol idd

Paincake

I've never completely understood the concepts of investers and shareholders. But thats because I detest economics so damn much.

I assume it will raise again once Wrath of the Lich King arrives.

Paincake

@Knoxximus (XBL/PSN):

You are completley missing the point

VenomMelendez

... I bought some Acti-Bliz stock about a day before this happened. *$@%$!

Zugdaga

@Zugdaga: You should probably get your investment advice elsewhere in the future.

Watch out for falling kommenters guys.

SS Ymer

@Foxstar Sixtail: I think that might have to do with that they are a Japan-based company. My guess is that they will eventually take a hit too.

SS Ymer

@bornonce: The "ordinary citizens who ended up with some bad luck" you're referring to are a symptom of the underlying problem, which is borrowing money from a pool that does not exist.

Look at Enron, for example. It was a "prosperous" corporation on the outside (and to their investors), but it was really a business that was built upon hubris. When people tried to take their money out, it became clear that there was nothing (or little) there to begin with, and the rest is history.

Sadly, we have been suckered into a similar situation, but this time, it's our economy that's in crisis. For years, people have been investing in an American economy that is essentially built upon its ability to convince people that it's doing fine. Investors (i.e. countries) are beginning to cash out, only to find out that there is nothing there. Companies closed, prices rose, people stopped buying, and overall "bad luck" ensued.

This bailout/deficit spending would only work if there was an indication that the future would provide enough money to pay for it. Seeing how almost everything we do is being outsourced or downsized, this bailout will only postpone a collapse.

In a way, I want this system to fail. Only then can we assess what is really of worth in this country. We can certainly say it's not in real estate anymore, that's for sure.

boopadoo

@Lachoy:
Check your math. Unless you really think there are only 286,195 US taxpayers over the age of 18.

jgw