In a year that has seen several “blockbusters” released in the Video Game Market like Doom 3, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Half-Life 2, and the grand daddy of them all Halo 2 (which had a larger opening weekend than any movie in history), Slashdot points out an interesting article in SFGATE that points out the Video Game industry has surpassed Hollywood in generating entertainment revenues.
I know what you’re thinking, “What?!?! John, you must be reading the info wrong, there’s no way that’s true”. Ummm… yes it is. I think we all knew it, but it’s weird seeing it in print right in front of your eyes.
The latest Entertainment Software Association survey shows that the average gamer is 29 and spends more time playing games than engaging in traditional forms of entertainment such as watching TV or going to the movies.
“If I had some time in the afternoon, and it was a choice between watching a movie or playing a game, I’d rather play a game,” said Marlon Castro, 35, of Foster City.
This just re-enforces what I’ve been saying on The Movie Blog for a long time now. The Movie Industry MUST come up with a new model and restructure itself. What more and more people are faced with is a choice to:
A) Stay home and play a cool game that they already know is good, eat cheap food and drink inexpensive coke while doing it. Or..
B) Go to a theatre, pay FAR too much for a ticket to get in, pay WAY to much for some snacks and a drink, be subjected to 10-20 minutes of commercials and then sit through a film that they really have no idea is any good or not.
Guess which option more and more people are choosing? And while this is going on the idiots at the MPAA will continue to insist there is nothing wrong with the film industry and any problems that do exist are only because of piracy. The people at the top need to give their collective heads a shake and fix this or it will face a MAJOR crisis in the industry within the next 3-5 years.
I can’t see how it is immature to play videogames when it involves strategizing, role-playing, and critical-thinking (try Half-Life 2, you’ll see what I mean). Why do people always look down upon videogame players? It is a pasttime as poker, stamp collecting, knitting, but it is so much, much more, because of the interactive nature of playing videogames. Compare this to watching a movie, where there is no interaction to speak of, just passive observation. In a videogame, you are the character, and you control (ergo, applied knowledge thinking) the outcome of the story / game. Some games force you to multi-task (The Sims and Warcraft), a brain activity that increases the number of connections of synapses in your brain. Even seemingly mindless games (fighting games) do have its merits. Universities are encouraging doctors to play videogames to enhance their hand-eye coordination skills, for Pete’s sake (go watch the Discovery Science channel if you do not believe me).
Now, Marla, please leave us videogamers alone and go watch your lame Jane Austen movies. Maybe the movie industry would be so jealous of the videogame industry they’ll make a first-person Jane Austen videogame in which the main character gets blasted by a ZPE gravity gun.
also…if you would also recall, that you can only watch a movie once when you goto the theaters whereas the replay value of games are limitless.
I am 34 and find video games more stress releaving than anything for me, I can play football without breaking my ankle. Same for hooops and snowboarding.
I recently have been verbally assaulted by my father and half heartedly by my fiancee on the game playing issue, they are teaming up to find me a new habit as this is immature and how can you raise a kid listening to rap music and playing video games !!!(oh this makes me the damn devil, HELP!!!)
This is a dumb argument (the movie vs. game one, not how old you should be to play).
From what I read, the gaming industry not only counts all profit from software/titles, but it also was counting all profit from actual console systems.
Only the box office was judged for the movie industry. At that point, it’s like 10.5 billion to 9.5, or something.
Now, add in on the movie side
DVD sales/rentals
VHS sales/rentals
Overseas box office
DVD Players / VCR’s
…and it’s not even close. Looks like someone wrote a biased piece of journalism (IMPOSSIBLE).
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Hey Marla, i am 27 and the father of two children. I love to play video games more than my kids do and I don’t think I am immature. So take that pooh-head!
I won’t come down hard on Marla, because she seems to have the same perception about games and gamers that many people have: that older guys that play games are losers, games are for children, etc,etc. I’m 35 years old, I repair train tracks for NYC Transit, and I’m married with 2 children. I play games just as much as my kids, not because I’m immature, but because games are a hobby that I find stimulating and stress relieving. I also read anything I can get my hands on, play sports, enjoy nights out on the town with my wife or the fellas, and I can engage in meaningful adult conversation about a variety of subjects. Games are alot more complex and involving these days, and I would bet that there are more mature games than kids games being made now; even the kiddie games have something to offer older gamers. Does that make us all simple and childlike? No, I don’t think so!
hey!
somone deleted my clever insult!!
well…it was not so much clever as just insult.
I bet you wonder why you’re single Marla…. please…
marla:
you know the average age of a gamer is 29 and 42% are women.
Hi guys.
You can compare movies and games of course, as entertainment products. What matters in the end is that games are generating more profit. It doesn’t matter if they sell for a bigger price to the final consumer if it still gives a bigger profit, does it? Basic Math.
And Marla, even if you like it or not, games(like movies) are intended to different audiences. We already have tons of children and adult games(like movies) for a long time now. Get used to it.
Hey there Eddie.
You make a good point. However, the important thing here is what this represents. Never before has a video game out grossed a movie. Now they are.
People are spending more money on games than movies, and that’s a trend that must concern the film industry. If nothing is done, it’s a trend that’s only going to continue to escalate.
video games are fine for younger kids, 12 and under, but any older guys should be growing out of it. its like video games for boys like dolls for girls. sure maybe have one system lying around and play some GTA *ONCE IN A WHILE* but its such a turn off and real annoyance for me if a guy is not at his correct maturity level for his age and plays games every chance he gets. it doesnt say a whole lot about him. thats my peice, i’ll stop before i get too in depth.
Whenever I read something about Halo 2 beating all box office movie records, I laugh. You know why? Because games are not movies. The average movie ticket costs about $10 (at the most) but the average game costs $50. One million people watch a movie and that’s $10 million in the bank, one million people buy a game and it equals to $50 million. On top of that, games usually cost about 75% as much as films. It’s like comparing apple to oranges (or in this case, bananas). If there’s anything to compare to current box office revenues, it should really be how many admissions a film takes in rather than how much $$$$ it receives.
Just my two cents.