Video games are now one of biggest forms of entertainment in Britain, outselling films over the last year.
By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor
Published: 8:00AM GMT 26 Dec 2009
More money was spent on video games than on films – including both trips to the cinema and films on DVD – figures compiled for The Daily Telegraph indicate.
This is the clearest evidence yet that the video games market has come of age and transformed itself from a niche form of entertainment for teenage boys into a mainstream form of entertainment for millions of British families.
In the twelve months to the end of September 2009, £1.73 billion was spent on video games, according to the data company GFK Chart-Track.
This beats the amount of money spent on films, even though British cinema has just enjoyed its best year in nearly three decades.
According to the UK Film Council exactly £1 billion was spent at the British box office during the same period, with a further £198 million spent on film titles released on DVD and Blu-ray.
This means that £500 million more was spent on video games than on films over the last 12 months.
Only television – including DVDs of television shows, along with the cost of the license and satellite subscriptions – and music are bigger forms of entertainment.
Tom Watson, the former Cabinet Office minister and renowned gamer, said the statistics were proof that the video games industry needed to be taken seriously.
"Like anything digital, Parliament has a very narrow view of video games. Too many politicians think video games are played by teenage boys staying up all night shooting things in their bedroom.
"And yes there are plenty of those, but there also a huge range of people of many different ages who love playing games. The industry has matured over the last decade, and so too have gamers."
He argued that the debate surrounding November's release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the fastest selling game in history, typified the blinkered attitude many people had about video games.
Despite receiving very positive reviews for the quality of its storylines and graphics, and selling more than 1.2 million units in just 24 hours, it was attacked for encouraging violent behaviour.
"Yes, let's have a debate about unpleasant content in video games, but don't beat up on the whole industry," said Mr Watson.
Industry figures show there the number of games consoles being used in Britain has shot up from 13.5 million in 2008 ago to well over 25 million earlier this year, with enough consoles for nine out of every ten households in the country to have one.
Despite the popularity for Nintendo Wiis slowing down, the Japanese company should take the credit for winning over an army of new consumers to gaming, according to Guy Cocker at the industry website Gamespot.
"The growth in Wii sales has stalled, but Nintendo has done phenomenally well and shown that gaming could be enjoyed by young children, women and older consumers," he said.
Wiis, the must-have Christmas present of 2007 and 2008, became a hit with families that wanted to go bowling, play tennis and slalom ski from the comfort of their sitting rooms.
Supermarket price cutting has also helped video games become more mainstream, Mr Cocker added. Though Modern Warfare 2 had a recommended retail price of £55, most supermarkets cut the price to £33, with Morrisons offering it for £26, meaning many consumers have bought video games along with their weekly food shop.
Video games may be the "biggest" as in "costliest" but are they the biggest use of leisure time? Gardening used to be number one "exercise activity" in the US, and can entertain much more cheaply. And Internet surfing, while it can be cheap, can take up a considerable portion of the day.
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus
It's also mildly deceptive because even if the grosses and revenues eclipse film, the actual audience is still a small fraction of movies. FAR more people have already seen Avatar then have played Call of Duty.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
I am wondering if it includes inter-net games? Because I play those, not Wii or Playstation, which I have none now since my son moved. I don't plan on buying them either, but I do play a good lot of games on the net (all my FB friends are sure to attest to this).
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken. A light from the shadow shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken. The crownless again shall be king.
narya wrote:Video games may be the "biggest" as in "costliest" but are they the biggest use of leisure time? Gardening used to be number one "exercise activity" in the US, and can entertain much more cheaply. And Internet surfing, while it can be cheap, can take up a considerable portion of the day.
Considering for $12 you can see a 2 hour movie, and for $60 some will play a game anywhere from 30 to 200 hours... the game wins out on cost and leisure time...
As for Gardening... well you have to own a garden first .
For the TROUBLED may you find PEACE
For the DESPAIRING may you find HOPE
For the LONELY may you find LOVE
For the SKEPTICAL may you find FAITH
-Frances C. Arrillaga 1941-1995
I don't play games, not because I don't think they're fun/challenging/interesting, but because I just can't afford another engaging time sink. Not enough hours in the day as it is.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
I have to limit myself for that express reason. I end up playing in the evenings for too long if I don't have anything else to do. Thus I give myself other things to do.
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken. A light from the shadow shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken. The crownless again shall be king.
halplm wrote:Considering for $12 you can see a 2 hour movie, and for $60 some will play a game anywhere from 30 to 200 hours... the game wins out on cost and leisure time...
Exactly, plus most games have a multi-player mode, meaning these hours are times however many people are playing. As for cost, this family tends to buy used copies of the last version, so it's only $20 - $40 for most games, a bargain compared to the cost of a movie for a family of three.
And that's not even counting all the free Flash games on the Net, as Padme mentioned.
As for Gardening... well you have to own a garden first .
Or you can garden online.
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken. A light from the shadow shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken. The crownless again shall be king.
Farmville is the devil. I know a good deal of people who play it, mostly out of addiction.
From the ashes, a fire shall be woken. A light from the shadow shall spring. Renewed shall be blade that was broken. The crownless again shall be king.
.
)
Not enough hours in the day as it is.
