I've been in the chat a few times. It's never been dead during my visits, so I can't agree with that assertion. I imagine that there are times when most people are out or are sleeping, though, certainly. I daresay it would help if people actually decided to regularly visit chat, rather than leaving because no one's there...
For anyone who doesn't have a proper irc client, I have to advocate for good ol' mibbit.com, instead of dealing with the usual java/flash crap (e.g., if you connect through GR site). Mibbit offers several tools that they don't, like nick tabbing, live translation, easy mini-url, logging, &c &c. The network is in the menu, listed as WebChat, or you can connect directly to irc.webchat.org. And join #game-revolution, obviously.
I wish this post was a paid advertisement by mibbit.com and affiliates. Alas.
-> Join up, bitches.