Imagine having to come out of the basement after years of playing video games in the dark for fourteen hours a day. With all those years now passed to be blinded by the light of having to shop for new hardware during the day time

Unfortunately, all of those warped gamers have come to the surface only to find that there is no money in the checking account to get that new console or the hottest new game.

According to The Wall Street Journal, when Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) reported weak earning, the company made the point that "foot traffic is down at retailers."

Analysts predict that the hottest games will still sell, but if the recession gets worse, the forecast may prove false.

Who gets hurt the most if the ecosystem of games and consoles begins to run out of energy because consumers are cutting back? Game companies like EA ,of course. Perhaps just as vulnerable is Nintendo because so much of its sales come from the industry. Sony (NYSE: SNE), which recently also reported poor earnings, is still trying to "fix" its PS3 business that had sales below forecasts since it has launched its latest product.

The consumer may have become so poor that the $500 it costs to be a "gamer" is simply too much.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.