Over and over, it has been said that the reason American video gaming crashed in 1984 is because of "a glut of too many poor-quality games and me-too games."

I say this is a lie, fabricated in 1983/1984 by those really responsible- the Baby-Boomer aged marketers and "experts" who persuaded the industry that it was over, and that "computers were the wave of the future." They simply did what they do today- remain centered around themselves, and refused to consider how the now-two younger generations think (my "Nameless" Generation and you Generation-X folk).*

First of all, what exactly is a "glut?" Too much of something, for the market to absorb. O.K, but...

When I was a kid in the 1970s, television wasn't much different than it had been in the 1950s and 1960s- there were 3 big networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, with PBS and a number of lesser stations and affiliates in some places- even where I was, not too far from NYC, we only got 6 channels).
Then, by 1978, there were- hold on to your seats, now- EIGHT cable channels! Of course, hardly any were 24 hours, and only a few people had them, just as comparitively few people had VCRs. As for the Internet, for all practical purposes, it didn't exist (by the early 1980s, only 1 million Americans by most estimates had computers, and only a fraction of those even had modems).
Flash forward to the present. The Internet. Over 500 channels! Most everyone has a VCR, or DVD(!?), almost everyone has a computer or at least (such as yours truly) access to one. There are more movies, shows, and cartoons on videotape than you can count, and of course, even up here in Central NY, there are lots of video rental/retail outlets.

Now, there are still only 24 hours in a day, and only 7 days in a week.
There are several HUNDRED times as many channels, not to mention the other things (i.e. the Internet).
Has the population of America increased by several hundred since the 1970s?
No.

Therefore, one must conclude that there is a "glut" of channels and entertainment, and therefore the whole thing has collapsed.
But it hasn't, now, has it?

The same with music. Thanks to the Internet and burnable-CDs, there are more music acts than ever, since even a mickey-mouse garage band can put out an album. Therefore, there must be a glut of music, and the whole industry must die.
But it hasn't.

Back in the 1980s, we kept hearing about the "glut" of games for consoles, but what they didn't mention was that THERE WAS ALSO A GLUT OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS, AND TO A POINT A GLUT OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE, TOO!

In other words, what I'm trying to say is this: why did this glut manage to kill home videgaming, but nothing else?

The "experts" kept saying that there was "no" demand for videogaming.
How, then, did Nintendo do so well with the NES? After all, computers were more powerful than before, and if there was no demand for home consoles, then where did those NES sales come from? Obviously, the demand was there all along. This is obvious, and cannot be argued with. If the "experts" were wrong about this key fact, why does anyone believe their "glut" rhetoric? If there was no demand, if home consoles were dead back in the 1980s, then why are we on the 7th generation of home consoles, with even Microsoft getting into the act with the X-Box?

There is more to this, but this is all the time I have for now. Think about it.

*Fun Fact: Did you of Generation-X (1984-2004) know that you got your name from a Baby-Boomer psychiatrist, who wrote about what a bunch of, when you boil it down, whining quitters you are? You can check on this yourself. Maybe you want to change your name?