Games will 'eclipse' other media

[mani]

Video games are poised to "eclipse" all other forms of entertainment, according to games studio boss Mike Griffith. The Activision chief made the bold call during a keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He said video games were prospering as interest in almost every other category of entertainment declines. He quoted US market statistics which showed that between 2003 and 2007 sales of movie tickets fell by 6%; the number of hours of TV watched dropped by 6%, sales of recorded music slumped 12% and purchases of DVDs remained flat. Over the same four-year period, said Mr Griffith, the video game industry grew by 40%. He cited the video game of the latest James Bond film Quantum of Solace (QoS) as an example of how games were taking over. "The moviegoer is passive whereas the gamer is active and part of the game itself," he said, adding that anyone who played QoS would spend more than 50 hours in the company of James Bond compared to only 106 minutes if they watched the movie.

i can totally believe that - this christmas whilst sales of most electronic items dropped by a fair margin - console sales were still strong - not stronger than last year but still strong

its being seen more and more as a household requirement now than a past-time