14 DAY TRIAL // While games are obviously growing as an industry and they're slowly but surely becoming a casual means to pass time, some still regard it as outcasts, and are surprised to see them as more than a peculiar hobby. But titles are a lot more than that, and, as The Daily Telegraph has noticed as well, it looks like more money was spent by the British on video games than on movies. According to GFK Chart-Track's research, across a period of 12 months, ending in September 2009, £1.73 billion were spent on games, while the UK Film Council estimates that only £1 billion were dumped at the British box office and that another £198 million were used for movies on DVD and Blu-ray discs.
The Daily Telegraph article states that, “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.” Harry Wallop, the article's author, further adds that, “Only television – including DVDs of television shows, along with the cost of the license and satellite subscriptions – and music are bigger forms of entertainment.”
And it's not just the British media that's starting to give video gaming a more serious analysis. Tom Watson, the former Cabinet Office minister, believes that these numbers are just the thing to help games get a better public image. “Like anything digital, Parliament has a very narrow view of video games,” he shares. “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,” he adds, “but there is 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.” Games in general, not just video ones, tend to be viewed as a childish activity, but even so, less people will point with disapproval at a middle-aged person playing football or basketball, than they would at the same individual playing Halo 3 or World of Warcraft.