Video Games Go Crunch!

As the Christmas season nears, once thriving makers struggle for survival

The imaginary world of video games has always been a treacherous place, full of alien star cruisers, speeding asteroids, menacing centipedes and ravenous Pac-Men. Such dangers, however, are hardly more fearsome than the real-world disasters now battering the manufacturers of the games. With the crucial Christmas season approaching, the once thriving industry is being zapped by overheated competition, an oversupply of games, relentless price-cutting, plunging profits and a new finickiness among young video fans. For the dozens of companies in the contest,...

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