At times being a gamer can still be a taboo subject: saying that you're a gaming enthusiast may cause others to raise their eyebrows. Though video games are arguably still trying to earn the same cultural respect as films and music, when it comes to earning cold, hard cash, games are on top.
According to the ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association) Yearbook 2012, video games sales in the UK reached £1.92bn in 2011: this includes retail, digital downloads and smartphone/tablet gaming 'apps'. By comparison, video (Blu-ray, DVD) accounted for £1.8bn, with music reaching £1.06bn: early 2012 figures do show a video revival so far this year, with games currently lagging behind. Despite a slow start this year, and well-known issues on the UK retail scene with GAME, it's still a historic moment for the gaming industry.
We already knew that gaming was becoming more popular, but it seems the industry has room to grow yet.
[source mcvuk.com]
Comments 14
This is great new but I hope that at some point in the future, gaming becomes a more widely respected medium. For example, I would love it if more people realised that games such as RPGs or other games like the Professor Layton and Ace attorney series can have just as good a story as other mediums rather than having non gamers scoff at such an idea.
LOL!!! Hopefully gaming will not be forgotten.....jk I doubt that will ever happen.
Well it was bound to happen eventually.
But a game costs significantly more than a dvd/cd. So more people buying video/music it would seem.
Well come on on, the music world is full of high pitched teenagers and rappers, whilst movies are all sobby romances nowadays. Games had to come out on top!
The UK is an odd one: on the one hand I heard it's the second biggest gaming nation in the world after the USA (bigger than Japan!), and per head of population even more into games than Japan and the USA, but the culture isn't exactly "game friendly". The press disregard gaming at best, and villainize it at worst (Murdoch and co), and it's much less culturally accepted than in Japan. Still, selling is good, lets hope this much delayed tax relief brings some of the talented development studios back!
But if you include movie ticket sales at the theatres (we're talking about the U.K. here, so the British spelling applies), movies are probably still on top.
It's also easier to download music and movies for free and listen/watch them Video games you would need a modded system, than to download torrents for free. You'd be surprised how many people rather go to the store and still buy a game in it's box and all though Who cares about that with music and movies, just wanna listen/watch it lol
well music and TV today are not as good as it was 20 years ago. same applies with movies- i haven't bought or seen any of the recent films on DVD or in the cinema. video games have boomed due to the mobile market, as well as the continuous sales of the wii, DS, 3DS to name.
Interesting.
LOL, it's funny when I tell my girlfriend about me gaming... She find adults playing games revolting, lol. I don't blame her though-- like so many of the "take video games out of the hands of everyone" people, half of these people never sat down, plopped a portable gaming system (or of course a console controller) in their hands, and had a go a various genres. Almost all the people (including my gf) who I've put a gaming device near has found at least ONE genre they liked and couldn't stop playing.
I've been playing videogames since I was 5 technically, and seriously since I was 7, so I say long live videogames now, for my kids, and my kids' kids
Could use some of that love in America.
But GAME is struggling to stay open. Go figure.
video games are the best invention ever
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