Few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase

Question

Few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase new computer games. The computer game industry owes its present sales level to the number of those purchasing their first computer game system. When that market is nearly exhausted, sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered.

Which of the following, if true, most weakens the above argument?

A) The market for first-time users will not be completely exhausted until everyone in the world owns a computer.
B) The new, successful computer game product Bonzomania is sold almost exclusively to long-standing computer owners.
C) Most of the people who were part of the first group of computer owners were enthusiastic about computer games when the computer games were first purchased.
D) The first owners of such new technologies as personal computer game systems are more likely than are later owner groups to tire of such possessions after the novelty wears off.
E) All new technologies follow a "boom-then-bust" sales pattern.

ParikshitAgrawal · Accepted Answer

This is a good tricky question which will entangle you in its words. Let us first understand the question stem.

The argument says that only some of the first owners of a game continue to buy other games and that the industry sales share is majorly attributed to the people who buy their first game. Thus I can conclude that a) it is less likely that the first owners of the game will buy another; b) there is a good share of people that are first-time buyers of a game. Now, the argument concludes that when the market for first time buyers will get exhausted, the industry sales would decline, endangering the industry.

With this understanding, let's look at the options. 
A) The market for first-time users will not be completely exhausted until everyone in the world owns a computer.  This only modifies the language of the question stem and doesn't provide any further information as it doesn't conclusively say what would happen after everyone gets a computer- the industry will still be endangered. IRRELEVANT

B) The new, successful computer game product Bonzomania is sold almost exclusively to long-standing computer owners.  This tells us that some new games may only be sold to those who will continue to buy computer games, thus encouraging people to buy. However, this doesn't negate the argument's claim that only few of them continue to buy. Thus B doesn't weaken the conclusion. IRRELEVANT

C) Most of the people who were part of the first group of computer owners were enthusiastic about computer games when the computer games were first purchased.  This explains that people were only enthusiastic about the game when it was first bought. This fails to tell whether this enthusiasm diminishes or remains and whether people would still be interested in computer games.IRRELEVANT

D) The first owners of such new technologies as personal computer game systems are more likely than are later owner groups to tire of such possessions after the novelty wears off.  This is a tricky option. This states that the first owners are likely to get bored of their game once the popularity/novelty of it wears off and this happens more to first owners than later owners. That is, later owners are less interested in the novelty of the game and only buy for, say, entertainment or recreational purposes, etc. Therefore, the first time owners are always looking for novelty and thus are more likely to buy more NEW games. This directly attacks the conclusion as this indicates that the first owners of the game will never diminish and thus the industry sales will not diminish. CORRECT

E) This just states a pattern and is IRRELEVANT to the claims of the argument.

Hope this helps !!

Regards, 
Parikshit

globaldesi · Answer

Can you share official explanation please.
OA does not seems to fit in well

suchita2409 · Answer

Only Option D gives us that the market won't collapse because the first owners will get tire of such possessions when those computer games won't function properly and will buy new computer machines again.

Hope this helps!

Posted from my mobile device

Hope this helps!

Posted from my mobile device

99ramanmehta · Answer

Hi experts,

Could someone please explain option D?

rvgmat12 · Answer

OE:

Conclusion: When that market   is nearly exhausted, sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered.

Premise: Few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase new computer games. The computer game industry owes its present sales level to the number of those purchasing their first computer game system.

Assumptions: There’s no other way to interpret the evidence. Because few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase new computer games and the computer game industry owes its present sales level to the number of those purchasing their first computer game system, then when that market is nearly exhausted, sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered. There is no other potential explanation.

The question stem asks which answer choice would most weaken that argument, so this is a weaken question. The argument uses an interpretation of evidence reasoning pattern, which can be identified by the presentation of specific facts as evidence. In this case, that the computer game industry owes its present sales level to the number of those purchasing their first computer game system and few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase new computer games.

The standard assumption of an interpretation of evidence reasoning pattern is that there is no other way to interpret the facts. Because this is a weaken question, the correct answer will demonstrate that the facts do not necessarily lead to the conclusion. In other words, that just because the computer game industry owes its present sales level to the number of those purchasing their first computer game system and few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase new computer games, the conclusion is not necessarily that When that market is nearly exhausted, sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered. Evaluate the answer choices, looking for one that matches this idea.

Choice A: No. This answer choice is out of scope. Even if The market for first-time users will not be completely exhausted until everyone in the world owns a computer, it could still be concluded that when that market is nearly exhausted, sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered. It might just take longer than initially estimated.

Choice B: No. This answer choice is out of scope. Just because one computer game is sold almost exclusively to long-standing computer owners does not mean that it is no longer reasonable to conclude overall that when the market (of) first owners of computer systems is nearly exhausted, sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered.

Choice C: No. This answer choice is out of scope. The enthusiasm level of the people who were part of the first group of computer owners would not have any impact on the conclusion that when that market is nearly exhausted, sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered.

Choice D: Correct. This choice is supported by the argument. If The first owners of such new technologies as personal computer game systems are more likely than are later owner groups to tire of such possessions after the novelty wears off, then even if the first owners tire of the games, later owners who are purchasing their first game system might not. Therefore, even when that market (of) first owners of computer game systems is nearly exhausted, there will be another market of later owner groups who still buy games and keep the sales of computer games from dropping precipitously.

Choice E: No. This answer choice strengthens the argument. If All new technologies follow a “boom-then-bust” sales pattern, then it would be reasonable to assume that computer games would follow a similar pattern as outlined by the conclusion that when that market (of) first owners of computer game systems is nearly exhausted sales of computer games will drop precipitously, and the computer game industry will be seriously endangered.

The correct answer is choice D.

Mavisdu1017 · Answer

Sorry I think the same with you when I first take it, but I found there is something wrong with this explanation with D. 
 “the first time owners are always looking for novelty and thus are more likely to buy more NEW games”, but the premise of argument states clearly that “Few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase new computer games”. Our explanation is conflict with the premise, so I think it is wrong...

Mavisdu1017 · Answer

May I ask a question about D? you said “ even when that market (of) first owners of computer game systems is nearly exhausted, there will be another market of later owner groups who still buy games”, but the later owners are at most 6 billion as there is 6 billion population all over the world in sum. If so, I think choice D is the same meaning with choice A. Mind to elaborate it further? Thanks

rebrahimi12 · Answer

A) The market for first-time users will not be completely exhausted until everyone in the world owns a computer.
 This strengthens the argument. It reinforces the idea that there is a finite market, that when exhausted will endanger the computer game industry. 
B) The new, successful computer game product Bonzomania is sold almost exclusively to long-standing computer owners.
 This does not necessarily weaken the argument. Assuming that computer system owners will have to buy different generations of systems to play unique, popular games might weaken it. That is a logical leap we would have to make, but I would consider this for now while looking for better answers. 
C) Most of the people who were part of the first group of computer owners were enthusiastic about computer games when the computer games were first purchased.
 They might  still  be enthusiastic, but they might not. We do not know. Thus this does not weaken the argument. 
D) The first owners of such new technologies as personal computer game systems are more likely than are later owner groups to tire of such possessions after the novelty wears off.
 As people tire of the utility of their current computer systems, they may enter the market for newer systems. Thus as time progresses, the oldest generation of computer gaming systems might renter the market, meaning it is not finite. IMO this weakens the argument more than B. 
E) All new technologies follow a "boom-then-bust" sales pattern.
 Strengthens the argument.

Few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase

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Few of the first owners of computer game systems continue to purchase

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