Game industry sales are down to flat this year overall, depending on your source. That's not a good sign in ANY industry. With one of the yearly staples likely not doing well at all, that's just not good news for the industry as a whole. The guy CNBC quoted is usually pretty good at forecasting these types of things in the gaming industry.
I still think AAA titles will do just fine, but if you have a game like, say, NBA Elite or something just as niche, you'd better hope you have a lot of quality because the sales might not come otherwise. Talked about this on my blog earlier this week:
http://www.operationsports.com/MMChrisS/blog/9575-deteriorating-economy-spells-trouble-for-game-developers/
With us beginning another leg down or recession in an ongoing depression, there has been a secular shift in the economy away from spending on things like games. Just how it is when you are worried about keeping your house, cars, etc. It's not unlike the '30s, Hollywood had to go through a similar situation then.