2008 was a tough year, and 2009 is even worse so far. Thousands of layoffs, economies crashing, financial uncertainty abounds... It's a pretty fantastic time to be a gamer.

I mean this with all the respect in the world to all of the people in the game industry who have lost their jobs. But I have never been the doom and gloom sort - well, not since I was a teenager that is. Here's the thing, during times of economic downturn there are a couple of industries that generally manage to turn a tidy profit. the government generally adds budget and jobs, usually in infrastructure. Fix things up and keep people employed at the same time, great! Charities do well because even rich people need to appear to have a conscience.

But entertainment? Entertainment kicks it into high gear. When people are depressed they need something to take their minds off the crap that is going on around them, and these days that something tends to be video games. So why are so many game companies laying off people when there is money to be made? For the same reason any company is laying off people, they have to answer to a board of directors, and that means maintaining the bottom line.

So the equation so far is less developers plus more money equals... What? My guess is that it equals a lot more great independent games just over the horizon. What we have are thousands of people who know one thing out on the street, looking to get money any way they can. At the same time, we have fantastic companies like Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, and Garage Games providing inexpensive development tools and widespread distribution systems.

That makes the equation look a little nicer. Now it's talented developers + cheap tools + established platforms = funky ass indie games galore.

For years gamers have complained about a lack of original titles, but now with Steam, the Xbox Live Marketplace, Good Old Games, Impulse and a host of other excellent digital delivery systems more money can potentially end up in the pockets of the developers.

So yes, times are tough, but there's light at the end of the tunnel... And that light just might be an LCD screen.