As economic storms rock the ship of the typical American household, luxuries have been thrown swiftly overboard. But, while new cars, designer handbags and exotic holidays are sinking, it seems that the kids are still shooting aliens and pretending to be rock stars. Data from the research company NPD show that US sales of computer games software in October were a third higher than the year before. While most retailers were wondering what happened to their customers, games players carried on.

Gaming companies claim that this reflects the good value entertainment on offer. For the cost of taking a family to the cinema, a computer game provides many more hours of fun. That deserves scepticism - a product costing $50-$60 is rarely an impulse purchase. Tighter budgets should still mean fewer games bought, with more from the secondhand market actively encouraged by such retailers as GameStop.