I first presented this discussion on my own podcast on March 31, 2026 – The Games Memo for 3/31/2026 – The Uncomfortable Truth About Gaming Affordability And presented it a second time on April 1, 2026 on a second show – Are Video Games Becoming a Luxury Item?! Events were triggered in the mid-1960s thatContinue reading “How America’s Middle Class Built the Gaming Industry—And Why It’s Fracturing Now”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Welcome to the Suck: Console Players Meet the PC Market Reality
“To be successful, games need to be on every platform.” “The most successful games are multiplatform” => They are also the ones that tend to be cross-generational. If you’ve been playing the games that supposedly “everyone plays” while they “ignore exclusives” and believe “exclusives don’t matter”, then a persistent cross-generational state of affairs in aContinue reading “Welcome to the Suck: Console Players Meet the PC Market Reality”
After DLSS5: Is There Really an Opening for AMD?
Is the door open for AMD to mount an offensive in the wake of nVidia’s DLSS5 announcement last week? Here’s the tale of the tape over the past few GPU generations. And my outlook on the objective impact of last week’s announcement. RDNA 5 maybe starts rolling out the end of this year, but moreContinue reading “After DLSS5: Is There Really an Opening for AMD?”
On The Future of Gaming [or We’re All Niche Now]
On niche markets. The advantage of console is when it hits the tipover point where people benefit at scale from mass adoption. But I think the gaming market is becoming more and more a niche of niches. Skinny verticals having very disparate needs and price points. So the industry will have to, in aggregate, adoptContinue reading “On The Future of Gaming [or We’re All Niche Now]”
How Project Helix Could Wind Up Being a Very Anti-Consumer Convergence Device
If the console function is just for BC, then Xbox is asking you to pay a premium for the reward of buying a digital replacement for the Xbox Series X you already own, and then charging you an addl tax b/c they say you also need a PC to go along with it, b/c theyContinue reading “How Project Helix Could Wind Up Being a Very Anti-Consumer Convergence Device”
Cheap RAM Was the Anomaly, Not the Rule
Consumer DIY ram prices peaked in 2018, and then fell to all-time lows, rising in 2020 and then stabilizing up to about 2022, remaining steady ever since. the current sticker shock in 2025/26 is more about feeling disrupted after a historical period of unprecedented value, but these prices, or rather the super-cycle of consumer DIYContinue reading “Cheap RAM Was the Anomaly, Not the Rule”
Marathon’s Gamble: MMO Thinking in a PvP Extraction Space
From the Windows Central article by Brendan Lowry: “Given that Bungie‘s upcoming Xbox, PC, and PS5 sci-fi FPS Marathon is itself an extraction shooter, you’d be forgiven for thinking that its main source of inspiration came from established and popular entries in the genre like Escape from Tarkov or Hunt: Showdown. According to the game’sContinue reading “Marathon’s Gamble: MMO Thinking in a PvP Extraction Space”
A Delayed Bond, a Patient Industry: What 007 First Light Says About 2026
From the WccfTech article by David Carcasole: IO Interactive had one final holiday surprise for players ahead of the release of its next game, 007 First Light: a delay. The studio announced that the game has been delayed by two months and will no longer release on its previously announced release date of March 27, 2026.Continue reading “A Delayed Bond, a Patient Industry: What 007 First Light Says About 2026”
Who Controls the Greenlight? How a Saudi PIF–EA Deal Could Reshape Game Development Financing
Quoted from the VGC article by Andy Robinson Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will own 93.4% of the Battlefield publisher, if it clears government scrutiny Electronic Arts’ proposed sale to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has been approved by the company’s shareholders. The $55 billion takeover deal was approved in a shareholder vote on Monday.Continue reading “Who Controls the Greenlight? How a Saudi PIF–EA Deal Could Reshape Game Development Financing”
Of Saturated Inventories and Too Little Demand (A Proof Scribbled in the Margin) – Games Don’t Need to be on Every Platform
If Steam gamer’s only spent 14% of their time in new games in 2025… Then assume that 14% = 0.14 the demand signal for new games on Steam… Steam MAU is 132mn… Give 264mn for consideration of the monetized PC gaming market to account for people playing Fortnite, Riot games, etc…anything untracked… So for anyContinue reading “Of Saturated Inventories and Too Little Demand (A Proof Scribbled in the Margin) – Games Don’t Need to be on Every Platform”
Rounding Off Infinity 