User blog comment:Damac1214/Black Ops II Patch Notes + Micro-Transactions on the Way/@comment-3171236-20130312190802/@comment-3171236-20130313233645

"There were several reasons for the crash, but the main cause was supersaturation of the market with hundreds of mostly low-quality games which resulted in the loss of consumer confidence."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983#Causes_and_factors

It may have been 1983, when games were less mainstream, but it definetly still has relvence today. I doubt people are holding their money because of the economy, as game sales, particularly in the fall, have been doing exceptional the last several years.