Activision CEO Bobby Kotick recently commented in an interview with Reuters that the current slowdown in the economy may pressure the current console manufacturers to lower their prices.

"With the rising costs of fuel and food and housing, it is more difficult to go out and buy a $399 console, and I think it’s going to put pressure on the console manufacturers to reduce their prices," Kotick said on Thursday. While many in the gaming industry, particularly certain retailers, have claimed that the industry is essentially recession proof, which seems to be supported by sales numbers, one wonders whether the consumers’ burden of climbing food and fuel prices might eventually affect hardware sales.

Kotick was also asked about EA’s bid for control of Take-Two, EA’s major competitor in the realm of sports games, to which he replied, “That’s concerning, sure. When you think about one company in control of the sports category, with no competition from anybody else, that could be a challenge."

That would be a challenge? If that’s not an understatement, then I’ve never seen one. This isn’t the 800-pound gorilla in the room that no one is paying attention to; this is the 800-pound gorilla in the room at which everyone has been pointing and screaming for some time, and Bobby Kotick just mentioned it as if he were talking about the weather.